Group items tagged

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Abney+Associates/articles/dYcAZaBvCTo/Secure+Computer+Seven+Steps+Abney+Associates While handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets provide new ways for us to leverage technology, computers are often still the primary tool we use for our professional and personal lives. As a result, your computer, whether at work or at home, still remains a primary target for cyber criminals. By following these simple steps, you can help secure your computer and protect it against most known attacks. 1. STARTING SECURE The first step to a secure computer is starting with a computer you can trust. If you purchased a new computer directly from a well-known vendor, then you should be able trust it and the pre-installed software. If you have purchased a used computer, then do not trust it. The used computer may have been accidentally (or intentionally) infected by the previous owner. Trying to secure a computer that is already infected does no good. The first step you should take after acquiring a used computer is reformat the hard drive and reinstall the operating system (be sure to ask someone you trust for help if you are not sure how to do this). 2. UPDATING The next step is updating your computer. Cyber attackers are always identifying new weaknesses in computers and their applications. When computer and software vendors learn about these new vulnerabilities, they develop and release fixes, called updates or patches, to fix the problem. When you purchase a new computer or reinstall the operating system, your computer is most likely already out of date. As such, the first step you want to take is connect to the Internet and update your computer's operating system. Related Articles: http://atheenalie.deviantart.com/art/Reviews-by-Abney-and-Associates-Code-85258081704-371377544 ht

AN Abney Associates News Flash Phishing sites, which masquerade as genuine websites to steal users' personal information, are on the rise in Hong Kong, Microsoft warned on Thursday. Some 6.23 phishing sites were found per 1,000 hosts in the fourth quarter last year, up from 6.01 in the third quarter, according to Microsoft's latest Security Intelligence Report. However, the number of malware infections remained low in the same period. Every 1,000 computers had 2.2 malware infections on average, the report found. Tim Rains, director of product management in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group, said the rise could be because Hong Kong is a financial centre and phishing sites masquerade as banking websites to steal information. "The fact that we have a low malware infection rate in Hong Kong, but slightly elevated level of phishing is actually interesting," he said. He said the reason could be that the attackers were using a smaller number of compromised systems in Hong Kong to do more phishing than other attacks. Roy Ko Wai-tak, manager of Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre, said websites of small and medium enterprises were often hijacked by attackers to build phishing sites - which pose as big corporations - because of poor cyber security. Rains also said the most common malware is called keygen, which comes with key generators that produce serial numbers required to run piracy software. Ko said it showed that Hong Kong people still continue to use piracy software. The report, which also found that 2.5 out of 10 computers on average did not have up-to-date antivirus software in the city, was based on data from over 600 million computers worldwide using Microsoft's products. The number of Hong Kong computers was unknown at the time of going to press. AN Abney Associates News Flash READ MORE: http://mariahabney.weebly.com/ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz5ub4_online-attempts-to-steal-personal-information-on-the-rise-i

http://www.expatica.com/be/news/belgian-news/Computer-crime-course-for-East-Flemish-police-_262433.html Abney and Associates Cybercrime Reviews Les agents de police en Flandre orientale sont à donner un cours accéléré pour les rendre mieux équipés pour lutter contre la criminalité informatique. Nouvelles du nouveau cours sont donnés dans l'édition de mardi du quotidien « De Standaard ». Le cours est une joint-venture entre les autorités judiciaires de Dendermonde et l'Ecole de Police est flamande. La raison pour le cours, c'est que plus et plus belges sont touchés par différentes formes de criminalité informatique. À l'heure actuelle, on a étudié tous les actes criminels perpétrés en ligne spécialisé Computer Crime Unit de la Police fédérale. Toutefois, l'augmentation de grande criminalité informatique signifie que ce n'est plus tenable. L'objectif est que chaque agent de police doit être en mesure d'offrir ce que l'on appelle « premiers secours » en cas de « cybercriminalité ». Cela libérera la Computer Crime Unit de traiter des cas plus complexes. Comment faire face à la criminalité informatique est actuellement, ne fait pas partie de la formation générale donnée aux aspirants policiers. Cependant, ceci est placée pour changer ce mois-ci comme agents de police en Flandre orientale donnera une formation de base en criminalité informatique durant entre 1 et 3 jours en fonction de leur emploi. Jan Kerckhofs sur les autorités judiciaires de Termonde a déclaré à la VRT « Que nous espérons que tous les officiers au niveau local sera en mesure d'enquêter sur les cas de par exemple Courriel compte piratage, détournement de l'ordinateur, traque et autres. » Le cours est un projet pilote et s'il réussit il sera déroulé dans l'ensemble du pays. Au moins un tiers des 4 500 policiers travaillant en Flandre orientale suivra le cours avant la fin de l'année. Nouvelles recrues aura également le cours. Abney and Associates

