Hey guys attila here from Cylanda in this quick short on OMG otherwise known as one minute growth ideas for you and your business we’re going to talk about a very fun word two words that I really like it’s called counterproductive persistence counterproductive persistence there you go two words counterproductive persistence is something that we come across all the time is when we keep trying to solve that problem trying to finish that task keep trying to do the same thing over and over and over again and as we know doing the same thing over and over sometimes leads to insanity counterproductive productive persistence is recognizing that you’re stuck in a loop or maybe your co-workers or your team is stuck into it and it’s time to maybe just take a quick moment reset maybe take a minute of silence give yourself a little bit of stepping away from the problem to go back and come back had it stronger with a better perspective and to make better choices so remember counterproductive persistence it’s something that you and your team may be encountering every day and now you know what to do about it and that it really does exist stay safe out there I’m Attila with Cylanda
Author: Mars
The Importance of Strengthening Your Cyber Security Culture
A once widely held belief that IT is in charge of all things cyber security is changing across industries. Cyber security culture now must include everyone who has access to data. However, how clear is the understanding of this culture to every department in your organization? A report from ISACA and CMMI Institute found that only 34% of employees know what their role is where cyber security is concerned. This would indicate that the cyber security culture that is supposed to be all-inclusive is not hitting the mark. This is concerning when employees represent the weakest link in a cyber security plan–they leave “doors” open that cyber criminals easily detect. This happens mainly with poor password hygiene and the ease with which employees click on links that contain viruses. All of this can be prevented with a better education campaign.
Changing the Culture While a true culture change within an organization can take years, cyber security culture can’t wait that long. Everyone must share the same beliefs that are inherent in a high-functioning cyber security strategy. This will require commitment to change, which can be among the most difficult aspects of any shift in company culture. The process can be improved by offering a cause and effect scenario, which outlines various situations in which an employee can be the source of a disruption.
Basically, it comes down to accountability. Know Your Role If everyone knows the risks, do they also know what they can do to help? Do they have a distinct definition regarding their role in the strategy to prevent getting hacked? Some organizations have taken to regular “fire drills” where they initiate a staged event and everyone leaps into action. In this case, employees are each tackling their specific task and memorizing the steps they need to take. This will enable them to know exactly what to do if and when something actually does go awry.
Communication Your security team should be a sounding board for potential and current issues. People will make mistakes, and they should be encouraged to openly discuss them with the appropriate people without fear of retribution. Accountability is important, and by establishing a sense of trust, the organization will benefit. An option that could help shift the cyber security culture in your organization is going to a third party for the tools and services that improve safety, reduce risk and help define a more comprehensive strategy. Getting this assistance puts less pressure on your security team, giving them the flexibility to handle on-premise situations that can also lead to better security practices. Contact us today to learn more.
9 website security tips from experts
Here are 9 website security tips that can make a big difference if you take a day to work on them. Statistically, a regular small business website is attacked 44 times per day.
We see a lot of articles about simple 10-step tips on how to improve web security and how to make sure your website is safe from hackers, but sometimes it takes a bit more than good passwords and frequent updates. 
1. Start with password management tools. Every account should have a different password, so an evil-minded attacker can’t access all your accounts when one of them gets compromised.
Let your password manager calculate a strong password for you so that it would be extremely hard to brute force them. And of course – use two-factor authentication wherever you can.
2. Choose a good hosting provider for your website. Sometimes your website can be secure but if the host is targeted and their security is low it can get your website compromised as well.
Try managed hosting providers if you don’t feel confident enough to build a good technical environment for the site. Make sure to read the reviews.
Read more about if you should rely on hosting security here and learn about the dangers of shared hosting here.
3. Avoid running multiple sites on one server. Also, create a separate database for each site instead of using different prefixes. This will help you keep the sites isolated and will save you a lot of money if one of them gets hacked.
4. Back up your website regularly. Some hosting providers do it for you but no matter how secure your website is, there is always room for improvement.
At the end of the day, keeping an off-site backup somewhere is perhaps the best antidote no matter what happens.
5. Separate database from the file server. Experts recommend maintaining separate web servers and database servers for better website security. Though the cost may be prohibitive for small organizations, it does make sense when you have to handle customer credentials and other data.
6. Use HTTPS/TLS to encrypt data. There are more reasons than security in that but keeping your visitors/customers data secure should be your number one priority.
Change the admin username – During WordPress, Joomla or other CMS installation, you should never choose “admin” as the username for your main administrator account. Also, Disallow file-editing inside the CMS.
7. Disable features you don’t use. For example: disable registrations and commenting on your website if you’re not benefiting from them.
