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What Exactly Is A HYIP Scam?
September 28th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Firstly, for those of you who don’t already know, HYIP stands for High Yield Investment Program. HYIPs are one of the most common scams on the internet today, though they became a source of income for scammers well before the digital age. There are a huge number of people looking to make extra money, for many reasons, including becoming debt free or in the hopes of giving up their day job. A large proportion of those people have internet access and will come across some of the thousands of HYIPs that are circulating the net at any time. The allure of HYIPs is the promise of large returns on small investments, the type of investment a lot of potential internet investors may believe they can afford. With some HYIPs offering returns from 10% to even 50% per day on an investment of as little as $10, it is easy to see why some people get suckered into them, especially when it is known that some people do make the quoted returns. The downside of HYIPs, however, is that a larger number of people lose all their money. In order for the HYIP to pay out to some investors, they use the money invested by the newer members. In other words, a high yield investment program is nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. Whilst anyone getting in early could make a profit, the truth is that the only people consistently making money from HYIPs are those that start them. As no-one really knows how much money is circulating at any time it is impossible to predict when the HYIP will crash, as it surely will. Therefore, investing in one is not much different to flipping a coin – ‘HEADS’ I win : ‘TAILS’ you lose
Why You Need More Than Just Software To Secure Your PC
September 28th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Have you installed an antivirus program ? Good. Got an antispyware program ? Well done. Is your operating system fully patched ? Excellent! Your PC must now be totally secure, right? WRONG! If you have been online for any length of time then you should already be aware of the types of programs I mentioned above. If not, then you are a danger and a menace to yourself . On the other hand, if you do run the appropriate security programs then chances are that your computer is running fine and contains no malware. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Don’t be too pleased with yourself though because your PC is still not totally secure yet. WHY YOU NEED TO PHYSICALLY SECURE YOUR COMPUTER Some, perhaps most, of the threats to your PC come from across the internet but there is another type of danger too, a very human one. Its easy to forget that data theft can occur in person and theres also the issue of hardware being stolen too. How secure is your laptop? Do you leave it on the front seat of your car when you are out on the road? Do you lock it in the boot? Worse still, have you ever left your computer unattended in a public place, even for just a minute or two? What would happen if someone picked it up and ran? What personal or business information would you lose, how would you retrieve it and what damage could be caused with it? SECURING YOUR COMPUTER The first thing you should do is to engage your brain as commonsense often goes a long way. You should always secure your computer in an appropriate manner. For laptops that means never letting them out of your site, locking them away out of sight when not being used and keeping windows shut (and doors locked) when stopped at traffic lights. For desktop computers you can buy various cables and locks which can secure your machine to the desk. Of course it goes without saying that a determined thief would take your PC whatever you do but most are opportunists and the above tips will make your computer far less appealing to them than the next one they can see.
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Why You Need More Than Just Software To Secure Your PC
Revealing The Secret Identity Of The Single Biggest Threat To Your Online Security
September 27th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Yes, thats right, its YOU !!! You could be forgiven for thinking that the biggest threats online come from spyware, viruses or phishing emails but you would be wrong nonetheless. The biggest security threat is in fact an uneducated user, someone who doesn’t even understand the threats to their online security. If there is any chance that I am describing YOU then do something about it now – read these 101 tips to keeping yourself secure , along with the rest of this site! (The easiest way to do that is by subscribing to daily updates via my RSS feed )
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Revealing The Secret Identity Of The Single Biggest Threat To Your Online Security
10 Easy Methods To Avoid Credit Card Fraud
September 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
In the digital age that we now live in it is, in many respects, safer to use a credit card online than it is to use it in the world at large. That said, credit card fraud is still very much on the increase so you would do well to keep your wits about you. If you believe you have already become a victim of credit card fraud then report it immediately, to the credit card issuer and to the police. The sooner you act, the sooner action can take place to ensure that the situation doesn’t get any worse. Also, report it to the credit agencies, such as Experian and Equifax, so that the fraudster cannot open any new accounts in your name should they have also been able to steal your identity . 10 Easy Methods To Avoid Credit Card Fraud Most are obvious but you would be surprised how many people are scammed by not doing these… Keep your credit card secure and never let anyone take it away from your direct line of sight Never give your credit card number, especially the 3 digit security number on the back, to anyone who calls or emails you Never enter credit card details into a website you don’t completely trust. You should check that the website address begins with https: and that there is a padlock symbol in your browser in order to know that you are dealing with a secure site. Always sign a new credit card the moment you receive it. Don’t make your PIN number your date of birth or 1234 – these numbers are easy to guess! Never write your PIN number down, especially if you intend to keep it in the same place as the card. When entering your PIN number at an ATM or similar, make sure no-one around has the opportunity to see the number. Check your credit card statement religiously to ensure there are no unknown transactions on it. Always shred any correspondence that has your credit card number or account details on it. If you move house then inform your credit card issuer of your new address straight away.
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10 Easy Methods To Avoid Credit Card Fraud
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Conficker: The Most Advanced Virus Ever?
September 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
There is a bit of an argument going on within the ranks of the Digirati. Everyone is trying to decide if the Conficker Worm is the most advanced virus ever created. Arguments can be made for other previously released viruses that have wreaked havoc on computer networks and caused billions of dollars in damage. Elegant Design Even the most experienced programmers agree that Conficker has a very elegant design and that nobody seems to be able figure out exactly how it works. Other experts state that they have never seen anything like it. However, there are some contenders as far as the speed of the virus and the monetary damage it causes are concerned. Vs. Nimda 2001 Released on 18 September, 2001, Nimda became the fastest spreading virus of the time and found its way into thousands of computers in 22 minutes. Nimda used an email propagation scheme that had a file attachment “README.EXE” and was the worst virus up to that date. Vs. SQL Slammer 2003 On 25 January, 2003, SQL Slammer reared its ugly head and began to slow down Internet traffic by causing denial of service attacks on host computers. The virus quickly spread to over 75,000 computers within 10 minutes and completely shut down the Internet in South Korea. Vs. Storm 2007 The Storm Worm was released on 19 January, 2007 and within 72 hours was held accountable for 8% of all malware infections worldwide. Storm also used an email propagation scheme with an email that had the title: “230 dead as storm batters Europe.” During those 72 hours there were 6 different attacks performed by the Storm Worm . Technologically Advanced? Is Conficker the most advanced virus ever? Most experts would say yes. However, the monetary damage done by Conficker has been pale in comparison to other previous malware attacks. Only time will tell whether Conficker is the most advanced virus or not…
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Conficker: The Most Advanced Virus Ever?
