Ident-IT

22/11/2022

Apologies it seems the sound of the most recent webinar was recording locally and showing me a reading but did not display on the stream at all. The issue has been fixed and we are going to re-run the free webinar tomorrow at the same time.

16/11/2022

Always good to keep moving forward. Have spent today refreshing the website and streamlining the included information and design. Please have a look and see the new design.
Does it display information in a much more streamlined and friendly way?
Is it visually appealing?
Your feedback is always appreciated
http://ident-it.com.au

19/10/2022

If you have any questions about this service, please don't hesitate to message me.

When was the last time you stopped and thought about your business cyber security? What would you do if you fell victim to a cyber threat? If you want expert assistance helping you answer these questions and more, contact IDENT IT today.

19/10/2022

When was the last time you stopped and thought about your business cyber security? What would you do if you fell victim to a cyber threat? If you want expert assistance helping you answer these questions and more, contact IDENT IT today.

24/09/2022

Large data breaches are becoming more and more common. No matter the security you take with your own personal data, your information can be put at risk in these situations. Whether you are the individual concerned about the exposure of your information through a breach or the business concerned about keeping your client’s information secure from a data breach Ident IT can help.

Something that obviously has attracted a very large amount of attention is the recent Optus data breach. Its important to mention I don’t work with Optus or have any information on the breach or how it occurred, but I can assist with the general precautions to take. As a victim in this breach myself I am offering this advice and assistance free of charge, please feel free to contact me if you need any help.

The first set of information to be aware of would be your personal particulars (Name, Address, DoB, Phone Number and other personal information). The risk for this kind of information is the potential for scammers to use this information to contact you and attempt social engineering scams with this personal data. Be very wary of any individual contacting you either about the Optus breach or about your Optus accounts, and always be practicing general scam awareness.

The HIGH risk in this breach comes from potential for identity document compromise. This includes documents like Driver’s License and/or Passports. These documents along with your personal data could put you at risk of the following:
- SIM or Phone porting (if your phone goes into SOS mode, please act immediately to report to your carrier and secure accounts)
- Attempted access to your financial accounts, make sure to contact your financial institutions to advise them if you have been identified as part of this breach.
- Make sure all online accounts are locked behind 2FA (be aware that if your 2FA security is set to your phone, be very caution of phone porting, this is the weakness of 2FA.
- You can contact the Australian Passport Office to cancel/reissue your passport which will change the compromised ID number. There may be delays and costs involved.
- Drivers License is always the tricky one, most states require you to prove misuse of the license, and some don’t even offer the option to change the documents ID number. If you need further assistance here, please contact me.
- Another option to increase your personal protection is to put some credit bans in place on your own credit file in Australia. Look at the Websites for Equifax, Experian and Illion.

This is just a bit of a PSA to help anyone who has questions about this kind of event. Please feel free to share with anyone you know affected. If this kind of event makes you think you could use some assistance keeping yourself or a loved one safe from scams or data breaches and would like the peace of mind knowing experienced assistances is available, please contact Ident IT about what we can do to help. If you are a business and concerned about this kind of event and what you can best do to protect your client information, then don’t hesitate to get in touch and organise a consultation for your business.

Send a message to learn more

04/08/2022

Scam of the week series – Scam #2 – Remote Access Scams
The format for these posts is going to cover the framework of these scams to help individuals identify this scam. If you are the victim of one of these and need assistance with recovery and risk mitigation, please get in touch.

Step 1 – The Hook
Typically, these scams start with either a phone call or a prompt or pop-up on your device. If its via the phone the scammer on the other end will be trying through many methods to convince you to install a remote access program. Now these programs themselves like Anydesk, TeamViewer, RemotePC and many others are not necessarily malicious software, it is the way these scammers use them that make them dangerous. They will use information they may have obtained previously about an individual to convince them they are representing their bank, a retailer, an online account, or some other service in which they need to help/stop something from happening and they will ask you to install remote access to further this assistance.
If the method of compromise is through a pop-up or prompt on your device, the scammer is attempting to make you believe there is an error or issue with your pc and that to fix it you will need to allow them remote access to solve the issue. More on pop-up and ransomware scams coming soon.

Step 2 – The Bait
Once the scammer has convinced you to install the remote access program, then the damage begins. They will continue to ask you questions or try and distract you and ask you to go get this or that or leave the room. There argument is that they are fixing something or helping you recover something or even stopping a scammer from taking things when this is indeed what they are doing. They may know bits of information and they will use this along with other information they are gaining from the access to your device to complete the scam.

