A new study out is showing that you are far more likely to get a virus emailed to you in the morning hours than any other time of day. Many users around the world login to their computers first thing in the morning and review any emails they may have missed during the evening as well as those just coming in. 

According to a study by “Trustware” the time frame from 8 AM EST to 9 AM EST is the most likely time to come across an infection in your email.  According to Trustware, the amount of viruses being sent to users also begins to rise in August and peaks in September. 

The study also finds that Franchises are also one of the more likely targets due to the fact that if they are able to break into one location it is likely that multiple locations use similar IT configurations.

If you’re interested in reading more about the study click here.

 

Android is becoming more secure. Apple being known for their very locked down operating system is soon to not be the only “secure” device out there for consumers to choose. While no device is entirely secure, Android is starting to take steps to ensure its users that the software available from legitimate sources is just that, legitimate. 

In the past there have been many malicious programs introduced that can cause everything from privacy issues, identity theft, or fraudulent charges to the phone users phone bill. Google is now taking some initiative to help secure the Market. While Android remains open source meaning anyone can create an application for the Market for users to download, Google has begun scanning all applications and running them in a virtual environment to watch them for malicious intent. Google is not only monitoring new applications uploaded but is also monitoring those already in existence.

It is nice to see that Google is taking security a bit more seriously but not actually locking down their software entirely. With Android being open source it allows its users/developers a very fertile ground for development and advances. With that openness comes security risks though that needs to be monitored. Keep up the good work Google!

To read more on the topic click here.

This past week a group of hackers from India indicated that they had found source code from Symantec’s Endpoint Protection software. Endpoint Protection is enterprise level antivirus software that is designed to be ran in a client/server environment. 

The hackers claimed to have source code from two older versions of Endpoint Protection, version 11.0 and version 10.2. While Symantec is currently on version 12.0 version 11.0 is still supported even though it is four years old. Symantec claims that even though the hackers have access to the source code they have no way (yet) of breaching their software. 

There are a lot of companies out there that try to hold on to everything as long as they can to try to avoid the various costs involved with replacing a product with a newer product. In the case of your antivirus software however, this is a dangerous practice. The longer a product is in existence the higher the chance is of someone finding a way to hack into it. In the case of Endpoint Protection this is particularly dangerous since it operates in a client server setup. Imagine if your server’s side antivirus agent was compromised. This could mean that your workstations are no longer receiving updates, and could potentially mean your entire network is vulnerable. 

We sell a better solution to client server antivirus solutions. Through Tech Experts Businesses are able to purchase our Managed Vipre Antivirus which does not have to operate on a client server setup, but can if you need it to function that way due to your networks bandwidth.

At any rate, if you have old antivirus software, I recommend updating it to something current so you are properly protecting your valuable assets.

If you would like to read more click here.

Many people know that whenever a file is downloaded to your computer it should be scanned with an antivirus program to ensure it is safe before opening it. The fact is, if the file you just downloaded and scanned has a virus that is new, your antivirus may not catch it before it’s too late.

So what’s a better way of going about scanning files that you’ve downloaded? Well one thing you could do is to use multiple antivirus products to scan your files. The main problem with this method is that for you to do this you would need to install and uninstall every antivirus software you wish to scan with since you can only have one antivirus software installed on your computer at a time. The reason for this is that having multiple antivirus products on your computer can conflict with each other and cause a lot of problems.

The best way to scan your downloaded file (provided it is under 20 MB) is to use this handy website: http://www.virustotal.com/ this website gives you the ability to upload your file and scan it against a list of major antivirus companies.

Wanting to test this out, I hunted down a virus on the internet (Not to terribly difficult) and once I found out where it installed itself on my computer, moved it to my flash drive and used it to test their website. After uploading I was able to see what antivirus programs were currently able to detect this particular virus. Only 5 of the 42 it looks at were currently able to detect the virus.

Needless to say, always be very cautious about what you open (even if it appears someone you know sent it to you). As this website shows, just because you have an Antivirus installed, doesn’t mean that yours is able to detect everything.

If you are interested in reading more click here.

If you would like to check out the “Virus Total” website, click here.

The answer to this is question is ultimately no. That being said what’s the point of securing your network? Well, if a network is properly secured it will take a very skilled individual to successfully break into a secured network. 