0800 0800 152 And The ‘BT Phone Scam’
September 23rd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
If you are a UK telephone user then the following email about a new scam is something you need to read. Of course the scam is not committed by BT themselves but rather by an African (so it seems) who claims to be a representative of that company – Subject: BT phone scam PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY. The new telephone ’scam’ has arrived. “I received a call from a ‘representative’ of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me because of an unpaid bill. He demanded payment immediately of £31.00 or it would be £118.00 to re-connect at a later date. The guy wasn’t even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental! I asked the guy’s name – the very ‘English’ John Peacock with a very ‘African’ accent – & phone number – 0800 0800 152. Obviously the fellow realized I didn’t believe his story, so offered to demonstrate that he was from BT. I asked how & he told me to hang up & try phoning someone – he would disconnect my phone to prevent this. AND HE DID!! My phone was dead – no engaged tone, nothing – until he phoned me again. Very pleased with himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he was with BT. I asked how the payment was to be made & he said credit card, there & then. I said that I didn’t know how he’d done it, but I had absolutely no intention of paying him, I didn’t believe his name or that he worked for BT. He hung up. Did 1471 & phoned his fictitious 0800 number – not recognised. I phoned the police to let them know, I wasn’t the first! It’s only just started apparently but it is escalating. Their advice was to let as many people know by word of mouth of this scam. The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some people it’s real, so please let as many friends & family be aware of this. This is good but not that clever. He gave the wrong number – it should have been 0800 800 152 which takes you through to BT Business. The cutting off of the line is very simple – he stays on the line with the mute button on and you can’t dial out – but he can hear you trying to (this is because the person who initiates a call is the one to terminate it). When you stop trying he cuts off and immediately calls back. You could almost be convinced! The sad thing is that it is so simple that it will certainly fool the elderly and vulnerable.” Unlike some email forwards this one is real and the police are aware of it. So if you get a call like the one detailed above be very wary. If you think you may actually have an outstanding bill then I would recommend hanging up, waiting 10 minutes in case someone really is messing around with your line, and then calling your telephone company using the number found on your latest bill.
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0800 0800 152 And The ‘BT Phone Scam’
Asian Teenage Hackers To Join MI5 To Fight Cyber Terrorism
September 23rd, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.
According to a recent report in The Sunday Express , the British spy agency MI5 has begun recruiting teenagers to aid their fight against cyber terrorism which it claims is emanating from China, Russia, Pakistan and even Belmarsh maximum security prison!! MI5 is believed to have already hired around 50 hackers, most of whom are young Asians, to work in their newly formed top secret Cyber Operations Command, a function which has a close working relationship with the Pentagon. Each of the youngsters has had to sign the “Official Secrets Act” which means they cannot even tell their friends, girlfriends or parents what they are getting up to when they work in the Security Service building which is located next to The Thames in London. In a report to Lord West, the Security Minister, it was revealed that during this summer alone there were over 1,000 hits made on computers in Whitehall. Other key assets to have been targeted include power stations, air traffic control and the city of London. It is also believed that accountants, banks and other financial organisations have come under attack from Chinese state organisations . As with all security personnel, the teenagers are subject to high detail background checking of the same level used to vet other members of the intelligence community. According to Lord West, the new recruits are – “youngsters who use their talents to stop other hackers from closing down this country”.
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Asian Teenage Hackers To Join MI5 To Fight Cyber Terrorism
Japanese Rice Art Is No Hoax
September 22nd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Sometimes I receive emails that sound like they should be hoaxes but arn’t. This one, about Japanese rice art, is one example of something that sounds too bizarre to be true. The pictures, however, are quite genuine – Subject: Rice Art Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan. But this is no alien creation – the designs have been cleverly planted. Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different colours of rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields. As summer progresses and the plants shoot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge – My initial reaction when I saw those pictures was that they were either some sort of photoshop exercise or that someone had created the Japanese equivalent of crop circles , i.e. they were for no particular purpose other than to garner attention for the particular artist. The truth, however, is that they are actually quite genuine and an ancient art form, as reported by The Guardian . Quite stunning, don’t you think?
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Japanese Rice Art Is No Hoax
How Can I Avoid Vishing Scams?
September 22nd, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
How to avoid vishing scams If you don’t already know what vishing is then you need to read yesterday’s post – What Exactly Is Vishing ? Today I am looking at a few very simple ways of ensuring you don’t become a victim of this crime. Rule #1 can be applied to just about every scenario you may ever come across online – DO NOT REVEAL YOUR SENSITIVE INFORMATION TO ANYONE , INCLUDING BANK EMPLOYEES. Whether you are contacted via email, IM or phone you should never, ever, reveal sensitive information to someone you cannot completely trust. If you always keep that in mind then you will have improved your internet security immeasurably. The other rules are just as much common sense – Banks and other financial institutions never call and ask you for personal information. The call or message may say that your call is being recorded but this is just to scare people so that they do not call the authorities. Notice how the caller never calls you by name. That is because they have no idea what your name is! If your bank or credit card number asks for your account number then they must be false – they should already know such details. Just because they don’t ask for your CVV2 number don’t think they are legit – some people can still steal your money without that information. Some banks, especially the small ones, usually have the last 6 numbers of the card the same for all the cards. So thieves will ask only for the last 6 digits of your credit card number because they know the first ones. So don’t think that if they ask only for 6 digits they cannot steal your money. They can do this just with your PIN and the last 6 digits of your card. Remember the above and stay safe. Don’t get vished!
What Exactly Is Vishing?
September 21st, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Vishing – Phishing via VOIP To understand vishing you may need to do a little background reading first in order to understand it’s sibling, phishing. If so, then you need to read – Phishing. What Is It And How Can You Avoid It . WHY IS THIS SCAM CALLED VISHING? How does vishing get it’s name? Well, it comes from the previously mentioned phishing in connection with the word ‘voice’ or the term ‘VOIP’. (VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol if you didn’t already know) . Vishing is, in many ways, similar to phishing in that it is an attempt to extract personal and/or financial information from the intended victim. Unlike phishing, however, it is not undertaken through websites or via email but by telephony instead. A vishing attempt can be conducted via different mediums, such as landline, cell phone, voicemail or voice over internet protocol. HOW DOES THE VISHING SCAM WORK? Much like phishing via email. the potential victim will be led to believe that there is some sort of problem, usually with their credit card or bank account. The difference being that they will receive this message via phone – usually it will be an automated message using a digital voice in order to mask the scammer’s identity. The message will inform the potential victim that they need to take some sort of action, such as calling a specific number, and that they will then need to prove their identity and verify their account details in order to block some sort of fraud attempt. Hows that for irony? Even if the perpetrator is using a digital voice you may be wondering how he remain anonymous in this age of caller IDs. The answer to that is simple – he spoofs the caller ID so that the call appears to have originated elsewhere, such as the very financial institution he is claiming to represent. VISHING IS HARD TO PROSECUTE Vishing is a very difficult crime for the authorities to trace, especially when VOIP is utilised as it is largely anonymous and can be accessed from anywhere in the world. The better alternative, of course, is to avoid falling prey to vishing in the first place. More on that tomorrow…
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What Exactly Is Vishing?
Top Cricketer Likes Snails. Top Footballer Scores Goals. Idiot Tweeters Spam.
