Think BEFORE You Click! – How Hard Is That?

HARD, apparently.

I recently repeated a small experiment (for the third year in a row), with a group of “average computer user” friends, (12 this time around), and I was disappointed to see (once again), that the conditioned response issue to “just click” while surfing the web, was still there.

Still, I’m always hopeful that reinforcing the point that clicking haphazardly, without considering the consequences – the installation of malicious code that can cause identity theft and the theft of passwords, bank account numbers, and other personal information – would have had some impact. Apparently not.

But, I haven’t given up. I’m prepared to hammer them repeatedly until such time as I can make some progress. In the meantime, I expect that curiously browsing the web blissfully unaware of the considerable malware dangers, will continue to be the modus operandi for my friends.

They’re not alone in their “clicking haphazardly” bad habits. Many of us have learned to satisfy our curiosity simply by a mouse click here, and a mouse click there. Arguable, we have developed a conditioned response (without involving conscious thought), to – “just click”.

It can be argued, that our “just click” mindset poses the biggest risk to our online safety and security. In fact, security experts argue, that a significant number of malware infections could be avoided if users stopped “just clicking haphazardly”, or opening the types of files that are clearly dangerous. However, this type of dangerous behavior continues despite the warnings.

Most visitors to this site are above average users (I’m assuming that you are too), so, I have a challenge for you.

Take every appropriate opportunity to inform your friends, your relatives, and associates, that “just clicking haphazardly” without considering the consequences, can lead to the installation of malicious code that can cause identity theft and the theft of passwords, bank account numbers, and other personal information.

Help them realize that “just clicking”, can expose them to:

• Trojan horse programs
• Back door and remote administration programs
• Denial of service attacks
• Being an intermediary for another attack
• Mobile code (Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX)
• Cross-site scripting
• Email spoofing
• Email-borne viruses
• Packet sniffing

They’ll be glad that you took an interest in their online safety. And, best of all, by doing this, you will have helped raise the level of security for all of us.

A point to ponder:

Since it’s proven to be difficult to get “buy-in” on this – “think before you click safety strategy” – I generally ask the question – do you buy lottery tickets? Not surprisingly, the answer is often – yes. The obvious next question is – why?

The answers generally run along these lines – I could win; somebody has to win;……. It doesn’t take much effort to point out that the odds of a malware infection caused by poor Internet surfing habits are ENORMOUSLY higher than winning the lottery and, that there’s a virtual certainty that poor habits will lead to a malware infection.

The last question I ask before I walk away shaking my head is – if you believe you have a chance of winning the lottery – despite the odds – why do you have a problem believing that you’re in danger on the Internet because of your behavior, despite the available stats that prove otherwise?

Way To Go WOT! – Now Protecting 30 Million Users

The Internet is one kickass place – survey after survey continue to show that cybercriminals are picking off unaware/undereducated users, as if they were shooting fish in a barrel.

It’s hardly surprising then, that an enormous industry (no, not big, not large – but, enormous) has developed, based on the principal that technology can act as a counterfoil  to the most nefarious cyber criminal schemes. Criminal schemes which are, after all, technology driven.

I’ll leave it to you to decide if this has been an effective solution.

No matter the side you come down on regarding this complex issue, dancing around naked (so to speak ) on the Internet – that is, without adequate Browser protection, is akin to fumbling and stumbling through the toughest neighborhood in your area – after dark.

Internet security starts with the Web Browser (it does not end there – but, one step at a time), and WOT (Web of Trust, which passed the 30 million user mark yesterday – January 9, 2011), substantially reduces the risk exposure that comes with wandering through the increasingly risky neighborhood that the Internet has become.

Based on the way that I surf the Web, there’s no contest as to which of the 17 add-ons I have installed on Firefox, is most important to my piece of mind. The hands down winner – the single most important add-on for my style of surfing is WOT (Web of Trust).

