Job Centers are all about helping people to find new opportunities and to bring their life back underway. It also gives employers the opportunity to find great new employees! But this wasn’t the case for an Avira customer from Germany. It’s her story we want to tell you today.
The post German Job Center data-mined for targeted malware attacks appeared first on Avira Blog.
Some downloaded bargains can give you a lot more than desired. Would you like a slice of malware along with that free antivirus?
The post Go to torrents to download free security — with malware appeared first on Avira Blog.
The question of antivirus software being dead is one that doesn’t seem to go away. Why is that? Distinguished ESET researcher Aryeh Goretsky explores.
The post Schrödinger’s antivirus: The immortality of antivirus software appeared first on We Live Security.
Ghosts, monsters and the living dead can all send a chill down one’s spine. Ransomware, for some people, is just as spooky. This Halloween, we look at why.
The post Trick or treat? Beware so a ransomware won’t end up between your Halloween sweets appeared first on We Live Security.
Law enforcement agencies across Europe have searched homes this week, as part of an international crackdown against users of a notorious piece of Android malware known as DroidJack.
The post Using DroidJack to spy on an Android? Expect a visit from the police appeared first on We Live Security.
Avira has filed a lawsuit against the German Freemium.com download site for unfair business practices and misleading consumers into installing unwanted programs (PUA). We’re the first security vendor to stick up for customer rights and go directly after a software publisher.
The post Avira starts lawsuit against adware distribution site appeared first on Avira Blog.
Sounds like a risky thing to do, but in a recent experiment in four major U.S. cities, that’s exactly what happened when 200 unbranded USB devices were left in public places. One in five people let their curiosity get the best of them and plugged the flash drive into a device. These “Nosy Nellys” proceeded to open text files, click on unfamiliar web links, or send messages to a listed email address. All potentially risky behaviors!
You can scan your USB sticks with Avast
“These actions may seem innocuous, but each has the potential to open the door to the very real threat of becoming the victim of a hacker or a cybercriminal,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) the trade association that commissioned the experiment.
Every time you plug an unknown flash drive into your computer, you’re taking a risk because a USB drive can spread malware, as well as attract it. Here are some dramatic examples:
The infamous Stuxnet worm and Flame malware, alleged American-Israeli cyber weapons designed to attack and spy on Iran’s nuclear program, relied on USB sticks to disseminate attack code to Windows machines.
A tainted USB drive was responsible for attacks at two U.S. power generation facilities documented in late 2012. The U.S. Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team were called in to investigate and found that infections were spread by USB drives that were plugged into critical systems without back-ups.
Avast antivirus products come with a number of pre-defined scans including the ability to scan any removable storage device that is connected to your computer, like USB flash drives and external hard drives. It will scan the drive to detect potential “auto-run” programs that may try to launch when the device is connected.
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This year the new TV series, “Scream,” was released. Not bad, but in my humble opinion, it has the same problem that a lot of movies have: it has a powerful beginning but deflates and loses strength gradually until the end. The question is, why am I talking about TV in a malware- and AV-related blog?
The post Webcams: The modern rear-view mirror appeared first on Avira Blog.
Facebook will inform users when it believes their account has been targeted by an attacker or compromised by a nation-state campaign.
On Tuesday, October 13, The United States Department of Justice announced that they had taken down and seized multiple command-and-control (C&C) servers that were part of a network used by the Dridex trojan to upload stolen information and distribute malware.
U.S. Attorney Hickton said, “Through a technical disruption and criminal indictment we have struck a blow to one of the most pernicious malware threats in the world.”
Dridex, also known as ‘Bugat’ and ‘Cridex’, is a malicious trojan used by criminals to steal bank login credentials from an infected PC, in order to gain access to a victim’s bank account—it’s been quite successful too, with losses in the UK estimated at £20 million and in the US at $10 million.
Dridex is commonly distributed in the form of a phishing email, and often contains an infected Word doc attachment. When a victim opens the Word document they unknowingly infect their PC, thereby allowing attackers to eavesdrop on their computer’s activity and automate the theft of data.
Head of Operations at the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU), Mike Hulett, said: “This is a particularly virulent form of malware and we have been working with our international law enforcement partners, as well as key partners from industry, to mitigate the damage it causes. Our investigation is ongoing and we expect further arrests to be made.”
While the FBI and other international agencies continue their investigations, UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is still warning UK internet users to be aware of and protect themselves against Dridex.
Even though the distribution network has been crippled, the actual malware still exists and can be used by other criminals.
Mike Hulett goes on to provide sound advice for everyone, “We urge all internet users to take action and update your operating system. Ensure you have up to date security software and think twice before clicking on links or attachments in unsolicited emails”.
If you don’t already have a suitable antivirus solution in place, we recommend you install one today. Download our award-winning AVG Protection for your PC to help prevent malware and viruses.
If you or anybody you know has been affected by cybercrime fraud you can report it to:
US
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaints Center
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
UK
ActionFruad – National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk
AUS
ACORN – Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network
https://report.acorn.gov.au
