System Integrity and Complete Malware Protection

Today, cybersecurity firms Avanan, Cigent, PC Matic, and Strategic Solutions Unlimited announced they have joined forces to provide a “one-stop shop” for those seeking Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Last year, in January, we wrote about the DoD releasing their first manual for CMMC. As a refresher, “CMMC guidelines regulate organizations looking to do work on government contracts. Therefore, it’ll decrease the likelihood or severity of a breach in data. Eventually these guidelines will be required to work on government projects.”

File share security has been in the news repeatedly with data theft and ransomware attacks. Third party agencies, the ones the DoD is looking to regulate with CMMC guidelines, are the main culprits of many of these incidents. A healthy security stack is needed to prevent ransomware and security breaches. The partnership between PC Matic and these other cybersecurity firms aims to do just that.

Cyber Hygiene

The CMMC program was established to enhance the protection of sensitive information through five cyber hygiene levels. Each level builds on the previous one and has its own domain requirements. The DoD specifies the required level needed for suppliers to participate in specific contracts that require them to handle both Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Federal Contract Information (FCI). CMMC compliance also requires vendors to have an approved “technology stack” – a set of cybersecurity products that, along with other hygiene requirements, protect CUI and FCI. Developing the stack and achieving compliance can prove difficult for many organizations which led to the formation of the “one-stop-shop” approach.

Through the partnership, Avanan, Cigent, PC Matic and Strategic Solutions provide affordable, cloud managed security solutions that target exact requirements for any desired level of compliance. The partnership also enables organizations to efficiently put technology stacks in place that are compatible and properly integrated. This approach enables organizations to affordably achieve compliance at the highest of CMMC levels without the burden of searching for, deploying, and managing one-off solutions.

The Breakdown

Each firm will have its own responsibilities within the partnership.

Avanan – Email and File Share Security

The number one breach threat for users is phishing emails that aim to steal sensitive information. Malware incidence also occurs often where viruses hide in emails and act upon opening. Avanan recognizes these urgent dangers and tackles cyber-attacks through proactive email security that captures, scans, and remediates targeted issues before attacks get to a user’s inbox. If the email is not malicious, it gets delivered. To ensure users are not exposed from any angle, these security measures extend to internal, inbound, and outbound emails, as well as collaboration on file share apps. Avanan’s “Complete Malware” service option covers level three email protections and sandboxing for the following domain: System and Information Integrity (SI)

Cigent – CUI Protection and Network Security Monitoring

Cigent’s Dynamic Data Defense Engine (D³E): Protection of CUI is a critical requirement of CMMC level three. Cigent’s Dynamic Data Defense Engine (D³E) Zero Trust file access controls utilize multi-factor authentication to protect CUI from data theft and ransomware, even if a system is compromised. Its authentication capabilities also allow individuals or organizations of all sizes to encrypt and control access to sensitive files. Those files can be securely stored in any location and shared with only trusted users.

Cigent Secure SSD: Cigent Secure SSDs also protect CUI. This first and only family of self-defending storage devices have cybersecurity built into the firmware itself. They include a dedicated security processor that relies on machine learning to detect and respond to ransomware, a keep-alive sensor that automatically encrypts sensitive files if security software is bypassed, and a “safe room” that makes data invisible to any attacker. When paired withD³E, sensitive data stays protected throughout the entire device lifecycle

Affordable Security for Networks

Cigent for Networks (C4N): The C4N service offers network security monitoring and features several layers of advanced network detection and response technology, fully managed by Cigent cybersecurity experts 24/7. Best of all, C4N is affordable, easy to install, and immediately effective.

Cigent technology meets CMMC controls for levels one through three and addresses the following domains: Access Control (AC), Audit and Accountability (AU), Security Assessment (CA), Configuration Management (CM), Identification and Authentication (IA), Incident Response (IR), Maintenance (MA), Media Protection (MP), Risk Management (RM), System and Communications Protection (SC), System and Information Integrity (SI).

PC Matic – Whitelist Management

What is whitelisting for ransomware and cyber threats? Similar to how a firewall uses a deny-all, allow-by-exception approach to only allow approved traffic onto a network, whitelisting is the act of employing a deny-all, allow-by-exception security posture at the endpoint. A deny-all approach is the only way to proactively prevent threats; all other detect-and-respond approaches (e.g., EDR, MDR, TDR, XDR, etc.) require the threat to occur before they can counter it.

Thanks to its global and patented digital-code-signing-certificate lists, PC Matic’s whitelisting removes deployment and maintenance headaches that are common with other whitelisting technologies. PC Matic is available as a complete endpoint protection product or as a bolt-on complimentary product. It meets CMMC controls for levels 1-3 and addresses the following domains: Access Control (AC), Audit and Accountability (AU), Configuration Management (CM), Media Protection (MP), Risk Assessment (RM) and System and Information Integrity (SI). Learn more about how PC Matic’s whitelist antivirus and ransomware protection products can help keep you safe.

SSU – Physical Security

Physical security protects physical assets that may reside in server rooms, private areas, or even in a home. If security measures are not up to par, there’s no way to target threats and see their origination point. SSU understands physical security concerns and specializes in finding the right solutions for information systems and maintaining CMMC requirements. Through awareness training in security concepts such as situational response and threat analysis, SSU teaches organization how to mitigate risks. SSU also demonstrates how to develop programs to execute for finding and managing threats. SSU’s services meet CMMC controls for levels 1-3 and address the following domains: Access Control (AC), Awareness and Training (AT), Media Protection (MP), Physical Protection (PE), Personnel Security (PS)

What About PC Matic

For those of you reading who are wondering what this means for all PC Matic products, be assured that PC Matic standalone products are not changing. If you’re a consumer or business customer who is using standalone products, don’t worry. This partnership is part of a security stack for contractors needing complete CMMC compliance.