Network security is a must for every business whether you have your own server or not. Those using a server need to put as much security in place as possible since your resources are all accessed and managed centrally (or at least they should be as that’s the whole point of having a server…).

We speak about security a lot as an IT services provider and that is because it is extremely important. The fact is however that just like good antivirus software is for viruses and malware, good security is simply a preventative measure and needs to be monitored and kept up on to ensure it is working properly. A skilled hacker can infiltrate even the most secure network given enough time to do so. The key to stopping an attack is not what you had setup at prevent the attack but rather the constant monitoring of your network to watch for attacks taking place and stop them before they make it through your defenses, then make some changes after an attack to prevent any headway they may have made on your network.

We have had attempts by hackers at a number of clients sites which is pretty common and thanks to our monitoring system, were able to detect the attempts and block them BEFORE they were able to access anything. Having good security in place allows you time to react to attacks. Having poor security generally means you never even have a chance to see the attack and they can walk off with everything saved on your network. If someone was able to gain access to your network they could potentially have access to your business contacts, contracts and company files, customer credit card data, etc…needless to say this could wind up costing your company tens of thousands of dollars or more.

It pays to have a properly designed security solution in place. If you have any question as to how secure your network is or is not…give us a call for a full security audit and lets us have a few minutes to speak with you about some of the ways we can help you protect your company.

 

 

This week was an interesting week... Just wanted to write this week about a sudden rash of computer viruses we have been seeing. We have had a number of clients hit with this virus recently and you don’t want to be next so pay close attention.

There is a newer virus going around that appears to have several different strains, some not as bad as others but they all have one thing in common. When a user is infected with this virus they were browsing their favorite website at the time. I have heard users getting infected with this from doing their normal Facebooking, YouTube, etc. So…there is no defined website that users are getting this from.

When a user is infected it causes all icons on the desktop and the start menu to “disappear” (Basically it hides everything). The virus in some stains delete all of a user’s programs from their start menu folders, and opens a door for other infections to enter. All of the infections I’ve seen so far make fake errors stating that you are having a hard drive error. If you notice any of the above shut your computer down immediately and bring it in and we can take a look at it. In some cases if the infection has not progressed too far damage can be reversed. In most cases however the user waits too long and there is too much damage caused for it to make sense to just do a virus removal and users end up having to format their machine and reinstall everything. Don’t get too worked up if you do get this virus, either way we can save your data, pictures, etc.

One note, it has been noted that this virus appears to come into computers via unpatched Adobe Flash and Java components so make sure you are keep them up to date to try to prevent this from happening to you.

 

New reports from McAfee show hackers making their next targets the computers that run inside of newer cars.  Hackers are trying to take over vehicles, stealing personal information, tracking people’s whereabouts, and even manipulating your cars sensory units including air bags, cruise control, door locks, and even power seats in some vehicles.  At this year’s Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, for instance, security consultants with iSEC Partners demonstrated their ability to remotely lock and unlock a car, as well as start it, by communicating with the car’s computer system using only text messages.

I wonder who the first company to manufacture cars with built in anti-virus' is going to be?

 

 

Yesterday Google release a browser extension for their popular Chrome internet browser that is designed to make the internet a safer place for its users. Google release an extension they call “DOM Snitch”. DOM Snitch is designed to check websites software for possible exploits and/or common security issues within webpages. This extension is still in its experimental phases but when completed will allow users to browse the web and have this “program” check the websites they browse to for various security issues. The goal is to catch websites that are trying to deploy malware or other security risks to your computer without your knowledge.

If you’re interested in reading more or downloading the extension in its early form click here.

 

 

 

In the past months especially attack attempts on corporations and home users alike have been on the rise. With large corporations like Sony, Google, and even RSA, a company whose business is network security, how are you supposed to defend your company and its intellectual data? Well according to many articles out that talk about these attacks and our government’s response, it’s not them.

According to most sources the U.S. Government is doing little in the way of thwarting the attacks on its citizens networks and it does not really have much of a plan in place to stop the attacks. Now I don’t know that I can believe that our government is sitting back and watching this take place and not making any attempt at stopping it, but one thing is for sure, making sure proper security measures are in place is a must…

If you or your company has important data that is not properly secured your just asking to be compromised. Even though China is among one of the largest perpetrators right now as far as where the Cybercrime is coming from, there are many other countries where hackers are making the same attempts. If you feel safe and you do not have good security measures in place for both your network and the way that you store data, you may not feel the same way once you get hacked…yes it does happen and I would hate to have to say “I told you so”.