September 19th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Here are a few links to some of the best articles I’ve come across on my internet travels this week – ———————————————————————————————– Its a total hoax but this story about Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s new house is a good read – apparently it’s shaped like a snail ! ———————————————————————————————– The Register has uncovered a new tactic which may soon be seen in all those emails you get from ‘your bank’. Whilst directing people to a fake website that looks like their bank is nothing new this new tactic incorporates ‘live chat’ into the mix, unsurprisingly with a fraud investigator who needs the answers to your secret security questions. ———————————————————————————————– Sans.org asks why fake antivirus programs are so successful? The answer, it would seem, is all in the presentation . Oh, that and the fact that they make the scammers a boat load of cash. ———————————————————————————————– Pick Your Poison: KOOBFACE or FAKEAV? is a post by the guys over at VirusExperts.org that shows a new twist in how those behind the virus will attempt to ensnare Facebook users into their growing botnet. ———————————————————————————————– Are you on Twitter? Are you following more people than you thought you were? Are you receiving @reply and DM spam from people you don’t know? If so, John Chow may have stumbled upon the reason why. ———————————————————————————————– The Koobface worm has been around for a while now, especially on Facebook, but it would seem that the worm has now turned. The latest version would appear to have gone down the scareware route, much like Conficker, and also installs a Click Fraud Trojan . Scary stuff indeed. ———————————————————————————————– The Day Before Zero talks about the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), botnets and ISPs and how the latter could alert their customers if they have been entrapped into a botnet . ———————————————————————————————– Wired.com reported on a hoax about a supposed suicide bombing in America that just happened to be around the time of the 9/11 anniversary. The ‘bombers’ were, it was claimed, a rap group known as ‘The Berlin Boys’ and the hoax extended to Wikipedia entries and California phone numbers that were actually being answered via Skype. An embarrassingly large number of Germans believed it all. ———————————————————————————————– Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Liverpool beat West Ham today with the ‘unfit’ and ‘poorly-performing’ Fernando Torres scoring his 4th and 5th goals in just his sixth game of the season. Just wait until he hits top form…. “This year could be our year”…. ———————————————————————————————–
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Top Cricketer Likes Snails. Top Footballer Scores Goals. Idiot Tweeters Spam.
How To Avoid Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Scams
September 17th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
I would imagine that everyone reading this has probably used an ATM machine at some time. An Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is an electronic terminal, which is directly links to the financial institution, to which it belongs, where consumers can conduct electronic financial transactions by means of an ATM or credit card. The majority of ATM machines are linked to a large number of financial institutions and can be used from anywhere around the world. ATM machines can be online or offline. In the case of online machines, the transactions conducted by consumers are processed instantaneously in real time. Where the ATM is offline, all transactions are recorded on tape. These tapes are subsequently transported on a daily basis to financial institutions for processing by either courier or security companies. THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ATM SCAM There are a number of ways in which ATM scams are conducted by fraudsters. Here are some examples of ATM scams. Stolen ATM or Credit Cards In some instances fraudsters may come into possession of a persons’ ATM or credit card and have access to the secret pin required to conduct transactions on an ATM. Often a persons’ wallet or purse can be stolen and the secret pin codes are written on a piece of paper inside. Fraudsters will then utilize this information and withdraw as much funds as possible from the victim’s account at ATMs. The fraudster will continue withdrawing funds until the card is held by the ATM machine. Counterfeit ATM Cards This offence is very rare, but they do occur. In these instances offenders will make use of a ‘Skimming’ device. This device is used to extract all data from a magnetic strip at the back of a bank or credit card. This data can later be extracted to a computer. With a skimming device it is only required to swipe the magnetic strip over or into the device. From a computer, the information can then be transferred onto a new magnetic strip on the back of a new card. This card will then in effect be a duplicate of the original card. Skimming devices comes in many forms, large or small. ATM fraudsters will use a device very similar to the ATM slot where the consumer’s card is entered to. Fraudsters will simply remove the ATM’s device and put their own skimming device in its place. Offenders will then set up cameras in hidden places around the ATM. This camera is used to record the secret pin entered by the consumer. Offenders will later remove their devices and can now start duplicating ATM and credit cards of victims. Fraudulent withdrawals As security measures, banking clients can not withdraw more funds from their accounts than are available. There may also be daily withdrawal limits on accounts, which are set by the client or bank. Fraudsters will often identify off-line ATM machines where transactions are not processed in real time. Here they will be in a position to withdraw more than the current daily limit, also more than is available in the account. Although these ATM’s have their own withdrawal limits, fraudsters will withdraw the maximum amounts they can as set by the ATM. Fraudulent Deposits In instances where a victim requires someone to deposit funds into their account before a product or service is delivered, fraudsters might prefer ATMs to perform this ‘deposit’. Fraudsters generally would deposit a fraudulent check, but mark the ATM instruction as cash. Fraudsters may also in instances place a small amount of funds into the envelope, but mark the front end with a higher amount and type the higher amount into the ATM as well. When the victim releases the product or funds, they will at a later stage be informed of the fraudulent deposit made. PROTECTING YOURSELF AGAINST ATM SCAMS When approaching an ATM, one should always ensure that the ATM is in good order. If there are any signs of tampering on the ATM, especially with the slot where the card is entered into, do not use it. Always look for small cameras inside and around the ATM, which appear to be out of place. When typing your pin, always ensure that you use your body to conceal the pad when typing your pin. Make sure that there are no way in any angle in which a person or came could see the typing process. Always ensure that you memorize your pin number. Do not write it down and keep it along with your card, in the event of a theft or robbery, the card can not be used at any ATM. When requesting someone to make a deposit into your account, always contact your bank and ask the method in which the deposit was made. Also ask the exact amount and the method of payment. It is highly suggested that you wait for funds to clear before releasing any products or services to a buyer.
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How To Avoid Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Scams
How Craigslist Scams Can Be Avoided With Common Sense
September 17th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Have you ever shopped on Craigslist? If so, then you probably know that they offer tons of deals (including wives – see Yuliyana Kalinina And The Green Card Marriage Scam ). Sometimes, people buy stuff and then they don’t want it after a period of time and sell it for cheap. Other times, people receive gifts and sell those gifts back for cash. Everything seems ideal, right? Like the old adage goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” However, if you’re a Craigslist shopper you need to beware of all the scammers. For example, I read an article about a man in the UK trying to sell a car to a man in the US, and when the money was sent, there was no car and no trace of the man who claimed to want to sell the car. Further, there was a case about a person who bought a 500 dollar gift card for Macy’s for only 50 bucks! But it turned out, the card had a balance of zero dollars and zero cents on it – the buyer should have called to check. As you can see, these cases teach us a lot about scams and scammers. Most of the scams you will come across are often very obvious – I mean, who would sell you a 500 dollar gift card for 50!?! And scammers tend to be very distant and compromising when it comes to it. So, watch out if you’re going to buy stuff on Craigslist!
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How Craigslist Scams Can Be Avoided With Common Sense
Phishing Cartoon Drives The Message Home
September 16th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
The following cartoon from Consumer Reports WebWatch is cute and a little funny too – You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video Fortunately, it also makes some good points about what phishing is and how such crimes are committed. If it has piqued your curiosity then you can learn a whole lot more by reading my recent post : Phishing – What Is It And How Can You Avoid It?
