How to make online criminals bite the dust?

Geeks, Freaks, Nerds and Weirdos are terms one would associate with a person boasting of an exceptionally high IQ quotient. Sadly, the same qualities would also describe hackers looking to exploit any cyber threat; be it a data breach in a network, data leakage by employees, or extracting data from a lost laptop or a mobile device.

Watch Out!! You may be in line next

With diversity of security attacks recording an unexceptional high across the globe, it is becoming an uphill task for small and medium-sized businesses to assemble the right in-house resources for protecting themselves. So, much so that there has been an uptick in the number of court cases where SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) were even robbed of six-figure amounts by cyber thieves.

Scared!! Don’t be!! For as they do say prevention is better than cure, I would recommend you to not to jump the gun and instead stick to these 8 simple credos:

• Employing a dedicated PC for financial matters related to online banking and bill pay. Refraining from using the same node for sending, receiving emails or surfing the Web. For as it goes Web exploits and Malicious E-mails are considered as two key infection vectors for malware.
• Taking care and being extra cautious while clicking on links or attachments within emails. Even if you do end up recognizing the sender, confirm the email is authentic before clicking on any links or attachments.
• Reconcile bank statements on a regular basis with an online bank account or credit-card for immediately identifying abnormal transactions indicative of an account takeover.
• Cautioning employees against visiting small, hosted websites featuring community forums related to sports, computer games and anything deemed suspicious. All because a majority of community forums are hosted by ISP’s not really serious about securing their portal.
• Put security protections in place throughout the organization and install regular updates for applications meant to boost the computer’s OS.
• While visiting a website observe the quality of the site. If the site appears to be quickly put together, lack a browsing disclaimer, it indicates the authors are not liable to any danger to the PC.
• Be cautious about installing any software (especially software such as download accelerators, spyware removal tools). Don’t click on pop ups asking for a download or execution of otherwise privileged operations. Often such software and pop-ups are malware embedded.
• Select your anti-virus vendor with a lot of due deliberation, ensuring the application not only provides coverage for key threats but also responds quickly when threats are introduced. Trial versions of the application are a strict NO! Since, viruses introduced after a trial version would end up having an unhindered access to a PC. www.pccare247.com

'Christmas theme' on Facebook gets stolen by the Grinch

Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa is coming to wish ‘netizens’ Merry Christmas on Facebook!! But watch out, for the Grinch is masquerading as Santa this Christmas and he has a malware up his sleeve; sugar coated as a theme for your Facebook profile.

The latest attack uses social engineering as a potent tool for luring people into installing a malicious browser plugin. And once people get sucked into the bait of clicking on the Like button, the page redirects them to a URL where a malicious plugin named Free Cheesecake Factory Coupons get installed on the PC.

With the plugin once activated affected users get their walls flooded with the catchy status, "Get Christmas Theme for FB, a free Christmas Theme for all FB users”. Caught by the antivirus software this file is christened as TROJ_REDIR.CU.

So, next around you want to make merry this Christmas season be careful because cyber criminals are for sure launching attacks using the holiday season as a big lure.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!   www.pccare247.com

Choke hackers Inc. with their own venom

Everything is going hunky-dory for your business, the online rankings are good, the internet marketing strategies seem to be leaving an impact, clients are thronging on to the site - in short business is doing well.  But then suddenly you wake one fine morning and end up finding your official portal has been hacked. Hackers Inc. have ended up punching gaping holes in the security. Leaving you with a persistent bot; now what?

Hacking Back In Self-Defense

The bottom-line is hackers Inc. is pulling out all strings to screw up security systems. And organizations need to take a good hard look at every available vista for stopping the loss of their money, technology and secrets.  With new laws being explored, old ones being amended and solutions sought, it is about time an outside the box thinking was adopted and good guys in the bargain were given advantage or at least a fighting chance. Although technically difficult but clearly feasible, adopting a clear, forward, out-of-the-box thinking and analysis to put back get thing chugging along.

Haul the crooks by scruff of their neck

Nations can legally defend themselves but what about organizations? Bound by legal compulsions and a code of conduct they really can’t end up going beyond a certain limit. But then with one hundred percent security considered to be a myth, what does one really do?

