Manoharan Mudaliar

Cyber Security Consultant

Manoharan Mudaliar

Manoharan Mudaliar
Consultant and Blogger

The Advantages of Cloud Computing for Businesses

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Advantages of Cloud Computing for Businesses

The rise of cloud computing has made the limitations of conventional IT infrastructures far more apparent. As a result, businesses with inefficient IT environments are struggling to adapt and respond to marketplace trends and changes as they occur.

Luckily, cloud adoption can address most of these issues. According to a RightScale survey that was conducted in 2018, 96% of respondents used at least one private or public cloud system. 71% used a hybrid private-public cloud system, 21% used a public cloud system, whereas 4% used a private cloud system.

If you’re on the fence about making the switch to the cloud, this piece will walk you through the many advantages that cloud adoption provides to businesses. Take a look:

Read moreThe Advantages of Cloud Computing for Businesses

A Useful Guide to Web Application Pen-Testing

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Guide to Web Application Pen-Testing

Penetration testing, or pen testing for short, is one of the most commonly used cybersecurity protocols for web applications. The premise of pen testing is to simulate unauthorized cyberattacks, both internally and externally, to gain access to sensitive information.

The end-user essentially behaves as a hacker would, exploiting potential vulnerabilities, but in a controlled environment. The point is to find any security vulnerabilities so they can be patched.

I’ve prepared this in-depth piece to guide you on what’s involved in the complex and systematic process that is web application pen-testing.

Read moreA Useful Guide to Web Application Pen-Testing

Ransomware 101: Facts, Threats, and Countermeasures

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Ransomware 101

The last two years have seen ransomware become a substantial threat to individuals and businesses in the US. As the name suggests, ransomware—a type of malware—holds victims’ files to ransom. The targeted individual or organization risks losing their files altogether or sustain a financial loss if they choose to pay.

According to a 2019 report by The Beazley Group, small and medium-sized businesses, which typically spend less on information security, were the most at risk of ransomware attacks.

While the average ransomware demand in 2018—a staggering $116,000—was skewed by some exceptionally large demands, the median demand was $10,310. A Safety Detectives analysis found that the average projected cost of ransomware-caused downtime per incident in 2020 was $283,800.

In this piece, we’ll provide an in-depth guide to ransomware facts, threats, and countermeasures.

Read moreRansomware 101: Facts, Threats, and Countermeasures

Cloud Security in 2020: Understanding Misconfiguration Risk

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Cloud Security in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a seismic shift in how we work, forcing many organizations across the globe to adopt a work-from-home model.

However, the transition to remote work has left a majority of IT professionals concerned about security breaches. According to a recent report by Fugue, 96% of cloud engineering and IT teams are working from home, and 84% are concerned about the security vulnerabilities that come with managing cloud infrastructures remotely.

One of the major findings of the report is that cloud misconfigurations are a leading cause of data breaches in the cloud. Between 2018 and 2019, cloud misconfigurations cost companies an estimated $5 trillion.

In this piece, we’ll discuss cloud misconfiguration risks in detail.

Read moreCloud Security in 2020: Understanding Misconfiguration Risk

Hardware End-of-Life Data Breaches: What You Need to Know

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Hardware End-of-Life Data Breaches

Cyber threats and cybersecurity go hand in hand; as one evolves, so must the other. As cybercriminals modify their strategies and methods in response to enhanced cybersecurity measures, cybersecurity solutions need to become more invasive and sophisticated. However, there’s one aspect of cybersecurity that leaves organizations vulnerable to data breaches: hardware end-of-life.

The Official Annual 2017 Cybercrime Report released by Cybersecurity Ventures estimated that worldwide spending on cybersecurity services and products would surpass $1 trillion from 2017 to 2021. However, while this does indicate prioritization of cybersecurity on the part of organizations, none of this spending accounts for hardware end-of-life, despite it being a relatively small expense.

In this piece, I’ll go over what organizations should know about hardware end-of-life data breaches.

Read moreHardware End-of-Life Data Breaches: What You Need to Know

A Look at Pen Testing in the Age of Cloud Computing

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Testing in the Age of Cloud Computing

According to a recent report by Fugue, cloud misconfigurations are the leading cause of data breaches in the cloud. Between 2018 and 2019, cloud misconfigurations cost companies an estimated $5 trillion worldwide.

With this in mind, cybersecurity measures for cloud computing must account for the kinds of cloud misconfigurations that would occur as a result of user error. Penetration testing, or pen testing for short, must be able to attack and correct these cloud misconfigurations.

In this piece, I provide recommendations for ways to approach pen testing in a cloud infrastructure.

Read moreA Look at Pen Testing in the Age of Cloud Computing

Ransomware Variant Pezi

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A new ransomware variant spotted. PEZI

After analysis, it seems to be an updated version of Djvu and not possible to decrypt offline. The only way to decrypt is online.

Online ID. In most cases, the ransomware is able to connect to its command and control servers when it encrypts files. When this happens, the servers respond by generating random keys for each infected computer. Since each computer has its unique key, you can’t use a key from another computer to decrypt your files. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to recover files for the current version.

Ransom note:

ATTENTION!

Don’t worry, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees you have?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.
You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:
https://we.tl/t-gSEEREZ5tS
Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that’s price for you is $490.
Please note that you’ll never restore your data without payment.
Check your e-mail “Spam” or “Junk” folder if you don’t get answer more than 6 hours.

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:
helpmanager@mail.ch

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
restoreadmin@firemail.cc

ransomnote_email: helpmanager@mail.ch

sample_extension: .pezi

sample_bytes: [0x4F203 – 0x4F229] 0x7B33364136393842392D443637432D344530372D424538322D3045433542313442344446357D