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The Telephony Solution Your Organization Needs

by CybersecurityEncryptionFognigmaOnline PrivacyTelephony

It wasn’t that long ago that email was the standard communication tool for businesses, primarily due to its convenience, popularity, and accessibility. In the United States, 76% of adults use email. Globally, nearly half of the population uses email, and it’s easy to see why. It’s straightforward, user-friendly, and requires little technical knowledge.

But as technology continually shifts and creates new cybersecurity threats, email correspondence is no longer a reliable solution for secure communication. With the increase in phishing scams and other email attacks, organizations must respond with a new communication solution.

Phone calls and text messages remain popular due to their convenience, but like email, they lack essential protection against popular attacks. When your organization’s private information is on the line, a secure communication solution is essential.

Fognigma’s cutting-edge secure telephony solution can protect your organization’s users and data.

HOLLER

What is Holler?

Holler is a fully encrypted telephony service within Fognigma that uses interchangeable SIP numbers from multiple providers around the world to disguise your users’ numbers and provide specialized voice calling and SMS configurations for any situation.

The best part? Holler doesn’t require any specialized, complicated software. All Holler features are configured through the user-friendly console with just a few clicks.

Key Features of Holler:

Fognigma Holler - Telephony Solution

  1. Voice Call & SMS Dissociation: Holler routes voice calls and text messages through multiple intermediary SIP numbers. This allows users to speak with and text third parties without revealing their true numbers, preventing any association between the true caller and destination numbers. These call chains can be modified or removed at any time in just a few seconds.
  2. Obfuscation and Global Misattribution: With Holler, a user’s true number is never revealed to a third party. Holler supports up to three different SIP providers, allowing you to configure Holler features with numbers from countries all around the world. This obfuscation is twofold: it hides user numbers and allows you to maintain a regional appearance anywhere.

Holler makes secure, simple, and user-friendly calling and texting a reality. All communications are end-to-end encrypted. Third parties are unable to find where a call originates, where it ends, or what’s said during it.

With Holler, your organization’s private conversations stay private.

Want to learn more about how Fogngima’s telephony solution works? Contact us to schedule a demo at our headquarters or have us come to you.

SCHEDULE DEMO
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Mobile Device Security: Four Attacks to Look Out For

by CybersecurityEncryptionFognigmaIoT EncryptionVPN

According to Forbes, 60% of people use a mobile device for work purposes. As mobile usage continues to increase, so does the risk of organizations mobile device security. 

Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ mobile device was hacked through a specially coded WhatsApp message. 

This incidence raises an important point: if one of the most successful technology companies is vulnerable to a data leakage attack, then so are other companies. Mobile security is a major concern for companies in 2020. Nearly all employees routinely access company information through their mobile devices. As with other forms of hacking, knowledge and prevention are often the best defenses against attacks. 

Here are a few of the most common types of mobile devices attacks that are hurting your company: 

1. WiFi Interference

Mobile devices are only as secure as the networks they use to transfer data. Network spoofing attacks continue to increase, but employees often skip securing their connection and instead rely on public networks. This leaves the door wide open for cybercriminals to steal private information. Connecting  to an effective VPN is a simple way to close these doors and save companies from data loss. 

2. Data Leakage

Data leakage, also known as data breach or data spill, is the act of releasing secure or private information to an untrusted environment. This happens when users improperly setup apps on their mobile devices and inadvertently allow apps to see and transfer their information – which is exactly what happened to Jeff Bezos earlier this year. 

Another great example is an employee tracking workouts at a company gym, revealing the headquarters location. 

Data leakage can also be caused by accidental disclosure. Due to the small size of a mobile screen, users sometimes select the wrong recipient when sending information. It’s a simple mistake, but the consequences can be severe. 

3. Social Engineering

Social engineering is one of the top causes of data breaches on mobile devices. These threats typically start with email. Mobile email applications often only display the name of the sender, which makes it extremely easy for an attacker to pose as a high-level user in an organization and fool unsuspecting employees into sharing sensitive information or granting remote access to protected resources. Employees should always be skeptical of email requests for system access or sensitive data. 

