Keep Your PC Safe

You’ve Got Funds – PayPal Phishing Email

pcadmin — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:22:35 +0000

Watch out for the latest phishing scam related to PayPal. You get what appears to be a regular email telling you you’ve got funds. If you sell on eBay or are an affiliate payed by PayPal you won’t be surprised to get such an email and click the link. But it’s not PayPal you’re taken to but an identical site that collects your username and password then you get totally fleeced.

Here’s a real-life example of the email:

———— Example ———————

Lance Alan just sent you money with PayPal.

Lance Alan is a Verified buyer.

To complete this payment, you must accept or refuse it within 30 days. If you do
not accept or refuse this payment within 30 days, it will be cancelled and the funds
will be returned to Lance Alan’s account.
—————————————————————-

———————————–
Payment Details
———————————–

Amount: 32.00 GBP

Transaction ID: 3NE573JM72B1QRH15

View the details of this transaction online at:

https://www.paypal.co.uk/merchant/id=3NE573JM72B1QRH15

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list
on your Account Overview.

——– End of example —————-

In the example you can see the link looks completely legitimate but behind what is displayed the link is actually this: (DO NOT USE THIS LINK)

www.paypal.co.uk.poyqaired.su/merchant/id=3NE573JM71QRH15/lndex.php

For protection from all of today’s Internet threats use. Kaspersky Internet Security Suite. A complete package of protection that can keep your PC and your private data completely protected as you work, bank, shop and play online.

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News Bulletins That Spread Malware

pcadmin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:46:56 +0000

You may have come across the fake news bulletins that have been used to spread malware but tactics have changed. Hackers attempting to push malware onto PCs have turned from using tempting made-up headlines to using the latest breaking news.

The bogus email news bulletin usually include the phrase “Breking News” in the subject line along with a real news story such as “Russia Invades Georgia” etc.

When you open the email there’s a weblink, supposedly to the full story. If you click on the link instead of taking you to the news website of, say, CNN, you are taken to a false website that looks exactly like CNN where you are presented with a dialog box which claims you need to update Flash Player in order to see the full story.

The update “adobe_flash.exe” is really a Trojan horse that begins to download a raft of more malware on to your PC.

Adobe have issued a warning to all Internet users that they should only update their Flash Player directly from the Adobe website adobe.com.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep your PC safe from such scams.

Z is for Zero-Day

pcadmin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:15:58 +0000

In PC security ‘Zero-Day’ can refer to two things. One is a new virus that is unknown to anti-virus software developers and may be able to bypass anti-virus software. This is because, traditionally, anti-virus software relies on a database of known viruses in order to recognise a virus. A new virus will not be in the database so would be unrecognised as a virus and be allowed to infect the PC. To combat zero-day viruses PC security software such as Kaspersky or PC Tools include an analyser that can catch such ‘Zero-Day’ viruses.

‘Zero-Day’ also refers the exploitation of a bug or flaw in an application as soon as it has been discovered. Once a bug or flaw in software becomes known hackers or malware writers try to take advantage or exploit the flaw before the software developers can release a patch or update to fix it. If the vulnerability is particularly critical then a third party, such as Kaspersky or PC Tools, may issue an update to their software to spot such exploitation and stop it before it does any damage to the PC system.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” to help keep your PC safe from Zero-Day threats.

VIPRE – It’s Antivirus, but not as you know it!

pcadmin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:37:58 +0000

VIPRE, the new Antivirus and Antispyware from Sunbelt, promises to protect your PC without hogging system resources. VIPRE stands for ‘Virus Intrusion Protection Remediation Engine’ and has been designed with performance in mind, that is, to avoid the usual slow down of your PC that seems to be the inevitable result of running antivirus and antispyware products. If you use Norton you know what I’m talking about. I have had to remove Norton from the PCs of many of my clients because of the unacceptable slow down on their PC that Norton causes. It’s a pity because it actually does the job very well but always seems to have an affect on the speed of everything else on the PC. Not causing your PC to slow down is all well and good but does it remove a computer virus and remove spyware? Well ‘PC Magazine’ seems to think so. They gave it a 4-Star rating describing its performance as doing ‘a very thorough job’. Click on the image to download the free trial version and test drive it yourself. See how your PC performs while it’s scanning. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Y is for You

pcadmin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:15:57 +0000

You are the weakest link in the security chain – for the simple reason that it’s easier to trick a human than a machine. A system is only as secure as its users are security savvy – and when it comes to computers something as rudimentary as a poor choice of password can create a flimsy door into a corporate network that even the most amateur of hackers can kick down.

There is one part of your PC security that is targeted by hackers and fraudsters more than anything else. This one part of your PC security is the favourite target because the hackers and fraudsters know it is the weakest part and is the easiest to bypass. No amount of security equipment and software is powerful enough to combat these kinds of attack and your PC is totally vulnerable and without defence.

What is this part of your PC that is so open to attack? You.

Your PC is only as secure as you make it and as you use it.

Your PC is only as secure as you make it because it is up to you what security software you install and use and how often you keep it updated. There are many people who don’t use any security software. Is it some kind of silly bravado, ignorance, laziness or just a devil-may-care attitude? I don’t know, but .if you are one such person now is the time to put it right and get your PC protected.

There are others who only install anti-virus and so leave their PC open to spyware and hackers.

Then there are those who have installed everything but left their subscription lapse and therefore their security becomes so out of date it is useless.