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Phishing Cartoon Drives The Message Home
My Browser Has Been Hijacked. What Do I Do Now?
September 15th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Browser hijacking can ruin your whole day and leave your head filled with evil thoughts toward the perpetrators. But there are other, simpler ways to deal with it beside tracking down and doing someone harm (even if they really DO desperately deserve it!) There are several good programs you can use to fix hijacks, some better than others. Here we will discuss the better ones. For what it is worth, the old saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure definitely applies here and the probability of getting a browser hijack is directly related to your own personal browsing habits. Neerdowells such as those who host attack sites tend to keep to the things they know best, most of which can be categorised under the topics of ‘illegal’ or ‘questionable ethics’. So it stands to reason that if you are looking for something in one of those categories you are far more likely to run across a browser hijack than if you keep to the straight and narrow. You don’t want to be your own worst enemy after all. But even the best of us can on occasion stray from the beaten path and run into problems. AVOIDING BROWSER HIJACKS If you have been hijacked you will want to take measures to prevent it from happening again and sadly enough, staying away from ‘those type of sites’ is the best way to accomplish this. And, as always, you really need to run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs BEFORE a problem comes up. But right here and now you are faced with the problem of ‘what to do to fix it?’ If your browser has been hijacked and you don’t already have repair programs installed you may be up against the wall. Many hijackers actively prevent you from visiting sites where you can download the cure, which means you will have to get on another system, download the programs and install them to the infected machine from a removable drive. ANTI-HIJACK PROGRAMS The programs you should probably look far are {SpyBot Search and Destroy}, {Ad-Aware}, {Malware Bytes} and {Autoruns}. And there’s also one named {Hijack This}. Each of these are excellent programs and can catch some, but probably not all browser hijacks. (An important word of caution: There are many anti-spywaare and antivirus scams on the net. The programs listed here are known to be safe. If you use something else you are doing so at your own risk.) Spybot works by both scanning your files and ‘immunising them’, which prevents them from being infected later. Ad-Aware works similarly, as does Malware Bytes. Each of these however is limited to how current the threat database is and whether or not the programmers have worked out a solution. Some hijackers are downright mean when it comes to being removed! Autoruns is somewhat different in that it allows you to see what programs are loaded at system startup and simply prevent them from running. EVER. End of story. There are times where this is the only way that a bad program can be removed (and in the case of other programs you might use, it is the reason they tell you your system must be restarted before the disinfection can be completed.) If the malware has coded into it that it may not be stopped or deleted after it has started, there’s nothing you can do about it unless you can stop it from starting in the first place. Autoruns puts you, the user in control of this procedure. One way this happens is that Autoruns allows you to change the view so that signed entries are hidden, enabling you to quickly focus on ones that are possible causes of trouble. You can find links to some of the above preventative measures, as well as a whole host of other security programs and tips, in my infosec 101 list .
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My Browser Has Been Hijacked. What Do I Do Now?
Celebrity Deaths Of Patrick Swayze And Keith Floyd Are Not Hoaxes
September 15th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.
I felt compelled to write a quick note today about the deaths of Patrick Swayze and Keith Floyd. That is because there are so many celebrity death hoaxes that sometimes people never really know whether the news they are reading is true or not. Today for instance, I have received a huge number of visitors to my page about a Patrick Swayze death hoax that circulated earlier in the year. Alas, today’s news is true. The same goes for the death of celebrity chef Keith Floyd . Both deaths have been reported by reputable sources such as the BBC so if you hear anyone say they are a hoax then you shouldn’t believe them. Mores the pity The other issue surrounding the deaths of celebrities is malware. Just today Graham Cluley reported on twitter that – The bad guys have set up malicious websites with news about Patrick Swayze’s death, but hit you with fake anti-virus. Be safe So be careful about what links you click on today if looking for news on these two sad events.
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Celebrity Deaths Of Patrick Swayze And Keith Floyd Are Not Hoaxes
Phishing – What Is It And How Can You Avoid It?
September 13th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
I’m sure most of you know about, or have least heard of, phishing. If not then please read What Exactly Is A Phishing Scam? What you may not know is that a continuous fight against this fraud method yields poor results. Maybe you’re watching TV or reading newspapers where the authorities announce they’re having good results in the fight against Phishing. Well, this is wrong. In my opinion, this war will never end. The more they fight against it, the cleverer the phishers become as they create more sophisticated and undetectable methods of phishing. I will reveal some well known methods that phishers use for stealing sensitive information from the internet user and also some hidden methods too few people know about. Most of the cyberthieves use this method especially for stealing information about the user’s credit cards and bank accounts but it can also be used for stealing identities (identity theft) , email or other company’s account passwords. I want to show you why there are so many phishing attempts out there. You don’t even need to be a hacker to do it. Just to know how is it done and what tools you need. (Most of the tools are not even illegal) PREPARING THE PHISHING ROD AND TOOLS What are they doing with this information? Easy. Reason number one is to steal money from the credit cards or bank account. They create scam pages mimicking the targeted bank’s real page. Then they create an email message as if the bank is sending it to their customers. PREPARING THE BAIT I want to cover a little more about the subject of these email messages. How can they create real messages which look like genuine ones? Simple. Most of them have their own bank accounts or their parents or relatives do. So they receive real messages from these banks. That’s how they get the idea of how the letter should look. But wait a minute you say, there are thousands of banks. This is easy too. There are many sites online that report on what hackers are up to and they reprint examples of letters, emails and websites. Most of the thieves feed their information databases from sites such as those. They can find good information about thousands of banks and even more examples of messages and phishing pages. Even for a beginner it is easy to start when you have so much information. They even know which banks work for phishing from that information. This is how most of them discover new banks that have never been scammed. I bet you didn’t think that sites made against phishers would be very useful for them huh? So we cleared up the part about how they manage to get hold of a genuine email message. What then? They gather together an email database. Most of them use email harvesting software. This software is legal and its even possible to find free versions of such software if you search the net for them. And if they need a license they don’t worry – they’ll just buy one with a stolen credit card, or buy email databases used for newsletters. They can find thousands of emails on guestbooks or forums. THROWING THE BAIT After they have the emails ready, they have to send them out. But for real impact, they need to send them to hundreds of thousands of email addresses. How do they do it? Simple. They use email sending software. This is another type of legal software found in all corners of the internet, free or licensed, with hundreds of versions. In fact they can use your very own PC to send their emails, thus avoiding the spam blockers. PHISHING And now all they have to do is wait. Wait for people to fall for it and hope the authorities don’t find about their page too soon and shut it down. I was telling you earlier how virtual thieves use information to steal your money, identity