Lookout iPhone SMS Users

Apple is getting exposed with a jailbreaker claiming an SMS vulnerability.  Apple’s  iOS reads key SMS data which allows scammers to break in and access sensitive information from iPhone users. This breach allows the hacker to change the reply to a number in an SMS text, so the user could be easily duped into thinking they are receiving a text from a trusted source, when it is actually someone on the other end trying to gain your sensitive information.

Webroot Heads For The Clouds

Webroot has recently been successful with its tool for PC’s, smartphones and tablets. Secure Anywhere Complete 2012- 3 is a faster and less-intrusive software that doesn’t take-up large amounts of space and allows your devices to run smooth and quickly.

Security: An Algorithm Every Company Needs

Malware and viruses are no longer a conversation of the past; in fact, it has become a national security issue for the U.S. government in fighting daily cyber-attacks. This issue is not just a local IT department issue — it affects the entire world — and hackers are showing us just how vulnerable security is for enterprises and small businesses alike. Think of it this way, it is not a simple Norton Anti-virus solution we spend a little extra on when you buy a PC. 

Malware Threats Plague Users

Malware is a force to be reckoned with. Over 30% of computers are now infected with Malware in the United States alone. IT departments are combating daily potential attacks that infect many users’ computers. Malware can take many forms, and attackers are creating new ways of spreading this to users. Scareware is a new form of malware that tricks users into thinking they are being watched and videotaped by law enforcements through their web cams.

Mobile Phone Security Tokens

With the arrival of smartphones, traditional use of a mobile phone has tremendously evolved from just placing calls or sending a text. We search the internet, make purchases, use navigation, and store information. The technology has changed the way companies and organizations alike are viewing mobile technology and the importance of all its uses.

Prolonged Life Of Web-Based Attacks

Every day, hackers are finding unique ways to breach domains. They are getting by IT departments’ firewalls and protections at ease. Now, they have adopted another method to prolong the life of Web-based attacks, according to the security firm Symantec.
A domain-generation technique has recently been witnessed in a series of drive-by download attacks to infect Web users with malware. This botnet-type malware is targeted towards compromised sites, and then launches the attack by relying on rogue code injected into the website and redirects their visitors to external domains that host exploit toolkits, such as Black Hole. This process is done through hidden iframe HTML tags.

Android Forum Hacked

An online Android forum was recently hacked with over a million user accounts being compromised.  Members of that Android forum are being encouraged to immediately change their passwords following last week’s serious breach.

The type of information that was compromised from the Android user’s database, included, at a minimum, such sensitive items as unique IDs, user names, emails, hashed and ‘salted” passwords, and registration IP addresses. The hack is reportedly an email harvesting attempt.

Hacking occurrences are no longer rarities. They have become common place to the point where there is usually a daily news item about these events in media outlets everywhere.  Such unauthorized incidents result in user accounts, banks accounts, and confidential company data being stolen and compromised.

Yahoo.com, for example, was in the news last week as many of their accounts were hacked, with over 450,000 users affected. This clearly demonstrates the absolute necessity of organizations everywhere adopting stringent IT security measures, no matter what its size.

Most hackers try to leverage the weakest points in organizational networks, using tools such as phishing attacks. Eliminating compromised PCs or setting up permissions for users from wandering around the network looking for poorly protected data is easy when the network is segmented using internal firewalls. 

Internet Doomsday On July 9th?

Partly fact and myth but not to be taken lightly, Monday July 9th, 2012, some users will be affected by losing Internet connection. It is reported that over 300,000 user could lose Internet connection.

This issues stems all the back to 2007, when most users were using Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2. A malware called DNSChanger was the culprit and it worked by hijacking DNS settings that change the web address into an IP address, which allows surfing the web. This malware directs the intended address to be redirected to a fraudulent site instead. For example, if you were to try to purchase something from a website you intended, you would be redirected to a site where you would be ultimately robbed.

The FBI shut down the rogue DNS servers and now the US District Court for the Southern District of New York appointed Internet Systems Consortium, a not-for-profit company, to keep running replacement DNS servers so affected users would not loss Internet access before they could remove the botnet and fix their DNS settings.

Webroot Answers With Security

As the smartphone market has revolutionized the cell phone market, they’re also changing the way we conduct business and give users access to emails and files in the palm of their hand. Nothing is left behind at the office because the smartphone is the new on-the-go laptop replacement.  The fact is that smartphones are in the workplace; therefore, it is important for IT support providers to apply the proper security requirement for BYOD users, as well as, applying Sandbox methodology for BYOD users in their network environments.

The downside is that it is also a primary target for cybercriminals and hackers. The more technology improvement and advances on the smartphone lead to increases in creative attacks. For example, when the Droid Dream was exposed, Google introduced Android Market Security Tool.  Hackers where able to access the tool and introduced a Trojan which then was sent back out to users through a third-party Chinese market.  Google, in turn, responded with releasing a “kill switch” that automatically killed the malware from the infected smartphones.

The company Webroot has responded with a successful tool release for PC’s, smartphones and tablets. Webroot Secure Anywhere Complete 2012- 3, is a faster and less intrusive software that doesn’t take up large amounts of space and allow your devices to run smooth and quickly. The total package even includes the ability to share your passwords, photos, and music between your mobile devices and PC’s.

Protect Your Network Against the No.1 Threat

Is your IT department aware of the perilous “pass-the-hash attacks”? If not, then it’s time for them to open their eyes to this dangerous, most feared computer threat out there today. IT support providers at government agencies and commercial organizations alike, cringe at the thought of suffering the consequences from such an attack. Also feared, behind the No. 1 pass-the-hash threat, is the infamous Hacktivism – a threat that sends chills up and down the spines of IT support providers.

To assert that these are “the” major threats out there today is definitely a matter of opinion. There have already been a series of previously uncharted territory of threats this year alone. And Malware, Trojans, and Hackers are operating at peak levels, stealing from bank accounts, duping users with fake bank login’s, and emails with links that contain viruses.  The list goes on and on with little relief projected soon.