Source: http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/u-s-agency-kills-hardware-over-routine-malware-warning/147365 The U.S. Economic Development Administration destroyed $170,000 in computers, keyboards, printers and mice over a routine malware infection. A lack of funding prevented the agency from throwing out its remaining $3 million in IT inventory An almost farcical series of miscommunications led to the destruction of $170,000 worth of IT gear by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration over a routine malware warning, and it was only a lack of budget that stopped the agency from throwing out another $3 million in hardware. The comedy of errors not only points up a lack of communication between agencies, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of technology. RELATED CONTENT Phising, E-mail en Internet oplichting: http://www.wattpad.com/12260034-abney-and-associates-hong-kong-shares-trim-strong#.UdrHpvlgdhw The upcoming cyber-security threat cycle: http://abneyandassociates.tumblr.com/ The timeline of the fiasco runs something like this: * In December 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (those guys who told the entire North American population to disable Java on its computers) warns the Commerce Department of a potential compromise of its systems. * The Commerce Department identifies the potentially compromised computers as belonging to the Economic Development Administration. Its warning to the EDA names accidentally names 146 systems as being compromised, when in fact, the number is only two. * A follow-up warning tells the EDA that only two systems are compromised, but in classic CYA fashion, does not clearly point out that the first warning was erroneous. * The EDA treats the follow-up as a confirmation of the first warning and proceeds on the understanding that 146 systems are compromised. The EDA commissions a forensic analysis of the two systems identified by Commerce and confirms that they are infected with malware. * Comm

Internet Reviews Abney Associates Blog Articles The US Federal Trade Commission has carried out a huge international crackdown on a number of "tech support" scams being run out of India which have conned people in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere out of millions of pounds since 2008. As explained by the Guardian in 2010, the scams used "boiler room" tactics, dialling through phone books for English-speaking countries. People who answered the phone were told the call came from Microsoft or their internet service provider, and that the person's computer was "reporting viruses". The caller would then perform an unnecessary "fix" on the computer and charge the person for it - and sometimes sign them up to multi-year "support" contracts. The cost could run to hundreds of pounds. People in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were targeted because they, like the people carrying out the scam, are English-speaking. The Guardian understands that the scam was worth millions of pounds a year to the organised gangs carrying it out. At the FTC's request in six cases, a federal district judge froze the US assets of 17 people and 14 companies that have been accused of taking part in the operations. The FTC has also shut down 80 internet domain names and 130 phone numbers used in the US to carry out the scams. The FTC is seeking an end to the scams, and repayments for people who were conned out of money. Though the FTC said it could not put a figure on how many people had been scammed, or how much they had lost, Microsoft - which has been working with the commission for the past two years to try to catch the criminals - provided data on more than a thousand people who had been scammed, whose losses averaged $875 each. Microsoft has repeatedly pointed out that it would not call people about any problems with their computers. In some cases, the scammers would try to sell antivirus software from reputable companies, and in some cases would install new copies of Windows

http://ruxxemarfild.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/reviews-by-abney-and-associates-code-85258081704-public-schoolboy-hacker-who-masterminded-15m-fraud-is-put-in-jails-it-class-docstoc/ Reviews by Abney and Associates, code 85258081704 - Nicholas Webber, 21, was jailed for five years for running a criminal website He started his criminal career at £24,000-a-year Bradfield College Prison IT Teacher Michael Fox was made redundant after the incident Fox protests he had no idea Webber was a hacker One of Britain's most notorious cyber criminals hacked into a prison computer system from inside jail - after he was allowed to join an IT class. Nicholas Webber, 21, jailed for five years in 2011 for masterminding a multi-million-pound internet crime site, triggered the security scare during a lesson. It is understood his actions caused 'major panic' but it is not clear what, if anything, he managed to access. The prison, HMP Isis in South London, blamed his teacher, Michael Fox, who was employed by Kensington and Chelsea College. He was banned from the prison but the college cleared him of committing any security breaches at a disciplinary hearing last March. However, he was made redundant when no alternative work could be found for him. More... Pictured with piles of cash: The public schoolboy jailed for five years for masterminding £18m internet scam Computer hacker, 21, jailed for masterminding £27 MILLION fraud in his bedroom taking credit card details from unsuspecting internet users On Friday, Mr Fox, from Bromley, Kent, began a claim for unfair dismissal, arguing that it wasn't his decision to put Webber, the son of a former member of Guernsey's parliament, in his class. He says he had no idea he was a hacker. At a hearing at Croydon Employment Tribunal, Mr Fox accused the college of not doing enough to find him another job. 'The perceived problem was there was a tutor who had been excluded by the prison and charged with allowing a hacking expert to hack in

