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How to prevent phishing

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How to prevent phishing and keep thieves away from your money

Phishing – a hacking technique using fraudulent emails to trick people into handing over their bank account details – continues to be a major threat to personal security. Because these techniques are so successful, criminal continually refine them, making it harder than ever to avoid them.

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to better protect yourself – and they are all quite simple.

1. Don’t click links

Phishing emails are so effective because it is very hard to tell them apart from the real thing – they look just like the emails your bank sends. They are also intended to scare you, suggesting that your account has been compromised and you must act immediately to protect yourself.

No matter how concerned you may be, you should never click the links in an email. Even if you are 100% certain that the message comes from your bank.

Instead, you should type the bank’s address yourself into the browser window to make sure you are visiting the correct website. Once successfully logged in, you will be able to access electronic versions of the messages your bank has sent you – including any alerts. If the message is not repeated here, you can safely assume that the email was fraudulent.

You should also bear in mind that all banks typically send printed letters through the post when there is a serious problem with your account.

2. Get educated

All of the banks provide guidance on what a real email looks like – here’s an example from Lloyds Bank. Take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with the information provided and you’ll save yourself a lot of stress in future.

And just to re-emphasise the importance of never clicking links in an email, here’s what Lloyds has to say;

“We never link directly to our Internet Banking log on page, or a page that asks for security or personal details.”

3. Protect your PC

Computer security software, like Panda Gold Protection, include tools to identify and block phishing emails before you can be tricked by them. It is absolutely essential that every PC, Mac and Android smartphone you own is protected by some form of security software to stop phishing (and other cyberattack techniques) compromising your devices.

Once installed, don’t forget to carry out a regular scan (once a week is ideal) to check to see whether any malware or viruses have breached your defences. Malware can be just as damaging as a phishing email, monitoring what you do on your computer, and stealing passwords for instance. Running a regular scan will give you a chance to identify and delete these malicious apps before you are too badly compromised.

Don’t panic

Protecting against phishing emails is generally just a case of using your common sense. No matter how scary an email looks, take a second to check your online account yourself. Don’t forget that you can always visit your local branch, or the phone banking service to confirm that everything is ok.

Take the first step towards protecting yourself against phishing emails by downloading a free trial of Panda Security now.

The post How to prevent phishing appeared first on Panda Security Mediacenter.

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A New Ransomware Is Testing Our Morality

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A recent indie horror film called It Follows explores an interesting moral grey area. In that film a shape-shifting creature slowly but unstoppably chases a victim. This victim -who faces the inevitable prospect of being worn down and caught- can pass on this curse to someone else by sleeping with them. The question the film poses: Would you sacrifice someone else in order to save yourself?

A recently discovered type of malware is, strikingly, asking internet users the very same question in a real world setting. The context is admittedly far less grandiose –replace shape-shifting monsters with computer hackers- though the name of the new type of malware certainly feels like an allusion to its worthiness as a cyber suspense thriller.

Popcorn Ransomware

Popcorn Time Ransomware, which is named after but unrelated to a bittorrent client, encrypts the contents of your computer or device (using AES-256 encryption) so you cannot access them. Then it gives you a choice; you can pay a ransom, or sell out people you know.

Credit: MalwareHunterTeam
Credit: MalwareHunterTeam

MalwareHunterTeam, who discovered the new ransomware, have reported cases where victims have been given the ability to restore their files for one bitcoin (worth roughly $770 and £610). The second option though, described by its anonymous developers as “the nasty way”, is to send the link on to other people. “If two or more people install this file and pay, we will decrypt your files for free,” the developers say.
If that wasn’t surprising enough, a read of the developers’ information on the ransomware message throws yet another curveball at the infected computer’s owner. The money you are forced to send will, the infectors say, be used as charity.

Yes, you read that right.

The Popcorn Time ransomware developers claim to be computer science students living in war-torn Syria. Due to their horrific circumstances, living with the death of friends and relatives and “with no one helping”, they claim, they are taking things into their own hands. “Be perfectly sure that the money we get goes toward food, medicine and shelter to our people,” they say before actually apologizing for their actions. “We are extremely sorry we are forcing you to pay but that’s the only way we can go on living.” There is, of course, no way to verify this information and it may be completely untrue.

Advice on how to avoid being infected by ransomware varies.