With standard responses considered to be slow and in many cases not very effective, it is a presumption a business cannot reach beyond its own network for blocking an attacker in self-defense. However, I strongly intend to strike a discordant note! Even though refraining from advocating vigilantism, in reality the war in the cyberspace is being lost and it is about time one did a hard rethink on existing strategies and laws.

Not the one to mince any words further, it is really about time we went in for a hard rethink. Opening up a dialogue and moving the conversation further down the road to shape better responses, solutions, and laws. In the retrospect not even shying away from advocating organizations of using an automated code going beyond their network and eliminating threat via a self-defense master stroke.

Getting into the technicality of it all

To get rid of that nasty Trojan, Virus or a Bot put into the system, what if were to suggest that you ended up implanting a code on the phone-home function or communication function of the bot so that when it was to end up communicating with the CnC server for instructions, the communication path would be blocked or cut off by the code at the CnC server? Does it sound like a perfect solution? Not even close, so what, you are at a liberty to try other measures to finally nail the nasty bot. Is this hacking? Is it gaining unauthorized access to or trespassing on a computer system?

I really don’t think so, for at the end of the day my ideology of ‘fighting fire with fire’ is really what ends up giving a befitting reply to those unworthy hackers.   www.pccare247.com

Fake antivirus: A contagion masking as an antidote

Fake antivirus is definitely counted amongst the most potent online threats. Christened as rogue antivirus, rogues, or scareware, the embezzler employs social engineering for luring users to malicious sites and scaring them into paying for fake threat removal tools.

Waylaying PC users into deft traps

Fake antivirus as a security software pretends to find dangerous security threats—such as viruses—on a PC. The application while starting with a free scan ends up asking PC users to pay in the progressive stages for cleaning up fraudulently reported “threats”. The same set of alerts end up prompting users to visit a site where they would be asked to pay for non-existent threats to be cleaned up. With the fake antivirus malware continuing to send annoying and intrusive alerts until a payment is made or the malware is removed.

Compared to other malware such as Bots, Backdoor Trojans, Downloaders and Password Stealers; Fake Antivirus draws a victim towards handing money directly over to a malware author. With victims paying anywhere around 100-120 dollars to pay for junk software supposedly considered as a quick fix for the problem.

Infection is a Click Away!!

Although through many different ways a fake antivirus may get onto a system, the majority of distribution avenues rely on social engineering. Going ahead and tricking PC users into running a fake antivirus install executable in a way similar to many other types of Trojans. With fake antivirus, a huge range of social engineering tricks are being used and still new ones are coming up all the time. Commonly ending up comprising of:

•  Email spam campaigns
•  Compromised websites and exploit payloads
•  Search engine optimization poisoning
•  Fake antivirus downloads by other malware

Look out!! Malware seeks to fuel its gluttonous zest with your PC

Instead of succumbing to the voguish threat hype, organizations and individuals can accentuate their threat tolerance through creation and promotion of a more secure system. Sprucing up defenses against an ever-evolving malware industry via strategic investment in security policies; thus eliminating vulnerabilities in the times to come.

Set your priorities Right!!

For enhancing the malware-defense capability, security professionals would need to stop chasing malware flavor of the month and instead develop proactive security measures for proactively stopping it. All going on to suggest, if you have not opted for “defense against malware” as a top priority, it is high time you ended up doing so.

As time runs out variants in present times are fast becoming more polymorphic, stealthy, targeted and agile – indubitably leaving no doubt malware is capable of exploiting several vulnerabilities. With effect, giving security professionals sleepless nights and work hard towards detecting malicious elements looking to penetrate into an environment.

Sheath your PC out of harm’s way

Shielding a PC is easy if you know how!! Believe us, for following such handy tips is bound to ensure your PC remains in the pink of health.  

·         Offline malware and threat Detection

Inline technologies, such as IPS and secure Web gateways, need to adhere to line speed and therefore are restricted in the amount of analysis which can be performed. But, offline detection capabilities provided by a number of vendors in the market can go a long way in conducting a much deeper analysis and catching malware otherwise missed.

·         Whitelisting the maladies

In a highly controlled environment, white listing is a powerful tool against anomalies, including malware. One can end up applying it to Web accesses, software installed on servers and endpoints, and server-to-server communication. Organizations however using Whitelisting must have a fast response capability towards handling exceptions and the rarest of cases.