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2013%2F3%2F17%2Fnation%2F20130317162220&sec=nation PETALING JAYA: Waging cyber war, even if done in the name of Malaysia, is still a crime. National Security Council (NSC) secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab (pic) said that Malaysia outlawed cyber attacks and that anyone caught doing so, would be punished. "In Malaysia, cyber hacking is a criminal offense against the laws of the country, irrespective of whether the it has been committed by citizens or by foreigners," he said. Mohamed was referring to the three-day cyber war between Malaysian and Filipino hackers from Mac 1 to 4. Malaysian hackers first attacked Filipino Government and private websites, hours after after Sulu gunmen and security forces clashed outside Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu. Filipino hackers responded in kind, and up to two hundred websites belonging to both countries were defaced before a "ceasefire" was called. Mohamed said 36 local private websites were defaced, though he was mum about how many Government ones were affected. He said that NSC alerted "critical agencies" as soon as the attacks started. "None of these critical websites suffered any major problem," he said, adding that Government sites were in the past, vulnerable to attacks. Mohamed added that it was not easy to pinpoint the attacks, though he confirmed that neither Government was involved. "We understand that the Philippine side suffered a bigger problem compared to the Malaysian side," he said. Mohamed said that it was up to the Attorney-General to take action against hackers, adding that locals could be tracked "eventually", if not immediately. "Tracking attackers from the Philippine side would require close cooperation with the authorities there," he said. Hackers can be charged under Section 4 of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, which carries a fine of not more than RM150,000, a jail term of not more than 10 years or both. "Whe

Scams are all over Facebook. There are stories telling users that Facebook will end on a certain date, miracle diet pills, celebrity sex tapes, and other shady posts. With a little vigilance, though, users can make sure that they're not continuing the chain. Miranda Perry, staff writer for Scambook, spoke with AllFacebook about ways that people can make sure that they're not giving away information to scammers or spamming their friends' News Feeds with malicious links. Scambook is a complaint-resolution platform where customers can air their grievances and let others know about unscrupulous business practices and identity theft. The company also informs people of scams on social media, using its blog to write about the newest hoaxes that are going viral on Facebook. Perry shared with AllFacebook some ways that users can protect themselves (and their friends) from Facebook scams. Consider The Source One of the most common Facebook scams involves links that either infect computers with malware or automatically share content to users' Timelines. Perry said that by taking a couple of extra seconds to examine not only suspicious links, but the people who shared them, people can protect themselves. For instance, if a fitness buff friend shares a link showing how she's lost 30 pounds by using a weird old trick, or if a pastor shares a link purportedly showing Rihanna's sex tape, odds are extremely high that it's a scam. Perry said red flags should go up whenever someone shares something to Facebook that seems atypical of their nature. If users truly aren't sure, Perry recommends calling or contacting that person offline to see if their account has been compromised: The No. 1 step is just to look at the source and avoid clicking on links or sharing anything on Facebook that seems suspicious. For instance, if you know that your friend is a super-skinny athlete, they are probably not going to be telling you that they've just used weight loss pills. If t

http://www.macaubusinessdaily.com/Society/Experts-issue-warnings-about-internet-security Macau er sårbare over for cyberkriminalitet på grund af mængden af turister og sprede Wi-Fi-dækning, information teknologieksperter mener, og de advarer det brugere til at være ekstra forsigtig om internetsikkerhed. "Du har mere end 25 millioner mennesker besøger Macau årligt og du kan ikke kontrollere alle denne menneskelige trafik," fortalte Universitet af Insubria lov Foredragsholder Giuseppe Vaciago Business Daily i går. "Halvfems procent af disse mennesker er lommepenge og lave transaktioner via internettet, så der er et stort problem med sikkerhedsspørgsmål som hvidvaskning af penge eller svig." Hr. Vaciago og FN 's interregionale kriminalitet og retfærdighed Research Institute project officer Francesca Bosco gennemfører en fem-dages cyberkriminalitet seminar, som begyndte her på mandag. "Jeg er ganske optimistisk over Macaus juridiske instrumenter, som den personlige databeskyttelseslovgivning og ekspertise i forbindelse med det," sagde hr. Vaciago. "Men åbne Wi-Fi kan være et følsomt punkt, især i hoteller," sagde han. "Folk kan nemt glemme sikkerhedsprincipper, åbne Wi-Fi og forbinde med banker til at foretage betalinger, som vil udsætte dem for en masse af mulige risici." Geoffroy Thonon, principal konsulent i Macao Computer Emergency Response Team koordinering centrum, fortalte Business Daily, phishing websites havde været det største problem for organisationer og enkeltpersoner her. Phishing er et forsøg på at erhverve oplysninger af forklædt som en troværdig hjemmeside. "Bankkunder er målrettet," sagde hr. Thonon. "Der er et phishing-websted siger, venligst log ind eller du vil længere kunne få adgang til webstedet, hvor, ja, navnet på den bruger og password få hacket. Dette er sket ganske ofte."