Sure, that’s a pretty bold statement – but, since I frequently hear from readers who, after installing WOT on their computer systems, feel reassured that they are safer than ever before, and who express a renewed sense of confidence, and  a new level of enthusiasm, while surfing the Internet, I’ll go with it.

If you’re not yet a WOT user, read the following in-depth review – you may reconsider.

What is WOT?

WOT, one of the most downloaded Firefox Add-ons at the Mozilla add-on site, (also compatible with Internet Explorer and Chrome), is a free Internet Browser resource which  investigates web sites you are visiting for spyware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, unreliable online shops, phishing, and online scams – helping you avoid unsafe web sites.

For example, here’s a Google search in which WOT indicates which sites are safe. Notice the unsafe (red) sites, in the Google ads!

Take a look at what happens if, in fact, you do end up on an unsafe web site. WOT’s dropdown warning curtain blocks access to the site until you determine otherwise.

WOT operates in a unique fashion in order to offer active protection to the Internet user community. It stands out from the crowd of similar applications, by soliciting the opinions of users/members whose views on web site safety are incorporated into the overall site safety rating. According to WOT, the user community now has reputation data on over 35 million sites worldwide.

The shared information on a site’s reputation includes trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy, and child safety. As well, in order to achieve maximum security coverage, WOT uses thousands of trusted sources including phishing site listings, to keep users protected against rapidly spreading threats.

WOT integrates seamlessly with search engine results from popular search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN and other popular sites, and provides impressive protection against Internet predators.

WOT recently added the top three web-based email services – Google Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, to its free security protection. You can now feel more confident and secure, since WOT checks links embedded in your email, and warns you of dangerous web sites so that you can avoid spyware, spam, phishing, identity theft and other Internet scams; before you click on dangerous embedded links.

How WOT works:

The Browser add-on icon, displays a color rating for each site you visit, indicating whether a site is safe to use, should be used with caution, or avoided entirely.

Using traffic light colors, (green, yellow, and red), WOT leaves you in no doubt as to the safety rating of a web site. An impressive feature of WOT is the dropdown transparent warning curtain, shown earlier, triggered on visiting a dangerous site.

Recognizing that up to ten percent of Internet users are at a disadvantage however, due to colorblindness, and cannot rely on an Internet safety system based on color coding, the Web of Trust development team recently released an adaptive version of WOT. This version incorporates equivalent alternative information, through assistive or adaptive technology, for colorblind users.

This colorblind accessible application provides the same critical benefits to those individuals who have to contend with visual impairments, as it has to those of us who have come to rely on WOT as a major defense against the pervasive hazards we encounter on the Internet.

Quick facts – WOT checks the following on each web site visited:

Trustworthiness

Vendor reliability

Privacy

Child Safety

More quick facts:

Ratings for over 30 million websites

The WOT browser add-on is light and updates automatically

WOT rating icons appear beside search results in Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc.

Settings can be customized to better protect your family

WOT Security Scorecard shows rating details and user comments

Works with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome

Interface supports English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Finnish.

System requirements: Windows (all), Mac OS X, Linux

Download at: MyWot

Surf more securely by installing this browser add-on which will provide you with an in-depth site analysis based on real world results. Keep in mind however, that you are your own best protection. Stop · Think · Click.

Valentine’s Day = Cyber Crooks And Malware Love

Love in Your Inbox – Malware on Your Computer

It’s only a few weeks until Valentine’s day, so it’s not to early to get ready for the deluge of  “I love you”, “Wish you were mine”, and of course the proverbial “Happy Valentine’s Day” emails.

Hopefully, you will have a Happy Valentine’s Day, but you won’t if you fall victim to the burst of spam that is aimed at lovers, at this time of year, every year. Much of it designed to drop malware on unsuspecting users machines.

Like clockwork, spammers and cyber crooks ramp up the volume of spam emails aimed at unsuspecting users, just prior to this day, culturally set aside as a “celebration of love”.