PC Matic, the top Cyber Security company whose products are made in the USA, will continue to provide the protection you’ve come to appreciate. Learn more about the best ransomware prevention software available.

Cigent, Secure SSD, D³E, and Dynamic Data Defense Engine are registered trademarks of Cigent Technology, Inc. in the United States, and other jurisdictions.  All other trademarks, trade names, or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

The Cigent products mentioned in this release may be covered by one or more patents including at least U.S. Patent Nos. 10437983, 10521611, 10282117, and 10095431 with additional patents pending in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Israel, and other jurisdictions.

Like every other industry, the cyber security industry is constantly moving. Along with that comes changes in the advice from experts to consumers, businesses, and governments on how to best protect their data from the cyber threats of today. However, there’s one piece of advice that has held strong as a Silver Bullet for protection from cyber threats of the past and of today, including ransomware: backups.

A Silver Bullet in cybersecurity protection is not a mythical solution that solves every single problem, but one that covers the vast majority of your bases and increases the efficacy of your security posture drastically. When you look to the media for advice today, you’ll find backups to be the top recommendation almost 10% of the time according to our research. We’re going to explore why backups are no longer the silver bullet they once were, and what solution or solutions have taken its place.

The past is the past.

There was a time when backups were the Silver Bullet that we all needed. Cyber threats were less advanced, and having good reliable backups was almost all you really needed. Viruses and trojans would work their way into your computer and you could roll back to a version pre-infection with little to worry about. Even after the introduction of early ransomware, backups were still proving to be the most effective way to protect yourself. Encrypted photos and files could easily be retrieved from your latest backup and your day continues on. However, as they always do, cyber criminals looked to improve their success rate in getting the ransom paid; and their number one target? Your backups. 

In a recent Ransomware infection at software provider Marketron, their CEO stated “This issue comes despite significant recent investments in separating backup and disaster recovery…” Even with these heavy investments into backups, Marketron was still stuck at a standstill with all services down for their customers. 

Ransomware quickly evolved to target backup drives, network shares, or any place where you could be storing those precious backups if they were found connected to the device. Successfully encrypting your backups increased their odds of receiving a ransom payment to almost 100%. While it was beginning to show spots of tarnish, the cyber security industry continued to latch onto backups as the shinest Silver Bullet.

While writing this piece a new report was published about the Conti Ransomware Gang describing their practices of targeting on-premise and cloud backups by hunting for privileged users inside your network to access, exfiltrate, encrypt or remove your backups. All but guaranteeing a ransomware payment is coming their way.

The gold standard.

Needing a new approach to backups to keep ransomware at bay, the advice to air gap your backups came to the front line. Air gapping a backup is keeping it disconnected from your device and network when you’re not actively doing a backup. This potentially makes it impossible for ransomware or other malware to see that you have backups and certainly stops them from encrypting those backups. 

However, there are many flaws that come into play with the air-gapped strategy. The more air-gapped your backups are the less reliable they’re going to be. You’re keeping the backups separated from your network for longer periods of time leading to backups that have less and less of the information on them that you need. On top of that, malware has been using time-release tactics for years and years now. There is no big leap for ransomware to lie in wait and trigger on a device when it is able to detect backups have been connected and are in progress.

The pivot to theft.

With air-gapped backups, we discussed the possibility of ransomware evolving to time-release and wait for you to reconnect your backups. The possibility. Ransomware shifting to data theft has long been a guarantee. In early 2020 the FBI was warning industries that ransomware was specifically looking to steal data in an effort to increase the odds that you pay the ransom. Backups or not, if you have any kind of sensitive or customer data and it’s stolen and released on the dark web, you may be looking at an even more expensive PR problem than just paying the ransom. 

While ransomware gangs like Conti might rely on it as a secondary fallback, data theft can be detrimental to some businesses. For those in Healthcare, Finance, or even Education, it can be a crushing blow for your user or customer data to be released onto the dark web. However, because there’s a smaller chance that blackmail will be the driving factor to pay the ransom, most ransomware gangs are still focusing on destroying or encrypting your backups to ensure there is no quick road to recovery. A swift end to your ability to do business will drive immediate attention to making a ransomware payment. And who can blame you?

The last line of defense.

What is now painfully obvious, backups cannot be relied on as the silver bullet in your security stack. They still play a critical part, and every security stack should have reaction layers like backups and EDR combined with prevention layers like Firewall and Application Whitelisting. The lack of recommendations surrounding adding prevention layers into security stacks to defeat ransomware is nothing short of astounding. In our research, we saw one single article recommend adding Application Whitelisting to help defeat ransomware. One article out of one hundred and one total articles that we digested to comprise this data set. Prevention is the key to defeating ransomware and without more inclusion in the advice and recommendations that so many look to, ransomware will be here to stay. 

The contrast is so stark between the advice and recommendations from the media and the top institutions around the world. While little to no media coverage recommends Application Whitelisting, almost every top agency in the US and many across the world praise it as an incredibly important solution to add to every security stack.

