New InvisiMole Malware Turns Your System Into A Video Camera

Another week, another new threat.  This time, in the form of a new strain of malware that researchers are calling InvisiMole.  The new threat was discovered by researchers at ESET, who found it on a number of hacked computers in Russia and the Ukraine.

While the researchers have yet to trace the software back to the group that developed it, based on the available evidence, the campaign appears to be tightly targeted and highly selective.  Only a few dozen computers have been found to be infected, although all impacted systems are both high-profile and high-value.

As for the software itself, it’s a nasty piece of business capable of quietly taking control over an infected system’s video camera and capture audio. This allows them to both see and hear anything going on in the vicinity of the system.  Essentially then, InvisiMole turns your computer into a compromised Amazon Echo.

Based on the sophisticated design of the software and the fact that the researchers have yet to be able to trace it back to the source, it’s believed that it has been developed by (or at least in partnership with) an unknown state actor.  Although the current campaign is small and highly targeted, given its capabilities, InvisiMole could easily become a much more serious threat.

Even worse, it’s entirely possible that the original developers could lose control of the code, or that some other hacker group could reverse engineer it, causing it to spread far and wide.

Research into the software is still ongoing, and at this point ESET can’t say with certainty how the malicious payload is being delivered to target machines. Of course, at present, there is no antivirus software defense against it.  Stay on your guard.  You never know who might be watching.

Study Shows Employee Satisfaction Is Higher With Technology Improvements

A new study recently published by HPE Aruba called “The Right Technologies Unlock The Potential Of The Digital Workplace,” reveals some interesting details about technology in the workplace that’s worth paying attention to.

The study was conducted by collecting feedback from more than seven thousand companies of various sizes around the globe.  These were broken broadly into two groups: “Digital Revolutionaries,” which made more and better use of cutting edge technology, and “Digital Laggards” which were slower to adopt the latest and greatest technologies.

The headline statistic is that 51 percent of employees working in companies employing more technology reported greater job satisfaction, and an impressive 72 percent of employees in these companies reported a greater ability to adopt new work-related skills.

Other intriguing statistics include:

• 31 percent of respondents in the “Digital Laggard” category indicated that tech aided their professional development, compared with 65 percent in the “Digital Revolutionary” category
• 92 percent of respondents said that more technology would improve the workplace overall
• 69 percent of respondents indicated a desire to see fully automated equipment in more widespread use in the workplace

Joseph White, the Director of Workplace Strategy, Design and Management at Herman Miller said in a press release:

“No matter the industry, we’re seeing a move toward human-centric places as enterprises strive to meet rapidly changing expectations of how people want to work.  This depends upon combining advances in technology -which includes furnishings- with the cognitive sciences to help people engage with work in new ways.  This will not only mean singular, premium experiences for individuals, but also the opportunity for organizations to attract and retain the best talent.”

The study notes, however, that cyber security issues remain as challenging as ever.  Survey respondents reported lower than average cyber security awareness, which could lead to greater risks and exposure as workplaces become increasingly digitized.

While a small majority (52 percent) of respondents reported thinking about cybersecurity often (daily), fully a quarter have connected to unsecured WiFi and one in five reported using the same passwords across multiple web properties. These are the two most dangerous cybersecurity-related behaviors.

Clearly, increased technology has its risks.

Has Malware Made a Home in Your Router?

Hackers and cybercriminals, like most people, tend to gravitate towards high-reward activities. In this case, that means that focus is turning to creating malware that attacks the router, potentially infecting the users that leverage it to connect wirelessly to the Internet. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab recently discovered an example of such a malware, so today, we will review this threat and how to best protect your network.

Slingshot
This threat, codenamed Slingshot, targets MikroTik routers and utilizes a multi-layer attack to spy on the PCs connected to the router. By replacing a library file with a malicious alternative that subsequently downloads other pieces of the malware, Slingshot is able to bypass security solutions unscathed. It then launches a two-pronged attack, one leveraging low-level kernel code to give an intruder carte blanche access to a system, the second managing the file system and preserving the malware – allowing it to continue.

If this sounds impressive, it is – not only does this attack access additional code from an encrypted virtual file system, it does so without crashing its host. This quality and complexity led the security experts at Kaspersky Lab to conclude that this attack was state-sponsored. Based on reports, this malware can collect just about any data that it wants to from its target, from keystrokes to passwords to screenshots to network traffic.

According to MicroTik, their routing firmware has received a patch for this vulnerability, but it is still unknown if routers from other manufacturers are affected. If they have, Slingshot could suddenly become a much larger issue than it already is.