In previous years, starting just about this time, we saw abnormally high rates of this type of spam, and since cyber crooks are “opportunity driven”, we can expect much more of this type of cybercriminal activity this year.

Maybe you’re a very cool person who’s significant other is always sending you neat little packages in your email. Things like MP3 files, screensavers, cartoons, YouTube videos and the like. You get them so often, that you just automatically click on the email attachment without even thinking. If you are this type of person, here’s a word of advice – start thinking.

The hook, as it always is in this type of socially engineered email scam, is based on exploiting our emotions. The fact is, we are all pretty curious creatures and let’s face it, who doesn’t like surprises. I think it’s safe to say, we all find it difficult, if not irresistible, to peek at love notes received via email.

The unfortunate truth is, these spam emails often contain links that deliver advertisements, or worse redirect the victim to an unsafe site where malware can be installed on the victim’s computer.

Last year at this time, a friend, who is an astute and aware computer user, fell for one of these carefully crafted teasing emails. On opening the email, he was taken to a site which had pictures of hearts and puppies, and was then asked to choose which one was for him.

Fortunately, common sense prevailed and he backed out of this site. If he had clicked on this site, he would have begun the process of infecting his machine with a Trojan, which can connect to remote command and control sites.

Unfortunately, being smart is often NOT enough to protect yourself. Experienced users are on guard year round for these, and other types of scam/spam email.

You know what to do, right?

Don’t open emails that come from untrusted sources.

Don’t run files that you receive via email without making sure of their origin.

Don’t click links in emails. If they come from a known source, type them on the browser’s address bar.

If they come from an untrusted source, simply ignore them, as they could take you to a web site designed to download malware onto your computer.

Cyber crooks have moved on from using just emails as a malware delivery vehicle. So, be on the lookout for fraudulent Valentine’s Day greetings in:

Instant Messenger applications.

Twitter

Facebook

Chat forums, etc.

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Symantec MessageLabs Intelligence October 2010 Report – Targeted Email Attacks On The Rise

Even in a world where Internet threats present an ever evolving and increasingly sophisticated danger to businesses, targeted email attacks are the most potent of all – potentially dealing  devastating short and long-term damage to the victims.

Counter to intuitive thinking, a high degree of sophistication gives these low volume, highly personalized emails an edge, and a higher probability of success than mass email blasts.

The goal of targeted attacks is simple – an attempt to gain access to specific sensitive data, intellectual property or confidential internal systems, by targeting specific individuals and companies.

According to Symantec Hosted Services, targeted attacks on the retail sector took a big jump in October, with 25 percent of all targeted attacks directed at this economic sector.

When you consider that in the previous 2 years, less than half of one percent of targeted email attacks were directed at the retail sector – versus the 25% discovered by Symantec Hosted Services in October, it’s evident cyber crooks have a razor sharp focus on the retail sector.

The spam landscape changes constantly, and while your industry sector may not be in the crosshairs currently, given that 200 and 300 organizations are targeted each month with the industry sector varying, it may be only a matter of time.

Knowledge is power, and as computer users we need as much power as we can get in order to stay safe on the Internet, so I encourage you to read the highlights of MessageLabs Intelligence October report, just released today. The full report is available here.

Selected report highlights:

Spam: In October 2010, the global ratio of spam in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was 87.5 percent (1 in 1.4 emails), a decrease of 4.2 percentage points since September.

Viruses: The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic from new and previously unknown bad sources was one in 221.9 emails (0.45 percent) in October, an decrease of .01 percentage points since September. In October, 23.1 percent of email-borne malware contained links to malicious websites, an increase of 15.5 percentage points since September.

Endpoint Threats: Threats against endpoint devices such as laptops, PCs and servers may penetrate an organization in a number of ways, including drive-by attacks from compromised websites, Trojan horses and worms that spread by copying themselves to removable drives. Analysis of the most frequently blocked malware for the last month revealed that the Sality.AE virus was the most prevalent. Sality.AE spreads by infecting executable files and attempts to download potentially malicious files from the Internet.

