You probably have seen it before – or not – but there are sneaky bait and switch tricks used by hackers. It works like this: they register and set up a fraudulent website that is a very close misspelling of a legitimate one. For example, www.amercanexpress.com (don’t go there!) instead of www.americanexpress.com. If you accidentally
There is a legion of hackers out there who have just ONE goal in mind: to find a new access to your computer through in a commonly installed software such as Adobe, Flash or QuickTime, among others. What they are looking for is a vulnerability. In computer security, a vulnerability is a weakness which allows
Have you seen this? You are working on your computer and everything seems fine when all of a sudden – POP! – a pop-up window alerts you that your PC is infected with a virus and you must “click here” or “remove all” to run a scan or install and upgrade antivirus software. Your first
As you may know from the news broadcasts, last week 36 million names, addresses and phone numbers of registered users at the Ashley Madison site (which makes it easy to cheat on your spouse) were posted on the Internet. All these records are now out in the open, exposing highly sensitive personal information. Internet criminals
Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information by posing as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is typically done through e-mail spoofing or instant messaging – instructing users to perform further action, such as clicking on links, submitting forms or entering details at a fraudulent website that looks and feels legitimate, when
Dawn of the USB Drive Flash drives are ubiquitous in today’s digital society. It is an easy, cost-effective way to transfer large amounts of data from computer to computer. With devices reaching 256GB of storage, users are storing more and more data on these small handy plastic devices. But what happens when that device is
There is no argument about a necessity to protect your computer. As anti-virus solutions advance, so do the criminals who design computer malware and viruses. It seems that as soon as the new computer virus definitions get updated on your anti-virus program, new viruses come into play. Every day more advanced viruses hit the internet
Every now and then we all have to run through the system update – some of us are aware of it (those who run it themselves), and others (typically those who have their IT department do it for them) are not. Have you seen this dialog window before? Do you actually know what is happening
Cyber-crime is not a novelty. As a food for thought, I will start with this quote, from “Computers at Risk”, a book by National Research Council published back in 1991. “The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow’s terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard
Few days ago, a court in the United States has announced a judgment of more than $163 million against defendants in the FTC case agains “scareware” operation. This case had started on December 2, 2008, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a Complaint in federal court against Innovative Marketing, Inc., ByteHosting Internet Services, LLC,
2 years ago, in 2010 Imperva report identified the most commonly used passwords; here are top 5 that discovered by analyzing 32 million passwords exposed in the Rockyou.com breach. 123456 12345 123456789 Password iloveyou Now, in 2012, Eset released a new report based on the 6 million, and top 5 include: password 123456 12345678 1234
It is 2011, and most of our business communications and negotiations are now performed via email. Your vendor’s purchase orders, invoices, agreements, employee communications are mostly handled via email. International clients and vendors prefer online communication to phone and traditional mail. Are you a victim of a Recycle Bin Syndrome? We’ve all been there. The
Security firm Intego is warning about new variants of an “insidious” Trojan that aims to steal information that can exploit user identity details from Mac users. How Flashback Mac Trojan infects Macs Methods of infections depend on the version of the Flashback. The previous version of malware has several methods of infection, and aims at
Small Businesses Vulnerability Most hackers are looking for the easiest way to break in – and majority of small businesses storing valuable data are an easy target. Some of the vulnerabilities are granted by lack of security budgets or by pure ignorance to the issues of computer network security. Small businesses are more likely to
Learn how you may be putting your office and your business at risk every day OK, I admit it: the computer cannot do the damage all by itself. You, as a computer user, are responsible for what you do with it. Companies big and small are getting compromised every day; some by a random virus,
Cybersecurity experts have long warned that computer hackers could potentially target electric power sources, such as power plants and electrical grids, and that these attacks could affect vital infrastructures, including hospitals and water treatment plants. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at the cybersecurity event sponsored by the Washington Post, that a major
As reported today by various sources, on June 23, 2011 in Newark, Daniel Spitler, 26, of San Francisco, California, pleaded guilty in federal court to hacking into AT&T’s computer servers last year and stealing the e-mail addresses and personal data of about 114,000-120,000 Apple iPad users, out of which 16,000 belong to New Jersey users.
Besides of my take on these basic five-points tips, there is a growing plethora of advice on securing smartphones. And there is a reason why: we are all overly connected to the wireless world, and Business Intelligence makes it’s way into our mobile devices. Our phones, tables and other mobile devices all have a chock
Creating a strong password may seem like a pretty simple concept. In fact, many websites even tell you when your password is “good” or “strong”. Unfortunately, many people still overlook the vital rules to creating a strong password. Always make your passwords longer than six characters Include a blend of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special