Step 3 – The Reel In
The concern with remote access programs is the amount of information a lot of us keep on devices or in email accounts or saved to other online or network connected locations. If you have sent or received ID info through your email account or have saved your card payment details to online sites or accounts or have bills and other documents saved on your desktop, all these things are vulnerable and form the basis of the misuse when a scammer takes over the device. Typically, the theft of this information and access to your online banking and other online accounts is what the scammers are after here.

Step 4 – The Catch
Once the scammer has complete control of the device, they will attempt to close you out. They may turn the screen blank on your end or they may try convince you to leave the room and do other things while the computer does its thing for a few hours. In this time they will be changing account log in details, downloading ID information, account information including passwords and contact information. This is typically your last chance to stop the actions of the scammer here, if not too late you need to make sure you turn off the devices, remove their connection to the internet, put the device into airplane mode any way to remove the connection the scammer has. Once the connection has been dropped you can try contact your banks and other important accounts to advise of the potential risk.

Step 5 – The Aftermath
This scam is one of the most compromising for personal ID information. Most people will store large amounts of information on devices for ease of access. But there needs to be a middle ground. The more accessible things are the less secure. And vice versa, there are methods like 2FA or MFA (two factor authentication or multi factor authentication) that can help increase security as well as having verbal passwords set for phone banking and things like this. If you need advice on methods to best secure yourself from this kind of event or if you have experienced this kind of event and need assistance in the mitigation of future risk, these are all things Ident IT can assist with.

18/07/2022

This is the start of a new series of posts im going to be doing weekly. Highlighting a new scam each time. If you know someone who has been the victim of a scam or a loved one who may be at risk, have them get in touch for a free consultation.


Scam of the week series - Scam #1 - Investment Scam
The format for these posts is going to cover the framework of these scams to help individuals identify this scam. If you are the victim of one of these and need assistance with recovery and risk mitigation, please get in touch.

Step 1 - The hook
Typically these scams start on social media. You will see a friend or a celebrity social media post about a new investment they have found, including links and some information about how good this is and that they recommend you look into it. This is a fraudulent post being made from a hacked social media account. (more on hacked social media coming soon)

Step 2 - The bait
Once you have clicked on the link and registered your interest with this "investment" you will be contacted by a consultant. They will most likely phone you but it could also be email, WhatsApp or many other methods. This person will ask you to deposit a small amount (this can vary depending on the scam). They will also require you to "verify" your identity so they can create an account for you with there company.

Step 3 - The reel in
Over time they will show you a return on the initial investment you had made, there will be regular contact advising you to increase your deposit if you want to make real $$$$. This step can come in many forms, some will even let you withdraw some small funds from the account to help establish trust, dont be fooled, they have done there research and know most people will deposit that money right back along with possibly much more.

Step 4 - The catch
Eventually there will reach a point where they ask for too much money and the individual starts to say NO. This will typically result in the client requesting a withdrawal. Once again every scam is different but in most cases some excuse will follow as to why this cant be done right away. This is there last chance for the scammers to clean you out, so they will try anything to get you to give one last amount over. Some examples include - requesting you pay tax, a one time withdrawal fee, a min deposit amount before you can withdraw. Whatever the excuse this will continue until they either take off with all the money or the individual unfortunately becomes aware this was a scam.

Step 5 - The aftermath
This can be one of the most damaging scams as individuals will typically hand over very large sums of money and also lots of identity documents. These scams can commonly also incorporate remote access via your home PC or mobile device meaning your emails, internet banking and much more is now at risk.

Don't try and fight this kind of event alone. There are steps to recovery from these events, its a long process with many steps but there is a way back and proactive measures to protect yourself from the possible identity theft risk. Reach out to Ident IT if you feel you may have dealt with one of these scams or someone you know may be at risk.

12/07/2022

Today is the official launch of Ident IT Australia. From today you can contact us via social media or through the website to book your free consultation. Please make sure to include details of the case with your query to allow for a more accurate response.

Examples of services we can provide include
- Training and education around scam and frauds
- assessments of home networks and devices to check for vulnerablities
- Expert assistance and advice for victims of scams and frauds
- For small business, vulnerability assessments covering all facets of cyber sec preparedness to make sure you and your clients are not at risk.

Book now -

Helping you stay safe online!

12/07/2022

Proudly presenting ident-it.com.au. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Helping you stay safe online!