malware

Facebook is to warn users when it believes a government is trying to hack their account. The company is giving few details about how it will detect such attempts, or which governments may be involved. The warnings will appear when Facebook has ... reason to believe an "account has been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state." According to Facebook, the message is not meant as an indication that Facebook's own servers or systems have been compromised - whether by a government or anyone else. Early Warning System Instead, Facebook will ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John P. writes: " I just upgraded to Windows 10. Yesterday I went to go use the Edge browser, but it immediately opened with window stating that my computer has a serious virus and then asked me to call 866-628-4936 to remove the ... virus. The whole time the window was open, there was a computer-generated voice speaking to me. I realize this is a scam, but there is no close button to shut it off. [Other numbers associated with this scam include: 1-866-928-0684, 1-866-436-9418, 1-866-978-1337, 1-866-560-5093, 1-866-362-8280, 1-866-453-2895, 1-866-594-0204, and 1-866-582- ... (view more)

According to security firm Symantec, the proportion of spam emails has fallen to their lowest levels in 12 years. It's the first time since 2003 that the majority of emails are not spam. While the figures are compiled from a variety of sources, the ... main source comes from customers using Symantec security products containing some form of email filtering. That could mean the report is slightly distorted towards those who find spam especially problematic, and thus overstate their level of spam. Overall, Symantec estimates that 49.7 percent of email messages contain spam. This covers all email ... (view more)

Kaspersky Lab, one of the biggest security software firms, says its own internal network was attacked by hackers. The company heavily implied that a national government was behind the hack. Owner Eugene Kaspersky says the hackers were able to access ... confidential internal data relating to research and development into new and improved security techniques. The attack didn't delete or change any data, or affect any performance. The company is also quick to stress that no customers were affected by the move and that it's products continue to work as designed. Attack Method Impressive, ... (view more)

A new security firm says it has come up with a way to stop malicious software before it reaches a user's computer. The "Isolation Platform" will initially be offered to business users, but remains to be seen how practical the solution is. According ... to makers Menlo, the main problem with most security tools are that they are based around the idea of examining programming code on a user's computer, and trying to determine if the code is malicious. Only if everything appears to be OK is a program allowed to run on the computer. Menlo says that's flawed because malware ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tina M. writes: " Dear Dennis, Regarding CryptoLocker , can you tell me if the software program CryptoPrevent can actually remove CryptoLocker and other ransomware infections? In other words, does CryptoPrevent actually work? Or ... is there a better way to prevent and remove CryptoLocker if I get infected? " My response: Similar to antivirus, CryptoPrevent is software that helps to prevent CryptoLocker and similar ransomware infections. It does not remove the infection if you become infected. If you do become infected, the only 100% fail safe way to undo the damage ... (view more)

Google has added a new measure to protect users from visiting risky websites. It's now going to warn users about bogus downloads, even before they go to the website concerned. The changes will affect Google Search, users of the Chrome browser, and ... advertisements provided by Google to third-party websites. Safe Browsing Warnings Extended to Chrome Google's Chrome browser will now contain special warning messages built into the web browser. The warnings are part of Google's Safe Browsing Service , which is also available as a third party API (application program interface). Parts of the ... (view more)

PC manufacturer Lenovo may have to defend a class action lawsuit after it reportedly sold notebook computers that contained unwanted adware. The lawsuit follows the revelation that the adware had the potential to spy on users. The case involves a ... piece of software called Superfish. It was designed to look at images users were viewing online, identify items, find websites selling the item at a cheap price, and display an offer in a pop-up window. The software came pre-installed on some Lenovo notebook PCs and integrated with multiple browsers. Superfish came under several different categories ... (view more)

Have you ever received a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to work for Microsoft's technical support department ? Late last week Microsoft announced that it had sued two technical support companies alleged to have infringed on several ... Microsoft trademarks. According to the firm, these companies called people at home offering support for non-existent problems with the Windows operating system. Microsoft says many people were tricked by the scheme and paid the scammers money for their assistance. Scammers Claim to Represent Microsoft "Defendants have utilized the Microsoft ... (view more)

A new report suggests that hackers took aim at twice as many businesses in 2014 when compared to the previous year. The report comes from Russian security company Kaspersky Lab; its Global Research and Analysis Team says it detected seven major ... advanced persistent threats (or APTs) over the past twelve months, resulting in approximately 4,400 attacks targeting private sector organizations in an estimated 55 countries. Kaspersky researchers say that's more than double the roughly 1,800 corporations targeted by cybercriminals in 2013 . Sophisticated Attacks May Be Supported by National ... (view more)