Other Router Malware
Of course, Slingshot isn’t the only issue that affects router security. The fail-safes and security measures baked into routers have been historically unreliable. This can largely be attributed to manufacturers building numerous products with no comprehensive strategy concerning their security and keeping it up-to-date. However, this doesn’t mean that the user is off the hook, either. It is up to them to actually update the router’s firmware, not something that is necessarily their first, second, or even twenty-third thought. Furthermore, the updating process can often be challenging, as well as time-consuming.

Hackers will often change the DNS server setting on a router in order to attack a network. Rather than directing you to the secure website you are trying to navigate to, the altered DNS will instead send you to a phishing site. Since these sites are often convincingly created and designed to fool their targets, you may not realize you are being victimized until it has already happened.

In addition to attacks like these, hackers will also often use methods like barraging their targets with ads or infiltrating them via drive-by download. Some attacks leverage cross-site request forgery, where a hacker will develop a rogue piece of JavaScript that will attempt to load a router’s web-admin page to alter the router’s settings.

How to Mitigate Damage to You
If you suspect that you are the target of a router-based attack, your first step should be to confirm that something is wrong. While there are assorted ways to accomplish this, the most effective is to check if your DNS server has been changed. To check, you’ll need to access your router’s web-based setup page, and from there, the Internet connection screen. If your DNS setting is ‘automatic,’ you should be okay. However, if it says “manual,” with custom DNS servers entered, you may have a problem.

In order to mitigate damage in the case of compromise, you’ll need to make sure that your router matches the specifications set by the manufacturer. To do this, make sure you:

• Promptly install firmware updates: Keeping your router’s firmware up-to-date will assist you in keeping your router secure.
• Disable remote access: By disabling the capacity for your router to be accessed remotely, you prevent the chance of someone changing the settings without your knowledge.
• Disable UPnP: While there is definitely some convenience to be had with the assistance of plug and play capabilities, UPnP could lead to your router becoming infected, as it is predisposed to trust any requests it receives.
• Change your access credentials: A simple means of upping your security is to change your access credentials away from the router defaults.

If you want to know more about your cybersecurity, the professionals at Net Activity are there here to help you keep your network and infrastructure safe. Call us at 216-503-5150.

New Vulnerability May Expose Encrypted Emails

Security researchers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have discovered a dangerous new email vulnerability called “Efail.”  Exploiting this new email vulnerability would allow hackers to decrypt emails encrypted with either PGP or S/MIME – including emails that were sent several years earlier.  Both of these encryption tools are commonly used by politicians, journalists and other professionals who need a secure means of electronic communication. Since the standards are so well established, they’re used widely and regarded as fool-proof.  Sadly, that’s no longer the case.

EFF researchers had this to say about the newly discovered vulnerability:

“In a nutshell, Efail abuses active content of HTML emails (for example, externally loaded images or styles) to exfiltrate plaintext through requested URLs.  The attacker changes an encrypted email in a particular way and sends this changed encrypted email to the victim.  The victim’s email client decrypts the email and loads any external content, thus exfiltrating the plaintext to the attacker.”

In simpler terms, it’s about as bad as it could possibly get.  Once a hacker has access to your email account, they can use the embedded HTML tags inside your mail to force your email system to decrypt those messages so the hackers can see exactly what they contain.

EFF’s recommendation is that if you rely on either PGP or S/MIME for email encryption, your best bet is to simply disable them, and uninstall the tool or tools used to decrypt those messages.

It should be noted however, that there are others in the security community who disagree with this assessment.  A spokesman for ProtonMail tweeted out the following response:

“Efail is a prime example of irresponsible disclosure.  There is no responsibility in hyping the store to @EFF and mainstream media and getting an irresponsible recommendation published (Disable PGP), ignoring the fact that many (Engimail, etc.) are already patched.”

Despite the divided opinion, if it’s something you’re concerned about, you can neatly side step the problem by simply opting for plain text messages, rather than using HTML-emails.

Automating Maintenance Saves Organizations More than Just Time

How much time does your business spend every day on issuing patches and security updates? How about basic maintenance and management practices that leave your network technicians tied up for hours on end? Thanks to automation, these menial tasks that take a considerable amount of time and resources can be simplified and offer a great return on investment.

Remote monitoring and management, or RMM, can provide your business with several benefits that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order.