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has recommended controls that everyone should “Employ a deny-all, permit by-exception policy” in their environment. Application Whitelisting fulfills this requirement to default-deny all unknown executions and only allow those explicitly permitted.
• The US Department of Homeland Security states that “Application Whitelisting should be an integral component of a defense-in-depth solution.”
• The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has created a program to fully fund Application Whitelisting for 2 full years inside the Federal Government. Urging Federal Agencies to deploy this into all security stacks.
• In Australia, the Australian Cyber Security Centre lists Application Whitelisting as one of its eight essential strategies to mitigate cyber threats like ransomware including it in every level of their Matruity Model. 
• The US Department of Defense (DoD) released the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) in 2020 recommending application whitelisting for Level 3 and requiring it for Levels 4 & 5 across all of the US Defense Industrial Base.

We’re not here to completely shut down the notion of backups and their importance. Having good, reliable backups is a critical component of your overall security stack. The problem is that in today’s environment cyber criminals have evolved to defeat the simple notion of: “we have everything backed up”. 

However, adding Application Whitelisting into security stacks will drastically reduce and potentially eliminate the overall threat of ransomware. This practice is recommended by all of the highest agencies in the US and many around the world including in Australia. It’s time for a new Silver Bullet in Cyber Security, and Application Whitelisting is here to stay. If you’d like to learn more about Application Whitelisting and its history, check out our in-depth analysis.

PC Matic University

PC Matic University (PCMU) has been in development for over a year now. The quizzes, videos, and tutorials are meant to give you a better understanding of how your computer runs. We also show you how PC Matic protects and optimizes your device.

All of this is free to you. Cybersecurity is our number one concern at PC Matic. PCMU is aimed at making sure we keep you educated on the tools you’re using.

Below you can find a link to our basic computer safety test. It’ll test your knowledge on computer safety. Afterwards, the test breaks down any answers you may have missed. There’s also a link to the PCMU video library to offer you additional resources.

Check back frequently for more PCMU content as it’s delivered to you. And, as always, stay safe out there.

PC Matic University Computer Safety Test

What Are They

Ad blockers are a great way to declutter webpages. Have you ever clicked on a Pinterest recipe or a sports headline only to have to scroll through endless ads to get to the content you want? An ad blocker clears all of those for you.

There’s another advantage to using ad blockers. Occasionally, hackers embed malicious code in links. There’s a good chance these links end up in ads on a site. An ad blocker can keep you safe from these.

But sometimes you need to disable ad blockers. There are several sites that rely on the revenue they receive from ads to run. Having an ad blocker that turns off and on with ease can make browsing the web simple.

Take a look at the video below from PC Matic University to learn about the PC Matic ad blocker and how to turn it off and on.

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

We Asked, You Answered

We like to ask the public from time to time about habits they have pertaining to certain activities. We’ve dug into work habits during the pandemic, RDP awareness, and now holiday shopping habits.

Over 5000 people answered our shopping survey. With 53% stating that their shopping habits have changed due to COVID-19, we wondered how you were feeling about the shift in shopping. Below are the results.

Shopping Stats

At least 80% of Americans, based on our data, plan to shop online this holiday season. Of those people, 76.5% intend on shopping from a laptop or desktop computer. Only 21.5% intend on shopping from a mobile device or tablet.

The majority of online shoppers, 87% in fact, are concerned with retailers selling their data. Additionally, 82% of shoppers display concern over identity theft.

What It Means

The number of Americans planning to shop online will significantly increase this year. Online shopping habits are usually pretty split, due in large part to Americans’ distrust of online privacy and security. It seems that many still have safety concerns.

Most people plan to shop from a computer rather than a phone. With good antivirus software and some common sense best practices, shopping online from your computer can be perfectly safe.

Below we’ve included a handy infograph with all the statistics we gathered in addition to some common sense shopping tips. It’s our hope that you have a wonderful (and safe) holiday season!

PC Matic Cybersecurity Investment: Makers of PC Matic, Open to Investor Opportunities

Cybersecurity Investment Opportunities. PC Matic, a privately held, American anti-virus software firm, would like to develop relationships with the investment community. This is in anticipation of a future outside investment, said CEO Rob Cheng.

He founded Sioux City, Iowa-based PC Pitstop in 1999 and owns 90% of the business. After giving 10% to certain employees via stock options close to four years ago. Though he has no set timing for a sale or outside investment, Cheng said,

“At some point, I will have to find a market for my shares and the employees’ shares.  When that time comes, I want the investment community to already know about my company, where we are, where we have been, and what we intend to do.  With our anticipated growth, it makes sense investors would want to value the business based on current figures, but at this time, due to the significant cash generated, I am in no hurry to make a deal.”

Need for Ransomware Cybersecurity Grows

PC Matic continues to entertain regular approaches from PE firms. The company has seen a steady increase in interest since 2017 when the world’s first global ransomware attack, WannaCry, executed.

In terms of recent deals, Cheng pointed to Blackberry’s November acquisition of Cylance for $1.4 billion. Brillio Cloud Security and Cedrus Digital for enhanced cloud and DevSecOps security. ZeroFox acquisition of IDX to expand critical security tech stack protection..

PC Matic had revenue of $14.7 million in 2017, $16.3 million in 2018, $17.2 Million in 2019, and 18.2  Million in 2020. The debt-free company is projecting between 10% and 20% growth this year, depending on how quickly its B2B division and reseller program gain traction.

One of PC Matic’s major differentiators from other anti-virus software is its SuperShield real-time protection. Whitelisting solutions are based on a whitelist that denies access to all unknown files until authenticity can be verified. Most anti-virus software operates off a blacklist, which only blocks files that are known to be threats while allowing all others.  PC Matic’s Home Computer Security Software and Business Security Software integrate application whitelisting security to prevent malware and ransomware.

