While I was away…

Let’s take a look at some of the recent headlines in Tech. (In no particular order..)

* FCC privacy rules can’t stop ‘gold rush’ in personal data

“The flourishing ‘surveillance capitalism’ that profits from selling consumers’ personal data will be little affected by the new rules.” Read More..

* Malvertising Campaign Hits Top Websites to Spread Ransomware

“Hackers are always in search for an elite method to create loopholes in the cyberspace to implement the dark rules in the form of vulnerability exploitation. Top Trustworthy sites such as The New York Times, BBC, MSN, AOL and many more are on the verge of losing their face value as a …” Read more..

* Warning — Hackers can Silently Install Malware to Non-Jailbroken iOS Devices

“Hard time for mobile phone users! Just recently, two severe vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and Stagefright were spotted on the Android platform, affecting more than a Billion and Millions of devices respectively. And now: Hackers have discovered a new way to install malicious apps ..” Read more..

* Apple users, beware: First live ransomware targeting Macs …

“Security researchers have discovered what they believe to be the first-ever ransomware attack targeted at Apple users that actually made it out …” Read more..

* Android Trojan infiltrates mobile firmware, Trend Micro apps

“An Android Trojan which displays unwanted ads and installs nuisance software on mobile devices has been discovered in the firmware of smartphones and in popular Android applications, according to researchers.” Read more..

[ “firmware” is chip-level coding, which comes into play when you first power up, but before the operating system (and therefore, any ‘anti-virus’) launches. ]

* The 18 scariest computer viruses of all time (slideshow)

And, there’s also Apple vs the F.B.I., and other delightful stories… But.. none of them are happy.

Today’s quote: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Tuesday tidbits (on a Weds)

Folks, I found time to post a couple of items for your consideration:

An older, easier to spot skimmer.

* The Evolution of ATM Skimmers

“In a little over a decade, ATM skimmers have gone from urban myth to a wildly complex, ever-evolving suite of technologies that has the potential to be the worst nightmare of anyone with a bank account. Here’s a look at how quickly skimmers have evolved—and why they’re increasingly impossible to spot.” Read more..

* CryptoWall surpasses CryptoLocker in infection rates

“According to the threat analysis, CryptoWall is “the largest and most destructive ransomware threat on the Internet” and is expected to “continue growing.” But Jarvis expects “to see ransomware that ‘destroys files’ become the new normal.” In fact, the most of the major ransomware families, such as Reveton and Urausy, “are evolving into more sophisticated threats in parallel with those like CryptoWall and CryptoLocker.“” Read more..

*     *     *

Today’s quote: “Children are remarkable for their intelligence and ardor, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.” ~ Aldous Huxley

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.
Find a way to make someone’s day today.
(Best advice I ever heard? Don’t sweat the small stuff.)

Passwords worth real gold

A quick ‘must read’ for you today.

* Russian hackers show who values passwords

“As I’ve said here before, it is time end-users realize their personal data has value, including username and password. For those who can’t calculate that value, know that Facebook didn’t develop a $189 billion market cap harvesting corn on Farmville. That cap was built on personal data willingly provided by its end-users.” Read more..

[note: “end user” is Geekspeak for you and me – computer users.]

Today’s quote: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” ~ Mark Twain

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.
Find a way to make someone’s day today.
(Best advice I ever heard? Don’t sweat the small stuff.)

Everyday cybercrime — and what you can do about it

Folks, here is an “educational” Ted Talks video I think everyone should see. I hope you will forward this on to your less-savvy friends and family (and urge them to watch it).

Today’s quote: “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” ~ Mark Twain

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Scareware Targets Macs — MacSweeper

MacSweeper marks the first time a rouge “cleaning tool” has been developed and targeted to Mac users, indicating the platform is gaining enough users that it is catching the attention of malicious code writers, according to security firm F-Secure.

Windows users should already be aware of the rogue antivirus products, which use pop-ups and/or fake ‘scans’ to produce a list of “problems” that sound really scary or important (thus the moniker “scareware) — if you purchase the product to ‘solve’ the issues, your problems have just begun.
This is simply a version targeting Mac users.

Here is a video from F-Secure explaining the details and methods used.

Yes, all you Apple fans.. it’s time to stop thinking you’re immune from hackers, cybercriminals, and malware.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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“WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION”

Folks, after a quiet period, cyber-crooks are once again using Skype to send phishing “chats” in an attempt to defraud you, and infect your machine with their crimeware. So, I am reposting this article. It is the exact same ruse, but the name has changed.

Yesterday a “chat” window (Skype) opened on my machine, and presented me with a dire warning from someone named “Software Update” “Registry Scan Online®”. It said that “WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION” and, it provided me with a solution. (Click on image to see large version)

Please, folks, tell me you have spotted this for what it is. Please tell me that you knew –instantly– that this is a cyber-crime attempt; that it is Phraud-ulent. Please tell me that you know what will happen if the link provided in this message is clicked; and, please, please, please tell me you would never click the link.

Just in case you aren’t sure: * “Software Update” “Registry Scan Online ®” doesn’t exist. * “http://www.onlinemonitor.info” “www.registryscan.com” is not registered in ARIN (the registry of Internet addresses).
* clicking the link will allow scripts to run, and/or take you to a poisoned Website which will install malware on your machine, or/and it may take you to a site that will sell you a rogue anti-spyware program (please read my article, Is that antispyware program really spyware).
* Microsoft DOES NOT alert you via Instant Messaging. No legitimate company does. Period. Ever.

This is a classic example of a hacker’s attempt to get you to click their link. All of this so they can rip you off. It’s their full time job. Please point your less-savvy friends and family to this article and educate them to the dangers of spam (unsolicited) messages and tell them– NEVER CLICK THE LINK.

[Note: while this article directly references the VoIP client Skype, you may see this type of thing in other Instant Messaging/Chat programs.]

[addenda: Peter Parkes (Skype Blogger) wrote and asked me to remind my readers to, quote, “Please report users who send these messages to abuse@skype.net – that will help us to block them where appropriate.”]

Today’s free link(s): I have assembled on my Website a collection of links to some of the best free anti-malware programs to help you prevent infection.. and clean up if you’ve been infected. To see them, click here.
Also, Bill Mullins has posted a very complete tutorial, Think You Have A Virus?– Some Solutions, which is quite probably the best one-stop lesson on malware I have ever run across. (I also recommend his How Fake/Rogue Software Affects Real People.)

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

New Rogue Uses Fake PC Magazine Review

Yesterday, the good folks at BleepingComputer posted removal instructions for a rogue antivirus (please see, Internet Plague – Rogue Antivirus) that is demonstrating a new behavior…

Quote: “Anti-virus-1 is a new rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Antivirus 2010 and Antivirus 360. This program is promoted primarily through two methods. The first is through the use of advertisements that pretend to be online anti-malware scanners. These advertisements go through what appears to be a scan of your machine and then when finished, state that your computer is infected and that you should download Anti-virus-1 to protect yourself.

Remember, though, that this is just an advertisement and it has no way of knowing what is running on your computer. The second method that is used to promote this rogue is through the use of Trojans. When certain Trojans are installed on your computer they will display security alerts stating that your computer is infected or that you have some other security risk. When you click on these alerts, it will download and install Anti-virus-1 onto your computer…”

But that is not the new part, the new behavior adds entries to your HOSTS file so that if you go to any of a number of technology sites, including pcmag.com, you are instead brought to their site and are shown the malware author’s content. This content includes a doctored PCMag review of their fake anti-malware product.

For more on the story, click here.
And for removal instructions, click here.

A big tip of my geek hat to BleepingComputer.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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