Patching and Updates
In order to keep your business’ applications up to date at all times, you’ll have to continuously keep an eye out for new patches that shore up any weaknesses in your organization’s network infrastructure. This can be a time-consuming process, and the amount of time it takes to do this for your organization is commensurate with the number of workstations, server units, networking devices, and mobile devices that your company has to keep track of. Remote monitoring and management can be used to administer updates to all of your company’s devices as needed, even if the provider isn’t necessarily on-site to apply the edits. Since you don’t have to manually install updates on each and every one of your devices, you can instead invest this time elsewhere.

Network Security Management
When it comes to network security, you want to be both proactive and reactive to threats. Part of the way you can be more reactive to threats is by actively monitoring your organization’s infrastructure for breaches of security. Imagine being able to detect an attack and deflect it automatically or be notified in real time if your network is accessed by someone who is unauthorized to do so. Monitoring and maintenance technology allows for this as well, and it can be a great way to ensure that your organization can effectively react to a data breach.

Saved Time and Resources
Imagine how much time your business could save if the majority of maintenance could be done without an on-site visit? Not only would you save a ton of money, but you would also save a lot of time. Since you don’t have to wait for technicians to arrive on-site for most problems to be resolved, you’re saving a considerable amount of time on problem resolution. Plus, you won’t be paying them for the time that they spend on the road to your office. It’s a win-win scenario for both you and the provider.

Does your business want to implement remote monitoring and management? Net Activity can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 216-503-5150.

Building an IT Roadmap Will Grow & Protect Your Business

As a business owner, have you experienced frustration because it seems that there is almost always a huge disconnect between the strategic level of the business and the technology layer of the business?

It’s understandable. You’re an executive; you must maintain a high-level view of the business in order to keep it operating smoothly.

Many companies often have their IT team reporting to the finance department, who makes cost-based decisions instead of value-based decisions. That’s understandable too – a CFO is responsible for keeping the business in the black.

Unfortunately, a lot of IT professionals aren’t adept at describing the value of their requests in business terms. This leads to a strong disconnect between the business strategy and the technology to support it. To make things even more difficult, if you don’t have a trusted IT partner, (either in-house or outside support) you might not be having this conversation at all.

As a result, taking advantage of new technology and getting the most from your existing IT investments can be a real challenge. In fact, CIO’s across the board identify lack of technology expertise and expansion as their number one barrier to success.

But more importantly…if you have anything in common with the more than 2500 business leaders surveyed by Gartner for the 2018 Gartner CIO Agenda Report, a few of your key priorities for 2018 include:

• Expansion of digital platforms for businesses and organizations of all sizes;
• Development of technical infrastructures to support the expansion of the digital “ecosystem”, through cloud and mobility applications, voice and data communications networks, and more.
• Building and utilizing a strong bench of IT talent to support and expand on the above priorities and invest in new technologies.

So how do you get IT and business talking together for the betterment of the organization as a whole? By going through the process of building an IT roadmap.

An IT roadmap is designed to help you align your IT projects with your strategic priorities, plan for the long term, and define your needs and priorities before making an investment. It is a process that delivers a long-term strategy to change your organization’s IT infrastructure and applications, based on what you need for your business today, and tomorrow.

Whether you’re new to the process or a seasoned IT manager, knowing just where to start when you plan a strategic IT roadmap can be difficult.

Here are the steps we recommend to get you started:

First, outline your business goals and high-priority, strategic objectives. The primary function of your IT strategy is to support your organizational or business needs, so start by outlining your business needs, goals and objectives. If you don’t already have an outlined business strategy in place, you can clarify your mission and needs by considering your sales targets, expansion plans and any other ongoing “action” plans you may have in the pipeline.

• What are your strategic priorities? What is the financial and operational impact you hope to generate?
• What tools and information can help your team become more insightful, proactive and responsive?
• How can you deliver a better experience or create additional value for your customers? In what ways can you make it easier to do business with your company?

Don’t skip this step; it’s importance cannot be overstated. Remember, the most successful organizations align their IT strategy with their business strategy.

Next, define the scope, personnel and schedule to make your plan happen. Remember, a list of goals is not a strategy. It’s important that everyone is clear about the purpose of your IT planning, who is responsible for delivering it and to whom it applies.

Your IT strategy shouldn’t (and can’t) solve all your problems at once, so even if your strategy is company-wide you need to articulate how it affects different business units and functions. Meet with key people within your organization who will be able to tell you how they are using technology resources, what they are lacking and how IT can support them. It’s also important to build a schedule-or “lifespan”-into the strategy, giving you an opportunity to review and refine the plan regularly and make changes as needed.

