www.mal-aware.org

Your Parents and the Web

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

If your parents have a new clear internet provider or even if they’re just starting to use email you’ve got to help them know what to do and what not to do. Here are a few basic tips to teach your rents when you want them to be safe online
Unopened Attachments: Your parents may not know that they shouldn’t open attachments if they don’t know the sender so you’ve got to teach them. Also emphasize that sometimes bad attachments may come from people they know.
Phishing: Sure you still hear the news reports and wonder who in the world would send their personal information in online? Your parents and other people their age would so make sure they know never to answer banking emails or those about their passwords or other personal info.
SPAM Sites: Sit down and teach your parents the difference between regular, trustworthy websites and so-called SPAM sites that simply try to entice. Teach them about domains and subdomains and show them how easy it is to build a website so they know anyone’s capable of running a scam.

The True Effect Of Malware On Our Economy

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Malware, or software that has been created for malicious intentions, can infiltrate one or many computers, causing loss of privacy, information and productivity. This software is disseminated primarily through email attachments although it can also infect a computer simply by the user’s clicking of a link or icon. Malware can extract personal and private information and unscrupulous individuals can than use the information to make purchases or sell teh information on a black market as a form of identity theft. Individuals who are a bit more creative may also pay others to distribute malware, thus creating a multi-level infiltration. Because malware is a thriving and viable underground form of enterprise, it’s revenues are often laundered and filtered back into the white market economy, creating a grey area that remains costly for the individuals who are the victims of this crime.

The true effect of malware on our economy is difficult to determine, mainly because of the blurred lines between legal and illegal uses of this kind of software. Malware infiltration also often goes unnoticed for weeks, months or years before the actual threat is identified. In that time, a substantial amount of information could have been extracted that generates revenue for the black market. Not every piece of malware software is intended or designed to destroy an operating system. Several types of malware, keyloggers for example, can operate behind the scenes on a computer, without user awareness that private and potentially valuable information is being compromised.

A more obvious effect of malware on the economy is when it is intended to cause failure of the user’s operating system. This can be isolated to a single machine or to a complete mainframe and can lead to substantial financial losses due to time spent offline. In addition, costs associated with repair and replacement of the affected devices can decrease revenue and is responsible for millions of dollars of loss in operating expenses every year.

How Much Defense Is Too Much Defense

www.mal-aware.org — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The ten commandments of tweeting:1.Never complain about your customers or clients on Twitter. They keep track!2.DM is not a secure communication path.3.Never share areas of conflicts. These area include clients, your partners or your competitors.4.Never get defensive when negative reviews start appearing. Accept negative criticism of your product or services.5.Never expose personal issues or put into danger the company’s professional relationships.6.Never share information about products and services that are still under development. The only exception to this rule is if receiving feedback is part of your project.7.Never share details about the company’s finances before time – that is before an earnings call.This helps explain it more.8.Never bring into light a problem area in the workplace (a complaint about a collegue or your boss) on twitter. Talking to them to sort out the issue is a much better option. Tweeting about it does not do any good for you or your company.9.Never flood your personal account with work promotions which are not relevant unless it is useful for your followers.10.Never create an anonymous or false account just because you think you can then go scot free doing the above!

The Purpose And Goal Of A Malware Artist

admin — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

In the early days, malware originated quite innocently from programming code written for a good intention. However, gradually this code was misused with darker intentions. Earlier, most malware were viruses and were written as a prank and also for programmers to show off their programming skills.
From an exercise ruled over by the pride and ego of a programmer, malware has now turned into a tool to make big money.
Malware artists now concentrate on capturing passwords through key loggers. Spywares are used to collect personal and confidential information like credit card numbers, email addresses and private web surfing habits. The information got in such a way is then misused for monetary gains like fraudulent credit card usage or blackmail.
Malware artists also use their “art” to create adware – which is done in a sly manner. Free software such as file sharing applications contain this kind of adware and once the free software gets activated, adware collects relevant information about the user which is then used in targeted advertisement campains.
Then there is “scareware” which is used to pop up to frighten a caught-of-guard user into believing that a virus threat has been found on his system. This then leads the user to click on link for a “solution” which further contains more adware and spyware.

The Truths And Myths About Malware

admin — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Most of us have been led to believe that having a strong password, installing an anti-virus, anti-malware and spyware together with a firewall are enough precautions to take to keep our PCs from being attacked. That is a myth!
The truth is that despite anti-virus software and a firewall, our computers can never be 100 safe. The reason is that the code used by virus creators are so advanced, that an anti-virus application will not be immediately able to handle the attack.
The anti-virus programs are updated on a regular basis but this update is based only the existent virus structure. These programs have no way of predicting the virus that will attack the next week or the next month. This is because the anti-virus know how is based on viruses which already exist and not the ones that can be potentially created in the future.
Another myth is that if your computer contains only personal information it is insignificant to offer protection. You need to remember that what you consider worthless information can be quite useful for a hacker. The best way to offer maximum protection to your PC is to try not to get infected in the first place.

Malware, SpyWare, Adware, Where To Begin

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The absolutely most unnerving and annoying computer issue is the presence of malware, spyware or adware. Viruses used to be number one in computer problems, now the infections caused by malware have taken the spot at the top.
Malware stands for “Malicious software”, and the term covers spyware and adware too. This nasty software can come into your machine through an email, web site download, photo download, executable program and many other ways. It will shut down systems, record key strokes, invade privacy, and prove a mess to get rid of. The first step in protection is simple. Never open attachments from emails sent by anyone without scanning them first. It takes only a minute to right click the attachment and scan it for problems before downloading. You can download it first, and then scan it before opening the attachment.
Next, run a competent anti-malware program regularly, and turn on the feature that protects you while you are surfing the Internet.
Many of these products are free, and be sure to look them up in a search before downloading. If you are offered an anti-spy or anti malware program in a pop-up window, be sure to check it out thoroughly or you may find it can actually installing malware itself.
Be cautious, and keep your guard up as problems with these nasty infections are abundant and pervasive.