Your PC is only as secure as you use it because online fraudsters and hackers know how easy it is to trick people into thinking something is safe and legitimate while really it is a full-on scam. Phishing is one such technique that relies totally on convincing you that it is safe to hand over your credit card details or online banking details. Although anti-phishing software can help by warning you of known phishing websites no amount of security software can protect you from the latest phishing attack. Then there is the ‘Nigerian scam’ which attempts to trick you in to thinking you will be rewarded for helping someone out by allowing them to transfer a very large amount of money in to your bank account. There is usually a long, sorry tale of woe to make you feel sorry for this person and appeal to your natural sense of goodwill to those in need. Those who are taken in by phishing or the ‘Nigerian scam’ find that their bank account is raided or their identity stolen.

Another common method of attack relies on tricking a user to install the virus or worm themselves by opening an email attachment. Such email attacks pander either to human curiosity such as the MyDoom email often with the subject line “Mail Transaction Failed”, or to vanity such as the “I Love You” email with the attachment titled “Love letter for you” or to lust such as the “Melissa” email which promised passwords to pornographic websites.

Criminals know that there is big, big money to be made through malware, email scams and phishing therefore please do all you can to keep your PC safe. The complacent are those most at risk.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep you and your PC safe from viruses and other threats.

X is for XP Updates

pcadmin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:57:44 +0000

On Tuesday, June 10 2008, Microsoft released seven security updates, three of them critical. (See Microsoft website http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx). With new vulnerabilities being constantly discovered the danger of one of them being exploited is ever present. The updates to Windows XP are, therefore, an essential aspect to keep your PC safe from such threats. Security software such as PC Tools Spyware Doctor or Kaspersky Internet Security Suite all help in blocking unwanted access or use of your PC but just because you have such software installed is no excuse to leave your PC unpatched with the latest XP Update.

Make sure that your PC is configured to receive updates automatically. You can check that it is in ‘Security Center’ in the Control Panel (click on ‘Start’ then ‘Control Panel’ then ‘Security Center’). XP will notify you when there is an update available and you should install it immediately.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep your PC safe.

W is for WildList

pcadmin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:51:09 +0000

Malware (malicious software) that is currently active and spreading on PCs throughout the World are said to be ‘in the wild’. The WildList is an official list of all malware in the wild and any worthwhile anti-virus product seeks to be able to detect 100% of all malware in the WildList. The WildList mission statement says this:

“The mission of the Wildlist Organization is to provide accurate, timely and comprehensive information about “In the Wild” computer viruses to both users and product developers. The WildList, a list of computer viruses found in the wild and reported by a diverse group of over 55 qualified volunteers, is made available free of charge by the organization.”

The volunteers include representatives from many of the most respected anti-virus and software companies in the world including Microsoft, McAfee, Trend Micro and Eugene Kaspersky of Kaspersky Labs.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep your PC safe from every virus in the WildList.

V is for Variants

pcadmin — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:28:33 +0000

Many viruses, trojans or worms belong to the same ‘family’ but have been tweaked a little to try and outfox security software and spread yet more infection of the same type. These altered versions of the same malware are called ‘variants’. Any one piece of malware may spawn hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of variants. The variants can develop extremely quickly and easily bypass your anti-virus even though the original virus would have been caught by it. This emphasises the need to keep your anti-virus regularly updated, at least weekly for occasional Internet users and daily for those who use the Internet more heavily.

As there is no scientific method for naming malware the same virus may have different names according to the anti-virus system you use but they all tend to use the same method for variants by placing an alphabetic suffix after the name. For example the first variant to the bagle virus was named bagle.a, the next bagle.b and so on. When the end of the alphabet is reached another letter is added so after bagle.z came bagle.aa and so on.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep your PC safe from viruses and their variants.

U is for Unprotected

pcadmin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:22:13 +0000

Is it complacency, ignorance, indolence or carelessness that causes so many people to leave their PC unprotected? I don’t know, all I know is that I am astounded how many people have not got the message and installed anti-virus, a spyware remover and a firewall on to their PC. Sometimes believing that they have nothing they need to keep on their PC it doesn’t matter if they get a virus or trojan they can just re-install their system. What they are missing is the bigger picture. In the connected Internet world in which we all operate these days ‘no man is an island’ and what infects your PC can be spread to others. What if such an unprotected system gets infected with a Spambot. It may be months before they realise something nasty is abusing their system and, in the meantime, millions of people all over the world have been bombarded by the spam sent out from their PC. In the very least its inconsiderate to the rest of us and at worst it is compliant with the criminals who create the malware.

Don’t fall in to the trap of thinking either it won’t happen to you or it doesn’t matter. Make sure your PC is protected today.

Click HERE for a FREE TRIAL of “Kaspersky Internet Suite” and keep your PC safe.

T is for Trojan

pcadmin — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:18:13 +0000

In the classical tale of the war between Troy and the Greek coalition the war was won by convincing the people of Troy that a giant wooden horse was a gift to the gods. In reality the horse contained Greek soldiers who emerged under cover of darkness and opened the gates of Troy allowing the whole Greek army to easily overcome and destroy the city. Ever since, the term ‘Trojan Horse’ has stood for placing a subversive group inside an enemy’s country ready to recruit and lead fifth columnists.

In computing, the term ‘Trojan’ relates to malware that disguises itself as something beneficial or entertaining, such as a screen-saver, game or even a music mp3 file. Whereas, in itself, it may not perform anything malicious it can ‘open the gates’ for malware to get on to the PC. as most ‘Trojans’ are downloaders i.e. they download other more harmful software on to the PC such as Spyware, worms and rootkits. Because they are installed and operate without the knowledge of the PC user Trojans are also commonly identified as Spyware.

A good spyware removal product such as Spyware Doctor is an essential and effective means of defence against Trojans on your PC.

Click here for a FREE DOWNLOAD of Spyware Doctor