Day: April 5, 2021

When you visit a site, probably for the first time or from a new device or browser, you will see an alert that mentions the site uses Cookies to offer you a more personalized experience and asks you if you are okay with it. Let’s admit it. A lot of us don’t even bother to read what the notification says before we click “Accept” and move on with our browsing.

Cookies are tiny information packets that store data related to your interaction and behavior on websites. It is like walking into your favorite local diner and having them serve up the “usual” instantly. Cookies, track your digital footprint on a website and allow the site to offer you a more personalized browsing experience. For example, let’s say you visited Amazon.com and looked at some cameras, perhaps you put one into your cart as well, but never checked out, or added one to your wishlist on the site. The next time the camera is on a sale, Amazon app sends you a notification about the price reduction. That happens with the help of cookies. And, that’s just one example. Cookies are not necessarily limited to shopping sites.You know how sometimes you can save your password for some sites, so you don’t have to type it or log in every time you visit the website? You are able to do that because of cookies. Any site can have cookies, though shopping and banking sites can’t function without them. These are known as session cookies and are absolutely indispensable, while some like persistent cookies make your web browsing experience more pleasant and the third party cookies, while not very pleasant, are used basically to facilitate online advertising. How do cookies become a security threat, then?

Cookies become a security threat when hackers get access to them. If hackers hijack your cookies, they can get access to your session, your passwords and other related online activities. Hackers sometimes create “Super Cookies” and “Zombie cookies” to steal information from authentic cookies. Such cookies are difficult to identify and delete and sometimes work like worms replicating themselves, thus making it more difficult to get rid of them. Hackers can also steal your cookies if they get access to your network or to the server of the website you are visiting. For example, if your bank’s or shopping website’s server was hacked into, chances are, the hacker has access to your cookies and thereby all your account details.

If you liked what you read, then check out our whitepaper, The cookie monster is coming for you, for a more detailed account of the threats posed by cookies and how you can manage them better.

“Life is not about sheltering yourselves from the rain, it is about learning to dance in the storm”, goes a popular saying. But, if you are a small business, you first need to shelter your assets from the rain, before you can afford to dance in the storm without a care in the world. Hurricanes, tornadoes and thunderstorms can catch you off-guard resulting in losses worth thousands of dollars. Your inventory may be damaged, your place of business may be flooded and your critical business data lost. While most small businesses do take timely steps to ensure their inventory and place of business are protected from natural disasters, a lot of them tend to overlook the risk such natural disasters pose to their IT infrastructure and data. To many, it doesn’t seem to be that big an issue–and invariably, this is where they go wrong. Data loss due to natural calamity or any other reason can cause significant damage to a business, resulting in extreme consequences such as complete business shutdown. Safeguarding your data shouldn’t be a project you embark upon after a hurricane warning is issued.

In this post we discuss the steps you can take to mitigate the risks natural disasters pose to your data and IT infrastructure.

• Recognize the need for data safety, security and recovery in times of disaster.
• Bring together your key resources and create a team that’s responsible for implementing your disaster backup and recovery plan.
• Identify the key areas that need to be addressed. In the event of a disaster, what are the processes that absolutely need to function to keep your business going and what needs to be done so they still function smoothly?
• Prepare a solid disaster recovery-business continuity plan. You can enlist your in-house IT team or bring an MSP onboard to do this.
• Create a list of all the software programs, applications and hardware that are critical to your business process.
• Include floor plans, physical access details, entry-exit security codes etc, pertaining to your place of business in the plan.
• Include information about your backups in the disaster recovery and business continuity plan.
• Conduct mock drills and audits to ensure your plan is executable and gives you the intended results.

All of this can be overwhelming, especially with a business to run and a Hurricane to watch out for! That’s why most SMBs rely on trusted managed service providers to do it for them, while they focus on their core area–managing their business and customers.