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Big Bad Hackers taken down

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Darkode anyone? Not anymore. This underground bad hackers’ forum was recently demolished by the FBI, says a report on www.justice.gov. The dozen hackers associated with Darkode are facing criminal charges.

4DThough there are about 800 of such forums, Darkode was among the worst (or shall I say “best”?), presenting a serious threat to worldwide computers. Gone is Darkode’s ventures of buying, selling and trading malware, and exchanging hacking strategies—to actually carry out crimes, not just fun brainstorming.

The dismantling of Darkode comes as a result of infiltration also by the efforts of law enforcement representing 20 countries including Australia, Colombia, Canada, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, Finland, Romania, Nigeria, Sweden and the UK. This is the biggest bust of a black hat forum to date.

Here is the cyber smut list from the www.justice.gov article:

  • J. Gudmunds, 27. He created a botnet that stole data on 200 million occasions.
  • M. Culbertson, 20. He’s the brains behind Dendroid, malware for sale on Darkode that was supposed to steal and control data from Google Android. Clever name, too: “Dend” refers to branching out (as in neuronal dendrites).
  • E. Crocker, 29. He’s the mastermind behind a Facebook spreader that infected the computers of FB users, converting them to bots.
  • N. Ahmed, P. Fleitz and D. Watts, 27, 31 and 28, respectively. They’re behind the spam that sent out millions of e-mails intended to bypass spam filters of cell phones.
  • M. Saifuddin, 29. He tried to transfer credit card numbers to other Darkode members.
  • D. Placek, 27. He allegedly created Darkode and sold malware on it.
  • M. Skorjanc, F. Ruiz and M. Leniqi, 28, 36 and 34, respectively. They’ve been charged with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit computer fraud and extortion.
  • Rory Stephen Guidry. He reportedly sold botnets on Darkode.

The article points out that all of these wrongdoings are accusations at this point, and that these defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to TheBestCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention.

What is Spam?

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Everyone’s heard of spam as it pertains to emails. Spam isn’t necessarily a malicious message designed to trick you into revealing your credit card number or PayPal login information.

emailBut spam is an unsolicited message, sometimes referred to as junk mail. Spam can be very annoying and relentless in nature, often attempting to convince you to buy something. Sometimes these messages are untruthful, such as those advertising human growth hormone pills (when they actually contain nothing of the sort). Spam also includes phishing which are messages designed to trick you into giving up personal information. Other messages can be legitimate advertisements—nevertheless, you did NOT ask for these solicitations.

Spam arrives in the form of emails, instant messages, and text messages—and it can also affect smartphones.

Spammers buy lists from brokers that continuously harvest email addresses from the web. They also run dictionary attacks, throwing billions of combinations of words and numbers at an email database to find valid address combinations.

Though some emails are obvious spam, such as ones with particular keywords like Viagra, sex life, prescription drug discounts and fast weight loss, other spammy messages are not so obvious; they may appear legitimate or show a sender address of a family member, friend or business associate.

For instance, the sender may appear to be from your bank), with a subject line warning you to urgently update your account information. Similarly, the subject line may not be threatening, such as one referencing “your recent order from Amazon” or “your shipment from DHL,” yet it is not legitimate.

Spammers have found that if enough of these go out all at once, they’ll reach a statistically significant percentage of recipients who will have placed an order from Amazons within the previous 48 hours, or are expecting a delivery from DHL any day.

Here are some tips on how you can fight spam:

  • Be careful with your email address. Don’t supply your email address to sites you’re not sure about, and never post it in a public place.
  • Verify. If you’re not sure if an email is valid, even though it appears to be from your bank, medical carrier, employer, etc., don’t respond to the email. Contact the company or business by phone to verify the email’s validity.
  • Think before you click. Don’t click blindly. Never click on links in unsolicited emails. If you think the email is real, check the link URL to make sure you are being directed to a legitimate site.
  • Open with care. Think twice open attachments that you’re not expecting or from someone who normally wouldn’t send you an attachment.
  • Be cautious. Don’t be fooled by sensational subject lines. Another type of fraud is a subject line claiming you won a prize or are owed money.
  • Ignore it. If the email shows up in your spam or junk folder, chances are it’s spam, so LEAVE IT ALONE!

It’s simple: Never reply to spam.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

Most Toxic Superhero 2014

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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! Yes, this superhero might be the epitome of courage, justice, and strength, but he might also be the biggest threat to you online.

We’ve entered a new age of superheroes. No longer are they just pictures in a comic book. They are now accessible on computers, game console devices, and mobile devices. Superheroes like Captain America, Thor, and Spiderman star on the silver screen. The Green Arrow and The Flash have their own television shows. Videos like Batkid and the Spiderman dad went viral on YouTube (and consequently, melted our hearts).