4. IoT Devices & Out of Date Software

Internet of Things - Dexter Edward

These days, the latest lightbulbs, refrigerators, thermostats, TVs, tablets, e-readers, and watches might have more in common than you’d expect. Many are part of the IoT, or Internet of Things. An IoT device generally refers to any internet-enabled piece of technology that you might not expect to have internet access, and often doesn’t require human operation. 

And when it comes to network security, that internet-enabled thermostat or refrigerator might not be so “smart” after all. Any device connected to a network is a potential threat, and many IoT devices have glaring flaws in their security, and often unsecured software and unencrypted communication.

Many of these devices are not supported with software updates – essentially becoming an open door for hackers. As the popularity of IoT devices continues to grow, it’s imperative that users understand their flaws and how they can compromise a network.

 

What  can you do to enhance the mobile device security in your organization? 

1. Implement a strong company policy on mobile security. 

This might sound like an obvious solution, but a little can go a long way. Incorporating security requirements into training, policies, and everyday activities can help ensure employees adhere to proper security practices when using mobile devices. 

VPN - Dexter Edward

 

2. Invest in effective VPNs that are easily accessible for employees who work on the go. 

VPNs provide a convenient means of accessing a secure network for accessing sensitive resources. When it comes to everyday users, sometimes accessibility and ease-of-use are the best solutions for preventing security mistakes. 

3. Enforce two-factor authentication (2FA) on necessary applications. 

Though mobile devices bring new risks, they can also provide solutions. 2FA provides an additional authentication step during the login process that requires a code that’s sent to a specified 2FA device. With this method, an attacker with access to a set of user credentials will be unable to sign in without access to the user’s device. 

In this new decade of cybersecurity threats and solutions, is your company incorporating enough mobile security practices to ensure its safety? 

Dexter Edward offers a secure, customizable, and user-friendly VPN service that includes communication and collaboration services, file sharing, and much more. 

Contact one of our industry experts today to learn more about how we can protect your organization in the new age of mobile security threats.

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Automated Cybersecurity Solutions

by CybersecurityEncryptionFile ServerFognigmaTelephonyVPN

With the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced software processes come new cybersecurity risks. Hackers have more tools than ever before, utilizing new technology to automate their attacks on a larger scale.

With these automated attacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and relentless, it’s imperative to take prevention measures with an equally sophisticated automated cybersecurity solution. 

With the large volume of attacks automation and machine learning bring, your defense must be scaled to match. Automated cybersecurity solutions create faster risk prevention and reduces the volume of risks that require human attention, freeing you and your users to focus on the goals and tasks at hand. 

FIGHT AUTOMATION WITH AUTOMATION

Fognigma’s patented software provides secure, sophisticated, and automated cybersecurity solutions needed to address these threats. 

Reverb: What private telephony communication was meant to be. 

Fognigma’s Reverb provides a traceless telephony solution with encrypted telephone numbers, extensions, and call chains. This ensures your calls and communications are hidden from the world behind the invisibility of Fognigma networks. 

Under the protection of Fognigma’s sophisticated obfuscation technology, your telephony communications stay between caller and recipient. Third parties can’t trace where calls originate, where they end, or what was said. 

With Reverb, your private conversations stay private. 

Encrypted Instant Messaging For All

Fognigma provides instant messaging chat servers within its invisible and secure networks, protected by cascading AES-256 encryption. This dynamic and user-friendly solution eliminates the risks of phishing scams, works on any device running any major operating system, and is globally accessible. 

The best part? It’s fully automated, meaning your organization can immediately incorporate encrypted communication and basic file sharing into its day-to-day operations through a familiar, easy-to-use interface. 

When it comes to the security of your everyday communications, encryption should be easy for everyone. 

Automated CyberSecurity Solution: Securing Video Conferencing

 

Secure Video Conferencing and Screensharing

Fognigma’s secure and encrypted video conference solution allows participants to chat and share screens. This is ideal for team-building exercises, mission briefings, and other instances where face-to-face conversation is preferred. 

