It may be hard to believe, but the antivirus security industry has reported that cybercriminals are already exploiting the horrific situation in Japan.

The antivirus security industry said that soon after the disaster began to be reported worldwide across the internet, cybercriminals were establishing scams and doing as much as they could to exploit the situation.

It’s become a trend that once a big news event begins filling the ether, cybercriminals quickly set out to highjack the search terms and in effect, poison the results which relate to the story. This might happen in the case of news about a particular celebrity (the death of Michael Jackson was a great example), or a natural disaster (such as the New Zealand earthquake).

Antivirus security companies are warning their customers to be very wary of some of the search results when looking for “Most Recent Earthquake in Japan”. This search term is leading to many fake AV variants.

Another antivirus security company reported that they had spotted a Japanese Tsunami related Facebook scam. This was based on a survey and encouraged participants to give away personal data.

The industry is warning all computer users to be extremely vigilant when it comes to clicking on certain search engine results. They explain that cybercriminals move extremely fast to control the ‘search engine’ real estate on certain suddenly popular search terms. And because they can invent news and facts, they can react more quickly than genuine news sites and forums, that take longer to check out facts, or process basic information.

One way to try and avoid being caught by the spammers, is to use a service such as Google News Filter, which applies its own vetting procedure to search results. Furthermore, incoming emails with links on the subject of the earthquake, or Facebook posts that contain links, should be treated with suspicion unless they can be verified as being legitimate.

As always, a degree of cynicism appears to be the best approach.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

When it comes to internet security, Google, like other huge portals, are sitting targets for cyber criminals and hackers, but shortly after news of yet another hitch with their email system (thousands having ‘disappeared’), comes an announcement that the search engine giant has acquired a company called Zynamics.

German based Zynamics, an internet security company which focuses on software analytics, was founded in 2004 by Thomas Dullien, the current Chief Executive Officer.

Zynamics researches the automation of reverse engineering and code analysis. In terms of its product line up, it produces four reverse-engineering tools: BinDiff, VxClass, BinNavi and BinCrowd. These four products are used by thousands of researchers in the internet security community.

Google was tight lipped about price it paid for the company and exactly where it fits, but experts believe that it will be used to enhance the protection already used by them to protect their users.

The latest incident to hit Google concerns a number of missing Gmails, although they have since announced that the problem was not a virus, but a software bug. There’s a big difference between the two. Viruses are ‘man made’ bits of code that are developed and inserted into applications for nefarious reasons. A software bug is usually a faulty line of code (say a missing instruction) which can cause a shutdown, or a wrong action. The problem is, that many bugs are in effect holes in the wall through which barbarians can exploit and deliver viruses.

So although bugs are innocent, they are often the precursor to a cyber attack as they represent weak parts of the application’s defences.

In this case, Google have admitted that a number of emails went ‘missing’ (accounts were accidentally wiped) but, as they put it, were never lost. And because they are backed up on tape, they were replaced in a matter of days. They confirmed that just 0.02% of 170 million odd customers were affected.

Google handles such matters in their official Gmail blog and this is what it said:
"I know what some of you are thinking: how could this happen if we have multiple copies of your data, in multiple data centres? Well, in some rare instances software bugs can affect several copies of the data. That’s what happened here. But restoring data from them takes longer than transferring your requests to another data centre, which is why it’s taken us hours to get the e-mail back instead of milliseconds. Thanks for bearing with us as we fix this, and sorry again for the scare.”

Google will be hoping, when it comes to internet security, for not too many scares in the future.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Internet security giant AVG, based in San Francisco and Amsterdam, had launched an online security audit.

AVG, which is one of the top internet security firms in the world, has introduced what it believes to be the latest and one of the best weapons in the global fight against corporate cybercrime.

It’s known as the AVG Online Security Audit and is a free audit which will provide businesses with help on their security needs, including reports on just what is cybercrime and how it can be beaten on a daily basis.

It is particularly aimed at small to medium sized businesses which AVG reckons are vulnerable to concerted cyber attacks.

According to the company’s own research, they have discovered that nearly 15% of small to medium sized companies don’t even have security software installed, which leaves them wide open to attacks. The research also revealed that 25% of small to medium sized companies have suffered a security breach in the last 12 months.

AVG’s Global Head of Small Business Propositions, Robert Gorby, said:
“Our Online Security Audit is a major step forward in our battle against corporate cybercrime. In line with our bid to help small businesses, we’ve also highlighted five doorways through which cybercriminals can access company data. These doors need to be slammed shut, to prevent businesses from becoming the latest victims of cybercrime.”

AVG’s five doorways through which cyber criminals can pass are as follows:

1. Social Networks (advice, think before you click on site that may well be too familiar);
2. Instant Messages and Spam Chat (beware on instant message files that can contain viruses);
3. Inside Threats (remember that mostly, employees are responsible for letting viruses in, mostly innocently, but guard against malicious attacks from inside the walls);
4. Remote Control, Don’t Lose It (be wary of staff using their own machines on the corporate network, can be easy way to get infected);
5. Beware of Memory Sticks (watch out for threats from removable devices).

