Month: November 2014

Pavlock With An Electric Stroke

November 11, 2014 — Leave a comment

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There is no such a thing as the crazy startup. With only one condition. As long as it delivers the truly efficient results everything and anything is allowed. In order to read this post you are strongly advised to Google a little bit, including some Wiki research about the Russian scientist Pavlov and his experiments.

This is how we have ended up with the new startup called the Pavlock. This is a new type of a smart bracelet. Its way of motivating you is through electroshocks. Yes, you heard it nice and clear. Either you will comply with your schedule and goals or you will suffer pain. Oh dear, what is next?

In addition, what are the possible implications? We do not even dare to think about it. What if someone comes up with an idea about the smart collars? Do we really have to apply these drastic measures in order to achieve our goals? Yet, if it is going to work for you to live a healthy life, let it be.

Smart bracelets with electroshocks for smart people. What is wrong with this picture? If you are a smart and reasonable person, why do you need electroshocks to remind you about what you need or must not do, in the very first place? Smart devices and dumb people. Or, smart people and dumb devices.

Mobile Games, Real Pains

November 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Time for some Kaspersky Lab reports. You know how it goes, don’t you? After reading one, you can write off your day, because you will feel terrible for a good reason. This time the Kaspersky Lab has teamed up with the Interpol itself to draw our attention to some malicious mobile things happening in our neighborhood.

If the mobile users in your country are getting used to pay for various services on a huge scale, then you should be aware of the SMS Trojans for a change. These bad boys make you pay for the services you have not ordered in the first place. One in five smartphones gets some of these unwanted guests at some point in time.

So, what is the moral of this report? Follow the cash flow, and you will be able to see where a certain malware is very likely to strike next. It sounds simple, but somewhere on the mobile phone line, we got lost in translation. Our ignorance and reckless behavior are our worst enemies in the cyber world.

Until the next Kaspersky Lab report and some new how-to-ruin-your-mood discoveries. We hope that this next report will not catch by a surprise. It would be a nice thing to witness something like, oh I knew about this one and I am so lucky it has missed me. This was the best case scenario. How about the other one?

I Am The Moderator!

November 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

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So, how do you think the system works? We are talking about the immense content sea of the social networks. You think that you have seen it all, don’t you? You take the situation on the modern social networks for granted. You do not like what you see. Well, without moderators that would have been a living hell.

According to some very reliable urban legends and unreliable rumors there is an entire army of literally hundreds of thousands of social network moderators out there. Most of them are freelancers from the third world countries. For a couple of hundreds of dollars per month you get the top class human filter.

Thanks to these busy little bees we have a unique chance to enjoy ourselves in the cleaned version. Do not you even dare to ask what had to be eliminated during the process itself. All for your pleasure and convenience. Why? Because the good old Facebook does not want to upset its users too much.

If so, how come we do not have hundreds of thousands of cyber security moderators? Well, that is more costly. In addition, from the provider’s point of view, this is a completely different thing. The one he is ready to pay for, only when something bad happens. Poor busy little bees, they fly only in one direction.

The Wrong Torrent Moment

November 7, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Finally, some busy little bee from the entertainment industry has put two and two together and decided to pay a visit to the Google itself. Why? Well, to ask Google to do something about the piracy trouble. What would be a role of Google in a situation such as this one? Can it do something about it?

It turns out it can. With no need to eliminate the piracy websites. The catch is in the search engines. The cyber pirates are dependant on the substantial number of visits on a daily basis to ensure that their illegitimate business makes money. So, Google struck them, when it hurts the most.

From now on, if your website uses something like “torrent”, “watch movie online”, “free this”, or “free that” as the keyword, you can forget about the eye-catching positioning on the top Google pages. The Isohunt crew already reported that the number of visits has dropped for more than 50% in the last couple of months.

On the other side, the pirates from the Pirate Bay support this Google move. Why? They believe that this is the only way to ensure the reliable number of direct visits. Either way the tide for the cyber pirates has changed. They can no longer count on Google indifferent role. How do you feel about it? Honestly.

The Malicious Money Making Machine

November 6, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Is it worth it? This is a simple question we are very likely to ask the hackers all over the world. Is it worth of all the risk? Apparently, it obviously is. The recent Symantec findings in this field have shed some additional light on this matter. It turns out that hackers move in the quite usual business ways.

They are in the constant search for the profit itself. Now, prepare yourself for the huge surprise. One Android bot network, which has more than 100,000 mobile devices under its direct control, cumulates more than $3 million net profit per year. How about that for the ground shaking change?

Can you imagine what it can do with 10 or 100 million infected mobile phones? We are talking about millions and millions of dollars flowing like rivers in the cyber world. It seems that the hackers are more alike modern businessmen, than the traditional idealists and anarchists hoping to change the world itself.

We have identified the primary motive for the hacker’s actions. Now, all we have to do is to ruin their malicious business. How? In the first place, we should increase the costs associated with their businesses by improving our cyber security measures. To decrease its profitability, in order to increase our security.

