Safety and security.

Started by spidy, April 10, 2016, 02:59:59 AM

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spidy

Free security for android devices.


Here are some links to FREE security for your android devices.

I have not tried them (no android gear) but they should be ok.

avast.com/free-mobile-security


avg.com.au/products/avg-for-smartphones/


lookout.com/


trustgo.com/en/

spidy

A bit about 'Ransomware' We are detecting an increase of this type of blackmail especially with businesses becoming victims.

The usual scenario is that your PC is infected and you receive a notice saying you have to pay to get a 'key' or code to release your data that you cannot now access.

 The sad part is that many who have actually paid the ransom do not receive any assistance and still lose their data.

The bad guys are now asking for payment via bitcoin so they cannot be easily traced.

What can be done? Obviously the first thing is to NOT send any payment. Even if you do, the odds are that you will not get your data back anyway just lose more to the crooks.

Like when a hard drive suddenly crashes one answer is to have a recent back up STORED OFFLINE. You can back up on a external HDD but PLEASE do not leave it connected as it too will be compromised. You can also use a thumb drive or disc to back up with.

IF you data is important to you then doing a regular back up will be a lot cheaper than trying to recover lost data.

Yes it is a pain in the neck but unfortunately due to thieving scammers and hackers such is life these days.

WITH a recent back up YOU are in the box seat and you can tell the bad guys what to do with their scams.  Please give this some serious thought and do a BACK UP ASAP.  

It could save you a LOT of worry.

spidy

How To Hide Your House From Google Maps.

How to get your property blurred:

  • Go to Google Maps and type in your address
  • Bring up the street view of your property
  • Look to the bottom right hand corner of the screen you should see an Icon Labeled: "report a problem."
  • Click on "report a problem."
  • You will get a page labeled "report inappropriate street view."
  • Adjust the image so your house is inside the red box.
  • Fill out the form
  • Type the verification code at the bottom of the page into the box provided and click submit.
  • Check back in a few days to see if the image has been blurred.
You can also get license plates and faces blurred. For example, if you want a picture of your business on Google Maps but don't want the license plate number of your vehicle parked in front on Google, you can get that blurred. You can also get your car blurred out as well if you want.

spidy

Petya ransomware encryption system cracked

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36014810


ransomware makes a computer unusable until a ransom is paid

Petya ransomware victims can now unlock infected computers without paying.

An unidentified programmer has produced a tool that exploits shortfalls in the way the malware encrypts a file that allows Windows to start up.

In notes put on code-sharing site Github, he said he had produced the key generator to help his father-in-law unlock his Petya-encrypted computer.

The malware, which started circulating in large numbers in March, demands a ransom of 0.9 bitcoins (£265).

It hid itself in documents attached to emails purporting to come from people looking for work.

Scrambling schemes
Security researcher Lawrence Abrams, from the Bleeping Computer news site, said the key generator could unlock a Petya-encrypted computer in seven seconds.

But the key generator requires victims to extract some information from specific memory locations on the infected drive.

And Mr Abrams said: "Unfortunately, for many victims extracting this data is not an easy task."

This would probably involve removing the drive and then connecting it up to another virus-free computer running Windows, he said.

Another tool can then extract the data, which can be used on the website set up to help people unlock their computer.

Independent security analyst Graham Cluley said there had been other occasions when ransomware makers had "bungled" their encryption system.

Cryptolocker, Linux.encoder and one other ransomware variant were all rendered harmless when their scrambling schemes were reverse-engineered.

"Of course," said Mr Cluley, "the best thing is to have safety secured backups rather than relying upon ransomware criminals goofing up."

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