A general rule though is that backing up important files regularly to an external hard drive or cloud storage keeps you one step ahead of any potential attackers. It is also best to download only from reputable sources and be wary of email links that could be part of a phishing attack.

Fear of hackers using our devices to spy on us has long been a fascination in Hollywood. As far back as 1983 the film WarGames explored the realm of computer hacking. Much has changed since then. Hackers have been vilified as well as championed in popular culture; Mr Robot is part of an anti-establishment organization, whilst the popular, hacker founded, Icelandic Pirate Party are making use of a Robin Hood trope to describe their political stance.

The post A New Ransomware Is Testing Our Morality appeared first on Panda Security Mediacenter.

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Doxware, the Scary New Evolution of Digital Hijacking

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Ransomware is one of the most frequent forms of cyberattack that a company can face. Through an infected email or by some other means, criminals can lock a computer, encrypt files, or sequester an entire corporate network. The main goal: ransom money, usually in the form of cryptocurrency, in exchange for freeing up the virtually hijacked computer or mobile device.

The FBI calculates that cybercriminals using ransomware have made off with up to $1 billion over the last year. However, many companies have learned how to combat this kind of attack. In addition to having the right protection, it’s possible to avoid paying the ransom by completely erasing the system and recovering it with a backup.

This particular kind of malware has evolved, and cybercriminals have honed their attacks against companies and individuals, making them more profitable. The future of ransomware is already here, and it’s called doxware.

This type of threat starts off in the same way as ransomware: cybercriminals take a company computer hostage and seek a ransom for its safe return. However, the risk is far greater. The cybercriminal threatens to make public the archives, confidential information, and conversations saved on the sequestered device. So, out of fear of having enormous quantities of corporate data put out there for all the world to see, victims will most likely pay the ransom.

It may be the case that this attack is practically a brand new, but some companies have already been infected. And it’s just the beginning. In fact, the malware is expected to continue evolving and cybercriminals will continue to perfect it until it becomes a global threat.

Just as Sony Pictures suffered in late 2014 a chain of cyberattacks followed by the leakage of some of the company’s confidential data, any other company in the world could suffer the same fate. If you’re not adequately protected against all kinds of threats, your devices could be hijacked and their secrets unveiled. Doxware is here, and it doesn’t bode well. Better be prepared.

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How to Hide Information with Ordinary Office Printers

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The printer you have in your office may be less innocent than you thought. Some experts have already shown that they can even become a steganographic tool, the art, well-known in computer security, of hiding information from prying eyes.

A few years ago, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that defends civil liberties on the internet, reported that some laser printers included a code on the documents they printed that could be viewed with a certain light and a microscope. Manufacturers later had to admit that the US secret services had, apparently, reached an agreement with them so as to identify counterfeiters with that hidden code.

Researchers at the University of Utah have now shown that a conventional inkjet printer such as the one above your desktop can be used to print hidden images invisible to the human eye.

Messages hidden with silver and charcoal

Experts have used a silver and carbon ink to print an image formed by small rods of a millimeter in length and a few hundred microns in width. By varying the proportion of silver and coal, the conductivity of each bar also changes. The human eye is unable to perceive this modification. Using harmless terahertz radiation, which is located in the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave and is able to traverse opaque objects, the information encoded in the conductivity can be unveiled.

In a study published in the journal of the Optical Society (OSA), researchers demonstrated their new method by hiding QR codes in an image. At first glance, they looked just like an array of identical lines, but, thanks to terahertz radiation, the QR code was discovered. With this method, they have even camouflaged color QR codes.

“Our very easy-to-use method can print complex patterns of rods with varying conductivity,” explained Ajay Nahata, one of the authors of the study. “An added benefit to our technique is that it can be performed very inexpensively.”

Printers used for espionage?

Although they performed this test using relatively simple and small QR codes, they believe the technique could be used to conceal information in more detailed and complex images.

In World War I, the Germans used lemon juice in their letters as invisible ink to escape censorship. Now, the researchers at the University of Utah have shown that there are far more sophisticated ways of hiding information, and there is no need to dig too deep into your pockets to use it.

They also plan to develop inks that need to be heated or exposed to light at a given wavelength to uncover information. Will invisible inks for printers become a new way of hiding confidential information? We may never know.

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