This is great news to comic publishers like Marvel and DC Comics. Unfortunately, it’s also good news to hackers and scammers too. Cybercriminals know that search engines (like Google, Yahoo! and Bing) can also be used for criminal means. Therefore, they use popular search terms to draw victims in like celebrity gossip, holidays, viral hits, and…you guessed it…superheroes.

McAfee just released a study on the Most Toxic Superheroes that analyzed what superhero search led to the most risky websites using McAfee® SiteAdvisor® site ratings. And the Man of Steel topped the list. The study determined that searching “Superman,” “Superman and free torrent download,” “Superman and watch,” “Superman and free app,” and “Superman and online,” yields a 16.5% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.

This year the Most Toxic Superheroes are:

superhero

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself:

  • Be suspicious: If a search turns up a link to free content or too-good-to-be-true offers, be wary
  • Double-check the web address: Look for misspellings or other clues that the site you are going to may not be safe (for more on this, read my blog on typosquatting)
  • Search safely: Use a web safety advisor, such as McAfee SiteAdvisor that displays a red, yellow, or green ratings in search results, alerting you to potential risky sites before you click on them
  • Protect yourself: Use comprehensive security software on all your devices, like McAfee LiveSafe™ service, to protect yourself against the latest threats

Want to know more? Join the discussion on Twitter using hashtag #toxicsuperhero.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

10 Ways to protect your Gmail Account

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Protecting your Gmail account means you must activate some tools that Google offers, and you must increase your scam savvy intelligence in order to spot phishing scams. If you do both, you can have a very well-protected Gmail account.

2D#1. Google 2 Step Verification. This is the Holy Grail of account security. Not really, but it’s the best they have available. With 2 Step you get a onetime log in code to a secondary device like a mobile phone via text or the “Google Authenticator” app. I like text best. This will surely protect your Gmail account because a hacker would need access to this secondary device to bust into your account, since Google would require a six-digit unique code for this second device to access your account.

Speaking of codes, you can generate a number of one-time codes that you can use in the event of a mishap such as losing your device; you can use these codes to access your account from a temporary device.

#2. Stay out of Googles spam folder. Learn to ignore spam.Must you open every e-mail? Google does a pretty good job of spam/phish filtering. Leave the phishy/spammy messages alone and you’ll be in good shape.

Most malicious or “phishing” e-mails are very obvious, with any of the following in their subject lines:

–       Get back to me

–       Your money is waiting

–       If you don’t read this now you’ll hate yourself

–       Claim your reward

However, some subject lines look less suspicious, like “Your Amazon.com order has shipped.” If you use a unique e-mail account solely for Amazon or eBay, and then promise yourself never to click on a link inside the e-mail, you’ll be fine.

#3. Never give out your password.

Remember: If someone requests your Google account password, it’s malicious. If you think Google wants your password, don’t give it via any link in an e-mail. Instead go to https://www.gmail.com or https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin and login.

#4. Account recovery options: Keep up to date. Always keep your mobile phone number current because it’s what Google uses to send you a security code. So if a hacker gets your Gmail account password, it’s useless unless they have your smartphone number, which Google will use to send you that code to prove your identity.

#5. Have a recovery e-mail address that’s also up-to-date because Google uses this strictly for sending security codes for when you forget a password. You should have this second e-mail address also because Google will use it to send important security information.

#6. Secondary e-mail address. This is in addition to the recovery address mentioned prior because you can use this alternate to sign into your Gmail account. Note, however, that this alternate address must not be part of your Gmail account or even associated with a second Google account.

#7. Use secure connections. Gmail should always be set to use a secure connection, denoted by HTTPS before the URL. Go to Settings, General, Browser Connection to set it up. Use a secure VPN for logging in. Hotspot Shield protects and encrypts your wireless connections.

#8. Strong & long is the name of the game. Enough of passwords like Puppylover1, carfiend1979 and Darlingmama. Don’t use words that can be found in a dictionary. Include symbols like #, * and $. The more nonsensical and longer the password, the better. Next, do not ever use your Google password for any other account. Your e-mail passwords should be equally nonsensical.

#9. Incognito. Use the “incognito” or “private” mode in browsers when you’re on a public or shared computer such as at a hotel. These modes will prevent cookies, web history and other data formation from getting stored. If these modes are not available, clear your cookies and browsing history when you LOG OUT.

#10. Finally, to protect your Gmail account, keep your system up-to-date and secure with anti-virus and anti-malware.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Criminals Prefer Pheasting on Phish Over Spam

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Most of us are aware of spam, and while we may think it’s just an annoyance, what’s really dangerous about it is the fact that most spam are phishing attempts. Phishing is when cybercriminals attempt to fraudulently acquire your personal information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in electronic communications, such as email, texts or instant messages.