and so on.. Now I’m going to explain how they can use your own PC for doing their dirty work. They don’t have the knowledge to figure this out for themselves but instead use other peoples’ brain power. What they do is scour the internet for software thats capable of scanning IPs or PCs with a remote connection enabled. This kind of software is made by very intelligent programmers that did not intend the program to be used in this manner. Normally its utilised in a positive way for security testing, the goal being to find any leaks or bugs in a system. Unfortunately though when this type of program falls into the wrong hands it can and will be used against you. Even if your PC is password protected they can use brute force password crackers to find out your IP. Quite honestly, Windows is crap when it comes to security. Once they have access to your PC they will install their malicious software and load the email lists for sending fake emails. This reduces their chances of being caught to a minimum because in the header of the received emails your ip address will appear, not theirs. This is one reason why they use your PC. Another reason is that they have to send millions of emails and doing this from a single address will get their ip banned by the spam blockers or internet providers. When they spread those emails out over 5-10 PCs, its easy for them to send their SPAM. DON’T GET CAUGHT IN THE NET How to protect yourself from this phishing attacks when they get harder and harder to detect each day? This is very simple. Maybe you have seen TV ads or warnings from the banks? All of them say not to reveal your info to emails coming from the bank or telephone, but the main precaution you can take is also the most easy to follow. Don’t give your PIN number to anyone including bank employees. No-one, and I mean no one, knows your PIN number. Even the bank doesn’t know your PIN number. Of course the bank can change your PIN but only that. The 4-6 digit personal identification number is secret. If you receive anything that requests your PIN, you can be sure 100% that its a fraud attempt. DON’T RELY ON SOFTWARE TO PROTECT YOU FROM PHISHING So, have a phishing filter and an antivirus software? I don’t care. The scam pages are so well done that they can easily pass by this type of software. Most of these programs work based on the words found in the scam page and by the domain name or ip of the scam site. Words like credit card, PIN, CVV2. Thieves can easily replace words with images and trick the software. What can you do about that? Nothing. Warnings say that you should look in the address bar to see that the URL starts with HTTPS and if it does, its safe because that indicates a secure page. Wrong. Thieves can do this too. They can make their scam pages go to secure servers that show HTTPS in the browser and if they don’t know how, they will spoof the ip address to show anything they want. Another tip – look in the address bar – many of these phishing scams can also trick your eyes by using typos. Here is an example: Lets say this is the real bank address: www.bankoftesting.com and the fake one is www.bankoftestlng.com. Can you notice the difference? They replaced the ‘i’ with an ‘l’. Of course you won’t always look carefully at the address and this way you can get tricked easy. Also they can replace ‘o’ with ‘0′ (zero). There are many other typos they can use so read carefully the address. Another warning by the bank says that you should look in the bottom right of your browser for a small padlock. If you see that it means you’re on a secure webpage doesn’t it? Wrong again. Thieves can replicate this too. THE NUMBER ONE TIP FOR AVOIDING PHISHING There are many tips to avoid being tricked and I will explain many in my future articles but rule number 1 is simple to follow: Don’t give your PIN number or passwords to anyone, including bank employees. Isn’t this very easy to follow? It is so why do so many people get tricked and then upset when they fall victim to these attacks? It’s simply because people don’t pay attention. They’re not careful when they use their sensitive information anywhere, including the internet. Most of these attacks are based on peoples’ lack of knowledge or, as the hackers would call it, their stupidity. I was once able to ask a thief caught by the police: Q: Why do you defraud people? A: Because they are stupid Q: Why do you say they’re stupid ? A: Because they really are, d’oh, he replied. You know you’re not stupid and so do I. Protect yourself by paying attention to all warnings and the chances of you getting burned will be extremely low. Don’t reinvent the wheel, just follow the most simplest way. It’s easy. Do you think you are now equipped to avoid each and every phishing attempt that comes your way? Find out with SonicWall’s phishing knowledge test .
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Phishing – What Is It And How Can You Avoid It?
Malware That Changed The World – The Conficker Virus
September 10th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Conficker is the most recent addition to my list of notable malware, having only been released into the wild around October of last year. Many people predicted that Conficker would do some crazy stuff on April the 1st of this year but nothing of note really happened. That doesn’t mean to say that Conficker has gone away though. The Conficker virus, also known as Downadup, Kido and Confiker, is known to have infected up to 6 million computers around the world. No-one has claimed responsibility for writing the Conficker virus yet though industry experts believe the author(s) may be in the Ukraine or somewhere else near Russia. Infected machines are hooked into a botnet that could be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from spam to DDoS attacks. Despite all this potential they only serious effect of Conficker thus far has been to serve up an inducement to buy a fake antivirus program. I for one believe that Conficker will be used for far worse in the future. After all, 6 million plus infected computers are bound to have some monetary value to cyber criminals. Have you been infected by the Conficker virus? Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan The I Love You Virus The Blaster Worm Anna Kournikova The Melissa Virus The Storm Worm The Morris Worm The Conficker Virus
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Malware That Changed The World – The Conficker Virus
What Everybody Needs To Know About Car Financing Scams
September 10th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Ever thought of purchasing a car? Purchasing a vehicle is probably one of the biggest investments any consumer can make today. Unfortunately due to economic circumstances the majority of vehicle buyers today prefer to finance a vehicle, rather than buying it cash. The advantage of financing a vehicle is that one can retain ones cash and improve cash flow. For other users financing a vehicle can be done for tax relief purposes. Another advantage of financing a vehicle, and only in certain instances, is that the consumer could have recourse against the dealership and/or financing institution in the event troubles occur. Vehicle financing scams generally occur only with dealerships offering their own finance to consumers. Well established and reputable financing providers seldom involve in unscrupulous business dealings. HOW CAR FINANCING SCAMS ARE COMMITTED These types of scams are generally committed when a consumer applies for vehicle finance. The dealership will notify the client of approval and request the client to sign the contract. After signing the finance agreement, the client will be informed that a higher interest rate was required to approve the finance. In certain instances the client will also be informed that a higher deposit is required for the finance to come into effect. In other instances clients will also then only be informed that the vehicle needs to be repaid in a much shorter period, along with the higher instalment and deposit. HOW TO AVOID CAR FINANCING SCAMS Always be careful of advertisements offering lower interest rates in vehicle finance. When taking part in these offers you should be aware that: You could be required to pay a large deposit in order to get finance approval You could be required to repay the finance in a very short time You may be required to buy additional options or even sign over a manufacturers? rebate to the dealership You may be required to pay the advertised price of the vehicle, and not be allowed to negotiate a better sale price Be careful of reserve prices placed on the vehicle, which needs to be paid in full at the end of the finance agreement as a lump sum, as with a lease It is highly recommended that you discuss such offers with a person with the required knowledge and experience. By approaching a finance specialist at any dealership you might be informed of any pitfalls you may enter yourself into.
