Cyber Criminals Looks Towards Mobile

Worms Like Mobile Too.

Symantec’s 18th annual Internet Security Threat Report is was issued yesterday. The report reveals that cyber criminals are increasingly scouring the Web for personal details in order to target their attacks. Armed with your information they can exploit security gaps in social networks and other sites to infect your system or steal your details.

It is no longer just your PC that’s at risk either; the report shows an alarming 58 percent increase in attacks on mobile devices with just under a third of these aimed at stealing data without the user’s knowledge. Android is the most targeted mobile platform as its open source nature makes it easier to hide malware in apps. Apple users receives a bas news as well because the report notes more than 600,000 Mac systems were infected by a single attack last April.

When it comes to the types of threat, the growth of ransomware continues with infections becoming more aggressive and harder to undo. I have written articles many times regarding ransomware threats and sadly I believe this trend will continue.

Another very scary statistic is that 61 percent of malicious sites are actually legitimate websites that have been compromised so you may be at risk even if you think you’re practising safe surfing.

Another alarming piece of information is the news this week issued by Microsoft that they believe 24 percent of all PCs are not protected by virus software today. This is bad for everyone because users who do not protect their PCs are the first ones to get infected and often complicate and threaten even PCs that are protected. I have written several articles in the past regarding free anti virus solutions so there is really no excuse for this.  You can learn about Microsoft's free anti-virus solution in my early article dated October 3, 2012.

Boston Malware Alert

In an unbelievable turn of events and another example of just how far some cyber criminals will go to inflict misery on our computers it has been discovered that cybercriminals have exploited interest in the breaking news story of the explosions at the Boston Marathon by spreading malware.

 

Messages spammed out by attackers claim to contain a link to video footage of Monday's terrorist activity in Boston, with subject lines such as "2 Explosions at Boston Marathon".

 

 

 

Other subject lines used in the campaign include:

 

Aftermath to explosion at Boston Marathon

Boston Explosion Caught on Video

Video of Explosion at the Boston Marathon 2013

If you make the mistake of clicking on the link, however, you are taken to a website which - while showing you genuine YouTube videos of the horrific incident - attempts to infect your computer with a Windows Trojan horse that Sophos products detect as Troj/Tepfer-Q.

If installed, the malware makes changes to the Registry and installs the following files, allowing hackers to gain remote access to infected computers:

 

<System>\drivers\npf.sys
<System>\Packet.dll
<System>\wpcap.dll

 

The file NPF.sys is registered as a new service named "NPF", with a display name of "WinPcap Packet Driver (NPF)".

Clearly, there are no depths to which cybercriminals are not prepared to stoop in their hunt for victims.

 

The sick truth is that malware authors and malicious hackers lose no sleep about exploiting the deaths of innocent people in their attempt to infect computers for the purposes of stealing money, resources and identities.

 

Remember to be on your guard against such tactics. Maybe it's time to get your news from legitimate news websites rather than an unsolicited email which arrives in your inbox?

 

If you would like to watch videos from the Boston tragedy you should go to a respected news source directly such as ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX or CNN. Do not click on unsolicted links in your email.

 

Contacting Loved Ones in Times of Tragedy

Monday's tragedy got me thinking about different ways to contact our loved ones and friends during times like the one our country just went through in Boston. I especially thought about this when I was watching TV coverage of the event and and the reporters were reporting that the cellular network in the Boston area had been shut down.

 

Disasters often strike without warning–and if you have loved ones in harm’s way, you’re going to want to get in touch with them. During tragedy’s like the one in Boston cell signals and land lines can be jammed with the massive amount of calls flowing in and out of an area. In addition just like on Monday officials may have the cellular service shut down.

 

When tragedy strikes - just like in Boston we reach out to our smartphones.

 

 One of the advantageous of social media and smartphones is that there are more ways then ever before to communicate, outside of talking on the phone. Here are a couple of options for trying to reach out to others when disaster strikes.

1.      First -Do not call! Leave the lines open for first responders.

2.      Text.  Using text messages rather than voice calls helps to prevent network congestion. It requires a lot less data from the wireless networks as compared to voice.

3.      Use Apps. While cell networks and phone lines are generally limited to one communication protocol, apps like Twitter and Facebook Messenger can reach out in many different ways.

If you are the one in harm's way - what should you do?

 

• Get to a hardwired data connection.If you’re in an affected area, a cable internet connection might be your best bet. These faster connections are made to handle large amounts of traffic.  There is also a long track record of reliable performance even during the worst of times.

• Remember to contact someone! Email someone in your family, update your Facebook status or tweet your condition and whereabouts. Whether you’re totally fine or in desperate need of help, let the internet work for you.

• Here is a great idea. Update your voicemail message. If you can make only one call, make it to your voicemail. Change your outgoing message, so when family, friends and co-workers try to contact you they will hear you’re updated voice mail message.

Also – Always be Prepared

When you are going out to a major event or simply traveling use a battery case for your smartphone. I use one of these whenever I travel. These batter cases or portable chargers will often provide you with 4x the battery life of the one in your phone. One of the best makers of all types and styles of battery cases and chargers is Mophie.

In Defense of Windows 8

Even if you only vaguely pay attention to technology news you no doubt heard how PC sales are at an all-time low and that Windows 8 is the cause. I am here to defend Microsoft’s Windows 8 – sort of.

It cannot be disputed that PC sales have been declining and in fact are indeed at an all-time low. Why this is a shock to everyone simply amazes me. If you look at this trend with a very broad scope – it is easy to explain and more importantly to be expected. Here are some facts to look at before reflecting on what is actually happening in the consumer market as we speak.

