Transcript Malware Viruses Ransomware      Can my computer be infected by just visiting certain websites in my windows browser? How can I be sure my computer.

Malware
Viruses
Ransomware
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Can my computer be infected by just visiting
certain websites in my windows browser?
How can I be sure my computer and files are
fully protected from viruses and malicious
software?
Is it safe to open attachments in my email?
How about online-banking, is it safe?
What would happen to my files if my
computer crashed or became infected with
ransom-ware like Cryptowall?
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Be aware of emails purporting to be from
shippers or retailers. No established business
would ask a consumer to disclose her
password via email or on the phone, McAfee's
Davis said. Shoppers should look at the
specific email address and domain name of
the sites they are pointed to, making sure it's
really from the retailer and not a close
derivative.
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Data attacks on retailers such as Target, Home
Depot, Michael's, Neiman Marcus, Apple,
Microsoft, Sony, Facebook, Anthem 80 million
health records have been the victims of hacker
attacks and means that criminals also have
access to millions of stolen emails. Those can be
used in phishing scams…
The phishing attempts can appear to come from
either a retail or a shipping company, such as
UPS or Fedex, but actually are fake emails that
are trying to get consumers to disclose their
emails.
Email Scam (Mar 26, 2015): "Hello"
From: [email protected]
To: undisclosed-recipients
Date: March 25, 2015
Subject: Hello
Body: I sent you this documents earlier but I noticed
the failure delivery, So I had to resend it again.
VIEW DOCUMENTS
<http://www.adrianmoroianu.com/Zoop/Adobefile/A
dobefile/> and login in with your email to view the
content and importance.
THANK YOU.
Email Scam (Apr 21, 2015): [No Subject]
From: Craig Sentry
<[email protected]>
Date: Tue Apr 21 06:58:32 2015
Body: ICT Service Desk require you to upgrade to
the latest e-mail Outlook Web Apps 2015 , kindly
Click on ICT Service Desk
http://webowa.wix.com/outlook to upgrade to
the latest e-mail Outlook Web Apps 2015
Connected with Microsoft Exchange
© 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved
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The average age of a victim is 59
91% were White
53% were female
Anyone who has a home computer connected
to the internet can become a victim
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Do not allow remote access to your
computer.
Hang up the phone when you identify that the
call is uninvited.
Never divulge passwords or pin numbers.
Microsoft or someone on their behalf will
never call you.
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WASHINGTON — Aggressive and threatening phone calls by
criminals impersonating IRS agents remain near the top of the
annual "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams for the 2015 filing season,
the Internal Revenue Service announced today.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Completes-the-DirtyDozen-Tax-Scams-for-2015
The IRS has seen a surge of these phone scams in recent months
as scam artists threaten police arrest, deportation, license
revocation and other things. The IRS reminds taxpayers to guard
against all sorts of con games that arise during any filing season.
"If someone calls unexpectedly claiming to be from the IRS with
aggressive threats if you don't pay immediately, it's a scam artist
calling,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "The first IRS
contact with taxpayers is usually through the mail. Taxpayers
have rights, and this is not how we do business."
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Call to demand immediate payment, nor will the
agency call about taxes owed without first having
mailed you a bill.
Demand that you pay taxes without giving you
the opportunity to question or appeal the amount
they say you owe.
Require you to use a specific payment method for
your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card.
Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the
phone.
Threaten to bring in local police or other lawenforcement groups to have you arrested for not
paying.
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Hackers send email containing a malware
program called Carbanak to hundreds of bank
employees, hoping to infect a bank’s
administrative computer.
Programs installed by the malware record
keystrokes and take screen shots of the bank’s
computers, so that hackers can learn bank
procedures. They also enable hackers to control
the banks’ computers remotely. The hackers
seem to limit their theft to about $10 million
before moving on to another bank to stay under
the radar - has stolen up to $1 billion from
banks around the world.
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By mimicking the bank procedures they have
learned, hackers direct the banks’ computers
to steal money in a variety of ways:
Transferring money into hackers’ fraudulent
bank accounts
Using e-payment systems to send money to
fraudulent accounts overseas
Directing A.T.M.s to dispense money at set
times and locations
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When you look at card activity, keep an eye
out for "microcharges." the average
consumer looks for big purchases, but
hackers often test cards to see if they are
valid by charging small amounts of $1 or $2.
If those cards are found to be valid, hackers
can then sell them to other crooks for a
premium.
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#10 Sweepstakes Scam: You have won a contest! Or the lottery! Or the Publishers
Clearinghouse Sweepstakes! All you have to do to claim your prize is to pay some
fees or taxes in advance so they can release your prize… This is not a new scam,
but it is a perennial problem.
#9 Click Bait Scam: This one takes many forms, but the most notorious of the past
year was when the Malaysian Airline plane went missing (“click here for video”).
Other click bait schemes use celebrity images, fake news, and other enticing
stories to get you to unintentionally download malware.
#8 Robocall Scam: The notorious “Rachel from Cardholder Services” made a
comeback in 2014. This scam claims to be able to lower your credit card interest
rates and takes personal information – including your credit card number – and
then charges fees to your card.
