Information Protection and Security

Many times attackers use social engineering tactics to trick victims into installing malware.  Malware is short for malicious software and includes Trojans, worms, viruses, etc. It can do any number of things to disable your computer and make life and computing frustrating.  To begin with, don’t be fooled by fake antivirus tools in pop-up windows, emails with embedded links and/or rusecuretelling you to provide confidential information (passwords, bank account numbers, etc) .  Stay away from links on social networking sites.  They’re a hotbed for the distribution of malware, often by sharing links by way of compromised accounts.  Spammers also send email looking like software upgrade advisories to trick you into installing malicious programs.  Stop. Think. Secure IT!

Repeated spikes of viruses that are not being detected by major antivirus engines were observed during the last quarter, apparently the result of hit-and-run tactics by virus writers to compromise large numbers of computers and then disappear before they can be countered.

Hackers  are placing ads on websites and browsers to trick users into visiting malicious sites.

Comcast on Thursday launched a new security initiative that will provide in-browser notifications about possible virus infections.
Article link

Hacklabs security consultant Chris Gatford commented, "The risk of having a virus in this type of environment is it might affect the operation of the power grid if the virus was to infiltrate the process control network. 
Article link

Hacklabs security consultant Chris Gatford commented, "The risk of having a virus in this type of environment is it might affect the operation of the power grid if the virus was to infiltrate the process control network. 
Article link

A 20-year-old Australian man has been charged with infecting more than 3,000 computers around the world with a virus designed to capture banking and credit card data, police said Thursday.
Article link

 
The FBI’s external unclassified network is once again online after officials last week temporarily suspended its connection to the Internet because of “an identified network security issue,” according to the bureau. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marshals Service said its workstations that were affected last week by a virus should be fixed by May 28.
Article link