Software Piracy Equals Worms


threatIn a Online Safety Study that was published by Microsoft yesterday show that worms are the biggest security threat on the Internet. The study refers to the worm Conficker that infected over five million computers the first six months 2009.

In the Microsoft study the company also found that countries with high numbers of pirate copying of software also get hit harder by security problems.

“There is a direct connection between pirate copying and the number of infected computers” says Jeff Williams on Microsoft Malware Protection Center.

Pirate copying in China is about four times bigger than in the US.

Until next time :-)

Peter – Your Online Security Guide

Hotmail Passwords Phishing

hotmailpasswordMicrosoft has confirmed that thousands of hotmail passwords has leaked on the internet.

Microsoft claim that the company hasn’t been hacked, but the information was retrieved by the hackers by phishing. It is rumored that over 10,000 accounts has been hacked. Hotmail has over 400 million registered accounts.

If you own a hotmail account you should head over there urgently and change your login information.

Are you UnSecured ?

29418861Hello Friend,

This is very important even if you are busy take a few minutes to browse through this article and find out if you are unsecured.  If you are unsecured its time to take action because all signs read DANGER and you definitely don’t want to be a Victim!

If you don’t have time to read through the top 3  software providing total security and peace of mind include;

Bitdefender Total Securite $67.00, Steganos Privacy Suite $67.00, Steganos Internet Anonym $97.00.

You may find them a little pricey but when you get an attack I can bet you will be spending alot more to get the problem sorted or purchase a new Computer! If you have spent so much money buying that top range computer or growing your business make sure you are Secured!
Consequences of  being UnSecured

1. Your Identity Could be Stolen

If you have signed up to lots of sites you are most likely to use one password for all of them so it’s easy to remember. If the hackers get into one account then you are in great danger as they could try to access all your other accounts using the same password.

Identity thieves can do a lot of things with your account and here are a few: Use your identity to access your Bank Accounts , Access important/confidential information from  Social Networking Sites, Delete  your Accounts, For Emails – spamming your contacts, send your contacts emails containing adwares

Things that could leave you open to Attack

- Leaving the login page’s “Remember my password“ checked.

- Forgetting to logout (especially if you’re in a cyber cafe)

- Website Spoofed/Phished – you have normally entered your username and password into a website whose design is adopted to the website you should be in, like Yahoo! These fake websites can even have the same URL as the target website.

- Accessing a computer with Keylogger installed on it

2. Your Computer Could Crash

This is the aftermath of having so many viruses, spyware and adware inside your system. These viruses and spywares are often times than not,  from programs downloaded or from storage gadgets inserted to your computer.

Adwares like spywares install themselves. They typically display advertisements once you go online. And this slows down your computer.

If you have  a lot of important personal and work files  you would be out of your wits knowing that you have lost months and maybe years work!

3. Denial of Service (DoS) Attack

This is the most unfortunate thing that can happen to any organization with operations running through Internet.

Denial of Service (DoS) Attack is the pursuit of making a computer deprived of doing its usual tasks and its services unavailable to its users. Where most of the victims of this attack are those sites such as banks, credit card payment gateways, etc.

Hacking can be considered as a culprit of such consequence. Stay secured with Steganos Internet Anonym.

4. Loss of Business leading to Bankruptcy

Apart from Internet thieves out there, who are masters of working their way into your computer network through whatever means they can think of, having bad data back-up habits can  contribute to the failure of a business. Bitdefender Total Security has a very good online backup facility.

With data as the core of any business, a simple backup could save your business from breaking down.

5. Public humiliation

We’ve all heard of scandals which spreads like fungus. Some celebrities even ordinary people have been a victim of this. With their personal, confidential and most personal photos and videos of them exposed on the Internet without them knowing is a total turn down. If you run a business that could be victim to this we recommend Steganos Privacy Suite.

Okay don’t say we didn’t warn you the ball is in your court.

Until Next Time ;-)

Peter – Your Online Security Guide

Do you Bank, Invest or Shop online?

Identity Theft is on the Rise – Protect yourself Today

3247634Do you bank, shop or chat to friends online? If your answer is yes you need to protect your identity online. Most of us do not think of online identity protection and we don’t realize the risk we put ourselves everyday. This is how many of us become victims of online scams. You do not have to be a Victim of Spammers!

