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Nearly one-third of the world's computers could be infected with malware, suggests a report released last week by the Anti-Phishing Working Group. Malicious apps invaded 32.77 percent of the world's computers, a more than 4 percent jump from the previous quarter's 28.39 percent, the report estimates. The increase in infected computers has come hand-in-hand with a jump in the appearance of malware samples, said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs, the research arm of Panda Security, one of the sponsors of the APWG report. "The creation of malware samples is skyrocketing," Corrons told TechNewsWorld. "It has doubled from the last quarter to the first quarter of this year." In the last quarter of 2013, some 80,000 malware samples a day were discovered by Panda researchers. In the first quarter of 2014, that number jumped to 160,000. Hiding in Numbers By far, most of the new malware strains (71.85 percent) and malware infections (79.70 percent) are Trojans. Less than a quarter of new malware strains (22.70 percent) and malware infections (12.77 percent) are viruses and worms. "At the end of the day, malware is created to steal information," Carrons explained. "Trojans are the most suitable malware to do that." The primary motivation behind creating so many new malware strains is to avoid detection by antivirus programs. Those programs use signatures to identify malicious software. Since each new bad app strain contains a new signature, constantly introducing new strains extends the time a malicious app can remain virulent.

http://hassassociates-online.com/articles/2013/03/07/five-ways-to-manage-your-digital-reputation/ Reputation is the key word. In fact, online digital reputation has never been more important. While a few years ago much of our personal information was still considered private, today cyber security expose more information about our lives than ever before. While many people don't think much about having a "digital reputation," especially in purchasing products online, information about almost all adult worldwide can be found online. Based from the survey conducted by ORC International, results have shown more than 89% of consumers research articles online before making a buying decision, while, 87% of them agree that a favorable review has confirmed their decision to purchase. And while our real life reputation is largely defined by us through our interactions with others, our online digital reputation defines how people perceive us - without ever having a single conversation. The fact is, a digital reputation can be incorrect, it may present only partial information and it might even allow for slander and online attacks to define us for others. Translating your brand's personality onto the web can be tricky, so here is our list of five simple steps that can help you get started. 1: Match your offline and online personas: When you're creating a Facebook page or a Twitter account, it should match your brand's personality in the real world. Choose a design language (colors, shapes, textures, fonts) that represents your brand's image. Next, ask yourself which social media platform is best suited for communication between you and your customers. You may not need to create an account on each one of them. Selecting the one most actively used by your target audience will make it more manageable for you. 2: Groom your search results: Your customers will rarely move to the second page of the Google Search results to find what they are looking for. Set a dis

Reputation is the key word. In fact, online digital reputation has never been more important. While a few years ago much of our personal information was still considered private, today cyber security expose more information about our lives than ever before. While many people don't think much about having a "digital reputation," especially in purchasing products online, information about almost all adult worldwide can be found online. Based from the survey conducted by ORC International, results have shown more than 89% of consumers research articles online before making a buying decision, while, 87% of them agree that a favorable review has confirmed their decision to purchase. And while our real life reputation is largely defined by us through our interactions with others, our online digital reputation defines how people perceive us - without ever having a single conversation. The fact is, a digital reputation can be incorrect, it may present only partial information and it might even allow for slander and online attacks to define us for others. Translating your brand's personality onto the web can be tricky, so here is our list of five simple steps that can help you get started. 1: Match your offline and online personas: When you're creating a Facebook page or a Twitter account, it should match your brand's personality in the real world. Choose a design language (colors, shapes, textures, fonts) that represents your brand's image. Next, ask yourself which social media platform is best suited for communication between you and your customers. You may not need to create an account on each one of them. Selecting the one most actively used by your target audience will make it more manageable for you. 2: Groom your search results: Your customers will rarely move to the second page of the Google Search results to find what they are looking for. Set a distinct and clear name for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and other social networking site

Hass and Associates: The Cyber-Risk of a Missile Attack on Syria The cyberattacks carried out by Syria last week were much more broad than initially reported, and they amounted to a warning shot of the retaliation the U.S. could expect if it should attack. Subsequent attacks would most likely go after U.S. infrastructure, and given how fragile it is and the likelihood Iran or North Korea would help out, the result could be massive. As I write this, the U.S. has deployed a battle group to Syria in preparation for a missile strike against the government there, and Russia has deployed what appears to be a counter force. What most seem not to be factoring in is that Syria has already fired its warning shot with attacks on Twitter and The New York Times, at least. I say "at least," because reporting of attacks isn't comprehensive, and other attempts may have failed, so Syria's first strike may have been far larger than initially reported. (Related cyber-attack updates: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/78848.html) The U.S. has a tendency to overreact, and it is clear there's insufficient preparation for theinfrastructure collapse that could occur when Syria responds to a missile attack -- and Russia exists as a wild card that could cause the conflict to spread rapidly out of control. It's been common knowledge for some time that the U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to outside attack and that governments like Syria and China have been probing it and probably know exactly where and how to do the most damage. There's a very real likelihood that this time the U.S. won't go unscathed, and it may be prudent to have a plan in place should things go very, very wrong. Details: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/78848.html Related article: http://www.wattpad.com/12317622-cyber-security-hass-associates#.UibGpBunqeQ