Phishing: In October, phishing activity was 1 in 488.0 emails (0.20 percent), a decrease of 0.06 percentage points since September.

Web security: Analysis of web security activity shows that 51.3 percent of malicious domains blocked were new in October, an increase of 17.7 percentage points since September. Additionally, 24.7 percent of all web-based malware blocked was new in October, an increase of 2.9 percentage points since last month. MessageLabs Intelligence also identified an average of 2,280 new websites per day harboring malware and other potentially unwanted programs such as spyware and adware, a decrease of 23.9 percent since September.

About Message Labs Intelligence:

Symantec’s Message Labs Intelligence is a respected source of data and analysis for messaging security issues, trends and statistics. MessageLabs Intelligence provides a range of information on global security threats based on live data feeds from our control towers around the world scanning billions of messages each week.

About Symantec:

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world.  Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available here.

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WOT (Web of Trust) – Is It The Most Important Browser Security Add-on You Need To Install?

It would be difficult for regular readers of this site not to be aware, that I write consistently on the importance of Internet Browser protection.

In fact, we’ve covered 20 or more Browser add-ons here in the past few weeks – from add-ons that add functionality, to those that promise to provide additional security.

All this coverage of Browser add-ons rattled my Brain somewhat, and got me thinking about the single most important add-on I have installed – the add-on I couldn’t do without.

Based on the way that I surf the Web, there was no contest. Of the 17 add-ons I have installed on Firefox, the hands down winner – the single most important add-on for my style of surfing is WOT (Web of Trust). I don’t think I’m alone in this assessment.

I frequently hear from readers who, after installing WOT on their computer systems, feel reassured that they are safer than ever before, and who express a renewed sense of confidence, and  a new level of enthusiasm, while surfing the Internet.

In fact, just under 6,000 Tech Thoughts readers have installed WOT in the last two years – according to today’s download stats.

And why not. Security starts with the Web Browser, and WOT substantially reduces the risk exposure, that comes with wandering through the increasingly risky neighborhood that the Internet has become.

What is WOT?

WOT, one of the most downloaded Firefox Add-ons at the Mozilla add-on site, (also compatible with Internet Explorer and Chrome), is a free Internet Browser resource which  investigates web sites you are visiting for spyware, spam, viruses, browser exploits, unreliable online shops, phishing, and online scams – helping you avoid unsafe web sites.

For example, here’s a Google search in which WOT indicates which sites are safe. Notice the unsafe (red) sites, in the Google ads!

Take a look at what happens if, in fact, you do end up on an unsafe web site. WOT’s dropdown warning curtain blocks access to the site until you determine otherwise.

WOT operates in a unique fashion in order to offer active protection to the Internet user community. It stands out from the crowd of similar applications, by soliciting the opinions of users/members whose views on web site safety are incorporated into the overall site safety rating. According to WOT, the user community now has reputation data on over 30 million sites worldwide.

The shared information on a site’s reputation includes trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy, and child safety. As well, in order to achieve maximum security coverage, WOT uses thousands of trusted sources including phishing site listings, to keep users protected against rapidly spreading threats.

WOT integrates seamlessly with search engine results from popular search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN and other popular sites, and provides impressive protection against Internet predators.

WOT recently added the top three web-based email services – Google Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, to its free security protection. You can now feel more confident and secure, since WOT checks links embedded in your email, and warns you of dangerous web sites so that you can avoid spyware, spam, phishing, identity theft and other Internet scams; before you click on dangerous embedded links.

How WOT works:

The Browser add-on icon, displays a color rating for each site you visit, indicating whether a site is safe to use, should be used with caution, or avoided entirely.

Using traffic light colors, (green, yellow, and red), WOT leaves you in no doubt as to the safety rating of a web site. An impressive feature of WOT is the dropdown transparent warning curtain, shown earlier, triggered on visiting a dangerous site.