Windows 8 appears in October 2012. As you can see PC sales were dipping long before that.

 

During the early 1980’s the first low-cost home computers began to appear on the market. A price war began and home computers were soon showing up in homes across America. IBM PC clones began dominating the market by the late 1980’s. There were always rivals like Apple during this time period, however PC Clones were the easy choice for most people. By 2001 personal computers, running Microsoft’s Windows operating system were controlling the market. This dominance continued until the third quarter of 2008 when laptops made their first real (affordable) appearance in the consumer market. At the time computer sales had reached the one billion mark.

Laptops date all the way back to 1976 however for the consumer these mobile computers became a true option in 2006 and 2007.  The appearance of truly affordable and usable laptops by mid-2008 is important because it marked the first time that personal computers had a true competitor, the laptop. Consumers now had a real choice when it was time to replace their old computer. Should they replace their PC with a laptop or purchase another PC? In fact the choice consumers were making regarding personal computers when provided options is clear as far back as this point in 2008. During the third quarter of 2008 laptops outpaced personal computers in sales.  Let’s be clear – Windows XP was the operating system at this time. Windows XP had nothing to do with the shift away from personal computers. I believe that the same can be said for Windows 8 today, but we will get to that later.

The competition for sales is only beginning in 2008. Just like laptops, smartphones are older than you may think. The first actual prototype appeared in 1992 built by IBM. BellSouth than built one in 1994. Then Nokia premiered Nokia 9000 in 1996. As you can see smartphones have been around for quite awhile.  Companies including Palm, HP, Blackberry and even Windows were writing software for smartphones throughout the mid to late 1990’s. By the late 2000’s right around the time of the truly affordable laptop the popularity of smartphones was proven. Here you have the second competitor with personal computers.  

Tablets like smartphones and laptops have a longer history then one might expect. Did you know that the first patent for a "tablet used for handwriting" was granted in 1888? That is not a typo. 1888 – Not 1988. For the purpose of keeping this article as short as possible lets jump ahead 122 years. You see it was here, in 2010 that Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s iPad. This was a disaster for personal computers. This is because many consumers simply do not need the complexity of computers. Many people only require the ability to access email, the internet, the ability to shop online, games and the ability to write letters and other documents. Apple’s iPad offered this. The operating system as this time running most computers was Windows 7. PC sales which had already been declining continued to do so. To make matters worse for PC sales Android tablets appeared in early 2011 followed by the Amazon Kindle in September of 2011 and in October 2012 Microsoft launched it's Surface tablet line. Tablets today are appearing in every size and shape imaginable.

Fast forward to today as we near the end of this article. Today personal computers are at a crossroads and Microsoft is obviously very aware of this. Computing tools are all around us truly for the first time in history. Today consumers can choose personal computers, laptops, smartphones and now tabletsto meet their computing needs. Most consumers simply will not purchase “all of the above”.

Microsoft also realizes that the way in which we use our computers is evolving, even if many consumers refuse to acknowledge it. Think about it. With the exception of most personal computers all of the devices I mentioned in this article have “touch screens”. There is no reason that computers cannot be used in this manner as well. This is why Windows 8 is designed in the way that it is. I believe that Microsoft sees a day in which we will use our smartphones, tablets and computers all in the same way and that all the devives we use will be synced together.

Personal computers sales will never be what they once were. Let me be clear. In my humble opinion Windows 8 has very little to do with this so I really hope that people stop blaming it. Competition from within the digital market is the explanation. For many users a tablet or even a good smartphone meets their everyday digital needs.

Windows 8 needs to and will improve as Microsoft’s development of it continues. But to blame the woes of computers sales on it is foolish, easy and wrong.

So there - please leave Windows 8 alone!

WC Tech Blog @ Flipboard

You can now subscribe to the "West Chester Technology Blog" through Flipboard. If you have an iPhone or IPad and you use Flipboard, simply click here (from those devices) to subscribe. Once done you can enjoy this fine technology blog right from the comfort of Flipboard.

What is Flipboard? Flipboard makes use of iOS devices to transform blog posts, social networking feeds, images, video, and articles into an impressive layout that replicates the print reading experience, essentially putting traditional RSS readers out of business for most users.  If you recently heard that Google Reader was put out to pasture, know that this app and other similar ones are probably responsible.

This is a great app for collecting material from topics you are interested in and placing them into a very readable - magazine like format. I am holding out hope that an official Flipboard app arrives to the Windows 8 store soon.

The actual link to the West Chester Technology Blog for Flipboard connectivity is http://flip.it/JvWYc.



Yes - now you can enjoy this blog right from Flipboard!

 

Clearing History & Cookies on iOS Devices

It is important to keep your digital information secure - especially in this world of mobile computing. Did you know that mobile devices like iPhones and iPads store personal information in much the same way as computers do? If this is a shocking revelation to you don't worry it's not to late to do something about it.   

It's Easy From Your Device (iPhone & iPad)

Step 1: Open “Settings”.
Step 2: Scroll down and tap on “Safari”.
Step 3: Scroll down again and tap on each “Clear History”, “Clear Cookies and Data”.

From this menu - simply select "Clear History" & "Clear Cookies and Data".



 



Now that you did this - from time to time complete this simple task again. I would recommend especially doing this before lending your device to someone.

West Chester Connect

Prepare to connect West Chester.....

Connecting Is About To Get a Whole Lot Easier

 

In the weeks to come an exciting new and engaging tool is planned for all of us.

Stay tuned for more details shortly.