Crypto-Ransomware Round-Up

cryptolockerSome of the nastiest exploits going around are the many variants of the CryptoLocker and CryptoWall malware that encrypt all your personal files and hold them for ransom.  Payment in bitcoin is required, in amounts starting at $200 and ranging upward to the $17,000 (400 BTC) that Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital just paid to unlock their files.  Or even more.  The amount will be whatever the attackers think they can extract from the victim.

  • The latest ...
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OpenDNS Umbrella – Web Filtering and Security for SMBs

OpenDNSA great product for quickly and easily adding web site filtering to your organization is OpenDNS Umbrella.  OpenDNS was recently purchased by Cisco Systems.  OpenDNS is another featured security product that is part of the Managed Services program here at CIT.

The way OpenDNS works is that all of your traffic to and from the Internet is run through the proxy server cloud at OpenDNS.  In addition to protecting your ...

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Bitdefender Rated Best Business AV

bitdefenderAV-Test rated Bitdefender Endpoint Security 5.3 the best anti-virus software for Windows client business users in its December 2015 test.  I mention this because this is the product that we deploy here at CIT for our managed service customers.  They rated a nearly perfect score.  Here are the particulars:

  • 100% effective against zero-day malware out of 140 samples used
  • 100% detection of 14,658 pervalent malware samples
  • Bitdefender affected performance negliably, adding ...
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If Only We Could Block Traffic From the Dark Web…

penetration_testTry to imagine how much bad stuff we could keep off our computers and networks if we could figure out a way to filter incoming traffic from the Dark Web.  Well maybe we can.

First, my apology in advance to my non-technical followers, this article may be a bit high level for the average user.

A post in Spiceworks from “Born2Frag” ...

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Phishing and Spearphishing – Don’t Take The Bait!

Phishing HookHere’s a provocative statement:  If you could just prevent your staff for clicking on links or opening attachments in phishing emails, 95% of your cybersecurity problems would be prevented.

As perimeter defenses and anti-malware software products have become more effective, cyber-attackers have turned to the phishing email approach as their number one favorite method for acquiring user names and passwords or gaining unauthorized access to computers on your network.   The ...

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Malwarebytes Tackles Cryptoware

th-paypage-quick-480This is hot off the press.  Yesterday Malwarebytes announced a beta of a new anti-crypto software product designed to stop CryptoWall4, CryptoLocker, Tesla, and CTB-Locker.  You can download the beta here.

According to Malwarebytes:

“Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware monitors all activity in the computer and identifies actions which are typical of ransomware activity. It keeps track of all activity and, once it has ...

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Junkin’ Jack Flash

flash-logoAdobe’s Flash program has been a security nightmare. A favorite among malware writers for ages, Flash is useful for doing things like creating fake security pop-up alerts and conning computer users into buying security programs that don’t work and carry malicious content.  And it seems that there is another “zero-day” vulnerability discovered every three days.

Do we really need Flash?  No we don’t.  iPhones and ...

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Word and Excel Macro Viruses Are Back

macro-virusUsing BASIC or Visual BASIC programming scripts can add automation and other functions to documents created in the Microsoft Office productivity suite of products.  Unfortunately, this feature can be used by cyber-attackers to send malware exploits in otherwise innocuous looking documents that most people would open without a second thought.

The macro virus goes back to 1995, the most infamous being the Melissa email macro virus that $80 million in damages to ...

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Scary Disguises Hide Malware Too

goblinIt’s Halloween tomorrow, the traditional time when we dress up in scary or not-so scary costumes to disguise our identity and trick our friends and family.  It’s good to remember that malware often uses disguises to trick us into committing an action that releases the attack.  What follows are my scary Halloween stories.

  • Social Engineering – In this exploit the attacker may present themselves in person, over the phone, or by ...
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AppGuard – Computer Security That Works

AppGuardI am often asked by frustrated clients “Why doesn’t traditional anti-virus and Internet security software products work?”  The unfortunate answer I have to give them is “It’s your fault.”  The more diplomatic answer I really use is that the security software cannot prevent something that is explicitly allowed by the computer user.  And the computer user is easily tricked into opening a ...

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