Recognizing that up to ten percent of Internet users are at a disadvantage however, due to colorblindness, and cannot rely on an Internet safety system based on color coding, the Web of Trust development team recently released an adaptive version of WOT. This version incorporates equivalent alternative information, through assistive or adaptive technology, for colorblind users.

This colorblind accessible application provides the same critical benefits to those individuals who have to contend with visual impairments, as it has to those of us who have come to rely on WOT as a major defense against the pervasive hazards we encounter on the Internet.

Quick facts – WOT checks the following on each web site visited:

Trustworthiness

Vendor reliability

Privacy

Child Safety

More quick facts:

Ratings for over 30 million websites

The WOT browser add-on is light and updates automatically

WOT rating icons appear beside search results in Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc.

Settings can be customized to better protect your family

WOT Security Scorecard shows rating details and user comments

Works with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome

Interface supports English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Finnish.

System requirements: Windows (all), Mac OS X, Linux

Download at: MyWot

Surf more securely by installing this browser add-on which will provide you with an in-depth site analysis based on real world results. Keep in mind however, that you are your own best protection. Stop · Think · Click.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Malware Avoidance Lesson Number One – Think BEFORE You Click!

I recently repeated a small experiment with a group of “average computer user” friends, (about 16, or so), and I was disappointed to see that the conditioned response issue to “just click” while surfing the web, was still there. This, despite my long battle to get them to modify their online behavior.

I assumed that endlessly reinforcing “clicking haphazardly, without considering the consequences, can lead to the installation of malicious code that can cause identity theft and the theft of passwords, bank account numbers, and other personal information”, would have had some impact. Apparently not.

But, I haven’t given up. It appears it will take even more repetition before progress can be made. In the meantime, I expect that curiously browsing the web blissfully unaware of the considerable malware dangers, will continue to be the modus operandi for my friends.

My friends are not alone in their “clicking haphazardly” bad habit. Many of us have learned to satisfy our curiosity simply by a mouse click here, and a mouse click there. Arguable, we have developed a conditioned response (without involving conscious thought), to – “just click”.

It’s now well established, that our conditioned human responses pose the biggest risk to our online safety and security. Our curiosity, coupled with our conditioned responses can often override our common sense, so it’s not unusual for people to open an email attachment, for example, despite knowing that the attachment could be a virus, or another form of malware.

Security experts argue that a significant number of malware infections could be avoided if users stopped “just clicking haphazardly” or opening the types of files that are clearly dangerous. To this point however, this type of dangerous behavior continues despite the warnings.

Most visitors to this site are above average users (I’m assuming that you are too), so, I have a challenge for you.

Take every appropriate opportunity to inform your friends, your relatives, and associates, that “just clicking haphazardly” without considering the consequences, can lead to the installation of malicious code that can cause identity theft and the theft of passwords, bank account numbers, and other personal information.

Help them realize that “just clicking”, can expose them to:

• Trojan horse programs
• Back door and remote administration programs
• Denial of service attacks
• Being an intermediary for another attack
• Mobile code (Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX)
• Cross-site scripting
• Email spoofing
• Email-borne viruses
• Packet sniffing

You can do them an additional favor, by pointing them to  Comodo’s YouTube channel, Really Simple Security, where they can learn the basics of Internet security in a  constructive, yet lighthearted way.

They’ll be glad that you took an interest in their online safety. And, best of all, by doing this, you will have helped raise the level of security for all of us.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

BitDefender Warns Of iPhone Jailbreaking Malware Attack

iPhone “jailbreaking” – the user taking all-inclusive command of the device, which includes running non-approved Apple applications, is apparently not without risk.

Security researchers at BitDefender, the well known security application developer, have just uncovered a malware scheme, aimed at iPhone jailbreakers, that according to BitDefender “deploys a keylogger ……. which allows the malware creators to intercept the victim’s visited sites, usernames, passwords, and bank accounts information – such as pin number, bank account numbers, passwords, etc.”

