According to the makers of Panda antivirus software there has been a new spate of iTunes phishing emails.

The Panda antivirus software say the phishing attacks are geared towards collecting personal bank details from people’s computers and the popular Apple iTunes service is in the firing line.

The phishing attack centres on emails which are sent to people and masquerade as genuine iTunes receipts for goods not purchased. The email contains a link that the person clicks and asks them to download a malicious and fake PDF reader. If the user agrees to the download, then they are directed to other websites that download all sorts of malware.

Hackers have identified iTunes as a multi-use platform which every day has millions of people loading credit and debit card details, as well as conducting a huge amount of transactions. The potential number of victims is worrying large parts of the computers security industry.

At the heart of the ‘con’ is a genuine attempt by people concerned that they have received an incorrect receipt for a purchase they never made. The natural reaction is to click the link, identify the nature of the receipt and then try and put matters right. Of course, the hackers are in the meantime directing their victims to websites that have nothing whatsoever to do with Apple, but are there to download nefarious malware.

And once the malware has been downloaded – mostly banking trojans in this case – the viruses get to work copying a person’s bank and personal details, which then gives the hackers complete control of various financial transactions. This might range from making purchases, to draining a bank account completely.

The skill of the phishers is to replicate almost perfectly an iTunes email and then release these to millions of unsuspecting computer users.

Security experts remind people that the best way of avoiding such tricks is never to enter a supposed site by way of an email link, unless the source of the email can be completely guaranteed. As always, a suspicious mind is one of the best ways to defeat such tricks.

Luis Corrons, the Technical Director of PandaLabs, creator of Panda antivirus software range of applications, said:
“Phishing is nothing new. What never ceases to surprise us is that the techniques used to trick victims continue to be so simple, although the design and content is often very well worked. It’s often difficult not to fall in the trap. That’s why it’s absolutely crucial that when you use platforms such as iTunes, and you receive these types of notifications, never go to the website through the email, but rather from the platform itself. You can check your account status in real time from the account itself. And in this case you would therefore realize it is an attempt at phishing.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

Panda antivirus software has been given a top award by the German testing laboratory AV-Test.org.

The award was given in the Q2 Product Review and Certification Report and a product from Panda antivirus software, the Panda Internet 2010 Security Solution, grabbed top spot. Its score in the protection test, and the cleaning and repairing infected computers test, was an impressive 5.5 out of 6. For usability, it scored a high 5 out of 6.

The product detected all of the ‘in the wild’ pieces of malware, as well as 100 per cent of the other malware infections it was bombarded with in the test. These are both essential for a product to give vital protection to the user against the kinds of dangers that circulate continuously.

Panda Security managed to detect 82, 89 and 74 per cent of zero-day malware attacks from the internet including e-mail. 81 per cent of the samples used were detected in the dynamic detection test; this stands much higher than the industry average of 63 per cent.
Identifying and dealing with rootkits was another area where the Panda Internet Security 2010 did well, scoring 100 per cent for this and other kinds of hidden malware detection.

Panda’s Collective Intelligence technology is believed to be the reasons for such high scores; this technology can detect known or unknown malware, and then send them to the cloud to be checked and then, if necessary, eliminated.

The reasons behind Panda’s 5 out of 6 score in usability are clear: the industry uses an average of 251 seconds as a guide for the impact of the product on a computer; Panda Internet Security 2010’s performance was 101 seconds, less than half of this average.

Pedro Bustamante, senior research advisor at Panda Security, "These results illustrate the incredible capability of Panda’s Collective Intelligence detection system. More significantly, this detection power has no impact on users’ computers, since the scanning and the classification of malware takes place entirely in the cloud.

Andreas Marx, CEO of AV-Test.org, describes the demands AV-Test.org have for the products they test: “At AV-Test.org, we have tested all products with all update functionality and ‘in the cloud’ protection enabled, so no product updates were frozen.

This way, the products had to demonstrate their real world capabilities using all components and protection layers in realistic test scenarios."

Panda Antivirus software has come out on top throughout all tests that were thrown at it by AV-Test.org, suggesting a strong capability in keeping user’s computers safe, and justifying its leading position in the Q2 Product Review and Certification Report.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Panda Antivirus Software has launched the beta release of its Panda Global Protection 2011 application, which protects home computer users from both new and existing threats.

Panda Antivirus Software claim that this application will protect against all types of malware and not only that, provides some innovative features. It will be particularly helpful, they claim, for those who are very active on the internet and who are therefore more likely to encounter security threats and take more risks with their private information and link-clicking.

The Panda Global Protection 2011 application includes a number of new functions, such as the gaming/multimedia mode; this stops gamers from being interrupted in the middle of a particularly good run by a pesky security-related alert or piece of information. This new piece of protection has been built upon Panda Security’s extensive past in antivirus software.

