Antivirus Vendors
Sony executives turned to old BlackBerries found in a basement in the firm’s California headquarters in, using SMS text messages and a ‘phone tree’ to communicate in the wake of the attack.
The post Sony execs turned to old BlackBerries from basement in wake of attack appeared first on We Live Security.
Graphics card company Nvidia suffered a data breach in which private employee information was leaked, the company has revealed.
The post Nvidia breach – employee information leaks appeared first on We Live Security.
2014 has been a monumental year for technology, from drones becoming commonplace, to a landing on a comet, and the mobile industry is no exception.
Here are my favourite moments from the mobile world over the last 12 months:
The Oscars selfie has to go down as the tipping point in the phenomena that is ‘taking a selfie’, so much so, that it even (briefly) broke Twitter with over 3 million retweets.
While the word “selfie” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary back in August 2013, this was the year that the craze really went into full swing. For one thing, a “selfie stick” is now an actual thing. While some of us have ultimately found it painful to endure all the oversharing, the selfie even became a force for good.
Emma Watson’s ‘he for she’ campaign for gender equality was backed by some famous faces, including Russell Crowe, and how did they show their support, with a selfie, of course.
The highlight of my selfie calendar was however, this majestic photobomb, by none other that HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Mobile sharing hit another high this year with the Ice Bucket Challenge, raising awareness and money for ALS the charity dedicated to fighting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Love it or hate it, the challenge, through the power of the humble mobile raised more than £2.7 million for the charity.
It went global and attracted some high profile participants. My favorite has to be this fantastic take on the challenge, by Bill Gates after being challenged by none other than Mark Zuckerberg.
Then came the biggest news of the year, the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Rumors saw mega-fans waited outside stores a week before any official announcement had been made. Charity Depaul even got in on the queuing action, by auctioning off their 5th place spot in the queue on London’s Regent Street on eBay for £570, although one New Yorker reportedly sold their spot for a whopping $2500.
The iPhone 6 Plus has one of the largest smartphone screens on the market, bridging the ever narrowing gap between phones and tablets and joining a whole new world of “Phablets”. With no signs pointing toward phones going back to their teeny tiny early noughties past, like “selfie”, “phablet” might find its way into the dictionary soon.
2014 was the year I finally saw the light and downloaded Uber. This clever cab calling service caused quite a stir when it went live in my home city of London. The city came to a standstill as drivers of London’s traditional black cab service went on strike with over 10,000 cab drivers bringing the city to a standstill by parking in Trafalgar square.
While black cabs are as synonymous with London as red buses, I have to admit to being a total Uber convert. As someone who reluctantly and rarely booked taxis in the past, due mainly to the expense, Uber has come along and saved the day. Both in London and whilst travelling, I’ve used Uber to get to and from airports or get home on a night out, at a fraction of the price than I would normally expect. And it’s not just me who’s happy. While Uber may have its issues, the drivers I speak to seem genuinely enthused by the app. Many enjoy the freedom of working as much or as little as they want, or just earning extra money on the side.
And finally, my favorite mobile moment of the year comes from the Chinese, who in 2014 introduced a mobile walking lane on the sidewalk. So you can now safely wobble along staring down at your mobile, at a luxurious pace, without getting in anyone’s way. I’ve long thought about campaigning for a “fast walkers lane” in London, so would be more than happy to see the slow walkers keeping to their side of the pavement!
Looking back on 2014, we are grateful for the trust that our 220 million customers have placed in us. We thank you for your loyalty and for sharing Avast with your friends and family. We appreciate your support, your suggestions and feedback (even when it’s not so good 
), the way you help others on our forum and social channels like Facebook, Google +, and Twitter, and especially when you write us with your stories of how Avast saved the day for you.
As we enter this new year, we promise to bring you the best security products for your home network, your business, your PCs, Macs, and Android devices, that we can. We will stay on top of new threats and contain the old ones that keep coming back to plague us. We will strive to keep your trust, but most of all, to keep you and your important data and hardware save from harm.
So raise your glass with us, and join us for our 2015 wish.
The attack which knocked the PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live offline over Christmas appears to have been a publicity stunt, designed to gain notoriety and draw attention to the hacking group which has claimed responsibility – Lizard Squad.
The post XBox and PSN attacks were “marketing scheme” for Lizard Squad’s DDoS service appeared first on We Live Security.
We like nerds. We love nerds. We are nerds. And, as any respectable nerd would do, we have already thought about our 2015 resolutions. Check out what some of the coolest Avira nerds have planned for next year. It will give you a good hint of our guilty little pleasures.
Our gamers, in particular, have big plans…
...what about their other passions?
Special thanks to my colleagues who accepted the challenge of going public with their nerdiest 2015 resolutions: Nicole, Daniela, Cornel, Eliza, Ovidiu, Calin, Bogdan… you just made it to the Nerd Hall of Fame!
If you also have “nerdy” wishes on your Resolutions list, please share them with us in the comments section below.
Happy New Year from the whole Avira team!
The post 2015 Resolutions: The Nerd’s List appeared first on Avira Blog.
[AUDIO VERSION: This is an audio version of this blog post. Click below to listen.]
During the Christmas holidays, my mother received this email from a well-meaning friend. Since her daughter works for the most trusted security company in the world, she immediately asked me about the authenticity of the message.
Here’s the email:
Subject: VIRUS COMING !
Hi All,
PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!
You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message
with an attachment entitled POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK , regardless of who sent it to you.
It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which ‘burns’ the whole
hard disc C of your computer.
This virus will be received from someone who has your e -mail address
in his/her contact list.
This is the reason you need to send this e -mail to all your contacts.
It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus
and open it.
If you receive an email entitled “POSTCARD,” even though it was sent to
you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.
This is the worst virus announced by CNN.
It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair
yet for this kind of Virus.
This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the
vital information is kept.
COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS.
REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US
This particular email has been around for years, and you have probably seen one of its incarnations. Although there are real incidents of malware being distributed via e-cards, this is a bogus, unsubstantiated hoax.
The language is quite strong – phrases like the worst virus and the most destructive virus ever are sure to get the attention of security-minded people. The problem is that the email fails to provide any authentic details to learn more about the threat, just vague announcements and classifications.
“The email doesn’t actually mention a specific virus,” said Jan Zika, an Avast Virus Lab analyst. “Sure some viruses use the “Postcard” social engineering method to trick users to click the link, but this email has been circulating for a couple of years now, and it never says which virus it is.”
The email does say what the virus can do, This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept, and it burns the whole hard disc C of your computer. Pretty scary stuff!
“No, it cannot burn anything, and no, it is not most destructive virus ever,” said Zika. His advice? “It’s best to avoid such messages unless you can confirm that the threat is real.”
