Everything that you send in an email, from the attachments to the text, goes on a dangerous journey every time that you click send. Its path is filled with traps that cybercriminals can use to steal your information.

One of the tips that you should follow to protect the content of your emails is to encrypt them. This way, even if someone is able to access your emails, they won’t be able to read the content.

Although it might surprise you, the journey that your emails take isn’t as straightforward as you might think. It isn’t a simple matter of going from A to B, but rather the emails pass through different routes which put them at risk of attack from cybercriminals:

• Step 1: The email that you send from your device to your company’s server. Larger companies generally make sure that this is a safe route and look after it. If you see a green icon or a lock icon in the address bar then you can relax  it’s secure. The journey, however, continues…

• Step 2: Next you email needs to pass through different serves until it reaches its destination. This part of the journey is the most dangerous as the email can be intercepted at any time, especially if the server used by the receiver isn’t protected correctly. The worst thing about this stage is that users are completely blind – there is no way of knowing how secure the connection is between the two servers. The only way to be sure is to encrypt your messages.

• Step 3: Not only is it going between two servers, but the email still has to travel to the computer or the mobile device. This stage can also be complicated and, furthermore, once it arrives at the other device it can still be under threat. You have to remember that computers are always at risk if the correct security procedures aren’t followed.

With so many different ways to steal information from emails, it is vital to protect the content and attachments that you send.

There are many ways to encrypt your emails and some messaging services offer it as an option. There are other options to ensure increased protection for your emails, such as the one offered by Panda, which encrypt your attachments to make sure that the content is secure. It isn’t necessary to be an expert to protect your online security, but it is better to behave like one.

The post Everything that could go wrong when you send an unencrypted email (and how to avoid it!) appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.

Paying for a fast and reliable Wi-Fi connection at home only to find out that your neighbor is stealing the signal from you is pretty annoying. Not only is it frustrating, but there is also the legal aspect to think of – everything that is viewed and downloaded by the Wi-Fi connection is your responsibility.

In the majority of cases it isn’t enough to protect your network by using the long and complicated password that comes with the router. Nor is it enough if you change it and create an even more difficult one.

If you want to know who is connecting to your Wi-Fi and how to stop your connection from being open to the public, the best thing you can do is use the Wi-Fi protector and monitor that you can find in the new line of 2016 Panda product.

This feature allows you to see all of the devices that are connected to your network and lets you block an intruder if you detect one. This will stop them from being able to reconnect again.

Furthermore, the monitor will provide you with the following information:

• Wi-Fi networks that you are connected to: network name, Mac router address, encryption, signal strength.
• Device information: name or Mac, manufacturer, date/time of connection, etc. It allows you to give the devices nicknames so as to recognize them easily.
• Information on the saturation of the default channel: by changing to the channel recommended by Panda, you can increase your connection speed.
• History of connections made with different devices. This lets you review who has connected to the network and identify intruders.

So, are you ready to protect your Wi-Fi connection?

DOWNLOAD ANTIVIRUS

The post How can I stop people from connecting to my Wi-Fi? appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.

After many attempts, we have finally gotten it into our heads that it is essential that we read the small print before we install any application on our devices. If it mentions anything that strays far from what the app is about (for example, a flashlight that tries to use your GPS) it’s best to ignore it unless you are completely confident in the product.

Just because an application requires a lot of permission to be installed doesn’t mean that there is anything to be concerned about but it should still serve as a caution. Luckily, the majority of people are aware of this and look at the small print in detail, leaving cyber attackers to look for other ways to trap their victims.

One of their more dangerous techniques is known as tapjacking – a weakness in the Android operating system that allows for malicious activity to be hidden under the guise of a regular app. This technique lets malware, which could potentially steal credit card details, disguise itself as an inoffensive videogame application.

In February of this year Google released its Android Security Acknowledgements and included on this list were two investigators – Stephan Huber and Siegfried Rasthofer. They were thanked for their help in detecting the possible security breach and for helping the company to uncover how these attacks were being carried out.

How tapjacking Works

It works in a surprisingly simple way – you download an application and open it, which triggers the installation of a second, this time malicious, application. Then, when you press a button on the seemingly innocent application, you are actually clicking a button on the malicious application that is hidden within it. So, as its name suggests, the trap is in the tap.

So, imagine this scenario. You have downloaded an application and on the main screen there is a button that says “Start Game”. You click it to begin but, unbeknownst to you, this has triggered the downloading of the dangerous malware. On the next screen you continue clicking away, oblivious to the dangers, and without realizing you have accepted the terms and conditions of the dangerous malware that has hidden itself on your cellphone.

In the video below we have a clear example of how this form of attack works – the user clicks on “Start Now” to begin downloading images of adorable kittens and, without realizing, grants permission to the attacker to take screenshots on the device.

VIDEO

How the attack works is a lot easier than it might seem. This is due to the type of pop-up notifications that were developed by the programmers of Android applications. There were developed to give alerts to users – such as the one that appears if the battery is running low – but if they appear in full screen and with a button that doesn’t react to your clicks, then they are in fact a dangerous tool used by cybercriminals.

Apart from installing the malware and tricking you into accepting the terms of installation, the attacker can use tapjacking to steal your passwords or to even carry out actions using your bank details.

They key to protecting yourself from this attack is, yet again, in the permission stage. Even though these dangerous applications don’t request a lot of information before being installed, there is one thing which they all have in common – they will ask for permission to show system alert windows, something which isn’t common in other types of applications. If this happens to you, be wary. Check out reviews and opinions from other users on Google Play and ask yourself whether you trust in the application’s creator.

A good antivirus could also come to your rescue in this situation. Just because you can’t see the danger doesn’t mean it’s not there. Fortunately, our security tools are there to shine the light on it.

The post Tapjacking – when the danger camouflages itself on Google Play appeared first on MediaCenter Panda Security.