Cloud-based protection is used to give the best security possible, and the technology uses the minimal amount of space and resources of your computer. Known and unknown malware can be rooted out and dealt with by the anti-virus engine, and a firewall can stop the threat from hackers getting to your computer through WiFi hotspot.

Your office shredder is also emulated in this piece of antivirus software, with a ‘file shredder’ available to ensure the proper and total deletion of important documents you would rather not get into others’ hands. A virtual keyboard is also provided, to keep any passwords or data entered onto your computer/into an internet page safe from keyloggers as well as the Trojans that lurk on banking websites.

Parental control options also feature, allowing parents to protect their children from the dangers of internet usage. The home network security is also easy to manage in a household, so that every computer on the home network is equally as well protected.

The Panda USB Vaccine is also included, preventing USB devices that seem harmless from spreading unknown infections into the computer. Other entries for potential dangers are halted by spam and phishing filters, and detectors to sniff out rootkits and other kinds of specialised malware.

Panda Antivirus software has released this new beta application in the hopes of keeping home user’s computers safe from internet and other related hazards they may encounter when using their computer regularly.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The team behind Panda Antivirus Software and PandaLabs, the anti-malware laboratory of Panda Security, has drawn attention to a number of scams which effectively ‘hijack’ the Facebook “Like” button.

And the trick that the scammers use, say Panda Antivirus Software, is to use eye-catching messages which relate to popular games, or just released movies. Popular topics on Facebook, including links relating to the famous Facebook game Farmeville, are being targeted to lure people into ‘liking’ particular things. This has been given the appropriate sounding name of ‘clickjacking’.

‘Clickjacking’ uses URLs that are malformed and hide a code designed to carry out an attack on a user’s computer. Once you have ‘liked’ the page, it is recommended to all of your Facebook friends without you even realising. Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, warns, “This distribution technique reminds us of computer worms, although this time there doesn’t seem to be any malware behind it (at least yet).”

He continues, “Cyber-criminals can make money just by tricking you into visiting a Web page with ads. Or worse still, they can spread malware and infect you. This possibility has not yet been exploited, but it would be relatively easy and effective to do it.”

PandaLabs advise that Facebook is potentially a minefield of such malicious attacks, and to be wary when ‘liking’ everything that pops onto your Facebook screen. Tests, a popular pastime of users on Facebook, are particularly dangerous to sign up for, especially if they need to be bought. PandaLabs strongly suggests that users do not enter their bank or credit card details onto these sorts of websites.

As these sorts of dangerous links can be found when searching for popular pages – such as movies, games or the keyword ‘sex’ – users of Facebook need to be extra vigilant against this kind of attack. PandaLabs, behind pieces of technology such as the Panda Antivirus Software, urge users not to be hooked by the bait of such popular pages and to be cautious when ‘liking’ the new Sex and the City 2 movie, for example.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Two bot herders who were part of the team behind the Mariposa botnet thought that their CVs would stand them in good shape when they applied for jobs at Panda Labs.

Bot herders are hackers who establish what’s known in the industry as botnets; computers that have been taken over by the hackers – without the knowledge of their owners – and networked to combine powerful tools for nefarious activities, such as spam mailing.

It’s long been a tactic of hackers, such as bot herders, to commit an attack on a company’s software, or network, and then use that as a kind of ‘real-life’ CV to get job. But in an industry which is becoming far more professional every day, it’s unlikely that this type of job canvassing is going to win many friends in the future.

So when the two herders who helped run the Mariposa botnet turned up at Panda’s offices, there was some amusement and not a little incredulity.

The two bot herders in question were both Spanish and hid behind their online nicknames of ‘Ostiator’ and ‘Netkaira’ when running the Mariposa botnet. But according to Panda, the job hunt was not down to any feelings of remorse, or repentance, but to the fact that the Mariposa botnet had been closed down and the two bot herders had literally run out of money. They hoped that they could come to an ‘understanding’ with Panda, who they believed would welcome their knowledge.

According to Panda, the fact that the two bot herders had been so closely involved in Mariposa, meant that they could not be employed and went on to say that their somewhat dubious technical skills, meant they were unsuitable anyway.

Undeterred, the two bot herders tried again to secure jobs as Panda some months later, but were again turned down.

Panda pointed out that the openness of the two bot herders approach might be explained by the fact that in Spain, running a botnet is not illegal. Although the company went on to say the Spanish national police force, the Guardia Civil, were looking at ways in which the two bot herders could be prosecuted for stealing identities through the Mariposa botnet.

Guest Article by Neil Camp