The blacklist methodology of malware identification is archaic and full of inherent flaws. As new malicious files are constantly being developed, blacklists can’t keep up. Read more about what is application whitelisting?

Ransomware and malware continue to fuel cyber-attacks globally. Ransomware attacks are increasing and costing companies millions of dollars to recover from. Read more about cybersecurity trends. To learn more about potential investment opportunities or to submit an investment inquiry click Invest in PC Matic Cybersecurity.

To expand your visibility over possible vulnerabilities in your environment, we have expanded PC Matic PRO‘s Endpoint Vulnerabilities report to include two new reports: SuperShield Blacklist/Learning Mode Enabled, and Lockout Thresholds Not Set.

SuperShield Blacklist/Learning Mode Enabled

When SuperShield is left in Blacklist Only or Learning Mode outside of a normal test or implementation phase, it leaves devices vulnerable to attack. All devices should be running in SuperShield Protection mode to remain secured by our whitelist based protection. The whitelisting applications feature protects all devices from malware and ransomware threats.

Any devices in Learning Mode or Blacklist Only mode will populate here with a quick toggle to switch them over to SuperShield Protection. It is normal to see devices here while implementing in Learning Mode, but that phase should end after a couple of days. Learning mode should be temporary and the whitelisting of applications should be on to maintain optimal system security.

Lockout Thresholds Not Set

PC Matic now automatically sets the Windows Account Lockout Threshold to further secure your devices from brute force attacks. This setting specifically stops frequent incorrect login attempts to a user account which users would normally log into to gain access to RDP. This includes other access points to the network. Our Secure Remote Desktop Access Control software protects the network by carefully monitoring remote access points. An important feature is automatic alerting on any possible system intrusions.

We automatically set this threshold for you. If any devices are not pulling that setting down, or it was reset, they will populate here. You can adjust the settings yourself, or apply our recommended defaults.

PC Matic Strongly recommends at least using the recommended settings below to keep your devices secure from brute force attacks. In most cases, normal users will not fail their login 10 times during a 5-minute window. This means they will never see an inconvenience from this security setting.

You can, however, make this setting much stricter if you’d like. Simply lock login attempts down even more by using something similar to the high-security settings below.

PC Matic Recommended/Default Settings

• Threshold – Account Lockout Threshold: 10
• Duration – Account Lockout Duration: 5
• Observation – Account Lockout Observation: 5

To learn more about Account Lockout Threshold, the use of secure RDP features, and what each individual setting means, you can read our full breakdown. PC Matic security software has a variety of computer security features that work together with our global whitelist. These include automatic device authentication, remote machine and software management, automatic security patch updating, and network security performance monitoring.

PC Matic Endpoint Vulnerabilities Features

Secure your system from endpoint vulnerabilities with PC Matic security software. Visit PC Matic for the Detect and Respond on Endpoints article.

In March 2022, the Biden administration announced that cyberattacks from Russia were imminent.   Although this is untrue, it shines a light on how unprepared the federal government and the rest of the country are for a nation-state attack.

A nation-state attack is exponentially more serious than ransomware.  Unlike ransomware, a nation attack does not attempt to extort a fee to restore operations.  It simply destroys without regard to consequence.

More importantly, a nation attack accelerates the frequency and sophistication of the attacks.  For over a decade, the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran have been stockpiling vulnerabilities in the event of a cyberwar. This is the reason why a cyber attack is NOT imminent, because Russia knows that America likely has a larger stockpile with more severe consequences.

When the Americans shut down 3 Iranian nuclear reactors and Russia shut down the Ukrainian electric grid, each of these attacks was accomplished through one vulnerability.  The WannaCry virus infected 250K computers in one day through one vulnerability.

Any nation-state, and most certainly Russia, has dozens if not hundreds of these vulnerabilities.  Rather than one vulnerability, a nation-state attack would deploy numerous vulnerabilities simultaneously entering unobstructed into every server and endpoint and any other device that contained critical information in the nation.

The first line of defense is patch management but this is wholly ineffective because patch management works with known vulnerabilities and these vulnerabilities are unknown by design.

The next line of defense is the antivirus which has not functioned against modern threats for almost a decade yet consumers and businesses and even the federal government blindly throw money at this obsolete vestige from a prior era of computing. So the attack continues.

The last line of defense is EDR / XDR / Zero Trust, which attempts to detect and respond to the full-frontal onslaught nation-state attack.  Unlike ransomware, a nation attack would overwhelm the SOC (Security Operations Center) and it would quickly fall down.

This exposes the largest flaw in the nation’s defense.  EDR / XDR / Zero Trust / SOC cannot scale to meet a spike in attacks.  For a SOC to double in size, would take months, and a nation-state can increase its attack level in seconds.

As stated earlier, this is not going to happen due to respect for America’s vulnerability stockpile, however, our defense frameworks should consider the possibility of a nation-state attack. Unfortunately, none of the popular frameworks including NIST, MITRE, and even Jack Voltaic comprehend the possibility of a nation-state attack.

The first nation to contemplate in its national defensive cyber strategy the impact of a national attack will win the cyberwar. The first nation to effectively create cyber defenses that negate a flood of vulnerabilities attacks from a nation-state will rise to the top of the world order because it is no longer exposed to a cyber counterstrike.

There is a solution and that is application whitelisting, AKA allow listing or software asset management.  As NIST has been recommending for the last 7 years, application whitelisting should reside between the patch management and the antivirus layers.  In this way, during a nation-state cyberattack, the application whitelisting will strictly allow authorized applications to run. During this scenario, the volume on the network is substantial and network performance may deteriorate but it will not fall down. Some new good programs may not run properly until the attacks abate, but the goal is resilience, to withstand the attack.  

