Ted, Al and Amy all attended the CompTia ChannelCon conference last week. Amy also spoke there on ransomware prevention.
It’s a terrible topic but you need to know about ransomware and how to avoid it. If you haven’t been through our training program yet I really want you to get that on our schedule. It’s very important that everyone that touches a computer understand how to avoid getting your data encrypted.
In addition to the precautions that we’ve taken behind the scenes on your network and the diligence that you’re providing, Windows 10 is also working in the background on your behalf. Here’s a short description on what it’s doing for you:
Windows Defender plus Device Guard: It does what is referred to as near-instant file verification. This means when you download a file, Windows Defender, will take 1-4 seconds to check the file against a database held by Microsoft to see if this file has been known to be infected and it runs a traditional virus scan on it too.
There’s an additional new feature of Windows Defender that we’ll be testing that also checks executable files against a known good database and blocks that file from running until it has determined whether it is malicious or not. This also takes 1-4 seconds. We’ll be testing the real world impact of enabling this feature. This is called block at first sight and is supposed to protect you from the new malicious files that are created daily.
Intune: With Windows 10 and Enterprise Management Service you get a feature called Intune and this enables a service called Windows Information Protection. It’s amazing. It allows an employee to open files that you share with them only in the applications that you allow and it allows them to only save it to the location from which they got it. It further doesn’t allow sending of the file to a personal email account, taking a screenshot of it, putting it into a personal dropbox folder, saving it locally on the computer, etc. They can work using the tools provided but they can’t leak your data into their personal local or cloud storage.
Now that we have remote workers, the cloud, mobile devices and bring your device happening almost everywhere data leakage has become a huge issue for businesses.
Hello: Hello is the new password press login to your computer. It can log you in with a PIN or your face. It also supposed two-factor authentication and knows if you’ve changed locations. It only asks for your password if it detects that something has changed or it can’t identify your face. I use it; it works amazingly well. No long can you fool these types of authentication. They require live-ness indicators to met in order to pass authentication. You have to blink, be warm, for finger print there must be evidence of 3-d, warmth and moisture for example.
Trusted Apps: Microsoft has created a new category of applications in it’s store called Trusted Apps. These are applications signed by a known trusted security source like Microsoft and a handful of other security firms.
There are actually too many things to mention. The number of new security features is staggering. I hope that you enjoyed learning a little bit about what your computer is doing to protect you.
– Amy Babinchak. president, Harbor Computer Services
About Harbor Computer Services
Harbor Computer Services is an IT firm servicing Southeastern Michigan. We work exclusively under contract with our clients to provide technology direction and either become the IT department or provide assistance to the internal IT they already have. We have won many awards for our work over the years, including the worldwide Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2010. We’re the smallest firm to have ever won this most prestigious award. Most recently we were recognized as one of the top 20 visionaries in small business IT by ChannelPro Magazine (2015). And in 2016 as the top Michigan IT firm for Manufacturing. There are a few simple things that make Harbor Computer Services the best choice for your business. •We are Professionals •We are Responsible •We are Concerned About The Success of Your Business
