Weekend Update

A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.

Guidance on Sharing Cyber Incident Information

Original release date: April 7, 2022

CISA’s Sharing Cyber Event Information Fact Sheet provides our stakeholders with clear guidance and information about what to share, who should share, and how to share information about unusual cyber incidents or activity.

CISA uses this information from partners to build a common understanding of ...

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16
APR
0

Android, CISSP, cybersecurity, Domain 8, multi-factor authentication, passwords, Rogue Security Programs, Weekend Update, wireless

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Scary Kaspersky Stories – Ghost in the Machine

Happy Halloween!  Nothing like a scary story to end the holiday.  The scary story in cybersecurity is that Kaspersky anti-malware and security products are in league with the Putin government and the FSB in Russia.  The FBI is advising government agencies to drop Kaspersky and find a new endpoint security solution.

Kaspersky Lab is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia and operated through a holding company in the United Kingdom. Kaspersky was founded ...

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3
NOV
1

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, law and policy, malware, News and politics, Rogue Security Programs, Security, Software vulnerability, surveillance

Latvian Cyber Crook Extradited for 2010 Star Tribune Malvertising Exploit

Back in February 2010, the Minneapolis StarTribune website was the victim of a malvertising exploit.  Visitors to the Strib website would download malware that caused the computer to become slow and malfunction.  Then a pop-up window would appear that advised the visitor that their computer was infected with malware, and the purchase of a $49.95 anti-malware product would solve the problem.  I remember working on the computers of several clients ...

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10
JUL
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, malware, Rogue Security Programs, Security

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Does Your Computer Have A Malware Infection? – Part 2

malwareOn Wednesday we looked at the obvious, visual symptoms of a malware infection.  Today we will explore some changes in performance that can indicate that your computer is infected.

Performance Symptoms

Most malware writers are NOT interested in giving you easy visual clues, but the malware will create additional activity on your system that can tip you off to an infection.

  • Constantly Flashing Hard Drive Light – If the hard drive activity light is ...
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10
JUN
0

botnet, Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, malware, Rogue Security Programs, Trojan, Virus, Viruses

Does Your Computer Have A Malware Infection?

malwareToday we are going to look at the symptoms that your computer may be displaying that are indications of a malware infection.

Visual Symptoms

These are signs that you will see on your computer display, and are the most obvious symptoms.

  • Ransomware  – The last stage of a ransomware or cryptoware infection is the prominent display of instructions on how to pay the attackers to get your decryption key
  • Fake Security Pop-Up – I ...
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8
JUN
0

Computers and Internet, crapware, cybersecurity, malware, Rogue Security Programs, Software vulnerability, Spyware, Trojan, Virus, Viruses

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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21
DEC
0

Computers and Internet, cybersecurity, malware, Rogue Security Programs, Software vulnerability

Rogue Security Software – “Scareware”

One of the more common viral or spyware infections I see more of is the installation of rogue or fake anti-virus or anti-spyware programs. These have been called “scareware” programs by some, because they work by “scaring” you into purchasing their security “solution.” They generally start out as an e-mailed invitation (SPAM) to run a free security scan, with a link that takes you to a web site. When you go to this web site and run the ...
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12
NOV
0

Rogue Security Programs, Spyware, Viruses