·         Enhancing the Browser security

With a majority of malware issues spreading via the Web and looking to exploit browser vulnerabilities, a hardened browser environment works towards eliminating such a major threat. With new technologies being regularly released from prominent vendors in the market, a full-proof browser security is no more an invincible prospect. www.pccare247.com

Beware!!! Scraping Attacks are on the Prowl!!

Whenever we imagine a thief, we envision a masked man lurking in a dark alley? Or a teenage hacker nestled in a dimly lit basement striving to break into a remote Web server? But then in real time try and move past such clichés, for data is even being swindled by big conglomerates belonging to the software, finance and event planning verticals.

Employing a technique better known as site scraping or alternatively called data harvesting, screen scraping or Web scraping, such entities resort to all means necessary for extracting data from a Website. Depending on the requirement; either manually copying Website content from Web browsers or employing software programs for an automatic extraction of data.

Fatal effects of Site Scraping

Site scraping can undermine victims’ revenues and profits by siphoning off clients and reducing competitiveness. Unfortunately, site scrapers can be very tough to differentiate from legitimate Web application users. However, when left unchecked, site scraping quickly ends up transitioning from merely being innocuous to malicious; especially when individuals or businesses end up reusing the scraped data for financial gain.

What Site Scraping intends to do?

• Harvesting user information from social network sites or user forums
• Plagiarizing content comprising of news articles, blog posts, medical information and financial research
• Gathering product and pricing data for to peg back prices of goods and services for a rival
• Collecting email IDs from Websites for spam email campaigns
• Detecting changes on a competitor’s website
• Republishing Website listings, such as job board postings, real estate listings, and phone directories
• Re-purposing the scraped content for applications such as comparison shopping sites or reverse phone look up tools. 
• “Auction sniping” or placing bids on online auction sites within minutes or seconds of the auction ending

The aforementioned actions end up violating the intended use of application data. And for Web-based companies, site scraping acts as a big threat to revenues and competitiveness; even endangering business viability.

Common Weaponry of Choice

Site scraping tools range from simple, home grown scripts to commercial scraping software embedded with Web browsers. Tools one would say not only come in good towards parsing HTML, DOM (Document Object Model) but even interpreting the most complex of Java Scripts. Often ranging from simple, custom scripts to advanced software tools with built-in browser-like capabilities designed to impersonate normal users. Many scraping tools also include Web site crawlers that help automate initial configuration. Ring and Grab Major Printer Support Virus Removal Support at +1-855-877-5848, http://www.pccare247.com/

Phising Attacks: Malafide Intentions Personified

In the times gone by, it was observed financial credentials ended up bearing the brunt of phishing attacks. But Snap!! Coming back to the present, phishing attacks have evolved; targeting sensitive corporate data. A fact evidenced by high-profile data breaches. At the receiving end have been organizations targeted with advanced persistent threats and phishing and spear-phishing emails posing as entry vectors.

So Take Care!! Representing the greatest threat to even the biggest organizations they are there to decimate the best defense put forth by you.

Phishing Attacks high on Adrenaline Rush

The seriousness of phishing threats may sound very theoretical, but a harsh reality is – “phishing attacks are achieving their malicious goals”. Organizations are on the knife’s edge thanks to devastating breaches resulting from phishing and spear-phishing attacks. With attackers leaving no stone unturned to utilize a broad spectrum of technologies and techniques. Highly focused and persistent, often these attacks are considered to be highly opportunistic in their orientation.

Specimens of a Phish Attack

• Phishing emails sent – employees are not necessarily high profile or high value targets.
• Email is crafted well enough and even if it is caught by the email security solution employees may be   tricked into retrieving it from their quarantine.
• The employee then clicks on the URL in the message, initiating a drive-by download of malware.
• Malware may be designed to coax a desktop machine to reach out to command and control servers.
• Malware propagates across the network, searching for specific user accounts with relevant privileges (initial entry points/accounts may not have sufficient administrative rights).
• With sufficient privileges and target systems reached, data is acquired and staged for exfiltration.
• Data is exfiltrated (extracted outside the organization), typically via encrypted files over available ports – FTP, HTTP, or SMTP. www.pccare247.com