Remove all the plugins and themes that are not critical for your website functionality (especially the ones that are disabled or inactive).
8. Always patch regularly. Know what software your website is running, regularly check if there are any new vulnerabilities on any of your software and always update/patch them as soon as possible.
9. Build layers of security around your site. Just as you lock your doors before leaving your house and install antivirus software on your desktop computer before browsing the web, you should also have a security system to serve as your website’s first line of defense against hacking attacks.
We all agree – to achieve success in today’s world it is necessary to maintain an online presence, but it is equally as important to preserve it as well. Nowadays it’s more than important to invest in security.
Dangers of using USB Flash Drives
Malicious USB sticks are leveraged where an attacker needs physical access to a computer.
The first notorious incident was observed back in 2010 when the notorious Stuxnet worm was distributed via USB sticks to launch attacks on the networks of an Iranian facility.
Plugging an unattended USB flash drive to a host system or network is no less than a threat. Such drives can be infected with viruses and ransomware which later can be used to disrupt the operation of a business.
Purpose of using malicious USB sticks
Malicious USB sticks are leveraged where an attacker needs physical access to a computer. The first incident was observed back in 2010 when the notorious Stuxnet worm was distributed via USB sticks to launch attacks on the networks of an Iranian facility.
Other malware that used USB flash drives for propagation include:
The Duqu collection of computer malware.
The Flame modular computer malware.
What can a bad USB stick do?
A malicious device can install a wide range of malware such as backdoors, trojans, and information stealers. They can also install browser hijackers that will redirect a victim to the hacker’s website of choice, which could host more malware, or inject adware, spyware or greyware on target computers.
How to protect systems from malicious USB drives?
Do not plug unknown flash drives into computers that are critical to an organization, This is a social engineering tactic where the attacker relies on the curiosity of people.
Don’t use the same flash drive for home and work computers. This can reduce the risk of cross-contaminating your computers.
Always enable security features such as fingerprint authentication to secure USB drives. This will help protect the device from hackers.
Keep the software on your computer up-to-date as the update includes crucial patches for known vulnerabilities.
OMG - Silence
Hey guys Attila here from Cylanda in this episode of OMG otherwise known as 1-minute growth ideas we’re going to talk about silence. Can you believe that? You know during the workplace it’s like people are uncomfortable with silence you know just being quiet for a moment. Sometimes will give you the answer that you’re looking for, you know you’ve got a lot of problems a lot of people asking you questions want you to do things guess what one minute of silence can save you 20 minutes of hardship, discontentment, arguments, making the wrong choice and so I challenge you today one minute of silence can you do it when everything is going crazy and you’re not sure where to turn one minute silence can help your brain reset. That’s what we’re here to do right preset make better choices and get better maybe today Im Attila with Cylanda Stay Safe
OMG - Eat that frog
Hey guys Atilla here you know most of us me included use something called a calendar to keep track of our days and plan things out ahead of time and you know well a lot of us use these things I do as well some of us still use these things which are these paper calendars if you can believe it right and I use both and there’s something that goes onto my calendar every day and this is something that’s hard to do digitally but very easy to do on paper and that’s called putting your frog onto your calendar it’s really easy right you draw a little frog and then right next to that frog you put the big frog you got to eat that day what that means is what’s that big mean thing that you need to do. do you need to perhaps you know have a sit-down conversation with someone who needs a little bit of your attention and give them some guidance maybe your kid has some problem at school and you need to address that maybe there’s some challenge financially that you need to figure out a solution to right.
These are the kind of problems that we all have to face because there’s a you know we all have similar situations and you know putting that big frog on your counter first means that you know get it out of the way first thing in the morning. If it goes on until the afternoon it can drag on for days or not weeks so getting that frog out of the way is my recommendation to you. What frog do you have today that maybe you didn’t take care of this morning and you know you should and maybe you’re putting it off eating that frog is not my analogy that’s something I think from perhaps zig Ziglar. He was a great you know inspiration to a lot of people who are out there in the business world and hopefully if he got it from somewhere else then he’s given credit to that person but anyways I’m Attila with Cylanda and hopefully this is giving you a little bit of an idea and inspiration for today.
About the Cylanda Total Security Firewall
Hi there I’m Attila with Cylanda and I’m here to introduce you to the total security appliance it’s something that we provide our clients to protect their business networks from all those nasty things that are out on the Internet now this box uses artificial intelligence to protect your business network from viruses from ads and it also really watches the inside of your network for anything that’s going on that could be unusual and alerts you about it and so that you can do something about it before it becomes a problem now there’s many compliance requirements out there that have need for this such as HIPAA SOCK NIST and this meets those requirements for you we provide you with all kinds of reports but best of all we manage it for you so you don’t have to train your staff or have any sort of learning curve we just come in take care of for you and it’s all done so if you are interested in this product feel free to reach out we can help thank you.
