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Hannah Manning

Journalism student at UMass Lowell and Managing Editor of the UMass Lowell Connector.
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Recent Posts

E-manipulation: What is social engineering?

Posted by Hannah Manning on Thu, Jun 22, 2017

So you have a Nigerian prince in your emails who seems nice enough. He’s never been anything but polite, and from the looks of it, he has had a rough time lately. As it turns out, being a prince is not as lucrative as it sounds. He just needs $12,000 from you to make it all better.

You know how this story ends. You laugh it off because you know it’s a scam – you don’t know this guy, why would you ever give him money?

But what happens when someone you do know emails you out of the blue, needing some cash? Or if a coworker asks for access to a file? Or if someone you’re pretty sure you know sends you a link that you just have to click?

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Topics: Data Security, cybersecurity, social engineering, email security, BostonIT

Chips in the armor: PEN or Vulnerability Testing?

Posted by Hannah Manning on Mon, Jun 19, 2017

Reports of hacking bank information, dating websites and even the 2016 presidential campaign have not only contributed to high levels of paranoia for businesses but driven them to consider testing their own networks and firewalls for any possible security breaches.

The only problem is choosing between doing PEN testing, vulnerability testing or both.

Making the choice can be difficult for organizations unversed in the differences between the two tests. PEN testing and vulnerability testing have been mistakenly labeled as the same because of some conflicting reports and marketing missteps.

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Topics: Data Security, Tech Fixes, BostonIT