Review your existing IT systems and tactics. When you plan an IT strategy it’s important to remember that you’re not starting from scratch. Reviewing your existing IT systems and tactics will help you define problems, see what’s working and where resources can best be saved by making use of what is already available. As you start thinking about your IT, ask yourself:

• How is your team using technology?
• What tools, software or systems do they use?

Your answers should be in the information you’ve collected from various teams and units within your business.

What’s working? What isn’t?

Think critically about how IT is being used and analyze which tools, software and systems are providing the most value. This step will enable you to plan an IT strategy based on resources you already have. For example:

• Review your business processes and highlight inefficiencies
• Identify technology gaps or areas where your existing systems fall short
• Identify the functional capabilities needed to effectively support or improve your processes
• Prepare an itemized, prioritized checklist of what steps need to be taken.

Now it’s time to create a roadmap for your technology systems and resource allocation. This might seem like the most difficult step, but if you’ve been following the process, this should be relatively simple.

• Start by defining an overview of your technology systems (the software applications, hardware and other IT tools you will be using).
• Then consider any departmental-specific technology needs within your organization, like financial or HR software.
• Finally, think about how the parts in your tech systems fit together, and what processes are needed to integrate them within the organization.

Next, measure the cost. Major technology initiatives can be expensive and capital intensive. The investment required can vary significantly depending on the size of your company, your industry and the complexity of your requirements. Make sure you research pricing and include a realistic cost estimate for each project in your roadmap. Also take account of additional or ongoing costs such as new infrastructure costs, subscription fees, annual maintenance and support fees.

Last but not least, define your metrics. Since your IT strategy is supporting your business needs, you need to make sure that it is functional and cost effective. This is why it’s important to identify some key metrics and KPIs that you can use to benchmark and analyze the performance of your IT strategy over time. These might include:

• number of help desk calls,
• operational indicators (like ISP capacity) and budget,
• customer and end-user measurements.

Remember, your IT Roadmap is a document that evolves over time. As your business grows, your priorities may shift and new opportunities or challenges may present themselves. Your IT strategy may also change as a result. Preparing your technology roadmap is not a one-time event. Rather, it is a living document that should be regularly updated, reconsidered and revised.

When done right, an IT strategy can be a powerful tool to drive growth and efficiency in your business, supporting your goals and your staff directly. Don’t worry about getting your technology roadmap perfect the first time around. Just get it started and keep working on it so that you move closer to achieving your goals.

Is True Wireless Charging Around the Corner?

Wireless charging is a challenging technology. While the benefits are clear as day (imagine, only having the one cord to supply power to the charger itself!), the concept has yet to see the mass implementation and adoption one would expect it to. Today, we’ll look at this underperforming technology’s history, a few applications that could be seen in the future, and the holdups it is seeing currently.

The Charged-Up History of Electricity
As one might imagine, wires have been getting in people’s way since electricity was a widely adopted thing. This was one of the conundrums that Nikola Tesla, the underappreciated inventor and engineer, spent a considerable amount of his life trying to solve. Eventually, he devised a device that would leverage magnetic fields to transfer electricity, a device we know today as the Tesla coil.

Unfortunately, some guerilla marketing from his electric rival, Thomas Alva Edison, turned the public opinion away from Tesla’s approach and towards Edison’s. Basically, Edison took a murderous circus elephant named Topsy that was to be put down and volunteered to do it with Tesla’s electricity. However, not even the film Edison produced of Topsy being exposed to alternating current (a key facet to Tesla’s European-inspired approach) was quite enough to prevent AC from becoming the standard.

Eventually, Tesla’s coil was improved upon further. It ultimately found a place in contemporary radar systems. Yet, even as the technology became more powerful, it was difficult for a market to be found wherein to use it. This had the apparent effect of wasting the work done by the people of multiple private-sector businesses, as well as NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Enter the Smartphone
One of the biggest obstacles to the progress of wireless charging was the fact that, while wireless charging is logically connected to mobile devices, there was a lack of truly mobile devices until recent years. Cellular phones changed that, as the device was now meant to be fully portable, or in other words, mobile. Other devices quickly followed suit with charging capabilities.

However, even this revitalization of wireless charging due to mobile phones couldn’t change one fact: there was always going to need to be a wire. Even the most recent wireless chargers need to be plugged in before they will work, and really, what’s the real difference between plugging in a device, and setting it down just so?