Presentation Tips
Presentation tips
Hey guys Attila here now if you’ve ever seen me talk in front of a group of people or in an event you’ve probably noticed that I’ve kind of done this before and especially if you see a PowerPoint behind me usually that is nice and clear and it kind of helps to educate the audience as well as engage with them.
So I thought I’d just give you three quick tips that you can use for yourself if you’re ever going to go out and speak with a group of people or if you’re going to even go on the air and convey some information either on live TV or something that’s recorded you want to record a webinar or something like that. So anyways here’s my three tips. The first one is to start off with the story now I’m not sure if you know this but the human brain remembers story is a lot better than facts and figures and sometimes presenters make the mistake of starting off with you know some shocking facts or a bunch of figures or showing a chart and sometimes that can kind of lose the audience up front. So, if you do have to convey something with maybe some statistics behind it starting off with the story is a good place to start and be sure to smile. You know that’s something I come struggle with a lot I try to smile but when I look kind of creepy so I’m really working on making my smile better I think it’s an ongoing life process and you’re probably going to have to live with that and go through that yourself.
Number one start with a story, number two is to keep your presentation simple. Now if you’ve ever used PowerPoint extensively you perhaps just like me got stuck in the animation section and that’s when you can make text fly-in you can make things appear and swirl around and show up on the screen that’s great but really stay away from that in fact some of the best presenters I’ve ever seen have kept it super simple. This one guy even used you know just a piece of paper and broke on like a little thing with a little projector behind it and that’s how we conveyed is information so you know I’ve seen some celebrity speak and when they talk they have maybe of 10-15 slides tops and they already know the content of the material and the slides are meant to just trigger a memory or trigger a story or trigger an experience and that’s what they want to share with you and as a presenter that’s what you want to share with them yourself if you have an expertise and there’s something in particular why not just put up a little trigger image and say oh let me tell you about the time when bla bla bla bla bla right and then then you can convey that information the audience they can learn from it they can benefit from your wisdom.
Okay now the third thing to end with and this is a probably something I picked up from doing a lot of interviews and that is with ending with a good vision of the future so, sometimes when you start off with this great idea you convey it to the audience is conveyed clearly but then the audience doesn’t really know what to do with it. Let’s say you want to talk about alternative energy well why not end the conversation or end the presentation with some vision of the future what we’re all driving clean cars we all have clean energy and it’s a possibility and it’s something that’s hopeful for the future so end with something positive and you know what no one can predict the future we all know that I think you know blockbuster could have predicted the future they would have done things a little bit differently.
When we go out and we present in front of a group of people we do really want to start off with something that’s memorable right so start off with a story keep it simple so don’t go crazy with your presentation trying to use trigger images and trigger words to help you convey the information that you already know is inside of you. Number three end with a positive vision of the future where you think that your product service or idea might go anyways I hope that helps if you have any questions or want some more advice feel free to reach out always here to help Aloha
Video on Focus
FOCUS
Hey guys Attila here do you know anyone who does a lot of things like maybe they I don’t know shoot video and then they do gardening and then they also raise animals and do five other things that you might think are kind of not related but kind of are because you can do them.
Now here’s a little secret that maybe most people don’t know about me is that I’m actually really good at computer stuff but I’m also really good at other things too and it’s really kind of a problem and that kind of problem can lead to be really unfocused. Other things that are really good at is I’m really good at putting things together building things from out of wood and other materials I’m also really kind of good at art fact I’m pretty good at art and I play five instruments. I used to be a professional dancer if you can believe that and I’ve done a lot of things throughout the years and involve all kinds of things in the computer space they’re not necessarily cybersecurity related. So, I can write code built datacenters done a lot a telecom work and all these different things are a lot of fun but really when you start to narrow it down it’s very difficult to really do well with any of them if you’re doing all of them does that make sense?
Hopefully this video is for someone like you or someone that you know who is talented and does a lot of things really well but is still struggling to get ahead. What to do about it and guess what? it’s easier than you think it’s take one of them and do it really well because we live in a world where if you don’t do things with excellence you fall behind because guess what the next person is really focused on doing that one thing if let’s say you have a real passion for computers and you see that there’s this broad field available and there’s all these things out there. One thing that really gets you going is let’s just say it’s coding you really like to code but at the same time you really like to tinker with putting computers together well guess which one you should be doing? The coding! that’s right because coding pays more right? it’s fun and it makes you feel good there’s a lot of people in other countries that put computers together for fractions of a cent per hour and you’re not going to beat it so pick the thing and go deep so spend all your time on it.
