Technology Tips: January 2023 Edition

#Tips

Skyward IT Services

by Skyward IT Services

Skyward IT Services Network and Infrastructure Security Specialists

Read time:

Should your district use Google Analytics?

If you’re looking to make data-driven decisions for your district’s marketing, recruiting, and web efforts, Google Analytics is a great place to start! And best of all, it's free! You can use Google Analytics to unpack information like:

The demographics of people visiting your site
Which content/web pages get the most traffic
How people are finding your website
What types of devices most people are using (cell phones, computers, etc.)
And so much more... Check out this article to learn more about how school marketers and Google Analytics work hand in hand.

If you don't yet have a Google Analytics account for your website, the first step is to set one up. Follow these steps to get started.

Once you’re up and running, you can consider diving even deeper into the data (and increasing your analytics IQ) by pursuing the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) certification.

Always, always, always check the URL

Phishing attacks continue to be one of the top methods hackers use to steal personal information. One of the simplest ways to protect yourself from these attempts is to hover over a link before you click on it. As your mouse passes over the link, the URL will appear in the lower left corner of your screen. Double check to make sure it looks correct and isn’t taking you to a suspicious site.

Better yet, if you are able, consider going directly to the website you’re trying to access without clicking on any email links. (For example, if you get an email from a vendor asking you to pay a bill, log in to your account with that vendor as you normally would and look for the bill there, instead of accessing it via the email link.)

It’s especially important to never skip the hover step, as scams are becoming difficult to detect. The days of spotting phishing emails thanks to red flags of bad grammar and incorrect English may soon be behind us, as hackers are turning to ChatGPT to script well-written, convincing messages.

Chromebook enrollment threat: SH1MMER

Please be aware of a tool called SH1MMER which allows users to remove a Chromebook from an enterprise management system.

Google has not yet released a patch, but they are aware of the exploit. In the meantime, administrators can take action to prevent problems.

Pay close attention to inactive devices and contact users whose devices have not synced on your anticipated schedule.
Remove enrollment permissions for users if you haven’t already done so.
Block an extension required to use SH1MMER called the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension.
Block URLs where users can find the tool.

Read more from EduGeek about protecting devices from this exploit.

Malware of the month

How scammers scam scammers.

Say that three times fast. Yes, the bad guys are after good and honest people, but they are also after other hackers. It turns out, like any criminal, they just don’t care whose money and data they steal. In fact, over the past 12 months, cybercriminals have lost over $2.5 million to other scammers. Hackers will post repackaged tools full of malware on hacking forums, infecting other hackers’ desktops. This malware not only gives hacker #1 access to hacker #2’s information, but it also gives them the information of every person hacker #2 has ever hacked.

Why would a hacker do this to a fellow criminal? There are rivalries to conquer and reputations to uphold, for one. Some hackers are in it for easy money, while others are looking to gain power. Increased knowledge is yet another reason—source code, chat logs, sales, and transactions are all ways a hacker can further their attacking game.