Criminals have long known there’s a sucker born every minute. In fact, more than 9 million households have had at least one member who gave up their information to phishers. And in the first half of 2012, these cybercriminals netted over $680 million which may be one of the reasons that McAfee Labs™ saw the average number of phishing sites found each day, increase by 70% between January and September of 2012. They also found 3-1/2 times more phishing URLs than spam URLs for the first time ever. This means spam is losing favor (and flavor) to phishing as cybercriminals are tossing out wide phish nets.

Here’s a graphic that explains how phishing works:

capture 2

There are no depleted phish stocks in the sea of scamming, so to protect yourself from phishing you should:

Be suspicious of emails that ask for personal or financial information. Most banks and legitimate businesses will not send you an email asking you to provide this type of information.

If you suspect that an email or chat message may not be authentic, or you don’t recognize the sender, do not click any links included in the message.

Check your bank, credit and debit account statements regularly for any unauthorized transactions. If you notice any suspicious or unfamiliar transactions, contact your bank and/or card issuer immediately.

Make sure to keep your browser and operating system up to date and install any necessary security patches.

Use comprehensive security software, like McAfee All Access, on all your devices and make sure they include a safe search tool that identifies risky websites in email, chat, social networking sites and search engine results to protect you from phishing.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  (Disclosures)

10 Tips to Safe Online Shopping

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How times have changed. I can remember when Christmas didn’t start until after Thanksgiving—not before Halloween as we see things in stores and online now. Seems like the holiday season and decorations start earlier and earlier every year.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is that Black Friday is still a big shopping day. And with the advent of online shopping has emerged Cyber Monday (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) which is another big sale day for online shoppers. In fact, a recent McAfee study revealed that 70% of American’s plan to shop online this holiday season. And nearly half (48%) of us will be shopping online on Cyber Monday.

Although many of us may take advantage of these great deals that the holidays offer, we also need to be aware of the risks. Online shopping is a fun and convenient way to make purchases, locate hard-to-find items, and discover bargains, but we need to take steps to protect ourselves.

To stay safe this holiday season while shopping online:

Check the site’s web address—Once you arrive at a site, you need to make sure that it is legitimate and not a fake site. So check the URL and make sure you really are at www.amazon.com and not www.amazan.com even though they make look alike.

Check that the site is secure—The McAfee survey revealed that 20% of Americans cannot ever tell if a site is secure. Some things to look for on a secure site include:

Check to make sure that the web address starts with https instead of http, which indicates that encryption is being to protect your information.

Look for lock symbol on the page which is another indication that the site is using encryption.

Look for a security seal, such as the McAfee SECURE™ trustmark, indicating that the site has been scanned and verified as secure by a trusted third party. This security seal indicates that the site will help protect you from identity theft, credit card fraud, spam, and other malicious threats..

Pay with a credit card—Credit cards on the whole offer better protection against fraud than debit cards. You won’t be liable for fraudulent purchases and the thieves won’t be able to drain your bank account if they get your account #. Most banks now offer virtual or one time use credit cards numbers. You can go to your bank’s online site and enter your credit card number and it will give you a number that you can use for a specific purchase. Any use of that one-time credit card number will be automatically flagged or not approved by your bank.

Do not use a public computer or free wireless connection to shop online—If you are using a public computer, strangers may be able to access your browsing history and even your login information. To protect yourself, do all of your online shopping from your home computer or your personal mobile device. Never shop using an unsecured wireless connection (like those free Wi-Fi hotspots at coffee shops) because hackers can access your information.

Make sure you have a clean computer or mobile device—Make sure you have up-to-date security software on all your devices, like McAfee All Access, that can safeguard your privacy, protect against identity theft, and defend against viruses and online threats.

Keep a paper trail—Keep a copy of your order number and receipt, and note which credit card you used. When you receive your credit card statement, review it to make sure that the charge placed on your card is correct and that there are no extra fees or charges.

 

By following some of these simple tips, you can enjoy all the advantages that online shopping has to offer and prevent risking your personal information.

 

I hope you have a safe, enjoyable holiday shopping season.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  (Disclosures)

Protect Privacy Shopping After Holiday Bargains

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To my dismay, every time I buy something from a new online retailer, I have to register to create yet another user account, which means yet another password, and yet another company that may lose or sell my data or send me spam.

Fortunately, there are steps we can take in order to stay secure and protect our privacy:

1. Privatize your contact information by using a junk email address specifically for online purchases, and then forward purchase confirmations to your primary email. Use a Google Voice number when you don’t wish to give out your home or cell phone numbers.

2. Only provide personal information when absolutely essential, and provide the minimum of information needed to complete a transaction. When you do disclose this data, whether to make a purchase or for any other reason, first ensure that you know exactly who is requesting the information, and why they need it.