Why not become the expert because if you wont someone else will and then if you’re the expert guess what starts to happen? You get compensated for it and now you get compensated more than the next guy because you become more of an expert then the next person who’s doing five other things. So hopefully this is giving you some ideas something that you can do in your own life.
What I recommend is just make a list make an inventory of the things that you are really good at the things that you like to do and put a star next to the ones that you like to do the most. Maybe read yourself how good are you with these things from 1 to 5 and which one are you spending most of your time on. Now if you’re at a 4 out of 5 for all these things then guess what you need to pick one and take it to a 5 out of 5 and do that one a little bit more and see if you can get compensated
for it because that’s what’s going to make your life better right doing the thing that you’re really good at and getting compensated well for it and being able to get better at it every single day hopefully that gives you some ideas anyways guys I’m Attila stay well
Surrounding yourself with this one thing can add years to your life
Loomy, gray cityscapes making you crave the feeling of sitting beneath a lush, green tree canopy? You aren’t alone. But there is more to being in nature than lifting the spirits or breathing fresh air. It could add years to your life. People in urban areas worldwide who live close to a park, garden, or other natural area are at lower risk of premature death, according to a scientific review recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Researchers used a “vegetation index” to measure the density of flora living in any given area. On their scale, tropical rainforests would get a score close to 1, while barren rock or sand would score closer to 0. They found that the higher the vegetation index, the lower the rate of premature death. The fact that parks are good for you is no surprise. But more intriguing is what happens to people’s health when green spaces change. When an area’s vegetation index increases by just 0.1, the people who live within a third of a mile from it lower their rate of premature mortality by around 4 percent. In other words, the more plant life you have around you, the better your chances of living a longer life. Painting the town green Researchers examined studies from the United States, Canada, Spain, Italy, Australia, Switzerland, and China on this topic and all follow this trend. All together these studies combined included more than eight million people. But, this analysis doesn’t answer the question of why proximity to plants is a good for human health. However, it does confirm the finding that being near green spaces really is good for you and most importantly, the effect likely applies to you, no matter where you live or visit in the world. More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the number is rising. This means the public health benefits of these green spaces could affect a lot of people. But some cities have better access to green space than others — which means certain people might be losing out on those extra years. People living in Atlanta, Dallas, and Portland, Oregon are all doing well, with 850 square feet or more of green space per resident. However New York City, Boston, and Miami are barren wastelands by comparison, with less than 200 square feet per resident.
Green space’s benefits aren’t limited to physical health, either. Mental health improves when people are close to leafy green spaces. In a study published earlier this year, for example, researchers found that growing up in nature led to better mental health across a person’s lifespan. The type of green space makes a difference. Between grass, shrubs, and tree canopy, tree canopy coverage has the greatest payoff for humans’ health, and is associated with lower psychological distress. They can also improve your quality of life in other ways: Urban green spaces curb air pollution, noise, and the urban heat island effect. Together, the results suggest cities should step up their urban greening programs and keep public parks public — the lives of their residents may depend on it.
I’m Attila. Be well.
Psychology of Being Late
Psychology of Being Late
Hey guys Atilla here I’d like to tell you about the three most commonly used words I guess it’s a phrase so this phrase in the English language. You might think that those three words would be “I love you” but you would be wrong. The three most common words are “sorry I’m late” isn’t that interesting? How many people are constantly late to things. We’re not talking extremely late but usually a few minutes late anywhere from 5 to 10 to 15 minutes tops late for an appointment for a meeting start a few minutes late here start a few minutes late there.
Haven’t you ever wondered are these people disrespectful? Do they not value their time? Do they not value your time? Guess what? I’m one of those people so I had to do a little bit of work I had to figure out why was I turning up just a few minutes late every single time and what could I do about it and I discovered some interesting things so I thought I’d share it with you. So really what it is that people who are late by a few minutes such as me. I guess we don’t disrespect time in fact we value time quite a bit now think about it what’s worse showing up early and being awkward not having anything to do have to sit there on your phone have to wait I have to tap your foot I have to stare at the ceiling or is it better to just come a few minutes late and just jump right into it. I think we all know the answer to that right being a few minutes late a few minutes early often is considered a waste of time to people who highly value time so I really value my time so showing up early and missing out on 10 to 15 minutes of productivity is really not good so I’d rather just try to cut it close. If I’m a few minutes late after that usually it’s not that big of a deal but we all know that everyone doesn’t like it so I wanted to do something about that.
