Ion Technology Group is thrilled that employees can continue to work from home to some degree.  Businesses must do what they can during these difficult times to keep their business in motion.  Today, businesses may be taking on water, but it is easier to bail while the ship is moving.  One-way businesses are attempting to keep afloat is through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access.  There is a secure way and an insecure way for business to remotely operate.  The insecure way is to simply open RDP access to the network and further gain access to your business resources.  If you can do this, then the bad actors of the world also have an opportunity to do the same.  And it is no surprise, attacks have parabolically increased in the last two months.  In February, Ion Technology Group talked about this as a preamble to where we are today (4 Benefits of a VPN for Your Business).

Why are the bad actors successful?  The bad actors, through automation, will turn on their port scanners (free tools) for open RDP ports, go to bed, wake up the following morning and see what networks have responded.  Part 1 is complete.  They now know who is vulnerable and who is not.  Part 2 incorporates brute force attacks or credential stuffing.  With a little bit of effort, they can determine the company behind the open RDP port and further use Social Medial information to target businesses.  Through Credential stuffing, stolen lists of user information will be used, again through automation, to run millions of specific (or random) usernames and password combinations against the open RDP ports.  And if there is a response (Part 3), the bad actors have now gained access to your network and your data.  The odds are low that the bad actors will be successful, but the odds are high enough that this approach is used millions of times a day and is yielding millions of dollars in ransom.

What to do?  It’s quite simple.  Configure an appropriate device in front of your network that allows secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) access.  Business users can now connect to the VPN through VPN Services with a couple of mouse clicks and then use RDP to access your network in a secure manner.  With a setup like this, the bad actors who have scanned the Internet for open RDP ports will no longer see an open port and move on to other vulnerable networks.  You are no longer an easy target.

If you need assistance or would like to talk about your setup, contact ION Technology Group in Voorhees, NJ.  They give personal attention to each customer and can answer any questions you have. They offer network engineering and design, computer repairs, cloud services, and VPNs. Visit their website or call (856) 719-1818 to learn more about their IT support options.