If you’re not sure if your network and data are secure schedule a time with us and we can come out and take a look at your network systems setup and let you know some of its weak points to help you better protect your data.

If you’re interested and would like to read more about the attacks that have happened in the recent past click here.

 

Mac users beware! There is a new malware attack that is taking place on Mac’s. That’s right; contrary to popular belief the beloved Mac is vulnerable to Malware attacks.  Those Mac advocates try to lead people to believe that Macs are better than PC’s simply because they do not get malware. Mac’s do get attacked on occasion by malware, the reason you don’t see this more often however, is that, they are such a small market share in comparison to the Windows based PC’s that almost everyone owns. That fact alone means that hackers developing this malware are being smart and trying to get the most bang for the time they put into developing.

While I do not agree that Macs a less susceptible to malware I will acknowledge the fact that Macs are generally made with higher quality parts and then to have a bit longer life due to that. Only problem I would point out when it comes to Macs hardware, if say your screen went bad they generally want to replace the screen and the motherboard at an authorized dealer only. On a PC a screen replacement would only cost you a fraction of that price.

When it comes to what PC you choose to buy the choice is yours, I just recommend that people do a bit of research before believing all the propaganda that implies that Macs are “Malware and Problem Free” because, let’s face it, even Macs can break.

If you’re Interested in reading more about the recent Mac malware attack click here.

In the past Norton was considered to be a huge system resource hog. In recent years however they have made their product much more light weight, more accurate in what it picks up on as an infection, and faster.

One of the biggest complaints about Norton in the past is that it was too difficult to remove if you wanted to install a different antivirus. This problem has also been addressed in years past. Norton’s products are now easy to remove, easy to use, and it’s likely that you may want to just stick with them in the future so who cares about it being easy to remove now right?

Norton 2012 is still in Beta phase which means it will not be released to the general public through retailers just yet, but, it is already receiving great reviews in its beta phase so it is shaping up to be a great antivirus for you to use at your home or business.

 In a recent study conducted by PandaLabs (www.pandasecurity.com) they have collected data and the numbers are scary!  More than 57,000 malware infected websites are put out on the Internet each and everyday.  Sites like Ebay, Amazon, and Western Union related sites are making up for most of the numbers, and the sites where credit cards accounts and PayPay accounts have seemed to be the target over the last couple of years.  If you're making online purchases from your personal computer, be sure to go directly to the URL web address, and don't rely on search engines to get you to your pages.  Google, Yahoo, Bing, and several others are making efforts by changing the indexing algorithms, they are still unable to bring down the huge number of users being effected by these malicious sites being made available!  Come see the TechExperts if you think you may be at risk!

 

Looking for a nice tool to install to manage other applications and tools on a flash drive? LiberKey is software that installs on a flash drive and allows you to have many portable applications that can be taken to any computer and used without installing them. Basic version has only 12 Apps, standard has 90 Apps, Ultimate has 168 Apps and then is also a Platinum version for people who would like to customize which apps are installed. http://www.liberkey.com/ 

 

HouseCall is made by Trend Micro, this program will help you to identify and remove viruses, Trojans, worms, unwanted browser plug-ins and other malware detected on your system.  You have the option to perform a quick scan, full system scan, or a custom scan.

This Program is free to download and is a portable application so it makes as a great tool to add to your thumb drive if you are an IT Professional. You can download 32 bit and 64 bit versions and it works on most Windows Operating systems including Vista and 7.

 

A new malware attack has been roaming around Facebook lately which puts a link on the users newsfeed which claims to be the “Sexiest Video Ever” which indeed is not. Once you click on the program it will ask you for permission to access your wall and profiles, then it will tell you that you need to download an updated version of FLV Player which is actually a .exe file which contains Hotbar Adware. Hotbar Adware puts a toolbar in your internet browser which will drive you nuts by displaying ads that are determined by your browsing habits. If you do not allow the program to access your profile or wall then you will be safe.