Beware WoW, Here’s The Cyber Blow!

November 6, 2014 — Leave a comment

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What a bitter surprise. Is there nothing holy or sacred to the modern day hackers? They have dared to strike where it hurts the most. The very gaming world is under an attack, now. It turns out that the World of Warcraft players have to fight the most serious cyber enemy so far. The WoW Trojan has arrived.

This Trojan harvests all what is related to your WoW account in a smooth and undetectable way. In this game, there is no restart option. What is even worse, you cannot save your current position regarding your account and upload it later when it is more convenient for you. For instance, when this Trojan is long gone.

So, who is responsible to deal with this menace? The Blizzard or the players themselves? Here is a completely new level for you to play. It seems that we have to accept the fact that the hackers now move in the most unpredictable ways and in the most unusual cyber places, such as this one. Right?

Then, on the other hand, you simply cannot avoid asking yourself what is there for a hacker to gain from the gaming Trojan? Perhaps, this is our biggest trouble. We need to know what they are attacking in order to defend it properly, in the very first place. We definitely need some Cyber WarCraft warriors, that is for sure.

No Name Is (Never) To Blame?

November 4, 2014 — Leave a comment

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We are in the good mood today. We are not going to keep you waiting. Here it is straight to the point. Here is the catch. You have better chances to prevent a serious malware attack with a non name antivirus software solution, than with a well-known brand name in the world of the top cyber security.

How could that be? Are you surprised or shocked? Or maybe, a little bit of both. There is actually quite a simple solution for this unusual phenomena. The hackers are doing their best to avoid the most popular and widely used antivirus software on the market. There is nothing wrong with your protection.

However, the malware in this case is specially designed to overcome the most common protection systems. Now you get it. The so-called no name software is not necessarily better compared to the major brands in this field. Nevertheless, these no name guys are not so heavily exploited as their well-known counterparts.

It turns out that the less likely paradox we could possibly think of is our best available protection. Yet, this could be a nice indication in which direction we need to change. Both hackers and cyber guardians do their best to move in the most unpredictable ways. Think about it. You may find it being extremely useful.

Malware of Arabia

November 4, 2014 — Leave a comment

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For quite some time the Arabic IT infrastructure has been spared from the malware horror. The biggest obstacle for the malicious software was the language itself. Nevertheless, according to the recent findings of Symantec in this field it seems that the things are to change in this part of the world.

Nowadays, there is more than Malware Lawrence of Arabia roaming the cyber lands in search for new victims. In this sense, the hackers are truly embracing the United Colors of Benetton philosophy. They do not care about race, color or religion. All they care and want is profit, no more no less.

What they are willing to do in order to get it is a completely different thing. On the other hand, this does not have to be a necessarily bad thing, does it? It is about time for us to unite and fight the cyber menace together as we are supposed to do from the very first moment. Learn from your enemy.

This timeless saying can be traced back all the way to the Romans. If hackers can put their differences aside, why should we act differently? It is only a matter of time, before hackers reach every single corner of the globe, regardless of the language or cultural barriers. You have been warned, haven’t you?

Online Fraud A Story Untold

November 3, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Sometimes, a bad news can bring you good and unexpected results. According to the findings of one of the most recent surveys the online frauds in the UK alone cost more than £670 million. In other words, that is almost one billion dollars, give or take. Then, how come this can be a good news for us?

Well, it turns out that the strongest motivation for the most serious actions in the field of cyber security comes from our wallet, and not from our concerns. The more it costs, the more likely is that we will finally do something about it with the truly effective results. This is our point you should accept.

This is obviously a way we like to think. With no severe financial damages we do not bother even to blink. It is a paradox, but in order to improve our security, we can only wish for more devastating financial effects of the cyber attacks. That will teach us a lesson better than any cyber security course.

Finally, someone will realize that is better to invest one million in the proper IT security measures, than it is to lose one billion in the aftermath of a serious cyber attack. We do not wish for some bad cyber luck, we only want to do something about the timely, affordable and above all cyber security prevention.

Old ATMs – Young Troubles

November 2, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It is not an exaggeration to say that the ATMs are the true money machines. Yet, the real question is for whom, exactly? If you take the money you have already earned, then you are definitely not in the mood for the word games about the money making machines. And, there is one more scenario.

If someone steals the money from the ATM, he or she will be thrilled by the generosity of these genuine money machines. The older these machines get, the easier for you to become to rob them. It maybe a little bit hard to accept, but there is an entire army of sophisticated malware, which specializes in the ATMs.

Here is an extremely indicative example. One Canadian teenager was able to take the full control over the local ATMs in the most unimaginable and surprising way. He has founded the ATM’s manual on the Internet from A to Z. As simple as that. He made the money to rain from these machines.

Luckily for both himself and the banks, his intentions were good. But, he got misunderstood. He proved his point at a bitter cost. He will have to do some quality time with the authorities explaining his actions and motives, while we on the other hand will have to seriously consider the replacement of grandpa ATMs.