As the manager of a coworking space, you walk a fine line. Your site must offer security while helping members and guests feel welcome. The following seven tips promote digital and physical security without interrupting ease-of-use. Create a Warm, Automated Welcome Automated attendance trackers deliver convenient yet controlled access to your shared workspace. Combine Kisi and KUBE door access systems to manage member and visitor logs as well as billing details. There is no need to have users register and pay for common use areas in advance. Users pay as they go, minimizing cancellations and billing disputes. As an added convenience, any user with a mobile device can begin working automatically. With access and billing aside, your reception staff can focus on welcoming clients, answering questions, and placemaking. Offer Private Wi-Fi As an alternative to shared wi-fi networks, private networks provide excellent digital security. Each user receives a unique code that doesn’t overlap with fellow users’ access. Consider linking access with membership. A single code issued to all members and guests does not provide the protection you need. Link access codes to users’ unique membership level as an additional layer of security. Have that code expire with the membership or expire after a certain duration of time for guests. Switch Up Guest Access If individualized wi-fi credentials for guests seems tedious, consider a simple guest wi-fi network and password. For added security, update log-ins at least every quarter, if not every month. Encourage Privacy with Filters Install an IP filtering system that can minimize undesirable data sharing and burdensome traffic loads. Not all data theft occurs digitally. Applying privacy screen filters on your in-house computer monitors limits the access of wandering eyes. Benefit from Member Education Education is key to risk mitigation. During new...

Google has eliminated 300 apps from its online store after discovering a secret plugin silently installed across several Android devices. The seemingly innocuous apps were all secretly outfitted with the WiredX botnet. WiredX commandeers vulnerable Android phones and tablets, using the gadgets to kick off a DD0S attack. While Google does not yet have an official account of just how many devices currently host the WiredX botnet, Chad Seaman, a senior engineer at Akamai, a cyber security firm, estimates the number could reach 70,000 or more. “I know in the cases where we pulled data out of our platform for the people being targeted we saw 130,000 to 160,000 (unique Internet addresses) involved in the attack,” said Seaman. Silent, but Deadly The initial WiredX outbreak occurred on August 17th, when several Content Delivery Networks (CDNS) reported similar DDoS attacks. A search for the source eventually landed at the doorstep of Google’s Play Store, prompting the tech firm to pull hundreds of affected applications from its store and initiate procedures to remove the malware from infected devices. “We identified approximately 300 apps associated with the issue, blocked them from the Play Store, and we’re in the process of removing them from all affected devices,” a Google spokesperson said. “The researchers’ findings, combined with our own analysis, have enabled us to better protect Android users, everywhere.” The apps chosen to host the plugin provided genuine services, like ringtones and video players, but included hidden malware designed to commandeer the device for potential DDoS attacks. Once powered on, any infected phone or tablet mainly served as a soldier in a broader DDoS army – all unbeknownst to the user. While the apps themselves operated as promised, the malware surreptitiously connected to an internet server run by the WiredX...

Hackers never sleep. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), data breaches increased by 40 percent last year, and the healthcare and business industries were amongst those hardest hit. Much of this increase can be attributed to the fact that Personally Identifiable Information (PII) including patient data and healthcare records present an alluring target to hackers. As Jay Shobe, Vice President, Technology at Yardi, explains: “Any centralized database is at risk of a breach. Because the cyber security continually evolves, it’s important to maintain constant network security that’s able to evolve as the threat evolves.” Yardi Takes Security Seriously. For healthcare providers and senior living communities, advances in software and data collection are helping keep costs, increasing operational efficiency and improving resident care. Unfortunately, advances in cloud-based productivity and convenience open the door to vulnerability. In Yardi’s latest whitepaper, Senior Living Data Security, senior living providers will get the latest information on the most common database and network vulnerabilities and discover how to protect their organization’s sensitive data with the industry’s most trusted cloud provider. Senior Living Data Security provides insight on the evolution and forecasts how data breaches will dominate the healthcare industry for years to come. Along with recommendations on how to develop robust security data protocols to safeguard sensitive information the whitepaper also provides suggestions on how to address network vulnerabilities and establish effective security protocols. Download Senior Living Data Security today, and see how multiple layers of security can help you stay proactive and hacker...

Though some experts predicted the final payoff would hit one billion dollars, Friday’s ransomware attack – believed to be one of the largest ever perpetrated – ended with a fizzle over the weekend with the hackers barely pulling in $26,000 before being  temporarily stopped in their tracks by an anonymous cyber security expert. Summarizing the situation Monday morning, Jan Op Gen Oorth, senior spokesman for Europol, told the AFP, “The number of victims appears not to have gone up and so far the situation seems stable in Europe, which is a success.” “It seems that a lot of internet security guys over the weekend did their homework and ran the security software updates.” A Simple Fix According to Gizmodo the damage was mitigated, in part, due to the quick action of an “anonymous 26-year-old security researcher” named MalwareTech, who managed to temporarily slow the spread of the ransomware attack late Friday. After discovering the domain name associated with the ransomware, iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwe- a.com was available for purchase for just $10.69, MalwareTech bought the domain and halted the attack. “Initially someone had reported the wrong way round that we had caused the infection by registering the domain, so I had a mini freak out until I realized it was actually the other way around and we had stopped it,” MalwareTech told The Guardian. According to Matthieu Suiche, founder of cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, MaltechWare’s registration of the domain stopped the malware from spreading throughout the US. “The kill switch is why the U.S. hasn’t been touched so far,” he told the New York Times on Saturday. “But it’s only temporary. All the attackers would have to do is create a variant of the hack with a different domain name. I would expect them to do that.” A Global Attack The flurry of ransomware attacks shut down several...