ALERT:  New Facebook Hoax

A new version of an old hoax is spreading fast through Facebook pages everywhere.

CyberCriminals are cashing in on people’s fear that Facebook is going to start charging for its service.

The message specifics vary, but the gist of the message is that Facebook is going to start charging for Facebook accounts sometime in the near future (times vary between “tomorrow” to “this summer”).  The message goes on to state that if current users copy and paste the message into their own status, that their icon will turn blue, and their account will be “safe”.

This is a new version of an old hoax, which began circulating as early as 2006.

A Simple Rule of Thumb Regarding Social Media

Any message that claims that a particular online service provider will start charging you or will close your account unless you send on the information to others, is a hoax.  If you receive this Facebook version, or any of the other versions of this hoax, please DO NOT pass it on to others.  Reposting does nothing other than clutter social networks and inboxes with even more useless information.  Also, CyberCriminals have ways of collecting (read “make $$$$”) off of such scams.  

You can’t stop CyberCriminals from targeting your company or employees.

But you can be prepared for their arrival, and have full shields up.

Got CyberBugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

#itthatworks

ALERT:  New Ransomware Targets MS Office 365 Users

A new strain of the Cerber Ransomware is targeting MS Office 365 email users with a massive attack that has the ability to bypass the Office 365’s built-in security tools.  

A report recently released by cloud security provider Avanan shows a massive zero-day attack targeting Office 365 users with phishing emails containing attachments with malicious files.

Microsoft reported in its 1st quarter of 2016 that there are almost 18.2 million Office 365 subscribers.  And while Avanan does not specify the number of users that have been hit by the ransomware, Avanan does state:

“While difficult to precisely measure how many users got infected, roughtly 57 pecent of organizations using Office 365 received at least one copy of the malware into one of their corporate mailboxes during the time of attack.”

The Cerber Ransomware uses the ever-popular social engineering to try to trick users to allow macros, very similar to the recent Locky and Dridex attacks.  The difference is that Cerber not only encrypts user files, and displays a ransom note, but it also takes over the user’s audio system to read out its ransom note informing them that their files were encrypted.

How To Protect Yourself

I’d love to tell you that there was some magic potion to sprinkle, or some magic software to download, that would keep you safe from Cerber Ransomware.  However, the steps to avoid becoming a victim to this strain of ransomware, are much like the steps to avoid the rest:

1. Backups.  Backups.  Backups.  Maintain current, and reliable backups of all pertinent files.  Nothing beats a good, reliable backup!  Backing up your data now can prevent a lot of expensive headaches in the future.
2. AntiMalware Software.  Regularly run AntiMalware software to block known strains of ransomware.
3. Update.  Update.  Update.  Keep all hardware, software, and Operating Systems up-to-date.  
4. Educate.  Educate.  Educate. Make sure employees and coworkers know about current viruses/malware, and what to look for.  Print & post our “Red Flag Emails” for easy reference on what to look for in scam emails.
5. Install Ad Blockers When Possible.  uBlock Origin is a great ad blocker for Chrome and other browsers.
6. Block Extensions via Email.  A good spam blocker will usually handle this for you.
7. Limit permissions.  Allow “Read/Write Access Only” when necessary.
8. Avoid mapping network shares.  If you have to use them, hide them whenever possible.  This is sometimes as simple as appending a “$” to your share name.

You can’t stop CyberCriminals from targeting your company or employees.

But you can be prepared for their arrival, and have full shields up.

Got CyberBugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

#itthatworks

 ALERT:  FBI Warns Email Extortion Heating Up for Summer!

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued a warning that  email extortion campaigns have heated up recently.  The IC3 states that the recent increase in email extortion stems from recent data breaches in companies such as Ashley Madison, the IRS, Anthem, and others where millions of records with highly personal information was stolen.

With extortion email scams, victims are informed that the CyberCriminals have their highly personal information.  The victims are instructed to pay, usually within a short time period.  The ransom amount typically ranges between 2-5 Bitcoins (approximately $300-$1400 US, depending on exchange rates).

Victims are told that if they do not pay the ransom, their personal information (such as name, phone number, address credit card info. and other confidential information) will be sent to the victim’s social media contacts, family, and friends.

Do NOT answer these demands, and do NOT pay anything.

If you do, your data will be sold to other scammers who will continue to haunt & extort you for further fund.

Report this scam to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), at:  http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

You can’t stop CyberCriminals from targeting your company or employees.

But you can be prepared for their arrival, and have full shields up.

Got CyberBugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

#itthatworks

ALERT:  Evil Android Trojan Empties Your Bank Account

The FBI has identified 2 versions of malware for Android (SlemBunk and Marcher) actively phishing for financial institutions’ customer credentials.  According to cyber threat security reports, both types of malware have targeted foreign financial institutions since 2014, gradually broadening the list to include Western banks, and offered the malware for lease or purchase in underground forums.

SlemBunk apps often masquerade as common, popular applications, and stay incognito after running the 1st time.  They have the ability to phish for, and harvest, authentication credentials when specified banking and other similar apps are launched.  Slembunk currently spoofs the apps of 31 banks across the globe – some of which are among the biggest banks in the world – as well as users of 2 popular mobile payment service provider apps.

Users will only get infected if the malware is accidentally downloaded from a malicious website, the new version of the malware being distributed by porn websites.  Users who visit these sites are incessantly prompted to download Adobe Flash update to view the porn, and doing so, downloads the malware.  

When the app is launched for the 1st time, it activates the registered receiver, which subsequently starts the monitoring service in the background.  On the surface, it pops up a fake UI claiming to be Adobe Flash Player, or whatever it was advertised as being, and requests to be the device admin.  Upon being granted admin privileges, it removes the fake icon from the device, and the malware monitors the infected phone for the launch of a targeted mobile banking app.  When a mobile banking/payment app is launched, the malware injects a phishing overlay over the legitimate banking/payment app’s user interface (aka login screen).  The malware then uses the fake login screen to steal the victim’s banking credentials.

How to Avoid Mobile Device Malware:

1. If you receive a pop-up telling you that you need to download Adobe Flash or any other software, whether you’re on your desktop or on your mobile device, go directly to the Adobe website or the app store (type it in the address bar), and download it from there.
2. Keep Android devices updated.

You can’t stop CyberCriminals from targeting your company or employees.

But you can be prepared for their arrival, and have full shields up.

Got CyberBugs?

Call 1-204-800-3166

For Cyber-Extermination!

#itthatworks