Google’s Malware Warning Screen

Posted by on 20 July, 2011 No comments

Google has added a new feature to its search engine – it can now detect if your PC is infected with malware. It’s a clever bit of code that just quietly watches for unusual activity.

At the moment it only detects one strain of malware, but since it’s transparent and non intrusive it’s a good thing. Also, this is only relevant to Windows.
Google Malware Warning

So if you see this message, your PC is probably infected with malware. Google suggests some steps to remove it, and you should really buy and install an antivirus program to prevent further problems.

 

NBN Scam In Tasmania

Posted by on 18 July, 2011 No comments

Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) is slowly but surely being rolled out, already covering some parts of Tasmania. Certainly this has been advertised and discussed in the region, raising local awareness. Unfortunately, scammers have used this publicity and gone door knocking in parts of Tasmania that don’t yet have access to the NBN.

Details of the scam:

a salesperson wearing a jacket bearing the logo of a telco is going from door to door in Hobart telling customers that they can only get on the NBN with that particular telco. The alleged salesperson also made errors about broadband speeds, and was unfamiliar with the local area

So there you go, if someone tries to sell you something to do with the NBN, get it in writing and do some research. Details here.

VirusBarrier: Antivirus for iPhones

Posted by on 13 July, 2011 No comments

A French security company called Intego has released the first antivirus app for iPhones, called VirusBarrier. This is news because so far iPhones have not needed antivirus programs, there are currently no viruses on iPhones. Here’s a breakdown of what VirusBarrier is:

What VirusBarrier does:

  • it can scan email attachments – but it’s not automatic, you need to go into VirusBarrier and tell it which email attachment to scan (and only one at a time)
  • it can scan files on DropBox

What VirusBarrier does not do:

  • it does not scan all files or apps on the iPhone. It can’t because of Apple’s sandbox model.
  • it does not do automatic scans
  • it does not do scheduled scans
  • it does not scan apps
So overall it seems more of a publicity stunt, it’s not something I’d spend $2.99 on.

Facebook Scam: Casey Anthony

Posted by on 12 July, 2011 No comments

Another Facebook scam. This one works like most others, you see an interesting post by one of your friends. You’re tempted to click on a link, then the trouble begins. This one is about Casey Anthony with a message saying,

“BREAKING NEWS–Leaked Video of Casey Anthony CONFESSING to Lawyer!”, don’t believe the hype. Please. Don’t say I didn’t warn you

If you see this don’t click on it, it’s a scam.  If you click and try to watch the video it accesses your Facebook profile and spams all of your friends. It then takes you to an online survey that makes someone else money. Then your friends will also have the scam posted from their own Facebook accounts, spreading the scam down the network.

If you see this message on Facebook let them know it’s a scam. Don’t click on it.

Facebook Scam: Enable Video Calls

Posted by on 12 July, 2011 No comments

A new Facebook scam starts with a message saying,

Enable video calls

This scam installs a malicious app in your Facebook account that reads through your profile and spams all of your friends. The malicious app then sends them to an online survey that has nothing to do with Facebook.

Facebook does have a video feature but you don’t need to click on someone’s post and enable a Facebook app to enable it. So why would one of your friends post a link to malware? They probably don’t know, malware has a way of using people’s Facebook accounts to advertise itself.

If you see a message like the one in the post above, let your friend know it’s a scam.

The right way to use Facebook video is by opening up the chat window then clicking on the icon of a video camera,

Twitter Follower Scam

Posted by on 24 June, 2011 No comments

This scam has appeared on Twitter recently. There are a few minor variations but they all seem to work the same. It starts with a Twitter message saying,

I will follow back if you follow me

There’s a link at the end of the message that goes to a web page. On this page are two signup options, one free and a paid one called VIP.

The free one asks for your  Twitter username and password. It then asks prompts Twitter to grant you access to your account. You should not enter these details into any untrusted service.

Once they have your account password they send spam using your Twitter account, sending them to this same web site.

The VIP service is just as bad. It asks for your credit card details and Twitter account details, promising hundreds of Twitter followers. People who fall for this also end up sending spam from their own account, with the added risk of losing money.

Please help stop this scam by letting people know about it.

Most Common iPhone Passcodes

Posted by on 22 June, 2011 No comments

Daniel Amitay has been able to collect a sample of over 200,000 passcodes used to lock an iPhone. The most common ones were:

  1. 1234
  2. 0000
  3. 2580 (a vertical row)
  4. 1111
  5. 5555
  6. 5683 (spells LOVE)
  7. 0852 (a vertical row)
  8. 2222
  9. 1212
  10. 1998

This list represents 15% of all PINS (that’s too high). Years starting with 199 were also found to be common. And PINS starting with 1 are also very common.

The information here is relevant to other devices as well, basically anything that uses a 4 digit PIN typed into a keypad.

If you use any of these codes to lock something you consider important you should change it now.

 

Computer Technician Phone Call Scam

Posted by on 21 June, 2011 4 comments

I received a phone call that began with

Can I speak to the user of the computer?

Then the caller started explaining he’s from Windows. I hung up, frustrated, because it’s a scam. Never believe anything like this from an unsolicited caller. Talking to other people it’s evident the scam involves the caller gaining remote access to your computer, installing spyware, then invoicing you for their time.

Have you received phone calls like this? Care to share your experience?

Update: List of phones numbers these calls have come from:

  • 00496075278802 [UK]

Facebook Videos

Posted by on 3 June, 2011 1 comment

In the last few days there have been some malicious videos posted on Facebook. If you use Facebook and see any of the following videos, don’t click on them.,

  • a video of disgraced former International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and a hotel maid
  • an X-rated video of celebrities Rihanna and Hayden Panettiere

These videos are not actual videos, but are links to a website that installs malware. Note that it affects both Windows and Mac computers. On Windows, the malware tells people to install a new version of Adobe Flash Player, but instead installs a fake antivirus program. On a Mac the malware brings up a fake security warning and asks people to install a fake “fix” to the problem. In both cases the malware then wreaks havoc with the computer, shows pornographic images, and asks the user to pay money to stop it happening. After (real) money is paid the malware remains. So overall it’s quite a nasty bit of work.

If you come across anything like this in Facebook please let the person who posted it know it’s malicious. The sooner they remove the post the less damage it will do.