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-alderman/dont-get-spoofed-by-rogue_b_3574710.html When caller ID first arrived on the scene it seemed like a godsend to many people: Now you could easily identify who was on the line and ignore unwanted calls, whether from telemarketers, an ex-boyfriend or an unfriendly collection agency. But as often happens, unscrupulous individuals soon began manipulating the technology to defraud people by pretending to be someone else. Their scheme is called "caller ID spoofing" and disturbingly, it's perfectly legal in many cases. Here's how caller ID spoofing works and what precautions you should take to avoid being victimized: For a very low cost, businesses and individuals can use widely available caller ID spoofing software to generate calls which alter the telephone number and/or name that appear on the recipient's caller ID screen. Police, private investigators and collection agencies have used legal spoofing services for many years. Others who might have a legitimate reason to hide their identity when making a call include domestic violence victims and doctors returning patient calls who don't wish to release their private telephone numbers. Beyond that, the lines of legality begin to blur. The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 prohibits anyone from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value. Violators can be penalized up to $10,000 for each infraction. Unfortunately, such penalties haven't dissuaded many scammers. One common caller ID scam involves spoofers pretending to represent a bank, government agency, insurer, credit card company or other organization with which you do business. They count on you being reassured after recognizing the company's name on your screen. Related Articles: http://hass-associates-daffy.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Under the pretext of warning about an urgent situation (breached account, late payment,

The cyber-attacks carried out by Syria last week were much more broad than initially reported, and they amounted to a warning shot of the retaliation the U.S. could expect if it should attack. Subsequent attacks would most likely go after U.S. infrastructure, and given how fragile it is and the likelihood Iran or North Korea would help out, the result could be massive. As I write this, the U.S. has deployed a battle group to Syria in preparation for a missile strike against the government there, and Russia has deployed what appears to be a counter force. What most seem not to be factoring in is that Syria has already fired its warning shot with attacks on Twitter and The New York Times, at least. I say "at least," because reporting of attacks isn't comprehensive, and other attempts may have failed, so Syria's first strike may have been far larger than initially reported. The U.S. has a tendency to overreact, and it is clear there's insufficient preparation for the infrastructure collapse that could occur when Syria responds to a missile attack -- and Russia exists as a wild card that could cause the conflict to spread rapidly out of control. It's been common knowledge for some time that the U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to outside attack and that governments like Syria and China have been probing it and probably know exactly where and how to do the most damage. There's a very real likelihood that this time the U.S. won't go unscathed, and it may be prudent to have a plan in place should things go very, very wrong. Details: https://www.smore.com/g263-hass-and-associates-syria More Info: http://justinblake.postach.io/post/hass-and-associates-missile-attack-on-syria http://justinblake.booklikes.com/post/148815/hass-and-associates-missile-attack-on-syria

hass associates review articles Think the Internet Leads to Growth? Think Again Remember the year 2000 in the months after the Y2K bug had been crushed, when all appeared smooth sailing in the global economy? When the miracle of finding information online was so novel that The Onion ran an article, "Area Man Consults Internet Whenever Possible?" It was a time of confident predictions of an ongoing economic and political renaissance powered by information technology. Jack Welch-then the lauded chief executive officer of General Electric (GE)-had suggested the Internet was "the single most important event in the U.S. economy since the Industrial Revolution." The Group of Eight highly industrialized nations-at that point still relevant-met in Okinawa in 2000 and declared, "IT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the world economy. … Enormous opportunities are there to be seized by us all." In a 2000 report, then-President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers suggested (PDF), "Many economists now posit that we are entering a new, digital economy that could inaugurate an unprecedented period of sustainable, rapid growth." It hasn't quite worked out that way. Indeed, if the last 10 years have demonstrated anything, it's that for all the impact of a technology like the Internet, thinking that any new innovation will set us on a course of high growth is almost certainly wrong. That's in part because many of the studies purporting to show a relationship between the Internet and economic growth relied on shoddy data and dubious assumptions. In 1999 the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland released a study that concluded (PDF), "… the fraction of a country's population that has access to the Internet is, at least, correlated with factors that help to explain average growth performance." It did so by demonstrating a positive relationship between the number of Internet users in a country in 1999 with gross domestic product g