I want to give you some of the advice that I picked up from you know looking on the internet and maybe you can use it for yourself in case you’re chronically late a few minutes to appointments here’s the thing set it your appointment for 10 minutes early so if you have a one 1:00 you now have a 12:50 and you know that kind of put a different anchor in your mind in terms of when you need to leave to be at that appointment? what you need to accommodate or get ready for? Believe it or not if you do that you’ll actually arrive probably a few minutes early and that’s just enough to cut it. But you won’t find that out until you try it. The first step is 10 minutes early. The second step which is the most important is schedule yourself something to do in those 10 minutes so for instance, let’s say you have an email that’s been nagging at the back of your mind says hey you really need to get back to that person schedule that for that 10 minute window if you’ve fallen behind on some news that you’d like to follow maybe who knows Tesla news. That’s always exciting just say look how I’m gonna spend 10 minutes on Tesla news before that appointment starts? Let’s just say there’s something, a phone call you want to make you know you want to catch up with some family members or friends and just let them know about something that’s coming up. Hey that 10 minute window is perfect for that so scheduled that for that 10 minute window. This way you’re not losing time you’re not losing productivity time and you’re not showing up late and it’s not awkward so hopefully those two tips helped.
Let’s just recap for you number one schedule 10 minutes early because there’s a good chance that there will be a delay and you’ll end up being on time anyway but number 2 even still schedule something to do in that 10 to 15 minute window where you’re showing up early for that appointment that way you’re not wasting any time. You value time. I value time. Hopefully these two tips will help you out. I’m a Atilla and stay well out there. Aloha
Scams to Watch Out for in 2019
It is estimated that older adults lose billions of dollars to scammers each year. But there is good news last year the Federal Trade Commission noted that older consumers are more likely to report they’ve been victimized by financial exploitation than their younger counterparts.
Here are three scams that are notably making the rounds.
1. Beware of Social Security spoofing calls
There’s been a significant uptick in fraudulent telephone calls from people claiming to represent the Social Security Administration (SSA). In them, unknown callers threaten victims that they face arrest or other legal action if they fail to call a provided phone number or press the number indicated in the message to address the issue. Sometimes the scammers switch tactics and say that they want to help an individual activate a suspended Social Security number. They may even “spoof” the actual Social Security hotline number to appear on the recipient’s phone: 1-800-772-1213.
If you receive one of these calls, hang up. Know that Social Security rarely contacts persons by phone unless you have ongoing business with them and they never make threats about arrest or legal action.
Report suspicious calls to the SSA Office of the Inspector General by calling 1-800-269-0271 or submitting a report on the OIG website.
2 Watch for a new twist on the old grandparent scam
The grandparent scam has been around for several years. In this approach, a person calls an older adult pretending to be a grandchild who’s been involved in an accident or legal trouble and needs money immediately.
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that instead of using wire transfer or gift cards, an increasing number of older adults are mailing cash to these fraudsters, with a median individual loss of $9,000. According to reports, the scammers often ask seniors to divide the bills into envelopes and place them between the pages of a magazine, then send them using various carriers, including UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Postal Service.
The FTC warns that if you or a loved one receives one of these calls, don’t act right away. Call that grandchild back on a correct phone number and verify their whereabouts. If you’ve mailed cash, report it right away to the Postal Service or shipping company you used. Some people have been able to stop delivery by acting quickly and giving a tracking number. Be sure to also file a complaint to the FTC at FTC.gov/complaint.
3. Only work with reputable agencies after a natural disaster
Wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes—these unpredictable forces of nature can be devastating to those living in affected areas. Even those not directly affected may want to lend support in whatever way they can.
Unfortunately, natural disasters are a golden opportunity for scammers, who target both those who’ve been directly affected and those who want to offer their support. Natural disaster scams typically start with unsolicited contact by telephone, social media, e-mail, or in person. Scammers may:
Impersonate charities to get money or private information from well-meaning consumers.
Set up fake websites with names that mimic legitimate charities to trick people into sending money.
Pretend to be from the IRS and collect personal information under the guise of helping victims file loss claims and get tax refunds.
To find reputable charities to support victims of natural disasters, use the IRS’s tax exempt organization search or look for an organization’s charity rating on places such as Guidestar and Charity Navigator.
If you’re a disaster victim, use NCOA’s BenefitsCheckUp® disaster assistance tool to find legitimate help with relief and financial assistance.
Pass it on!
One of the most important ways to avoid becoming a victim of a scam is to pass along information about scams that are making the rounds. Through the Pass It On campaign, the FTC offers free materials you can download or order and share in your community to protect older adults from scams.