Archive for the ‘Malware’ Category

Is the Cloud Secure? Part 2

Friday, January 20th, 2012

The cloud can be a blessing for small business owners fighting through tough economic times. Rather than purchasing costly enterprise software, business owners can save their dollars by accessing powerful computing programs in the cloud, from high-end word processors and project-management tools to spreadsheets and Photoshop alternatives. But, the cloud isn’t perfect, particularly when it comes to security issues. Entrepreneurs must be aware that their documents, presentations, and marketing materials can be damaged when they’re stored in the cloud.

Password issues

One of the biggest security issues when dealing with the cloud is password protection. This is also one of the greatest security issues outside of the cloud.

You should always carefully select passwords to your projects stored in the cloud. The more complicated your passwords are the more difficult they are to guess. A great way to accomplish this is to use a combination of numbers and letters in your passwords. Also, you shouldn’t share these passwords with many people.

Hacker alert

Hackers, malware, and spyware remain serious issues for cloud environments, just like they are problems that business owners face when logging onto their personal computers everyday. The thing that makes this particularly scary is that individual business owners have little control over how secure cloud services are. The big names — companies like Microsoft and Google — must provide their own security for the data that business owners store in the cloud.

Common sense protection

Protecting yourself from theft in the cloud can be as simple as applying some common sense practices.

First, owners should consider what sort of information they are storing in the cloud. The most sensitive data, data that could damage a company if it is lost or stolen, may not be suitable for cloud storage. Instead, this data may be better preserved on a business owner’s individual computing system and reliably backed up.

Secondly, before giving every employee free access to cloud-stored data, think carefully about which employees actually needs access to that information. People are often careful about protecting their laptops and desktop computers from prying eyes; this attitude should be applied to the cloud as well.

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Do not Fall Prey to a Phishing Scam

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Phishing scams continue to be one of the most profitable crimes for online cyber criminals. News reports of sensitive data from large corporations like Sony being compromised are increasing at a troubling rate. But contrary to popular belief, these phishing scams are just as dangerous for small business owners.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (partners with the FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) have reported more than 300,000 cases of online phishing scams and other Internet related crimes.

Understanding what phishing is will help you identify what makes your small business so appealing to cyber criminals.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a serious problem, but the term can be a bit ambiguous. It is the act of illegally trying to obtain private information such as passwords, credit card account numbers, banking account information, usernames, or social security numbers.  Phishing is accomplished by creating fake logos, email addresses, authentic looking official websites, and phone numbers.  Victims are then under the illusion that it is official business and are compelled to give out their private information, which in turn can be used to steal their identity.  Small businesses often suffer from phishing, as the goal is to gain access to their customer’s private information such as credit card account numbers.

Examples of small business phishing scams

Thousands of small business owners have received emails from the IRS informing them that they must fill out W-4 forms or other tax forms, and return them via fax.  These emails look incredibly real.  Right down to the official IRS government seal.  Unfortunately, many owners are afraid that they are going to be audited by the IRS if they don’t take care of it quickly.

The IRS states on it’s website at IRS.gov, that it will not initiate any contact by email and that you should never click any links on an email sent to you asking you to send anything to the IRS.

Your company email can be a target

Company emails are easy access for thieves.  They can target an individual by sending him or her an email that looks authentic, however when they open it, it can release a virus or malware infecting the entire network.  The thieves will then have access to employee’s private information and company data.

Phone phishing

Phone phishing refers to deceitful phone calls where thieves posture as banks and request the victim to “verify” account numbers over the phone in order to steal confidential information.

How to protect your business against phishing

APWG.org is the Anti-Phishing Work Group, and their goal is to provide wonderful advice on how to guarantee your business does not fall victim to phishing. Listed here are some of their tips:

  • Make sure your employees are aware of what phishing scams are, and are cautious when reading and responding to suspicious emails.  Always err on the side of caution.  Instead of clicking a link, open another browser window and go to the official website.
  • Never give out company financial information such as bank routing numbers to an inquiry made via email.  Your bank does not need you to confirm your account information…they already have that. An email like that even if it has your bank’s logo is a fake. Make it a habit to check your accounts regularly for suspicious charges and withdrawals.
  • Make sure every computer used has up-to-date virus and malware protection.  Schedule regular full system scans.  Never download “anti-virus” software from an unknown entity. It’s better to stick with trusted brands.