This resilience gives patch management time to identify the vulnerability and remediate the vulnerability so the attacks abate.  The nation-state will likely deploy more of its stock of vulnerabilities which should also prove futile. At this point, the nation is deploying vulnerabilities faster than it can replenish, until the stockpile falls to zero.  Then America wins.  

Secure the Homeland.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

From time to time, we cover topics from NIST. If you joined us for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, you followed along with the themes that NIST set out. However, you may not be sure what NIST does.

From the Wikipedia page, “The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a physical sciences laboratory and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST’s activities are organized into laboratory programs that include nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement.”

NIST was formed in 1901 and for 120 years, they’ve been pushing American innovation. PC Matic is happy to join in with that mission. Moreover, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) is a branch under NIST. They’ve formed a partnership with 50 American businesses to initiate the National Cybersecurity Excellence Partnership (NCEP).

Partners

As a partner, we’ve pledged to commit resources to, “our mutual efforts to advance the rapid adoption of secure technologies.” These resources can be physical or the collective of our knowledge, including experts in their field to assist with research and development.

Our CEO, Rob Cheng, believes, “cyber threats are an imminent threat to America’s national security.” Furthermore, Mr. Cheng is a proponent of transparency in attacks. Most importantly, by becoming a partner, we can allocate resources to helping strengthen American security.

Learn More

We want you to learn more about these agencies! First, visit the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s website. Learn about all the different sectors they cover.

Next, venture down the cybersecurity rabbit hole with us by visiting NCCoE’s website. You can learn about the center, current projects, and any news. You may even find some interesting events to keep you occupied.

Finally, keep up with us here at PC Matic. We love hearing from you. And we love hearing about what you’ve been learning. Let’s continue to stay safe together.

A Decade Of Protection

Between the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began heavily recommending whitelisting technology. Brands that hadn’t been using it were converting over. Big name AV companies began slowly integrating the technology into their offerings.

It’s over a year later, and they still aren’t utilizing whitelisting technology to its fullest. But PC Matic has been using it as the forefront of our protection for both Home and Pro for a decade. Our whitelist turns 10 this year, and that’s pretty significant.

Building The List

PC Matic Sales reps often get asked about what’s on the whitelist. It always elicits a well intentioned smile from the rep. It’s hard to imagine that everything is on there, but it is.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve been building and refining our whitelist. If you can buy it online, and it’s safe, we’ve whitelisted it. There’s no need to worry.

And if you’re running a piece of proprietary software, something built just for you, we can get that added. Our researchers are constantly analyzing and classifying samples that our software interacts with. If it’s bad, it gets banned. If it’s good, however, it’s added to the collective knowledge.

Working The List

Whitelisting works on the concept that only what we know is good is allowed in. Take a look at this blog I wrote last year to help you understand the concept. It’ll take you through the ins and outs of whitelisting.

Basically though, there’s a list. And when you’re running our product, that list is telling your computer what’s safe to allow on it. This is pretty important to understand. If your email is hacked, that’s your email. It’s not hosted on your actual machine. This is why it’s important to continue to use common sense email practices.

But if your email is hacked and they try to install something on your machine that will allow them to access your network, well, there’s where we swoop in. All your emails may have been compromised, but they aren’t getting into your network, and they aren’t getting into your files.

What’s Next

2020 was the year we received the patent for our signature whitelisting technology. That means that when big corporations like Microsoft make software, they sign it. Since we know Microsoft isn’t trying to hack you, we whitelist that signature. PC Matic was the first to do this, and that’s been officially recognized by the US Patent Office.

And we’re going to continue to bring you next generation technology. As we grow, research, and build our product, it’ll only continue to improve. Now as a partner of NIST, we’ll be working with other American companies to further American business innovation in the field of technology.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you innovation ahead of the rest. And stay safe out there.

To expand your visibility over possible vulnerabilities in your environment, we have expanded PC Matic PRO‘s Endpoint Vulnerabilities report to include two new reports: SuperShield Blacklist/Learning Mode Enabled, and Lockout Thresholds Not Set.

SuperShield Blacklist/Learning Mode Enabled

When SuperShield is left in Blacklist Only or Learning Mode outside of a normal test or implementation phase, it leaves devices vulnerable to attack. All devices should be running in SuperShield Protection mode to remain secured by our whitelist based protection. The whitelisting applications feature protects all devices from malware and ransomware threats.

Any devices in Learning Mode or Blacklist Only mode will populate here with a quick toggle to switch them over to SuperShield Protection. It is normal to see devices here while implementing in Learning Mode, but that phase should end after a couple of days. Learning mode should be temporary and the whitelisting of applications should be on to maintain optimal system security.

Lockout Thresholds Not Set

PC Matic now automatically sets the Windows Account Lockout Threshold to further secure your devices from brute force attacks. This setting specifically stops frequent incorrect login attempts to a user account which users would normally log into to gain access to RDP. This includes other access points to the network. Our Secure Remote Desktop Access Control software protects the network by carefully monitoring remote access points. An important feature is automatic alerting on any possible system intrusions.

We automatically set this threshold for you. If any devices are not pulling that setting down, or it was reset, they will populate here. You can adjust the settings yourself, or apply our recommended defaults.

PC Matic Strongly recommends at least using the recommended settings below to keep your devices secure from brute force attacks. In most cases, normal users will not fail their login 10 times during a 5-minute window. This means they will never see an inconvenience from this security setting.