#7 Government Grant Scam: You get a call saying you have been awarded a
government grant for thousands of dollars. It may even mention a program you’ve
heard about in the news. All you have to do to collect your grant is pay a couple
hundred in fees by wire transfer or prepaid debit card.
#6 Emergency Scam: This one is sometimes called the “grandparent scam”
because it often preys on older consumers. You get a call or email from your
grandchild or other relative who was injured, robbed or arrested while traveling
overseas and needs money ASAP.
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#5 Medical Alert Scam: Another one that preys on older folks. You get a call or a visit
from a company claiming a concerned family member ordered you a medical alert
device in case you have an emergency. They take your credit card or banking
information but you never receive anything.
#4 Copycat Website Scam: You get an email, text message or social media post
about a terrific sale or exciting new product. You click through and it looks just like a
popular retailer’s site. But when you order, you either get a cheap counterfeit or
nothing at all… and now they have your credit card number!
#3 “Are You Calling Yourself?” Scam: Scammers can make a call look like it’s
coming from anywhere. The latest trick puts your number in the Caller ID, which
piques your curiosity and gets you to pick up the phone or return the call… and then
they’ve snagged you in whatever scam they are running.
#2 Tech Support Scam: You get a call or a pop-up on your computer claiming to be
from Microsoft (or Norton, or Apple) about a problem on your computer. They say if
you give “tech support” access to your hard drive, they can fix it. Instead, they
install malware on your computer and start stealing your personal information.
#1 Arrest Scam: You receive an ominous phone call from someone claiming to be a
police officer or government agent (often the IRS in the United States or the CRA in
Canada). They are coming to arrest you for overdue taxes or for skipping out on jury
duty… but you can avoid it by sending them money via a prepaid debit card or wire
transfer. Another variation on this is that you’ll be arrested for an overdue payday
loan. Whatever the “violation,” it’s scary to be threatened with arrest, and many
people pay out of fear.
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What is a secure password that I can still
remember?
Don’t use just common words found in the
dictionary
Add Capitals and Special Characters
Use acronyms EGBDF, GWTW (gone with…)
Use common identifiers + key phrase like
egbdfYahoo7$, egbdfGmail7$, GWTWyahoo7
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Yes, it's a massive chore of inconvenience
Over 650,000 PC’s infected with Cryptowall in
6 months
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2 things: passwords & sensitive information.
A new employee arrives early to work, eager to
start the day. As he enters the building, he finds,
on the ground, a USB drive with the company’s
logo. He diligently sends out an email to the
office to alert his coworkers of his discovery, but
no one responds to claim the lost drive. Still
curious, he tries to identify the owner by opening
up a few of the files on the drive.
Bad idea. This USB drive was planted in the
parking lot by sophisticated hackers who have
loaded it with malware. Within minutes the
hackers gain access to sensitive information.
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Ransomware Hackers Hit Maine Police Central
Server
Four police departments in Maine have paid $300
to cybercriminals after being hit by ransomware.
Officials say they weighed up their response and
decided they had no real choice but to pay up.
Ransomware is a form of malicious software
which restricts access to certain parts of a
computer it infects. Victims then see on-screen
messages stating that a ransom must be paid to
regain access.
The Malwarebytes research team has determined that Cryptowall is ransomware.
These applications deny you access to your own files or computer unless you pay the
ransom.
This particular one encrypts your documents and offers to decrypt them for a price.
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Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware removes Cryptowall completely.
But it cannot decrypt your files. You will need backups to replace the
encrypted files.
We hope our application has helped you eradicate this malicious software. If
your current security solution let this infection through, you might please
consider purchasing the FULL version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for
additional protection.
As you can see below the full version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware would
have protected you against the Cryptowall rogue. It would have warned you
before the rogue could install itself, giving you a chance to stop it before it
became too late. And warned you about an outgoing connection to a
malware server.
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Buy Malwarebytes premium (paid version is
$24.95 a year for 3 PC’s) which is always active
and runs in the background along with your
regular anti-virus program without a conflict
between the two. (The free version of
Malwarebytes won’t detect any viruses, since it
isn’t active all the time).
Install Hitmanpro.alert active browser protection
(free)
BACKUP all of your files, pictures, documents,
pdf’s to an external hard drive or flash drive and
then UNPLUG it from your PC when done (so virus
can’t also infect your externally backed up files).
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You could backup your files to a cloud-based
backup (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc) but if
you sync with your infected PC, all of your
files will still be encrypted. (Carbonite
Backup)
The 100% only secure way to protect your
data is to save it to an external hard drive or
flash/thumb drive and unplug it until your
next backup.
Remember, your data is not SAFE if it’s not
backed up!
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Do create a separate login account if others
need to share your PC
Do have a good anti-virus program on your
PC
Do have an active malware program running
on your PC (malwarebytes.org, hitmanpro)
Do backup your data (USB thumb/flash drive,
external hard drive)
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Don’t open attachments in email
Don’t click on embedded links, instead go
directly to the website and login (ie Paypal)
If someone calls you offering computer help,
don’t trust them