It is nearly impossible for law enforcement to stop phishing, so the best method of defense is the education of your employees for identifying, dealing with, and staying up to date with phishing scam trends.

 

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Avoiding the Facebook Trojan Viruses

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Did you know that Facebook has over 500 MILLION active users and that over 50% of those log in on any given day?  It has become a great place to connect with friends, find out what’s happening, playing a game or to take part in discussions.  It’s also become one of the easiest places to get infected with a Facebook Trojan virus or other Facebook related malware.  As it turns out, these types of nasty little bugs are abundant and a lot of them can be quite serious. The Koobface worm is probably the best known Facebook malware but compared to Facebook Trojan viruses, this worm is sweet and harmless.

Facebook viruses use a lot of different techniques to infect your computer and even experts in the field can never be confident that you’ll never be caught by one of the new techniques that just seem to keep coming. There are some simple measures that can help, but if you aren’t diligent about following them, it’s almost guaranteed that sooner or later you will pick one up.

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How to Protect Your Family Online from Hackers and Predators

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Today more than ever, there are more threats from the online world. It’s seems every time you turn around you hear another story about someones computer or personal identity being stolen. It can happen in an instant and without a flash. Before you know it, it’s too late to stop it. If you have a family you want to protect, you want to make sure they are safe online, where no one can get at them.  That’s why you need to be more pro active about your computer when it comes to security. Sure you may think it’s hard and you also may think it’s only for geeks. But fear not, because you too can learn how. (more…)

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The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

by Roger G. Best

There’s an old hoax that has been spreading like wildfire though the Twitter hashtag “RIP Johnny Depp” and other such captions.  It’s an easy “snag” that draws people into action.  In this case, the action is to click through to get the scoop on the story.  So, before we go any further, let me make it perfectly clear that Johnny Depp is alive and well.  The rumors of his demise have been  greatly exaggerated! (more…)

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Posted in Malware, Social Media | 7 Comments »

Microsoft Outlook Malware Scam

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Have you received any Malware lately?  Are you sure?  It seems that with each passing day we are faced with new threats.  Gilda Radner used to play a character called Roseanne Rosannadanna that used to say “It just goes to show ya, if it ain’t one thing, it’s another’.  It seems that there are a never-ending flow of creativity as it applies to screwing with our computers and the productivity that we hope to gain from them.  And this installment doesn’t fall short in bringing you another one of which you should be aware.  (more…)

Posted in Malware | 19 Comments »

New Malware Threat

Monday, September 14th, 2009

By Roger G. Best

Among the most current threats is a particularly nasty variety of malware is known as Antivirus Pro 2010.  This is another iteration of an old trick.  The threat is slightly different, as is what it actually does on your system, but it’s an ugly little beast any way you look at it.  Here’s the skinny on what it does and how it tries to “get” you.  (more…)

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Malware: XP Anti-Virus 2008 or XP Anti-Virus 2009

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Recently, there has been an onslaught of malware infecting computers around the area.  Malware is software designed specifically to disrupt a computer system and often include Trojan horses, worms or other viruses.  The term “malware” is just an abbreviated term for malicious software.  So, the big question on our minds is what is infecting our computers and how did it get past our anti-virus software? The most common one we have been seeing is referred to as “XP Anti-Virus 2008 or XP Anti-Virus 2009”.  This software presents itself as a valid anti-spyware program and advertises itself with Trojans and other forms of malware. You will see fake security alerts and warnings on websites that say you are infected or being attacked in some way. If you click on these ads or pop-ups, it downloads the installer for the program and installs itself on your computer.  Another common way it installs itself is through a pop-up that asks you to take a survey.  Clicking anything, whether it is “Yes”, “No”, or even the red “X” that closes the window, installs the malware.  The whole purpose of this malware and many others like it is to get you to buy software to treat your “infection”.  You may also see fake warnings on pages that look like Google or an internet explorer page. All of these “warnings” should be ignored!! (more…)

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Worm Attack Code

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

It’s out there, but it’s widely thought that hackers have yet to activate the payload of the Conficker virus.

Yep, the threats continue.  There’s a worm that’s spreading through low security networks, memory sticks, and PC.  The really sad thing is that much of this threat could be mitigated by making sure that the appropriate security updates have been applied.  This malicious program, also known as Downadup or Kido, has been spreading across networks since October, 2008.  Although it’s spread appears to be leveling off, the biggest fears are that someone could easily take control of any and all of the estimated 9.5 million PCs that are currently infected. (more…)

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