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What Everybody Needs To Know About Car Financing Scams
Malware That Changed The World – The Robert Morris Worm
September 9th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Robert T Morris, Jr. was a graduate student in Computer Science at Cornell. On November the 22nd, 1988 he wrote an experimental piece of code which could both reproduce and spread itself across the emerging new world wide web. What he had created would later become known as a worm. Soon after releasing his worm Morris found that it was spreading far quicker than he had ever anticipated. The machines that became infected with this ‘Morris worm’ would lock up or completely crash. He tried to make amends by sending an anonymous message from Harvard that contained instructions on how to disable the worm but by that time networks were so clogged up that most recipients never received it. A huge range of computer systems and networks became infected, ranging from medical facilities to military installations. The cost to remove the Morris worm was quite severe in some instances, rising into the tens of thousands of dollars. Eventually researchers managed to reverse engineer the worm and after a few days the worm’s affects were largely neutralised. Everyone wanted to know who was responsible, however, and the The New York Times took a growing body of evidence and pointed the finger at Morris. Morris was later convicted of violating the computer Fraud and Abuse Act (Title 18) for which he received a sentence of three years probation in addition to four hundred hours of community service and a fine of $10,050. At the end of 1990 Morris appealed his sentence but it was upheld in March of the following year. Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan The I Love You Virus The Blaster Worm Anna Kournikova The Melissa Virus The Storm Worm
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Malware That Changed The World – The Robert Morris Worm
Heres What You Need To Know To Avoid An Art Scam
September 9th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Art scams are a growing tendency around the world. More victims are approached by fraudsters and offered original art work from known artists. Victims often are lured into a scam believing that they can own original art work of famous artists at just a fraction of the real value thereof, only later to find that they have in fact purchased a counterfeit product, worth even less than the price they paid to the fraudsters. Currently the majority of art scams involve the counterfeit products of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali. HOW THE ART SCAM WORKS In the majority of instances the consumer will receive a postcard informing them that they have won a free original and valuable art piece. They are requested to return the postcard to the sender with their contact information in order to make arrangements for collection and / or delivery of the artwork. Upon returning the postcard, the consumer will subsequently receive a phone call from a telemarketer . This phone call will turn into a discussion about an investment in which the consumer can be part of in owning this unique, original and invaluable piece of artwork from a famous artist. Often fraudsters may use the names of known artists who are still alive, but will inform the consumer that the artist may pass away soon and the investment into their artwork will increase tremendously upon the death of such artist. The nail into the coffin of this scam is the Certificate of Authenticity that is offered along with the artwork. Fraudsters will inform the victim that they are in possession of the Certificate of Authenticity of the specific artwork and this will be handed to the victim, should he / she decide to invest by purchasing the artwork. The artwork will then be offered at a fixed price to the victim. In the majority of instances the price will be high due to the nature of the artwork and the artist, from which it originated, lending credence to the scam conducted on the victim. In many instances fraudsters will offer the product stating that victims can pay in monthly instalments, but a fixed deposit is required before entering into this agreement. HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST ART SCAMS The seller Conduct research into the seller. Determine whether the seller is known in your community. Also conduct Internet research into the seller and determine whether the seller has been involved in previous trading of artwork. Generally sellers of artwork will have been involved in more than one transaction. Have the artwork appreciated before purchase Request the seller to accompany you and the product to a Museum Curator or independent Art Appraiser of your own choice to have the artwork investigated and appraised. It is often these individuals who would be in a position to determine the authenticity of such artwork. If the seller is not in a position to accompany you, obtain as much information as possible about the artwork, such as the print medium, edition size, the printer or publisher and the year of publication and approach a museum curator or art appraiser. You could also request these individuals to accompany you to the seller to physically view and assess the artwork. Be wary if the seller refuses to have the artwork appraised at all. Sales Tactics Always be wary of promises on high returns on your investment or strong and high pressure sales tactics. Remember that high valued art works will always have a marketplace where they can be traded without any pressure on buyers.
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Heres What You Need To Know To Avoid An Art Scam
Malware That Changed The World – The Storm Worm
September 8th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.
The Storm Worm came to prominence back in 2007 when recipients received a simple email. The spam email arrived in inboxes with a large variety of subject lines and the infected attachment varied in name too. The most common variant, however, was the one from which the worm acquired it’s name – Subject: 230 dead as storm batters Europe Attachment: video.exe The Storm worm first surfaced in the middle of January 2007 and typically had one of several different Trojans associated with it. These Trojans were most often disguised as the following attached files – video.exe read more.exe full_video.exe flash_postcard.exe full_text.exe Most Windows operating systems of the time could be infected by one of these Trojans should the emailed attachment be opened. As the following video from F-Secure demonstrates, the worm spread far and wide in a very short period of time – You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video Even though the worm was most commonly known as ‘Storm’ there were several alternative subject lines for the infected email, including – 230 dead as storm batters Europe Russian missile shot down Chinese satellite Russian missile shot down USA aircraft Russian missile shot down USA satellite Chinese missile shot down USA aircraft Chinese missile shot down USA satellite Strongest earthquake hits Beijing Wrapped Up Death toll in China exceeds 1000000 Recent china earthquake kills million British Muslims Genocide Naked teens attack home director Saddam Hussein alive! Saddam Hussein safe and sound! U.S. Southwest braces for another winter blast. More then 1000 people are dead President of Russia Putin dead Third World War just have started! First Nuclear Act of Terrorism! So in Love I Believe A Romantic Place A Little (sex) Card The Miracle of Love All For You Safe and Sound A Special Kiss Hugging My Pillow You’re Soo Kissable Want to Meet? For You amongst many, many others. Were you ever infected with the Storm worm ? Can you remember any of the other subject titles the email arrived with? Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan The I Love You Virus The Blaster Worm Anna Kournikova The Melissa Virus The Storm Worm
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Malware That Changed The World – The Storm Worm
What Everybody Needs To Know About Auto Repair Scams
September 8th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
As a car owner it is inevitable that at some stage, rather sooner than later, your car will need to be taken for servicing or repairs to the vehicle. Auto repair scams constantly rank as one of the most reported consumer complaints internationally. In many instances around the world, television programs had exposes various scams related to auto repair and servicing. In the majority of these programs it was revealed how service providers receive vehicles for servicing. After completion of service the client was presented an invoice for work conducted and parts replaced. Television crew incidentally marked the old parts before the vehicle was taken to the service provider, which now appears as replaced according to the invoice. Upon investigation, it was found on all these programs that various old parts have indeed not been replaced, despite the invoice clearly stating it has been. HOW DO AUTO REPAIR SCAMS WORK? Auto repair scams in general are committed when victims are invoiced for parts or services, which in fact were never delivered. Service providers may, in total, not replace parts during a service to a vehicle, but invoice the client for the replacement thereof. In many instances service providers may replace parts with second-hand parts obtained off other vehicles and charge a client for new parts. Service providers in many instances may also substitute parts with so called ‘pirated’ parts. These are parts, made much cheaper, off the design of the original part and also commercially sold much cheaper than the original part. Often these parts do not have the same lifespan than original parts and may not perform the same than the original part. In these instances the victim may be charged the price of the original part and not that of the pirated part. HOW CAN YOU PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST AUTO REPAIR SCAMS? Find a service provider before you need one Our first piece of advice is to find an auto shop before you need one. You could always ask friends or family to recommend one that is reliable. It would always be advisable to utilize your own vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations, but not everyone is always in a position to afford their high rates. Honouring warranties Always ensure before hand that the service provider honours existing warranties on your vehicle. If a service provider does not honour existing warranties, you might be charged high rates for parts or labour covered by your existing warranty. Qualifications and accreditation You should ensure that the service provider is qualified and accredited to perform the work on your vehicle. Ask questions and look for certificates confirming the qualification and accreditation of service providers. Repair invoice and guarantees When the work has been performed on your vehicle, you should ensure that the provider issues a legible copy of a repair invoice indicating the work done on the vehicle. This should include an itemized description of the parts used and labour conducted. Also ensure that you receive confirmation of any guarantees offered by the service provider. Shop around Always shop around as you could find a better service provider elsewhere.