There’s little doubt that many small to medium sized businesses will use the AVG online audit to keep themselves safe from cyber attack.

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Even with the best precautions, internet security is constantly being threatened by clever phishing emails which try and trap the unsuspecting surfer.

Internet security is vital for everyone, so being on guard against phishing emails is vital.

Take a recent email purporting to be from Adobe which got through a number of spam filters and at first sight looks quite genuine, but there are number of worrying points.

By the way, the author of this article has not tested the web link which was provided, and nor should any reader, so this email might well be genuine!

But let’s have a look at why, even if it was a genuine one, it should be kicked out.

It starts like this:

Dear x,

Adobe is pleased to announce that a new version of Acrobat PDF Reader was released today with new features, options and improvements.

Good start. But note the simple typeface and there was also no logos and picture accompanying the text (one way the spammers get it through the spam filters).

Next comes the call to action. The second paragraph started with an active hyperlink to the supposed Adobe website (removed here and shortened, and please do not use this link by cut and pasting it into your browser bar):

official-adobe-download.org

Firstly, never use an active hyperlink in an email. It’s easier just to click it and go straight through to the website concerned, but resist. If it concerns Adobe and interests you, either look for your own Adobe shortcut, or do a search for their main site. Never click on the link provided, because that is the classic trick.

See how the address is made up: official-adobe-download. That doesn’t smell right. Downloads are retrieved from the official Adobe site, which has a .com address (not a .org address as in the example given) and not from this website which is not even a second tier page, but a main Home Page (why does Adobe need a separate site for downloads)?

The conclusion is that this will link the unsuspecting user to a fake site which will then encourage the user to download not genuine Adobe software, but most probably a Trojan Horse which will then sit on the computer and begin its real purpose (stealing data).

The email then fleshes out the message to make it sound even more genuine. So this sensible list follows:

What’s new in this version :

• Read, search, and share PDF files.
  
• Convert to PDF.
  
• Export and edit PDF files
  
• Add rich media to PDF files
  
• Combine files from multiple applications
  
• Increase productivity and process consistency
  
• Streamline document reviews
  
• Collect data with fillable PDF forms
  
• Protect PDF files and content
  
• Comply with PDF and accessibility standards

All that is camouflage, before the link appears again, just in case you didn’t click it the first time (the classic second call to action).

To get more and upgrade to this version, go to  : official-adobe-download.org

Now more window dressing to finish off the email:

Start downloading the update right now and let us know what you think about it.

We’re working on making Adobe Acrobat Reader better all the time !

Talk soon,

The people at Adobe       

Copyright © 2011 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Chatty, relaxed and all the words spelt properly (apart from dubious ‘fillable’ in above list). A nice try and apologies to Adobe if this is genuine (of course, if they did sent it out, they should know better), but this sort of email can trick anyone, unless they follow the rules. Always be sceptical, look for the obvious (not quite right website addresses) and never, ever use an imbedded link in an email.

So, when it comes to internet security, always be a cynic!

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

For those that download internet security software to safeguard themselves against hackers and cyber criminals, it must come as something of a shock to discover that some of the dubious types out there in the ether are quite canny when it comes to the con.

To download internet security software is a great idea, but it won’t always protect against phishers who are becoming ever more adventurous in their ways to part people from their money.

On this occasion, they used the Welsh language to try and mask their methods of deception. An email was sent which claimed to be from the widow of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Ivory coast. And it was written, of all languages, in Welsh.

But although the choice of language was different, the message had a familiar ring to it, claiming that the widow had a large amount of money which she needed help in transferring to charities around the world. It was a classic phishing email, but what marked this one out was two things: firstly, most such emails are almost always written in English and secondly, there is an increasing tendency to try and use other languages (almost in a way to cover up the bad English which alerts most people to spammers).

But although this trend to use languages other than English to write the email is increasing, it can of course backfire if no homework is done by the spammer themselves. Even those whose spam filters didn’t successfully catch the email, it would appear very odd that the wife of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the Ivory coast would either choose to use such a language to send her message, or have a good enough grasp of it to use it in the first place.

Such basic errors ring immediate alarm bells.

And Welsh is a minority language, even amongst the nation’s peoples itself. The Welsh Language Board reckons that even as far as back as 2001 (when the last census was taken), only just over 20% of Welsh citizens could speak their native tongue.

But computer users, and ones who do download internet security on a regular basis, should always remain on their guard despite the sometimes somewhat ludicrous attempts to trick them out of their money. And although to most people such clumsy attempts are obvious hoaxes, there may be one or two recipients of the phishing email which are taken. And it only takes a very small number of replies to give the spammers hope that it has been worth it.

Guest Article by Neil Camp