You can, however, make this setting much stricter if you’d like. Simply lock login attempts down even more by using something similar to the high-security settings below.

PC Matic Recommended/Default Settings

• Threshold – Account Lockout Threshold: 10
• Duration – Account Lockout Duration: 5
• Observation – Account Lockout Observation: 5

To learn more about Account Lockout Threshold, the use of secure RDP features, and what each individual setting means, you can read our full breakdown. PC Matic security software has a variety of computer security features that work together with our global whitelist. These include automatic device authentication, remote machine and software management, automatic security patch updating, and network security performance monitoring.

PC Matic Endpoint Vulnerabilities Features

Secure your system from endpoint vulnerabilities with PC Matic security software. Visit PC Matic for the Detect and Respond on Endpoints article.

Class Number Four

Welcome to the fourth in our PC Matic University series. This week’s installment is a quiz regarding your knowledge surrounding malware. Do you know what it is and the different kinds?

Meanwhile, if you missed the first three classes, no worries, you can catch The Internet Test here and link back to the other ones from there. You don’t have to take the classes in order, and you can skip one if you think it doesn’t pertain to you.

But if you’d like to learn more about malware, the different types, and basic prevention strategies, take a look at the video below.

First, let James take you through the different types of malware. Think about how susceptible you are to each of these. Next, ask yourself if you knew that all of those different types fell under the larger umbrella of malware. What surprised you the most?

Once you’re done with the video, you can take the Malware test here. And finally, run a scan on your own system for good measure.

Visit us on our social media accounts and let us know what you’re doing to prevent malware attacks.

PC Matic Cybersecurity Investment: Makers of PC Matic, Open to Investor Opportunities

Cybersecurity Investment Opportunities. PC Matic, a privately held, American anti-virus software firm, would like to develop relationships with the investment community. This is in anticipation of a future outside investment, said CEO Rob Cheng.

He founded Sioux City, Iowa-based PC Pitstop in 1999 and owns 90% of the business. After giving 10% to certain employees via stock options close to four years ago. Though he has no set timing for a sale or outside investment, Cheng said,

“At some point, I will have to find a market for my shares and the employees’ shares.  When that time comes, I want the investment community to already know about my company, where we are, where we have been, and what we intend to do.  With our anticipated growth, it makes sense investors would want to value the business based on current figures, but at this time, due to the significant cash generated, I am in no hurry to make a deal.”

Need for Ransomware Cybersecurity Grows

PC Matic continues to entertain regular approaches from PE firms. The company has seen a steady increase in interest since 2017 when the world’s first global ransomware attack, WannaCry, executed.

In terms of recent deals, Cheng pointed to Blackberry’s November acquisition of Cylance for $1.4 billion. Brillio Cloud Security and Cedrus Digital for enhanced cloud and DevSecOps security. ZeroFox acquisition of IDX to expand critical security tech stack protection..

PC Matic had revenue of $14.7 million in 2017, $16.3 million in 2018, $17.2 Million in 2019, and 18.2  Million in 2020. The debt-free company is projecting between 10% and 20% growth this year, depending on how quickly its B2B division and reseller program gain traction.

One of PC Matic’s major differentiators from other anti-virus software is its SuperShield real-time protection. Whitelisting solutions are based on a whitelist that denies access to all unknown files until authenticity can be verified. Most anti-virus software operates off a blacklist, which only blocks files that are known to be threats while allowing all others.  PC Matic’s Home Computer Security Software and Business Security Software integrate application whitelisting security to prevent malware and ransomware.

The blacklist methodology of malware identification is archaic and full of inherent flaws. As new malicious files are constantly being developed, blacklists can’t keep up. Read more about what is application whitelisting?

Ransomware and malware continue to fuel cyber-attacks globally. Ransomware attacks are increasing and costing companies millions of dollars to recover from. Read more about cybersecurity trends. To learn more about potential investment opportunities or to submit an investment inquiry click Invest in PC Matic Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity At Every Age

Last week, PC Matic VP of Sales, Corey Munson, sat down with Scott N. Schober. Scott’s book, Senior Cyber: Best Security Practices for Your Golden Years covers topics, “From the basics of the internet to the fight for healthcare privacy and security that is so critical to our aging population, Senior Cyber offers simple advice and expertise for all levels of internet experience.”

Scott covers both basic and advanced tech and security topics with the aim to make them accessible to everyone. One point they discussed, and one that deserves a bit of attention, is the inaccessibility in registration for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The first round is available to people 65+ who are wanting to get vaccinated. One of the problems with the rollout, is that many adults in the eligible category aren’t as tech savvy as the registration may require. The potential for scams, as Scott describes above, is high.

There’s also the potential that people who need or want the vaccine will be skipped, simply because the signup process isn’t catered to them. In a LinkedIn post, Corey describes his own experience with signing up a family member. Additionally, he calls on others to assist eligible people they may know in getting registered.

Understanding Someone Else’s Point-Of-View

Scott and Corey discussed looking at cybersecurity through the lens of someone over 65.

Based on the comments we receive here on the Tech Talk blog, a lot of you consider yourselves not to be as tech savvy as you’d like. For Scott, that doesn’t mean you aren’t knowledgeable or able. What it means is that you approach technology differently than people in another generation.

So he’s looking to bring his cybersecurity approach to you in a way that works with your particular viewpoint.

A quick internet search of “ransomware attacks” will show a multitude of stories from just the past week. Phishing and phone scams coupled with fraudulent text and email links are increasing as well. It’s important to be able to know how to spot the warning signs for these scams. Scott wants to make sure you can do that.