Delivery of the Trojan, identified by BitDefender as Trojan.Generic.3010833, begins with the user’s positive response to an email which offers software designed to unlock an iPhone, as the following graphic illustrates.

Graphic courtesy of BitDefender.

The body of the email reads as follows:

“Our software is compatible with all firmwares (including the latest version) and will unlock 3G, 3GS, & 2G iPhone models within just a few minutes.

You can download the iPhone unlocking software from here: http://www.unlock……………. /iphone3gs-3g.exe”

Clicking on the link triggers an executable file download to the potential victim’s computer. Running the downloaded executable (and who’s not going to at this point), triggers the installation of a Trojan which according to BitDefender “attempts to change the preferred DNS server address for several possible internet connections on the user’s computer to 188.210……………..”

The following graphic illustrates BitDefender’s security application’s response to Trojan.Generic.3010833.

Graphic courtesy of BitDefender.

Regular readers here are very familiar with the following cautions, but they bear repeating.

Don’t click links in emails. If they come from a known source, type them on the browser’s address bar. If they come from an untrusted source, simply ignore them.

Don’t open emails that come from untrusted sources.

Don’t run files that you receive via email without making sure of their origin.

Keep your computer protected. Install a security solution and keep it up-to-date.

BTW, BitDefender offers a host of highly regarded free security applications which you can checkout here.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

I’ve Got 10 Kilos Of GOLD I Want To Share With You!

My Australian friend Rod, a security developer executive, regularly forwards copies of scam emails that his company detects, through their various Internet  resources.

I’m very appreciative that Rod takes the time to do this, since it keeps me in the loop at the company level on email scams and malware threats. And,  it gives me a chance to LMAO – some of these emails are outrageously funny.

Every get one of those emails? Sure you have. In fact, you probably get a lot of emails similar to the one below, recently forwarded by Rod – this one is particularly ridiculous. But, that’s the point in using it as an illustrative example.

Anyone with an email address is bound to be bombarded with this type of scam email (including the misspellings, lack of punctuation, incorrect grammatical usage, etc.).

How are you doing sir/madam? My name is Mr. Twum a 25 year old man, please dont be surprise i got your email from yahoo. i have 10kilogram of AU RAW GOLD, i got this Gold as a beneficiary from my parent as their only son . i dont know much about Gold so i am here looking for someone who can lecture me on how i can sell the Gold and how much it worth at the market.

please note that i have all legal documentation from my late dad before he passed away and on one of the documents, It is said the specification of the gold is,

QUALITY : 22+Carat with a minimum

PURITY : 96% Or Better

Origin : Ghana.

And i am ready to send sample to you to test and see if it is Gold as i can read clearly.

if you so interested. have a nice day and enjoy your day

hope to hear from you soon

Opening this type of email is definitely not recommended (despite the humor), since, at a minimum, opening one lets the spammers/scammers know that your email address is “live”. Generally not a good idea, since this virtually guarantees you will receive a lot more spam.

We’ re all pretty curious, and spammers/scammers, being experts at social engineering – “the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, for the purpose of fraud, or computer system access”, rely on this to manipulate victims into opening this type of email.

While there may be some dispute as to whether “curiosity killed the cat”, there is no dispute as to the likely outcome of following the instructions contained in emails of this type because of curiosity.

For those who are swept away by an overriding curiosity  – go ahead and click and then follow the instructions. But before you do, make sure you have:

A current backup CD/DVD or other media containing your irreplaceable files – you’re going to need it.

Your original operating system install disk – you’ll need this too.

Your system and peripherals driver disks. Without these you’re going to spend hours on the Internet locating (if your lucky), drivers that were written specifically for your hardware and peripherals.

You can save yourself all this trouble, and heartache, just by one simple action, or more properly; by a single inaction. Don’t click!

Scam emails like this are designed, and crafted, to seek out financial information from you, or from your computer, that can be used to steal your money and your identity. As well, they can be designed to install various types of malware  that can have drastic consequences for your system’s stability.