Malware That Changed The World – The Melissa Virus
September 7th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Melissa was a computer macro virus that infected computers and email gateways via Microsoft Word 97 or 2000 or Microsoft Outlook 97 or 98. Created by David L. Smith, Melissa first appeared on Usenet in the late 1990s. At the height of it’s distribution Melissa caused some users and mail clients to be shut down due to the sheer volume of replicated emails that is was sending and receiving via numerous infected systems. Even major companies, such as Microsoft and Intel, had to temporarily shut down their email servers as they became clogged by the virus. The Melissa virus arrived in email inboxes in many different forms. Typically, a message would be entitled as ‘My Pictures’ but there would be no text in the email, though a file was attached. That file of course was not a picture but the virus and, if opened, it would delete files and send itself onto the first 40 entries it found in the infected machine’s email address book. Though the Melissa virus can be a problem, many people with newer forms of Word or Outlook have no problem with the worm type virus. Good antivirus programs can, and did, detect the macro language used by Melissa which was also defeated by newer versions of Word too. However it should still server as a good reminder that you should never open email attachments unless you are 100% certain that you trust both the sender and the files that they may have included in their email. David Smith was eventually caught at the end of 1999 and was amongst the first few individuals to ever be successfully prosecuted for creating a computer virus. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined $5,000 but this was later reduced in return for his cooperation with authorities. Smith later went on to work for the FBI, tracking down viruses and those who were writing them. Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan The I Love You Virus The Blaster Worm
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Malware That Changed The World – The Melissa Virus
Malware That Changed The World – The Anna Kournikova Worm
September 6th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
The Anna Kournikova worm was released back in 2001 and, whilst it was not aimed at causing data loss, it did cause embarrassment and disruption for many personal and business users. The worm was spread via email with an attachment that claimed to be a picture of Anna Kournikova, who many a hot-blooded young male found incredibly hard to resist. You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video Opening the bogus attachment simply sent copies of the worm by email to all addresses found in the recipient’s address book in Microsoft Outlook. The virus inevitably resulted in a number of copycat variants. Whilst most worm creators have never been identified, a 21-year-old Dutchman, Jan de Wit, admitted to unleashing the Anna Kournikova worm. De Wit, an obsessed admirer of Kournikova, ended up receiving a community service sentence.
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Malware That Changed The World – The Anna Kournikova Worm
Adopting Poor Password Security Is Like Laying All Your Cards On The Table
September 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Personally I’m not a card player, let alone a gambler. If I was, though, I’d be sure to keep all my cards close to my chest when playing the game. Thats just a commonsense thing to do isn’t it? So why, then, do people gamble with their passwords? I know plenty of people, some of them readers of this site, who still make fundamental mistakes with their password security. Some of them have passwords that are their names, even just their initials. They’re crazy I tell you! If you arn’t already aware of the bad password mistakes I’ve mentioned before then here they are again and with a few extra tips thrown in – DON’T MAKE YOUR PASSWORD TOO SHORT Has your wife or girlfriend ever told you that size matters? She is right you know. If you haven’t got enough length, in your password, then you are asking for trouble. Short passwords are easy to guess, or crack, so make them as long as you can. DON’T WRITE PASSWORDS DOWN! You’re not stupid are you? If you record your passwords on scraps of paper, post-it notes or even in a file on your computer then somebody, somewhere, sometime is going to have access to them. Don’t do it! If you really must record your passwords then use a password managing program or lock them in a safe. Better yet, choose passwords that mean nothing to others but enough to you that you will be able to remember them. DON’T MAKE PASSWORDS TOO COMMON Do you own a dictionary? You probably do. Open it up and have a good look at the words inside. Are any of those what you have chosen for your password? They are? Ooops! Hackers use their own computerised dictionaries when trying to crack passwords. Don’t make their lives any easier by selecting anything that they’ll be able to crack in seconds. AVOID PASSWORDS BASED UPON YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS Wives, children, pets. Love ‘em. But don’t use them in your passwords. No. Really. Don’t. You’ll regret it. If you use any of the above, or other common data such as your date of birth, phone number, or address then someone who knows a little about you could be into your computer system in seconds. NEVER MAKE YOUR PASSWORD YOUR REAL NAME Love yourself? Good. Somebody has to. Just don’t be so vain as to use your own name as your password though. Its not clever. DON’T CREATE PASSWORDS THAT ARE EASY TO GUESS Trying to think of a password? Have a can of your favourite cola drink on your desk? Don’t do it! Famous brand names and descriptions of common household objects are used far too often as passwords. Hackers know this. Make sure you do too. NEVER MAKE PASSWORDS THAT ARE JUST LETTERS OR JUST NUMBERS Passwords that are just letters, or just numbers, are much easier to guess than those that that use a mixture of the two. (That doesn’t mean using your name with your age tagged on the end though!) Throw in some symbols as well and you will be well on your way to having a password that is hard to guess. PASSWORDS HAVE TO DIE SOMETIME TOO Everything dies eventually and your password should not be an exception to that rule. You may have used it for a few months, lovingly typing it out several times a day, but you shouldn’t get too attached. If someone is trying to crack your password and they have time on their hands then they will eventually get it. Make it as hard as possible for them by changing your passwords on a regular basis. PASSWORD VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE Variety is the spice of life. Using just one password for everything you do, every site you visit, is boring. Stupid too. If someone cracks the one password you have then they will have access to everything you do and everywhere you go. You really don’t want that so pick a new and unique password every time that you need an additional one. NEVER, EVER, SHARE YOUR PASSWORD Do you give the keys to your house or car to people you hardly know? Didn’t think so. Why, then, would you share your password with anyone? Once someone has it they have access to everything you do on the computer. So, sometimes, its good not to share. WHY GOOD PASSWORD SECURITY MATTERS You really do need to keep your passwords secure because, if you don’t, you may well fall prey to one of the following – Online banking fraud Invasion of your privacy Identity theft Unauthorised data leaks None of which would be particularly good!