Moreover, the book is a guide. We’re in a constant state of searching for information that will help our understanding of the world. Senior Cyber aims to open up your understanding of topics relevant to you and your relationship with cybersecurity.

Win A Copy

Scott was generous enough to gift us with 5 copies of Senior Cyber: Best Security Practices for Your Golden Years to give away. For a chance at the random drawing that will be held on Monday, February 22nd, hop over to this quick and secure survey.

How much do you know about cybersecurity and current events surrounding it? What’s your greatest security challenge? We want to hear from you both in our secure survey above and in the comments below. It’s our responsibility to each other to practice online safety and keep each other informed. We want you to stay safe out there.

Show Me What You’re Working With

Do you know a motherboard from a CPU based just on a picture? If the answer is “no” you’ll want to watch the Basic Computer Hardware videos below from PC Matic University.

This next chapter in the series aims to teach you the basic parts of your computer. But why do you need to know that? You’re never going to open up your computer and monkey around with the pieces.

I thought that too. Then I needed to replace my hard drive with an SSD. Could I have paid someone? Sure! But why when I could do it myself? It’s the same idea as being able to change your own headlights on your car or replace a wonky pipe under the sink.

Computer maintenance and repair should be left to the pros when it’s the big stuff, but the little bits are totally doable yourself. You’ll save time and money. Plus, there’s a feeling of satisfaction when you’re able to fix something with your own two hands.

So watch the videos below then hop on over to the quiz to test what you’ve learned. And stay safe out there.

You did it. You made it to the end of our freshman PC Matic University curriculum. If you’ve been with us through the entire journey, this is your 7th and last section. This one is on PC Matic and the basic features of our Home product.

If you read that and thought, “whoa, wait, there’s 6 previous classes?” Don’t worry! You don’t need to do the classes in order, but we do recommend looking over them. Go to our Tech Talk page and you’ll find them. All of the videos are embedded in the posts. You can watch them from there and then take the test which is linked at the end.

Speaking of embedded videos, check out the ones for this course below.

I recommend watching those 8 videos then jumping over to the quiz to test what you’ve learned.

We’re so excited you’ve taken this journey with us. You can reach out to us on our social channels or by going to our website to contact Support. Any way you do though, we want to hear from you.

Stay safe out there.

Part of the Prevention

PC Matic’s Corey Munson joined eChannelNews’ Julian Lee yesterday for a chat about the state of cybersecurity. If you read the guest post by retired FBI Cybercrimes agent Scott Augenbaum, you’ll know he firmly believes that 90% of cyberattacks can be prevented. In the beginning of Julian and Corey’s chat, they discuss this and some of the preventative measures we believe can accomplish that goal.

Julian then asked Corey how PC Matic differentiates to achieve that prevention goal. As we’ve discussed in the past, PC Matic uses whitelist technology and holds the patent for signature whitelisting. That means we’re only allowing through programs known to be good.

And signature whitelisting? Well, that means verified sources like Microsoft can sign all their software with their signature. We recognize that as good and let it through. This can save a lot of time when a verified source releases updates or new software.

The Work-From-Home Landscape and MSPs

Corey goes on to address the issues surrounding our new remote work landscape. With more people than ever working from home, companies may not be equipped to handle in house IT. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are among some of the best resources for those businesses.

PC Matic works closely with MSPs, as Corey states, to help close that security gap. “That’s where MSPs come in, and we can help with our product,” Corey tells Julian.

The two go on to discuss the multi-layered approach to security. Julian asks if we suggest rip and replace versus adding PC Matic as another layer. “We can do both,” Corey informs. And using PC Matic eliminates the need for additional staff.

“Just as recently as yesterday we had a focus group with a group of our MSPs. And that’s one of the things we focus on,” Corey explains, “… is that feedback from our MSP partners to further refine the platform so it is efficient…”

Becoming a Partner

Corey and Julian go on to discuss PC Matic’s ease of deployment, MSP engagement, and partner support. And then there’s a little history on PC Matic itself. Plus the two delve into what it’s like to be a partner with PC Matic.

For more information on PC Matic’s Partner options, visit us here.

For more information on PC Matic’s powerful business tools, visit us here.

Check out the full interview below.

PC Matic CEO, Rob Cheng, has always had his finger on the pulse of evolving cyber security technology. It’s what led him to found PC Pitstop in 1999, the company that later became PC Matic. His insights have always been ahead of his contemporaries. Now, PC Matic CEO Rob Cheng’s Predictions are coming true.

Back in 2016, Mr. Cheng sat down with Bob Bragdon, publisher of CSO. For reference, “CSO is the leading information source for chief security officers (CSOs) and senior executives when making critical decisions regarding effective security and risk practices while driving business forward.”

Mr. Bragdon shared a statement made two years earlier, in 2014, by Symantec declaring antivirus to be dead. Similarly, Gardner stated that the focus should be changed from prevention to detection and response. Mr. Bragdon asked Mr. Cheng his thoughts. What followed was an insightful look at the future of ransomware. Many of Mr. Cheng’s predictions came to pass. Let’s take a look at the most important points.

Antivirus Is Dead

Rather than declare antivirus dead, Mr. Cheng suggested that we abandon the use of the blacklist. He explained the differences to Mr. Bragdon, noting that whitelist is effective prevention because it only allows through the known good. Whitelist is the only preventative measure against polymorphic viruses. Because polymorphic viruses are able to mutate, traditional antivirus, or blacklist software, was inefficient because someone would always have to be infected before that particular strain was identified and stopped.