What it Means to Really Be Wireless
In order for any technology that we develop to be marketable, it’s pretty much required to meet two key criteria: it has to work, and it shouldn’t do too much damage to the user.

While this might seem like a relatively low bar, that bar has yet to be met, or even a product introduced that tries. This lack of trying doesn’t reach quite all the way up the chain, however. Companies like Energous in Silicon Valley, Ossia from Bellevue, Washington, and uBeam from Santa Monica, California, have all worked on technologies that do meet the criteria outlined at the beginning of this section. As they find more success in developing uncoupled power solutions, a new paradigm takes form.

Someday, it may not be uncommon to see wireless charging spreading to devices other than smartphones. More and more IoT devices, like wearables, as well as medical devices, like hearing aids, may someday not need a dedicated charge cycle during which it can’t be used. However, until then, we will all have to wait.

Until that day comes, wireless charging will either be ineffective or underutilized… but what devices would you like to be able to charge wirelessly in the future? Tell us which and why in the comments.

What Effect Does Available Streaming Have on Your Employee’s Productivity?

Business owners know that streaming in the office can be a considerable detriment to productivity, but the type of media that is being streamed can play a large role in whether or not the workplace is enhanced or affected adversely by it. How does your organization approach streaming? Depending on its policies, you might want to change the way that you approach this touchy subject.

First, let’s outline some situations where streaming may be acceptable in the workplace.

Acceptable Uses of Streaming
Not all streaming is bad for your organization’s productivity. In certain cases, it can even be beneficial. For example, some employees work best when they are listening to music. In other cases, they may even need to drown out noise in the office, which can easily be done with their preferred tunes and a set of noise canceling headphones. This keeps everyone happy for the most part, and it’s as simple as allowing employees access to an online application like Spotify and Pandora.

There also might be reason to watch a video during your ordinary workday. If it’s an important news article pertinent to your industry or workplace trends, then perhaps it’s worth taking a look at it. Training videos, webinars, and other similar videos are in a similar boat, allowing you to learn something valuable through the experience. Regardless, it’s likely that you’ll be in a position where you need to stream something, whether you want to or not.

Unacceptable Uses for Streaming
Some employees just have a tendency to stream video at all times, which basically leads to them not getting as much work done. In other words, they are becoming a liability to both their own work ethic and your business’s mission. Streaming can also use up a lot of your bandwidth, which can create slowdown on your network for every other user.

If you have employees who just can’t stay off of streaming services like Youtube, Netflix, and Hulu, you can implement a content filter on a user basis. This can keep them focused on their work throughout the day by banning suspicious or wasteful sites. In fact, social media services and streaming websites can often be infested with malware and other threats, so it might not be a bad idea to consider banning them in the first place for those who are proving problematic.

Does your business need a content filter? Net Activity can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 216-503-5150..

Three Keys to Proper Software Management

Nowadays, every company relies on some kind of software in order to properly function, so you need to ensure that this software is properly managed in order to maintain operations. While this may sound like a grand undertaking, software management is relatively simple and can be whittled down into three steps: leveraging the assets available, testing your strategies, and understanding what it is you have.

Leveraging the Assets Available
One of your first priorities needs to be to find a solution that fulfills your needs, and to resist the temptation to follow the convenient route and simply find a solution that covers “enough” of them. After all, even if it actually does cover enough of your needs now, how can you be sure that your needs will still be covered later? This is why you need to select a solution that offers comprehensive coverage that won’t leave you piecing together your software strategy.

Most businesses need productivity suites and payroll/accounting software as a base. As operations get more complex, so will the software you use. Many of the top-tier productivity suites have software that can do multiple things for you, so knowing what your needs are, and how software will help, will go a long way toward solidifying a software strategy that will work for your business.

Managing Software Licenses
It’s important to understand your software licenses to avoid major issues. For example, there’s the possibility that a team member may overstep the terms of your agreement with the software developer or distributor by installing a single license on multiple machines. This kind of mistake can cost your organization a pretty penny. The only way to mitigate negative situations is to be prepared for the worst.

One way that you can do that is by getting with your IT administrator and ensure that he/she knows all the rights your organization has to its software. In doing so you will not only gain the peace of mind that your IT admin knows the situation, you will also get someone in-house who is more proficient dealing with licensing and other software problems. Ensuring all your software is registered, licensed, and working optimally has to be at the forefront of your IT department’ software plan.

Understanding What It Is You Have
As mentioned above, software is a big deal for almost every organization, and when it comes to managing the software you rely on, there is a laundry list of the things that you need to know. It’s not just about compatibility and cost, although those are two of the more major factors.