Together with Softwarecasa we would like to make sure that you are protected and due to the tough economic times we are going to make it affordable by offering all our clients $5.00 Coupons as a special introductory price for GhostMyMail which protects your online identity and stops spam. In just a few seconds you can be fully protected. See below for info on how to redeem your $5.00 coupon.

man-running-with-a-computerSpammers will do just about anything to bypass filters to reach your inbox as a quick way of getting rich. We always hear of Millions of people like you and I whose personal information such as credit card details has been stolen through the internet. However you do not have to be a victim and you can stay one step ahead of the spammers by using GhostMyMail. This software will create a temporary, anonymous email address every time you shop or chat and this could save you millions!

Ghost Your Mail and Protect Yourself Today

ghostmymailUse GhostMyMail today which will create anonymous email addresses to send and receive messages freely while hiding your identity from the outside world. You will be able to safely bank, invest, shop and chat on the Internet without worrying that you may fall victim to scams. Also your inbox will be protected from being flooded with unwanted email, wasting your time. Get protected today!

1. Go to the page for GhostMyMail (opens in a new window so you can have this information handy)

getcoupon22. Click on “Order Now”

3. Click on “Checkout” enter your personal information and click “Continue”

4. Once on this page click on “have code”

5. Enter your $5.00 Discount Code : boospammers

4. Click on “Checkout” and your discount will be reflected.

If you are way ahead and you have your identity protection covered you may want to protect yourself from hackers and keep your personal data personal! Checkout Softwarecasa’s Special Offer on  Steganos Safe on a very special offer but valid only in the month of May, SAVE $5.00.

CyberCrime on the rise in bad times

When times go bad there is an increase in company theft.

A report from KPMG states that due to worsening company bonuses, cutt backs and worthless stock options employees are more likely to do harm to their companies by theft and by destroying systems.

Vishing and ID Theft – New Consumer Threats

Identity theft is not only done online. In fact the majority is done offline. Only 14% of cases are based online. So although many con artist do this at cyberspace, it can also do damage in the real world. By stealing Id’s, Credit cards and checking accounts they can access into your finances.

GT got her car broken into by thieves. They broke the window of her car and got her purse and some other valuable things. She expected that her credit cards would be used for some unauthorized purchase.

After a few days her bank called trying to verify a large purchase made on her credit card. Not just that, she also got charged for a maternity bill when she wasn’t even pregnant.

“They used my checking account and credit cards before I had a chance to cancel them”, says GT, a PR executive from San Francisco. A few months later she found out that they had also opened a new checking account in her name.

That one incident made her to go in debt and she couldn’t even use the account. This can be frightening to consumers who have credit cards and checking accounts. Someone can just steal your identity.

Now I am more careful and observant, says GT who has just only recently recovered from the financial mess that she encountered.

Majority of the people believe that Identity theft could only do damage when credit cards are used for online purchases. Well they are definitely wrong. A stolen wallet or bag would create a worse scenario.

For the one out of three identity theft victims who knows how their information was taken, more than 75 percent said it involved a physical method such as a stolen wallet, a phone or mail-order sale, stolen mail, or a theft by someone they knew, compared with 14 percent who reported that it involved online access.


What is Vishing

The Wikipedia definition of Vishing:

“Vishing is the criminal practice of using social engineering and Voice over IP (VoIP) to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward.

The term is a combination of “voice” and phishing. Vishing exploits the public’s trust in landline telephone services, which have traditionally terminated in physical locations which are known to the telephone company, and associated with a bill-payer.

The victim is often unaware that VoIP allows for caller ID spoofing, inexpensive, complex automated systems and anonymity for the bill-payer. Vishing is typically used to steal credit card numbers or other information used in identity theft schemes from individuals.

Vishing is very hard for legal authorities to monitor or trace. To protect themselves, consumers are advised to be highly suspicious when receiving messages directing them to call and provide credit card or bank numbers.

Rather than provide any information, the consumer is advised to contact their bank or credit card company directly to verify the validity of the message.”

Stay tuned for the second part in this series on what to do to protect yourself against vishing, phishing and similar threats.

Until next time ;-)

Peter – Your Online Security Guide