3. Create strong passwords using combinations of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Use long, strong, unique passwords for each individual account, and use a password manager to store those passwords in the cloud and allow access across various devices. Separate passwords for every account help to thwart cybercriminals. Never use the same password twice.

4. Own your online presence by setting any available privacy and security options according to your comfort level regarding information sharing. It’s okay to limit the information you share, and who you share it with. Keep an eye out for little boxes that need to be unchecked to avoid additional marketing communications.

5. Make an effort to keep yourself informed and current by checking trusted websites for the latest threats and newest ways to stay safe online. Encourage friends, family, and colleagues to be web-wise by sharing this information.

6. Think before you act. Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true, or ask for personal information.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing identity theft on YouTube.

75 Million Unique Malware Samples By 2012

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Imagine your body being targeted by 75 million viruses. That is exactly what’s happening to your digital devices. Laptops, desktops, netbooks, notebooks, Macs, iPads, iPhones, BlackBerrys, Androids, and Symbian mobile phones are all being targeted. The most recent threats report from McAfee Labs reveals a grim outlook and a variety of threats.

Mobile: Android has become the most popular platform for new malware, and this past quarter, was targeted exclusively by all new forms of mobile malware. The Symbian OS (for Nokia handsets) remains the platform with the all-time greatest number of viruses, but Android is clearly today’s main target.

Malware: Rootkits, or stealth malware, are one of the nastiest threats we face. They are designed to evade detection, and thus are able to lurk on a system for prolonged periods. Fake AV, also known as fake alert or rogue security software, has bounced back strongly from previous quarters, while AutoRun and password-stealing Trojans remain at relatively constant levels. Mac malware continues to show a bit of growth as well.

Spam: Although spam volume has decreased significantly, McAfee Labs has observed major developments in targeted spam, or what’s often called “spear phishing.” Much like malware, total numbers are dropping but the severity of the threat and sophistication of the technique remain high.

Social engineering: Subject lines used for social engineering spam messages vary depending on geography and language. Bait can include holidays or sporting events, and often differs by month or season. Attackers have shown remarkable insight into what works for specific people at specific times.

Spam botnets: New spam botnet infections continued steadily from February through August of 2011, but dropped somewhat in September.

Bad URLs: Website URLs, domains, subdomains, and particular IP addresses can be “bad” or malicious, either because they are used to host malware, phishing websites, or potentially unwanted programs.

Phishing websites: McAfee identified approximately 2,700 phishing URLs per day during the second quarter of 2011, a slight decrease from the same period in 2010, when they counted 2900 per day.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to Home Security Source discussing identity theft on YouTube.

2012 Threats: Are You Ready?

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History is said to be a good indicator of what might come in the future. If you follow trends in how things are done and what tends to gain momentum then you can get a pretty good idea of what’s ahead.

McAfee Labs™ is made up of security professionals who spend all their waking hours observing and combating threats to our digital identifies. If anyone is in a position to give us a window into the future on information technology threats, it’s these guys and gals. Here’s what they are predicting we should watch out for in 2012:

–   Attacks on critical infrastructure and utilities— Attackers from all over the world have set their focus on critical life supporting utilities such as water and power to hold those utilities hostage for payment or to disable them to cause terror. This is the kind of industrial threat that many consumers fear. Unfortunately, many industrial and national infrastructure networks were not designed for modern connectivity, making them vulnerable.

–   Political hacktivism—Hactivism is the use of computers or computer networks to protest or promote political change. “Anonymous” is the group which was active last year doing high profile activities such as briefly taking down New York Stock Exchange’s website in support of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

–   Spam, spam, and more spam—Spam is getting easier and cheaper based on the U.S.’ CAN-SPAM Act. Shady, for profit, advertisers are making a mint selling lists to spammers, as advertisers are not required to receive consent before sending advertising.

–   Mobile malware—PCs are still the low hanging fruit. But as more mobiles are used for mobile commerce (mCommerce), virus makers are creating malware designed take over your phone or to deliver a variety of ads or even send expensive text messages from your phone.

–   Hacked cars, GPS and any wireless equipment—Cybercriminals are now targeting embedded operating systems or even hardware to gain control of everything from cars to global positioning system (GPS) trackers and medical equipment.

–   Cyberwar—Not trying to create fear here, just from observation, McAfee Labs has seen an increase in high-tech spying and other “cyber” techniques to gain intelligence.

As technology evolves and our use of the Internet and mobile devices becomes more complex, cybercriminals are also evolving and honing their skills with new types of attacks. But although some of the threats may seem scary, the reality is many offer new takes on old forms of attack and with a little bit of foresight and preparedness we can guard against them.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee Online Security Evangelist. See him discussing attacks on our critical infrastructure on Fox News (Disclosures)