Items tagged with Malware
Just last weekend, we wrote about SonicSpy, a grossly robust piece of malware that infected hundreds of apps on the Play Store. Google is always quick to remove this awful junk when it is detected, but the fact that we keep talking about the issue means it's not going away.
It was security research firm Lookout...
Read more...
A freelance security consultant and Handler at SANS Internet Storm Center has discovered a rather interesting exploit in Microsoft Word, one that allows an attacker to abuse the productivity program's ability to auto-update links. This is a feature that is enabled by default—when you add links to external sources like...
Read more...
For a long time, Apple's Mac line of computers were thought by some users to be immune to malware and viruses. Some of that was due to hackers and nefarious sorts aiming for the low hanging fruit of the much larger Windows user base. Things have changed with Macs growing in popularity over the years and there are many...
Read more...
Here's something you don't see too often: a ransomware creator unearthing the master decryption key for public consumption. That's exactly what we're seeing from Petya's original developer, allowing those affected by certain versions of Petya to recover their data, and developers the ability to create decrypters to...
Read more...
Imitation may not be the sincerest or safest form of flattery. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. researchers just revealed that CopyCat Android malware infected 14 million devices worldwide in 2016, and eight million of these infected devices were also rooted.
How was this malware so successful? According to...
Read more...
Over the past few years, one of the most prevalent types of malware has been ransomware - an infection that automatically locks down your sensitive data, and then makes you buy it back with your hard-earned cash. In May, one of the hardest-hitting ransomware strikes occurred, via the appropriately named WannaCry. Now...
Read more...
There are no days off in Redmond, at least not for Microsoft. Hot on the heels of dealing with the WannaCry ransomware outbreak, Microsoft has now addressed reports of a new ransomware making the rounds, one that shares similar code with Petya, a nasty piece of ransomware in and of itself. What makes this new strain...
Read more...
Recent ransomware scares such as the WannaCry outbreak have collectively put a spotlight on PC security. It has even prompted Microsoft to release patches for unsupported operating systems, including Windows XP and Windows Vista. However, it is Windows 10 that receives the lion's share of Microsoft's security efforts...
Read more...
Here’s the thing about most types of mobile malware in the wild; they’re avoidable. That doesn’t mean, however, if you’re not paying attention--and especially if you’re the type that likes to customize things as the Android platform is so capable of--that you might not stumble into some nasty code deplorables. Such is...
Read more...
Getting on-board with an operating system like Windows 10 S may be difficult for some users. Only a certain type of user would purposefully opt to use a whittled-down, locked-down OS by choice, but for the security conscious, it makes a lot of sense. After all, 10 S is still Windows -- it's just supposed to be safer.
That's been Microsoft's
Read more...
It seemed for a moment that the WannaCry ransomware that wreaked havoc at hospitals across Europe had been neutralized, but apparently it is still causing disruptions. The latest report comes from Honda Motor Co., which said on Wednesday that it had to shut down one of its factories in Japan after discovering that...
Read more...
The notion that Mac systems are immune to malware is just plain wrong. Sure, Macs might be less susceptible to malware than Windows-based PCs, but they are certainly not exempt from security threats. Proving otherwise, two different security outfits have put out warnings about separate threats targeting Mac users. One...
Read more...
If you're a Raspberry Pi user who's never changed the default password of the "pi" user, then heed this warning: change it. A brand new piece of malware has hit the web, called "Linux.MulDrop.14", and it preys on those who haven't secured their devices properly.
Linux.MulDrop.14 looks to be a simple piece of...
Read more...
Most wireless routers are equipped with a series of LEDs to indicate things like network connectivity and activity, though if a router has been compromised with malware, those blinking lights could reveal more than the owner bargained for. Using specially crafted malware, an attacker could instruct those LEDs to...
Read more...
The folks at Kaspersky, one of the biggest antivirus companies on the planet, are not too pleased with Microsoft's recent Windows design cues. Last year, the company filed a complaint against the Redmond company with Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), and recently, it did the same thing in Europe. Any...
Read more...
Be careful what you download from Google Play, as auto-clicking adware dubbed “Judy” is believed to have infected up to 36.5 million users. The apps have been deemed as malware, despite their overall high review ratings on Google Play.
Judy was found on forty-one apps developed by a Korean company Kiniwini...
Read more...
Now that the dust has settled on a global ransomware outbreak that could have been much worse than it ended up being, we can all breathe a sigh of relieve. Meanwhile, security outfits are busy analyzing the outbreak to uncover as much information as possible about the threat known as WannaCry. According to Symantec's...
Read more...
WikiLeaks has posted its latest release from the Vault 7 series of CIA-related leaks that exposes a tool dubbed “Athena”, which acts as a beacon on compromised Windows-based systems and gives the agency remote loader capabilities as well.
Athena and its associated tools function on all versions of Windows from XP...
Read more...
The Wanna Decrypter ransomware that began floating around the Internet late last week, or WannCry as it's commonly known, has made a lasting impact, with hundreds of thousands of PCs worldwide being affected. What the malware does is even more alarming: one minute, you're using your computer normally; the next, your...
Read more...
Last fall, we reported on a somewhat humorous report of a mere "reply all" email that managed to bring down email servers of the UK's National Health Service. Unfortunately, we have something a bit more severe to report on today: an all-out cyberattack against the NHS.
At some point today, doctors at NHS had to...
Read more...
A vulnerability researcher at Google is giving props to Microsoft for issuing a quick fix to what he described as a "crazy bad" remote code exploit in the company's malware protection engine. He also said it was the worst of its kind in recent memory, and that is because prior to the patch, a remote attacker could...
Read more...
It seems like a day doesn't go by that we don't hear about some piece of malware that's harassing computer users. In 2017, you would expect that most people would be hesitant to download and extract random, rogue zip files, but sadly, that's not the case. There's a reason these pieces of malware still exist -- just...
Read more...
