Keep your wordpress blog malware free
wp-malwatchHackers are always on the lookout for vulnerable websites. It is important to keep your wordpress blog up-to-date and protected. Improving WordPress blog security requires a combination of vulnerability detection, attack blocking, and scanning. I recently discovered WP-MalWatch which is a useful and effective WordPress security plugin. This simple to install...
Drive-by downloads dish out Rogue Antivirus
No click installs... However more recently some rogue security products are being installed onto users computers as drive-by downloads which are exploiting vulnerabilities in your web browser, email client or particularly current PDF viewers. These drive-by downloads are particularly malicious of course since they are installing without any manual interaction on part of the...
To torrent or not to torrent, Are Torrents Safe?
Are torrents safe?
I've been getting asked a lot about torrents lately. Is it safe? I thought I'd write an ethics aside article about torrents. I'm not interested in giving my opinion on the legal side of torrents, and whether I think it is right or wrong. That is for you to...
What is a DDOS attack?
A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or people to prevent an...
What is a zero day vulnerability?
The term zero day vulnerability (zero day attack or even zero day exploit) gets thrown around a lot in security circles. We often hear it in reports from security vendors regarding recently discovered threats. But what is a zero day vulnerability anyway? Perhaps a lot of ‘average’ computer users hear this term, but would like...
Botnets, Hackers and SPAM (OH MY!)
Hackers and spammers may be using your computer right now. They invade secretly and hide software to get access to the information on your computer, including your email program. Once on your computer, they can spy on your internet surfing, steal your personal information, and use your computer to send spam – potentially offensive or...
What are Rogue Anti-virus or Rogue Security Applications?
So what are Rogue Anti-Virus or Rogue Security Applications? Recently 3 men were indicted in a $100 million dollar rogue anti-virus operation. The FBI described it as an international cybercrime operation that sold $100 million in rogue antivirus software to victims in more than 60 countries. Rogue security software is a form of...
The most destructive viruses ever.
What are the most destructive viruses ever? Viruses have been wreaking havoc on computers since 1986 when the first virus, known as BRAIN showed up on the scene. Brain is considered to be the first virus found on PC's and infected MS-DOS. Over the past 24 years there have been over 65,000...
Central and South American Countries Swamped with Malware
According to a latest study by the security firm Zscaler, Central and South American countries such as Argentina and Honduras are spreading and hosting malware at a higher percentage of their total Internet traffic compared to other countries. Zscaler has prepared the first-quarter “State of the Web” report and states that it has analyzed every...
Anti-Virus Companies worth following on Twitter
Want to stay in the loop regarding current global happenings in the computer security industry?
Here's a collection of anti-virus companies worth following on twitter. This entire list can be followed here at malwareaware on twitter. This list will be updated regularly and relevant accounts added as they are found. All these...
Malware tool of the week: HiJackThis
Trend Micro HijackThis (HJT) is a free utility that generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. HijackThis makes no separation between safe and unsafe settings in its scan results giving you the ability to selectively remove items from your machine. In addition to this scan and remove capability HijackThis...
AVG Explains the Different Components of Internet Security Software
Let’s take a look at what would normally be included in a security package. “Basically there are seven typical components of an online Internet security suite and depending on what you do online, you may, or may not, need them all,” Borrett continues.