This also allows your users to communicate with untrusted outside sources without risk to either party. Fognigma allows your organization to video conference between trusted and untrusted parties without risking the security of anyone on either side.

This solution features end-to-end encryption, is globally accessible, and works on any device running any major operating system. 

Share Files Without RiskAutomed Cybersecurity Solutions: Secure File Sharing

Encrypted file shares are one of the safest ways to store sensitive data such as company polices, intellectual property, company communication logs, marketing collateral, and many other important files. 

Using Fognigma, you can create an encrypted file server within your private network, allowing your users to easily drag and drop files or share items with external parties using a customized link. 

Users can also access the file share using protected virtual desktop instances for even greater security.

Automate VPN management and accomplish more 

Using Fognigma’s sophisticated, fully customizable automation feature, you can automate production and access to all of the components mentioned above. 

In minutes, you can automate a schedule that will build, manage, and destory a VPN with any of the custom components mentioned above, allowing your organization to focus entirely on productivity. 

These are just a few of the powerful features available with Fognigma. Schedule a demo today to see how Fognigma can automate security for your organization. 

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Setting Up Your Own Secure File Server: A Primer

by EncryptionFile Server

Take Your Files with You

Just as the world never stops turning, our operations remain in constant motion. They take us on the road, in the air, and over the sea. We bundle up our technology and bring it with us so we can continue working, and no matter which types of tech we take along, one thing is always needed: our files. A secure file server can make all the difference.

Of course, you could take a thumb drive with your files wherever you go, but everyone knows how risky that is. Misplace the drive and your documents will most likely find a new life in dark places on the Internet where all sorts of bad things can result. Or, at the very least, multiple versions of the documents will be created, leading to version control confusion (i.e., you won’t know which version is the most recently updated and accurate).

The only answer is to have an online file repository where you can access your files, without creating and carrying around multiple copies. But which method is the best to create a secure file server?

Host your own secure file server

Cloud Storage Thunderstorms

The fastest way to give your files the gift of remote access is to upload them to a cloud storage server operated by one company or another. We won’t name cloud storage companies because for many, they are viable options for file storage. However, we will mention some of the potential security risks these cloud storage companies, as a whole, represent.

  • Lack of Crypto-Key Control – In simplistic terms, when files are encrypted, keys are created to encrypt and decrypt the files. If you don’t have the key, you can’t see the file. The problem with some cloud storage providers is they maintain ownership of the encryption keys, which means if the service was hacked, the hackers would have control over the encryption keys to your files.
  • Lack of Any Security Control – When you sign up for a cloud storage provider, they have their own methods of cybersecurity in place. You don’t have a say in what encryption they use, for example, or any other security features. In short, you are trusting their cybersecurity team with all your data.
  • Data Sharing – Sometimes cloud storage providers have shared data (or, at least, metadata) with third parties. When security is a prime concern, the sharing of any data about your data or your organization is potentially very harmful.
  • Shared Server Storage – When you upload files to a cloud storage provider, your files are stored on a section of one of their massive servers. If the file server gets hacked via another customer’s account, once again, the hackers can gain access to your files since they reside on the same server.

Host your own secure file server

Host Your Own Secure File Server

The easiest way to take total control over your file server needs is to set up your own. Though that might sound daunting, it is actually pretty simple. Plus, there are multiple manners of file sharing you can use. Here are a few:

  • NAS (Network Attached Storage) – NAS is one of the easiest ways to build a secure server, but it is reliant on you having the proper type of router. Some routers have USB ports for storage. Plug in a thumb drive, configure a few settings, and you’re the proud owner of a private server!
  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – FTP has been around for almost as long as the Internet. While it’s not exactly what you imagine when you think of a cloud server, FTP servers can be used to easily transfer large files. You can even add security measures to FTP. Use SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) and you’ll be using SSH to protect the transmission of your files. Or, use FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Secure) which give you TLS encryption for data transmission.
  • HFS (HTTP File Server) – HFS is another protocol which has been around for some time. It can be set up quickly which is great for inexperienced users yet has tons of customizable options for the more advanced users.