 

We all know that an Antivirus is only about 90 percent accurate. Just think about it that there is no way for an Antivirus to be perfect. There is the next best thing. What if you had every Antivirus in one. That way if one doesn't detect it maybe one of the others will. VirusTotal is a website that will analyze any suspicious files that one might have. This service is completely free to any user. http://www.virustotal.com/

 

There are alot of great Anti-Virus programs out there that help to keep your computer safe from viruses, but what happens when it just isn't enough and your computer is now infected with tons of Trojans and you can't use it. Well thats when you would use a Rescue CD, and the free AVG Rescue CD would be your best bet. The AVG Rescue CD comes as an ISO Image that can be burned to a disc or you can download a compressed version that can be installed on to a bootable flash drive. Then you would boot the computer from the CD or Flash Drive, which ever you prefer.

Once you decide on how you want to boot the program up you will see a menu like the one I have below, from here you can simply scan for viruses, edit files, and even edit the registry.

The AVG Rescue CD is free to download directly from AVG's website at http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd#tba1. This is a great tool for any IT Professional and something you should add to your tool kit. If you have any problems installing the AVG Rescue CD you can find a complete walk through on AVG's website. They even have video tutorials to walk you through the whole process.

This great adware removal tool named (Ad-Aware) just added Outlook email scanning and live download verification, and a rootkit removal system to its standard scans for infected files. If you are like me and leave your Outlook open all day during your work day or while at home, Ad-Aware 8.2 will monitor your emails as they come in and it will also catch the bad attachments.

Ad-Aware 8.2 is available as a free download, or they also have Plus and Pro Licenses for $27 and $40.

 

Two infections have been making headlines on how there is a growing problem online with the mass amounts of spyware attacks. Earlier this week Sunbelt the makers of CounterSpy announced that there engineers discovered a package that can steal any type of information they want to take.

The infection includes a trojan horse called SRV.SSA-keylogger  that steals information and sends it to a destination . The infection also includes some hard to remove software call CoolWebSearch that every has been mistaken for a toolbar which exploits security hole winthin windows.

 

Panda Vaccine disables autorun on your computer to protect you from getting infected, but also protects your USB drives from spreading viruses when you use them in another PC. To use this tool all you have to do is just install the tool then click the Vaccinate computer button. The software just creates a hidden, protected autorun file on the drive so that viruses won't be able to easily infect it.

 

Spyware removal tool SUPERAntiSpyware has released a portable version of their application, and, just like the installed version, it easily removes most infections on your computer.

When you go to download the application you will notice the funny filename… SAS234543.com . The file name will have SAS and then some random characters. This is because many infections while stop you from running known AV’s or even exe files to prevent you from removing the infection. Then by clicking on it you still have the ability to update it to make sure the application is up to date so no need to keep downloading a new copy everyday just to keep updated.

SUPERAntiSpyware Portable is a free download for Windows users.

 

Windows operating system has a utility called system restore that allows you to restore your computer to a previous day and time.

The only thing most users do not know, in the event that your system becomes infected, chances are the system restore files are infected as well. The latest malware infections that claim that your system is vunerable, and you must protect it, can be hidden on your system for an extended period of time. To just restore the system to an earlier day and time will not remove the infection. It will more times then not be restored along with all the other files. Your best bet is to have a Tech Expert remove the infection.

When will it stop.

It seems that the rouge antivirus programs have been finding their way everywhere. I have seen infections before, but this one keeps on making itself known, over and over again. I can not stress the importance of watching every window that pops up and be careful. The malware that can infect you happens so quick, you have to pay attention, and realize what they are trying to do. They are trying to infect your system. It is like a bad practical joke. I just wonder... when will it stop. 

 With over 350 million users' worldwise, Facebook is becoming, if not already, the most popular social networking site on the web. From sharing comments, photos, videos, links to your favorite sites, and even creating invitations for events your going to or even hosting, there no wonder why it has become so widely used and popular. Well with all that traffic, comes a few concerns with security. Facebook users' have experienced their fair share of hackers, scammers, and even in some cases catching some malware, spyware, and virus infections. Well Facebook has now parterned up with software giant McAfee and is providing Facebook account holders with a free 6 month subscription to the McAfee Internet Security Suite.