You just gotta love it…

* Loss from cybercrime exceeded $1.3B in 2016, FBI report

“The financial loss from cybercrime in the U.S. exceeded $1.3 billion in 2016, a rise of 24 percent, according to a new report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).” Read more..

And remember gang –> that’s ONLY what was reported to the FBI. Think “tip of the iceberg”. (And, only USA losses.. How much global?)

* Google Gets Record-Breaking $2.7 Billion Fine for Manipulating Search Results

“Google has just lost its biggest regulatory battle! Google has been hit with a record-breaking $2.7 billion (€2.42 billion) fine by the European antitrust officials for unfairly manipulating search results since 2008. After a lengthy seven-year investigation that was launched in 2010..” Read more..

.. “since 2008” .. HA! Try, “since Google”. And don’t think Google’s going to pay that fine — the advertisers are. Be smart. Bail out now people.

* Judy Android malware unleashes massive attack on Google Play Store (NOTE! it wasn’t an ‘attack’.. the criminal hackers ‘poisoned’ the site with infected apps.)

“When it comes to apps for mobile devices, InfoSec experts will always recommend downloading from official vendors like the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. While these sites are much more stringent in their standards for malicious app prevention, there are always exceptions (which require the consumer to use common sense).” Read more..

OMG. Too funny. “require people use common sense” ..!

Sad part is.. that ‘attack’ netted tons of cash with automated click fraud (do you advertise? Look up the term ‘click fraud’ NOW!)

ALERT: New Petya ransomware variant attacking computers worldwide

“Following the high profile WannaCry attack merely a month ago, we have detected another ransomware outbreak that is spreading rapidly across the globe. It appears to be a new variant of the known Petya ransomware, also known as Petna, and it has already affected many high profile companies and government institutions across Europe and currently shows no sign of slowing down.” Read more..

And: Six quick facts to know about today’s global ransomware attack

“This is what you need to know — right now.” Read more..

* * *

* And you better believe — my ‘page views’ will take yet another hit for posting this.

Today’s quote: “In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.” ~ Konrad Adenauer

Copyright 2007-2017 © “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.

Service Pack 1 and Polite Phishing. OddJob & Meow.

Service Pack Released. Holdouts can migrate to Windows 7 now.

Last night my Win7 machine told me that there were Updates available. So, like I always do, I clicked to view the details. I noticed that one of the “Important” updates was not checked. So I looked closer and saw that it was indeed the awaited first Service Pack, which rumors had said was coming soon.
I placed a check in the checkbox, and clicked “Install”. Because Service Packs are good things. And I have been testing IE 9, so I let that upgrade to the new “Release Candidate” as well.

After a twice rebooting install, which went smoothly, my upgrades were in, and my Windows 7 machine was now 72 times faster and three times shinier. Yay!

Okay. You know I’m kidding.. right? “Service Packs” sometimes do bring new features to the operating system, but generally are simply a collection (a “pack”) of security patches and bug fixes. There is an old saying in the Geek world – Do Not Buy Until The First Service Pack Is Released.

That’s good advice. Generally speaking, you do not want Version 1.0 of anything. You want the next version.. the one where most of the bugs have been found and fixed. I have been telling people that Windows 7 is an exception to that Rule – being already remarkably stable and bug free. However, if you have been waiting, SP1 is now here.

So what is in the first Windows 7 Service Pack (aka SP1)? I quote, “Win 7 SP1 sports a little nip here and a roll-up tuck there — but there’s not a single significant enhancement to Win7.”
Woody Leonhard wrote a great piece for Windows Secrets that sums things up in a nutshell: What you need to know about Windows 7 SP1

* For those who have trouble with this Update (or.. Updates in general), see Microsoft notes Windows Update “inconsistencies,” provides fix

Cybercriminals try the polite approach:

I ask non-regular readers to note the attachment ‘paperclip’, and to trust me when I say that it is a clear signal that you do NOT want to do anything with this email except delete it — opening the email will put you on the Global Sucker List. And opening the attachment…. probably worse.
And I believe that regular readers will know that “Please confirm your identity” translates to “Please hand me your identity”.

Related?

“A new banking trojan targeting U.S. customers has the ability to keep online account sessions open after customers believe they have logged off, enabling criminals to surreptitiously steal money, according to researchers at web security firm Trusteer.

Eastern European cybercrooks are using the trojan, dubbed “OddJob” by researchers, to attack banking customers in the United States, Poland and Denmark…“

Learn more here, Trojan steals session IDs, bypasses logout requests

Too kewel not to post:
A reader shared with me a photo. I am not a “cat person”, but one look at this fellow…

King of his hill

and I had to smile. One ‘cool cat’ there.

Have a great day everyone!

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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