The most important part, after you’ve determined the type of private server you plan to run, is to explore security options. You’ll need to do it all yourself (as compared to a cloud storage provider) but, as previously stated, you’ll have full control over your security. You can make sure your security measures are always up to date, your software properly patched, and access to your files exactly as controlled as you desire.

To learn more how Fognigma, our leading-edge enterprise software solution, can take your protected, online-accessible file storage to the next level, contact us today.

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The Problem with Old Encryption Methods

by CybersecurityEncryptionFognigma

Encryption is Vital

Mission success depends on organizational data and communications staying protected. It behooves organizations, therefore, to shroud their comms and data with encryption. So why don’t they? Why don’t organizations and agencies rush out and implement at least some form of encryption? Why don’t they make encryption a top priority? Well, it’s not as easy as just pressing a button, but perhaps not for the reasons you think. Let’s examine encryption, some of the things that prevent organizations from adopting it, and some of the disasters that can occur without it.

 

Encryption is Nothing New

As soon as the first person had a secret they wanted to tell another, without the whole world knowing, encryption was born. (We’ve covered some of this before in our blog about Dual Encryption. Take a read for some extra background into the history of encryption.) Encryption of one form or another has been used to protect trade secrets, important communications, and military intelligence.

All encryption is based on ciphers — rules of reorganizing the information so its actual meaning is hidden from anyone who doesn’t know the rules. In a simplistic model, the ciphers work with special keys to lock up the data, and the same key (symmetric encryption) or a different key (asymmetric encryption) unlocks the data and allows it to be deciphered.

Since encryption was first born, however, others have been working hard at breaking encryption. And so, encryption methods have grown more and more complex. The current accepted standard of encryption is AES-256 encryption which creates digital keys 256 characters long. Brute force (i.e., guessing all random combinations) a number that size would take a billion times longer than the age of the universe.

So, encryption has been around a long time, which brings the question again: Why aren’t organizations adopting encryption for all their data and communications?

Encryption Costs Time

Encryption doesn’t just happen. A method must be chosen, procedures must be implemented, users must be trained, and then everyone actually needs to use the encryption. All this disruption to the current way of doing things takes time. Lots and lots of time, especially the “everyone actually using it” part.

Encryption adds extra steps to workflow and users are notorious for going around company policy if it slows down their work. A new report from Symphony Communication Services shows 24% report they are “aware of IT security guidelines yet are not following them;” “27% knowingly connect to an unsecure network;” and “25% share confidential information through [unsecure] collaboration platforms.”

This is very troublesome when incorporating encryption into your organization. For encryption to protect properly, everyone needs to be using it instead of finding ways around it. A report by the Government Business Council showed that of those Defense employees who admit to using their personal devices to conduct agency work, 94% say their devices have not been approved by the agency. Once again, more evidence that users are choosing convenience over security—choosing to save time over protecting the organization. Time, then, is the true cost (and problem) with old encryption methods.

Automated Encryption is the Future

In the future, encryption will be easier for organizations to adopt because it will all be handled behind the scenes. You’ll simply log in to a program (which will handle all the key exchanges and encryption/decryption) and let it run in the background. You will then be able to send encrypted messages as easy as sending a regular chat message—no extra steps needed. You’ll be able to encrypt files that only the specific users you selected will be able to open (even if the user is just yourself). And this encryption will be available on desktop and mobile devices, all working together to ensure your organization’s encryption.

Think that sounds like a pipe dream? Too good to be true? Too far out in the future? What if we told you the future was in the final stage of development and testing, and will be ready for release very soon? It has a name: Conclave. It has a purpose: to make sure you use encryption and protect your organization without all the extra steps. To learn how our automated encryption solutions can help secure your data, users, and organization, please contact us today!

Dual Encryption Methods

Dual Encryption Matters

by Encryption

Why Encryption?

Encryption is, quite simply, a means of ensuring your information remains your (and only your) information. It disrupts the “mind your own business” adage by attempting to make it impossible for others to mind your business. Tracing the trail of encryption (or cryptography, as they were almost synonyms until more recently as encryption has become digital) back through time, some of the very earliest encryption was used to protect military orders. This isn’t surprising, as an effective military must keep its movements secret from the enemy. The Arabs, Greeks, Romans—almost all the cultures of the ancient world, in fact—used encryption in some form, though the Arabs are thought to be the first to document the subject. Military secrets needed to remain secret.