To accomplish comprehensive software management, you’ll want to produce a list of software and the requisite licenses they require. In this repository, you will want to break it down by the way the software is stored (endpoint, server, cloud, etc.), and you will want to include everything. From operating systems, to your CRM, to any productivity apps your staff uses.

Once you get the list built, with all the licensing information, you have to go back over the list and make sure that all of the software is legally being utilized by your company. This just puts any doubt to rest. It also gives you a chance to set reminders when critical software licenses expire, which is very useful if your IT department is focused on the litany of other issues your business has.

You also have to know how your staff uses the software you have; or, more specifically, how they misuse it. Your software costs are more than just how much you pay for your software, they also are manifested in the time spend learning, using, and troubleshooting the software they need to do business. By having a central repository that allows you to track costs and spending on the applications your organization uses, it makes it easier to trim the fat if need be.

Managing software doesn’t have to be filled with headaches. The trusted IT professionals at Net Activity Inc.can work to keep all of your organization’s software, hardware, and networking technology on the up and up. For more information call us today at 216-503-5150.

Keeping Your Mobile Data Safe

Oh no. You slap your pockets in a sudden panic, but you only confirm what you suddenly feared: you’ve lost your mobile device, the one with all of your business data on it. You haven’t an idea where you might have left it – all you know is that it’s just… gone.

This situation is far too familiar, and with the rising use of personal devices for work purposes, it has led to too many businesses becoming vulnerable to threats. Fortunately, there are steps to help mitigate the damage if your devices are ever absconded with.

1. Suspend any Financial Permissions to the Device
   One of the biggest benefits of mobile and online banking and finance management is the security that financial institutions enforce before allowing access. However, many of the security measures are easily circumvented by a user and their device’s password management. If a device is stolen, there’s a good chance that the thief will still be allowed to access many online accounts and make purchases on your (or your company’s) dime if password management is activated.

If your online accounts show signs of unauthorized use, reach out to the bank or lender immediately and explain the situation. They should have a fraud department whose job it is to handle exactly this kind of circumstance, and they will most likely refund the lost money. You should still babysit your finances, however, as the bank might not initially pay attention to smaller transactions.

2. Wipe ALL Passwords
   Yes, ALL passwords. Whether it was a mobile device or a laptop that was stolen from you, you need to access all accounts literally as soon as humanly possible and change every single password you have. On a second device, log into your browser and access any password manager you may be using, including the browser’s native capabilities or a utility like LastPass. This is unfortunate, but necessary: you need to systematically go through and delete every password from the password manager, uninstalling it. You also need to go to every site you have an account with and change your credentials to it. While this in undeniably a pain to deal with, it is less of a pain than a stolen account.
3. Make Sure Browser Sync is Deactivated
   If you happen to use a browser like Chrome or Firefox across multiple devices, you need to disable it before you start changing your passwords and credentials. Otherwise, any of your changes will automatically transfer over to the stolen device, rendering any of your efforts to block access thus far useless. So, once you’ve wiped the password for each account you have, turn off syncing. In Chrome, you can do this by accessing Settings > Advanced sync settings > Choose what to sync. Deselect everything and set a new password to encrypt your synced data. Then you are safe to start the password resetting process.

Secondary Measures
When it comes to finding a device that has been stolen, there are a few ways to make it easier to recover afterwards.

Note Your Serial Numbers
One of the most difficult parts of recovering a stolen laptop (or other device) that the police have recovered is proving that it belongs to you. However, if you keep a record of all of your devices and their serial numbers, you will be prepared to stake a claim to your devices once they are recovered.

To find your device’s identifying information, access Control Panel > System and Security > See the name of this computer. From there, you can take a screenshot that you can keep for your records.

You can also take pictures of the device itself, recording any identifying features and the like that could help to confirm that, should the computer be stolen and recovered, it belongs to you.

Keep Your Data Backup Updated
Unfortunately, many thieves know that it just makes more sense to wipe a stolen computer as quickly as possible – it makes it that much harder to find, after all. Plus, many thieves will use a secondhand shop as an unwitting fence to get rid of the hot device. These stores also will wipe the device before selling it. While this is good for your data security, it isn’t great for your data continuity… unless you’ve taken precautions and have maintained a data backup. Having a data backup means that, even if the thief wipes your valuable data, you haven’t lost the most valuable part of the device.

If your business finds itself in one of these positions, and you need assistance with any of these steps, we can help. Reach out to Net Activity at https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us.