You may well be curious when it comes to emails like this, but don’t let your curiosity override your common sense. Security experts argue (none too successfully it seems), that a significant number of malware infections could be avoided if users stopped “just clicking haphazardly”, or opening the type of files that are clearly dangerous.

You may be lucky, and you may be able to recover control of your computer if your anti-malware applications are up to date, and the malware signature recognize the intruder as malware.

But I wouldn’t count on it. Often, anti-malware programs that rely on a definition database can be behind the curve in recognizing the newest threats.

It is beyond dispute that the Internet now fits the criteria of a world that is not just perceived to be, but is in fact, personally threatening to uninformed or casual Internet users. I could go on, but I think the message here is clear. Think carefully before you click.

Despite every warning under the sun, there are people who will open this type of email. And, in that group, there will be people who will respond. If you’re having trouble believing this – believe it. If this type of scam didn’t show results, we wouldn’t have to deal with them on a constant basis.

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Download Free SpyShelter Anti-Keylogger

A software Keylogger, or system monitor, is a small program (not always malware, I should point out), that monitors every keystroke a user types on a computer’s keyboard.

Keyloggers are a particularly sinister type of malware, and are notorious for disabling Firewalls and anti-malware tools. This is a type of malware that I pay particular attention to, and make a special effort to guard against.

Since I test a lot of applications, I am continually amazed at the number of programs that request access to my keyboard, and screen, during installation. Unless there are valid reasons for this type of access, I don’t allow it. Surprisingly, in most cases the application installs correctly. Curious!

Regular reader Charles L. recently gave me a great tip on a freeware anti-logger application – SpyShelter Personal, which is also available in a paid version, SpyShelter premium.

SpyShelter is an anti-keylogging, anti-spyware program that protects your data from Keylogging and spy programs: known, unknown, and under-development.

It detects and block dangerous and malicious programs, to help ensure that your data cannot be stolen by cyber criminals.

The free version includes the following features:

• System protection (HIPS)
• Anti keylogger
• AntiScreenCapture
• AntiClipboardCapture

Setup is a snap, since the user interface follows the familiar tabbed menu system.

SpyShelter Fast facts:

Proactively scans when any spy program, Keylogger or Trojan attempts to store your private information.

Compatible with other well-known security products such as anti-virus and firewall software.

Protect your passwords, chat, credit card.

Fast algorithm process does not slow down your computer when scanning for dangerous items.

SpyShelter needs only a small amount of hardware and system resources.

Doesn’t need to check a signature database.

Simple, easy-to-use, intuitive GUI.

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 (32&64 bit).

Languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Polish, Croatian, Serbian, Chinese, Turkish, Czech, Macedonian, Brazilian(Portuguese)

Download at: SpyShelter.com

____________________________________________________

There are additional remedies for this type of malware threat, including –

SnoopFree Privacy Shield (free):

SnoopFree Privacy Shield (which I’ve been running for years), is a free application that guards your keyboard, screen, and open windows from all such spy software.

It makes it virtually impossible for any spy program to work on your computer since SnoopFree Privacy Shield’s protection works against spy software in real time. Unfortunately, this application works on Windows XP only.

Download at: Download.com

Zemana AntiLogger (commercial):

Since my personal home machines now run on Windows 7, I can no longer protect against Keyloggers using SnoopFree Privacy Shield, so I had to find an alternative. Zemana AntiLogger, is a competitively priced anti-keylogger application that I have come to rely on since I installed it 6 months ago.

This is an impressive application, particularly the system defense function which intercepts proposed changes to system files NOT picked up by other security applications on my systems.

Since I use a Webcam extensively for communicating, the active Webcam protection offered by Zemana AntiLogger, is of special importance to me.

Zemana AntiLogger is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Win 7.

This application is not freeware, but is very well priced at $34.00 USD. You can download a 15 day trial version at: Zemana

We’re now half way through 2010, and as predicted, this year has being a banner year for cyber-criminals. Being prepared and being aware, while not a panacea, will continue to be a key element in mitigating risk exposure. If Keylogger protection is a concern, you should consider adding an anti-logger application to your security toolbox.