In his history of cryptography and encryption, The Codebreakers, David Kahn describes a 3″ x 2″ tablet from around 1500 B.C. This Mesopotamian tablet described the earliest known formula for making pottery glazes, protected with a cipher to safeguard trade secrets. Information was protected with encryption.

Fast-forward through time. More people in the world meant more secrets. Religions split and collided. Sciences grew, hid, grew more, and blossomed. And during all these changes and growth spurts, information about many topics had to be kept hidden from some group or another.

Today, information is just as valuable as ever and, since there is more of it and it is more accessible, protecting information has become a job in itself. Therefore, we encrypt to protect our organizations, our intellectual property, our families, our country, and, most importantly, our security.

 

But Really, Why Encryption?

We know there is information we need to protect, but is that the only reason we encrypt things? Nope! The tree of encryption bears three other fruits: authentication, integrity, and nonrepudiation.

Authentication refers to proving the sender is who they say they are. This is simple to picture. If you receive an encrypted message from someone and it’s using the encryption you both previously decided on, then you know the person sending you the message is the person you think it is. By using encryption, the sender has provided some proof of their identity or, at least, their authority to send an encrypted message.

Dual Encryption Methods

Integrity provides assurance that the information hasn’t been altered. Again, this is simple to picture: if you take a piece of data, encrypt it, and then decrypt it, you will have the same piece of data. If anything happens to that data, it won’t decrypt properly, and you’ll have a mess of random characters. If you have a mess, you know the integrity of the information has been compromised.

Nonrepudiation is a fun word that means the sender can’t say they didn’t send the information. If only two people have the encryption keys and information is encrypted using those keys (and assuming the receiver didn’t send it to themselves), then the sender is the sender. If the sender says they didn’t send it, the fact that the encryption was used proves they did. That is, the sender is unable to repudiate (or disavow) they sent the information.

 

Dual Encryption Matters

So, your information is protected with encryption, which is great. But what if someone breaks that encryption? One virtual lock picked, and your information is now in peril. Perhaps the easiest way to visualize this is a door with both a door lock and deadbolt. Any attempted intrusion has to bypass both locks before the door can be opened. By using two levels of encryption, information is safeguarded against a single point of failure.

encryption methods to protect devices

Encryption should ensure the amount of time required to defeat the encryption is longer than the amount of time the data is of value and required to be secure. With AES-256 encryption, the current accepted standard, block lengths support 256 bits from which to create a key. Imagine guessing an ATM pin that was 256 characters long and the variations that it could contain. That’s a lot of really long numbers.

To put this in another context, breaking a symmetric 256-bit key by brute force would theoretically take longer than our universe has existed—multiplied by a billion. Now imagine two layers of AES-256 encryption and you can see why dual encryption matters: having to brute force through two layers of such a tough encryption standard borders on statistically impossible.

 

Two Heads are Better than One

Most cryptographic solutions make use of a single software library to provide encryption and decryption of data. A single software library does give you encryption, true, but also comes with the risk that in the event of a zero-day compromise of the library, the entire encryption fails.

To combat this single point of compromise, Fognigma (our enterprise software solution which gives organizations the power to build encrypted, invisible, and anonymized cloud-based networks, thus securing your communications and online activities) offers the ability to add in a completely separate secondary software library to dual layers of encryption. In the event of a zero-day exploit or other compromise of one library, the second library remains uncompromised and your data remains safe.

In addition to the standard versions of these libraries (OpenSSL and wolfSSL), Fognigma also offer a FIPS 140-2 validated version of each library (OpenSSL – Certificate #3284; wolfSSL’s wolfCrypt – Certificate #2425).  By using one or both of these FIPS-certified cryptographic libraries, Fognigma can comply with the most rigorous regulatory requirements.

Dual layers of encryption. Dual software libraries. Fognigma is ready to give you the power to protect everything your organization holds dear. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule a demo.