A good deal of the apprehension toward the whitelisting approach, however, revolves around the prevalence of false positives. That, in turn, creates more work for IT staff to update and maintain the whitelist. Mr. Cheng’s answer to this was a policy still in effect at PC Matic today. Our Support Team does the work of updating and maintaining the whitelist. We also provide support to customers and IT specialists using our products. 

In the wake of the shortage of IT professionals, and the security concerns raised in the past year by businesses, this helps fill part of the gap in security. By removing the burden from an already stressed IT team, we free up their ability to monitor other security issues within their organization. It’s a win-win.

So Mr. Cheng’s comment that abandoning prevention completely would be a “misstep” was spot on. In fact, in April of 2019, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a whitepaper with clear guidelines for ransomware prevention. The final bullet point in the prevention guidelines was to use and keep updated preventative software.

The Evolution of the Attack

When asked about his predictions, Mr. Cheng noted the rise of polymorphic ransomware. In 2016, it wasn’t that prevalent. By 2019, 93.6% of malware was polymorphic. Mr. Cheng’s foresight was spot on with the progression of ransomware.

But the evolution of the viruses wasn’t the only prediction Mr. Cheng made. He explained to Mr. Bragdon that the exploitation of vulnerabilities on the machine would go far. It hadn’t yet been used as a primary source of attack. 

While there have been other instances in the 5 years since Mr. Cheng’s prediction, the most notable, has been in the recent news. After the SolarWinds breach, ransomware attacks have exploded. On March 11th 2021, Microsoft disclosed the Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities were being used to facilitate ransomware attacks.

Right in line with Mr. Cheng’s predictions, one of the largest software giants on the planet was compromised via an exploitation of vulnerabilities.

Where Security Is Needed

Mr. Cheng was passionate about the need for endpoint security. “Technology is so embedded in everything we do,” Mr. Cheng says, noting that everything from schools to hospitals to government are all reliant on their endpoints. Indeed, these have all made news in the past year for continual security breaches.

To his point, 70% of successful attacks in 2019 originated on the endpoint. So the suggestion of focusing less on endpoint security by both Symantec and Gardner was not only misplaced, but also a dangerous lack of foresight. Endpoint security is more crucial than ever.

The Cost of Ransomware

At the time of the 2016 interview, the numbers for ransomware in 2015 were in. The FBI stated that the total cost for that year was around $20 million. Acer computer manufacturer was hit in March of 2021 with a single ransom of $50 million which was double that of the 2015 overall total for all ransomware. By the end of 2021, 6 years later, the estimated yearly cost of ransomware will be over $20 billion. PC Matic CEO Rob Cheng’s predictions are coming true.

But monetary values aren’t the only costs of ransomware. As we outlined, in our Work From Home report, there are business and human costs associated with ransomware as well. Prevention is a key part of minimalizing the effects it has on real people.

As we look to the future of ransomware, we can only speculate where it will go. We can guess, however, that Mr. Cheng has a pretty good idea of what that future looks like. Let’s make sure we’re listening.

PC Matic CEO Rob Cheng’s Predictions come true.

Watch the full interview below.

PC Matic is the Leader in Cyber Security and the top US Application Whitelisting Vendor.

PC Matic CEO Rob Cheng has his finger on the pulse of cybersecurity. In addition to writing multiple op-eds appearing in media outlets across the country, Rob is also part of Forbes Business Council. He also likes to drop in on Myrtle Beach radio host, Liz Calloway, and her show.

They talk about ransomware and prevention, cybersecurity news to what the government is doing, and everything in between. Rob has been a regular guest on Liz’s show since 2019. You may not have known, but now you can listen by visiting the CyberSmart with Rob Cheng page.

Rob’s appearance on each episode ranges from 7 minutes to approximately 20 minutes. Each time, he shares insight, wisdom, and what’s going on in cyber news. Catch up on all the back episodes then check out The Liz Calloway Show for new episodes.

On Wednesday, May 12th, Clemson University will host the South Carolina Small Business Security Summit. While this free virtual even bears the name of the university’s home state, the reach is broader than South Carolina. Cybersecurity is at the forefront of the news each day. Moreover, with ransomware rampant and breaches reported weekly, cybersecurity is more important to a small business than ever before. Read more about PC Matic and Clemson University’s small business summit below.

PC Matic, also based in South Carolina, is presenting for the event along with an impressive list of panelists and speakers. PC Matic CEO, Rob Cheng, will appear alongside cybersecurity security experts from Clemson, the DoH, the DoD, the New York Times, the U.S. Small Business Association, and South Carolina’s governor, the Honorable Henry D. McMaster.

About The Event – pc matic and clemson university small business summit

“Clemson is a leader in cybersecurity-related research and educational activities, especially as part of its R1 designation for cutting-edge research programs. A multidisciplinary curriculum and hands-on opportunities provide valuable, real-world experience for the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Along with years of experience working with leading information security technologies alongside community and government agencies, Clemson safeguards University systems and information through monitoring, mitigation and awareness. Clemson’s rigorous work has earned Cyber Defense Research and Cyber Defense Education designations from the National Security Agency’s Centers for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.” Notes the event page.

Don’t worry, however, if you’re a small business owner feeling overwhelmed. The panelists and will discuss ways small business can work with the government for better cybersecurity. Additionally, the resources provided will help the small business owner make informed decisions about their own security plan.

Ransomware isn’t stopping any time soon. As a result, it’s time for American businesses to take their cybersecurity to the next level. PC Matic and Clemson University want to give you the tools to do that. Read more about ransomware threats.

For more information and to register for this free event, please visit the registration page.