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Adopting Poor Password Security Is Like Laying All Your Cards On The Table
Malware That Changed The World – The Blaster Worm
September 3rd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
Remember this? (I know I do as it was the one and only infection I’ve ever had on my PC). The Blaster Worm, also commonly known as ‘Lovsan’ or ‘Lovesan’, was first spotted on the 11th of August 2003. The worm spread quickly on computers that ran Microsoft operating systems such as Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The rate of spread and infection by the Blaster worm peaked 2 days after it released before ISPs managed to successfully filter it. It is believed that the original variant of Blaster was created after a Chinese hacking group before Jeffrey Lee Parson engineered a B variant, a crime for which he later received an 18 month jail term. The Blaster worm spread by exploiting a buffer overflow discovered in the DCOM RPC service on the affected operating systems, something for which a patch had been released one month prior in MS03-026 and later in MS03-039. This exploit allowed the worm to spread even without users opening attachments, simply by spamming itself to large numbers of random IP addresses. Blaster acquired it’s nicknames of Lovsan and Lovesan due to two different messages that were discovered hidden in it’s code. The first message said – billy gates why do you make this possible ? Stop making money and fix your software!! – was obviously targeting Bill Gates of Microsoft fame. The second message said – I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!! – which is obviously the reason for the ‘Lovesan’ names. Were you ever caught out by the Blaster worm?
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Malware That Changed The World – The Blaster Worm
Malware That Changed The World – The I Love You Virus
September 2nd, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.
The ILOVEYOU virus surfaced on the 4th of May 2000. By the 13th of May some 50 million systems had been infected at a cost estimated to be in the region of $5.5 billion. During a period of just 5 hours the virus spread across Asia, Europe and the United States via email messages that came with the title, “ILOVEYOU.” ILOVEYOU spread so quickly that corporate IT managers ended up shutting down their email systems and entire Web servers became clogged. This virus was received via an email with the subject line, “I Love You”, which carried an attachment named, “Love-Letter-For-You.txt.vbs.” As I’m sure you are all aware, opening attachments in emails you know nothing about is not a good idea. A great many people, however, did just that and so they became infected. When the ILOVEYOU virus managed to infiltrate a system it would scan the machine’s memory, looking for passwords. These were then sent back to the virus creator’s website in the Philippines which was soon shut down after the outbreak occurred. It would also corrupt any files it found that ended with .vbs, .vbe, .js, .css, .wsh, .sct, .hta, .jpg, .jpeg, .mp2, .mp3 by overwriting them with a copy of itself. The ILOVEYOU virus would then replicate and send itself to anyone listed in the Outlook address book of the infected machine. Heres more in my short series on malware that changed the world – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan The I Love You Virus
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Malware That Changed The World – The I Love You Virus
Malware That Changed The World – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan
September 1st, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
Back in November of 2007 the OSX/RSPlug Trojan appeared for the first time. What was it though that made it notable? The answer, simply, is because it was the first piece of malware to be discovered that targeted the Apple Mac with the intention of making a financial gain out of the infection, via possible identity theft for example. Prior to OSX/RSPlug, users of the Mac were largely untargeted and to this day many believe that the Mac is virtually immune to viruses and other security threats. The OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse was typically encountered on web forums, within messages promoting pornographic content. Links in these messages led to websites which claimed that the installed version of Quicktime was out of date and required a new codec to be downloaded. If the Mac users agreed the download then the Trojan would be installed in the background. The lasting effects of OSX/RSPlug were minimal in terms of direct damage caused but it’s discovery did show that the Mac was vulnerable should hackers ever switch their attention away from their preferred targets, namely machines running the Windows operating system. Fortunately, the newly released Snow Leopard may go some way to addressing security concerns on the Mac as antivirus is now at last included.
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Malware That Changed The World – The OSX/RSPlug Trojan
Keeping Our Kids Safe With Their Very Own Browsers
August 30th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video Do you have young children? Would you like to keep them safe on the internet? Of course you would. Now, whilst I doubt there is anything you can do that will guarantee a 100% safe experience for your children all of the time, there are certain methods you can employ to improve their internet security. One of my recent posts was quite comprehensive in that respect but threw up some interesting questions about whether we, as parents, should spy on our kids? (You can read all about that through this link: What Every Parent Needs To Know About Protecting Their Kids Online ) I personally feel that it is ok to watch what my kids are doing, even covertly, if the situation justifies taking that stance. There are alternative methods you could employ though, especially if your children are quite young. WHY YOU NEED TO CONTROL YOUR KID’S SURFING One of those methods, the one I’m writing about today, is to use a child-safe browser. Children, at least the younger ones, are generally blissfully unaware of the various dangers on the internet, such as – Pornography and other inappropriate images, videos and messages Cyber bullying Identity theft and other unwelcome acts that come about from divulging too much information Other illegal activities and behaviour The browsers that we as parents use, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc, are designed with adults in mind. Whether we succumb to any of the above hazards is therefore down to us as individuals and is not a reflection of which browser we have chosen to use. But what if there was a browser that could keep us or, more importantly, our kids, safe? Fortunately such browsers do exist. CHILD-SAFE BROWSERS What exactly, though, is a child-safe browser? Basically, a browser suitable for kids will allow your child to only surf the sites that you have allowed via a set of filters. Most of these kid-safe browsers are programmed in a way that prevents adware, spyware and other such nuisances in addition to blocking all forms of questionable web content. They typically come with popup blockers set up and offer a high level of parental control . Finally, they only allow your kids to surf pre-approved sites. WHICH KID-SAFE BROWSER IS BEST? To be honest, I don’t know, as I have yet to review any. From what I know so far I would predict that there won’t be a definitive answer to such a question anyway as they all operate differently and afford varying levels of control. So, the best one for you may well depend on the age of your child more than anything else. Here is a list of 6 child-friendly browsers that I’ve discovered so far – Buddy Browser Kid Zui Kid Rocket PikLuk Kidoz My Kids Browser Kidsplorer Glubble (Incidentally, I’ve been speaking to Nici from Kidoz recently so expect a full review of that particular browser sometime soon…) In the meantime, can you name me any other kiddie safe browsers that I may have overlooked?
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Keeping Our Kids Safe With Their Very Own Browsers
The Talking Frog Scam
August 29th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.
A man walks into a bar and says to the bartender, “If I show you a really good trick, will you give me a free drink?” The bartender considers it for a while and then agrees. The man reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a tiny rat. From the other pocket he pulls out a tiny piano. The rat stretches his arms, cracks his knuckles, and then proceeds to play the blues. When the man finishes his drink, he asks the bartender, “If I show you an even better trick, will you give me free drinks for the rest of the evening?” The bartender agrees, thinking that no trick could possibly be better than the first. The man reaches into his pockets and pulls out a tiny rat and a tiny piano. The rat stretches his arms, cracks his knuckles, and then proceeds to play the blues. The man reaches into another pocket and pulls out a small bullfrog, who then begins to sing along in time with the rat’s music. While the man is enjoying his drinks, a stranger confronts him and offers him $100,000.00 for the bullfrog. “Sorry,” the man replies, “he’s not for sale.” The stranger increases the offer to $250,000.00 cash up front. “No,” he insists, “he’s not for sale.” The stranger again increases the offer, this time to $500,000.00 cash. The man finally agrees, and turns the frog over to the stranger in exchange for half a million dollars. “Are you insane?” the bartender demanded. “That frog could have been worth millions to you, and you let him go for a mere $500,000!” “Don’t worry about it.” the man answered. “The frog was really nothing special. You see, the rat’s a ventriloquist.”
Continued here:
The Talking Frog Scam