Phishing Scenario: Malicious email using current events to push malware

/

Popular topics (current events) making headlines in the media will often be used by criminals to push malware.  Criminals don’t favor any one topic, so you must assume all topics could potentially be used maliciously.  Whether it is a story on a recent natural disaster, political unrest, social issue, famous person, or a company either being successful or having issues, no topics are off limits.  This example uses Greta Thunberg’s fame, the fact she was named the Person of the Year for Time magazine, climate change and the recent wave of protests (demonstrations) to push malware.  We will go over the example email sent to victims to look at the various warning signs it contained to hopefully protect you and your family from this, and future, attacks.

Read More

Using your birth date in apps and websites

/

A lot of websites we use or the apps we download on our phone, tablet, computer, video game consoles, streaming media player, etc. ask for our birthday.  With the rate at which apps and websites have security issues, think about the risk vs. reward when providing your birthday to them.

Read More

Phishing Scenario: User infected with ransomware

/

If you have ever wondered how a ransomware infection occurs, this is the story for you.  We will go through the steps of how a phishing email to an unsuspected user resulted in the files on their computer becoming encrypted with ransomware.  Even though this scenario resulted in a computer being infected with ransomware, phishing emails like this one can result in other type of malware/virus infections as well.  As we walk through the phishing scenario, I will provide some tips on how to verify the email is legitimate and point out warning signs that could have alerted the user that the email was malicious and fake.

Read More

Safe internet habits: practice safe searching

/

Studies have documented how dangerous internet searches can be.  Naturally the list of the most dangerous search terms change a bit every year, but there are certain search terms that always make the list and some put you at a greater risk than others.  We will discuss which search terms are among the most dangerous while learning some steps you can take to reduce your risk of stumbling on to a malicious website or downloading malicious software.

Read More

What should I do if my device is lost or stolen, if I had malware/a virus on my computer, or if I have fallen victim to a scam?

/

If one of your devices (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) is lost or stolen, if you have fallen victim to a scam or if it was infected with malware (a virus), there are some steps you should consider taking to help limit and/or recover from the loss of private, personal and identifiable information (PII).

Read More

Social Media Scenario: Surveys

/

Surveys seen on Facebook, Twitter, etc. seem harmless and a lot are, but be careful for surveys that could be used to gather private, personal identifiable information (PII).  It's important to remember, one piece of information may not say much about you or your family, but if you add several pieces of information together someone would learn quite a bit.

Read More

VirusTotal: a valuable and free tool at your service

/

What if I told you there is a way to run a file or URL (website address) through numerous different security (or antivirus) vendors for free.  I know you’re probably quoting the old adage right now of, “If it’s too good to be true it usually is”, but in this case such a tool does exist and it is known as VirusTotal.

Read More

Social Media Scenario: Facebook Neighborhood Group

/

I urge people to think about how the information they post on social media sites could be used against them.  I suggest living by these two simple rules.  1.  Assume a stranger with bad intentions will read your post, meaning they will see and have access to the information.  2.  Think about the worst case scenario of how that information could be used against you and decide if you could live with the outcome before you post.  

Read More

Social media security/privacy tips

/

It is important to stay safe while using social media sites, because being careless can put you, your friends, your family and your customers at risk.  Here are a few security and privacy tips to keep in mind when using social media or social networking apps and websites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.).

Read More