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Is It Paranoia If They’re REALLY After You On The Internet?

By chance, I met a very interesting cab driver this past weekend; one who was extremely computer competent, and far more security conscious than the typical computer user I normally meet informally.

What struck me immediately, was Mike’s sense of computer paranoia, particularly surrounding his use of his computer on the Internet, which extended to the installation of software from download sites, and even included a reluctance to install software obtained from “friends”.

Is Mike’s paranoia justified, do you think?

Before you decide, consider the following news items – just some of the malware related contented I posted to my Tech Net News column in the past week.

For Sale: Thousands Of Hacked Twitter Accounts – Russian cybercriminal forums offer batches of 1,000 hacked accounts for less than $200.

Poisoned PDFs? Here’s Your Antidote – Attacks employing poisoned PDF files have leaped to the top of the threat list, according to statistics from major security companies. We’ll show you how to stay safe.

Bugnets Could Spy on You via Mobile Devices – New botnets designed for mobile gear may allow remote attackers to see and hear their potential victims, no matter where they are.

WARNING: Facebook Malware Attack Behind Distracting Beach Babes Video – A Facebook malware attack is on the loose this weekend, enticing users to click a “Distracting Beach Babes” video on their Facebook Walls. If you see this video on Facebook today, do not click the link: Doing so, and downloading a linked file, will result in malware being installed on your computer.

Fake joke worm wriggles through Facebook – Shifty sorts have created a new worm which spread rapidly on Facebook on Friday. The malware, for now at least, does nothing more malicious than posting a message on an infected user’s Facebook wall that point to a site called fbhole.com. Nonetheless, the speed of its spread on the social networking site has net security experts worried.

New Twitter Worm Abuses iPhone App – The attack abuses Twitter trending topics — a popular source of abuse — but with a twist: Rather than installing fake antivirus software like most similar attacks, it installs a new banking Trojan that steals online banking accounts, credit card PIN numbers, and online payment system passwords, according to Kaspersky Lab.

Hackers Using the Final Episode Of “Lost” To Spread The MySecurityEngine Fake Antivirus – PandaLabs, Panda Security’s antimalware laboratory, has in the last few hours, detected the proliferation in search engines of numerous Web pages distributing the MySecurityEngine fake antivirus. The ‘bait’ used in this case has been the much anticipated final episode of the popular ABC series “Lost.”

Fake Amazon emails contain Trojan – Emails that seem to come from Amazon, confirming an order has been received and that goods have been dispatched, could contain a Trojan.

Research: 1.3 Million Malicious Ads Viewed Daily – The true extent of the malvertizing scourge became much clearer this week with the release of new research by Dasient which shows that about 1.3 million malicious ads are being viewed online everyday, most pushing drive-by downloads and fake security software.

Build-A-Botnet Kits Let Anyone Steal Data – At the recent Cisco Networks Solution Forum held in Toronto, a Cisco product manager stated, “You don’t need to be tech savvy” to steal data. It’s a sad but true reality that isn’t much of an eye opener for many of us who watch users get their accounts compromised day in and day out due to social engineering and malware.

Facebook Users Warned of Sexy ‘Candid Camera Prank’ Attack – Security firms warn of a new Facebook attack tricking users into downloading a video player that’s actually adware, and maybe worse.

Worst Phishing Pest May be Revving Up – The single most active group for stealing identities and pilfering electronic bank accounts over the Internet has nearly ground to a halt, but the lull could be the precursor to an even worse crime spree, according to a new study.

So, is it paranoia if they really are after you? Well I can assure you, if you are connected to the Internet, and if the news items listed above are any indication (and they are) – they really are after you!

So, is it time for you to develop a case of healthy paranoia while surfing the Internet, and to stay actively aware of current threats to your personal and computer security?

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