TeslaCyrpt Virus

An interesting article about TeslaCrypt ransomware virus: http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/06/history-and-evolution-of-teslacrypt-ransomware-virus/

Locky Ransomware Virus Is on the Rise

The easy availability of Locky malware attracts a number of distributors. Those propagators are unrelated to each other. They make use of any possible method of introduction. Naturally, some of them have already been caught at spreading the malware. The point is, they are not much closer to the arch villain than anyone.

The ransoming virus installation details vary from case to case. The prevailing infection vector is known. Most of the infiltration cases are due to opening spam mail attachments.

The introduction is to be followed by installation of the Locky ranowmare. The latter requires an affected system to reboot. One can prevent the encryption already at that stage. If a sudden reboot is happening, it is worth switching your computer to Safe Mode: the malware is not able to complete its installation.

If it succeeds in its encrypting attempts, the victims are presented with a relevant ransom note. The note is available at each folder with affected files. Several formats convey the same notification to ensure the users would read it.

The removal of Locky encryption shall include the ransomware elimination and data recovery. Whenever possible, the victims shall abstain from purchasing the key as prompted by the scammers. Relevant instructions on how to handle and prevent Locky invasion follow: http://myspybot.com/decrypt-locky-files/

An update of TeslaCrypt came out this week

It incorporates minimal adjustments to the previous version of TeslaCrypt. In particular, the file name of the ransom note is now called Howto_RESTORE_FILES.txt, it can be also .html and .bmp. With the exception of the change of the name, the wording of the ransom note is similar to the previous version.

Another change is a different name for autorun entry.

Finally, a modest modification of the way ransomware cleans the Shadow Volume Copies. In terms of removing Shadow Volume Copies, new version of TeslaCrypt is now executing vssadmin.exe until the ransomware identifies that the user of the infected machine did not terminate the request to run vssadmin.exe.

More details about TeslaCrypt ransomware as well as removal instructions can be found here: http://soft2secure.com/knowledgebase/teslacrypt

Searchult virus causes web browsing frenzy

When it comes to surfing the web, some things are inviolable. 

The Superfish adware has a promotion to dream of

The app called Superfish Visual Discovery has gotten into a scandal due to the story about Lenovo laptops being shipped with the doubtfully safe bundle.

BrowserSafeguard with RocketTab features a malicious combination

Ad-supported software inherently implies a certain degree of risk to the end users because of the marketing model its authors selected. 

Mac computers attacked by Conduit Search virus

Conduit Search, also known as Search Protect by Conduit, is one of the few adware programs capable of infecting both Windows and Mac OS machines.

Profile and the fix for Audio Ads virus

Ethical merits of some computer world’s actors end where big money comes in, moreover that’s where technical sophistication grows exponentially. Whereas browser hijacking and similar adware-related activities has been prevailing as cybercriminals’ methods of delivering advertisements to users on the Internet, a fairly new yet more annoying tactic has emerged, impersonated by the so-called Audio Ads virus.

Speedial Search virus violating the Internet FairPlay

Badly meddling with the web browsing facet of one’s computing is what the app called Speedial Search is designed to do. In contradistinction to legitimate software, this browser helper object does not comply with the setup regulations, permissions acquisition on the target computer, and the critical authorization guidelines for making changes to the system it finds itself on.

ArabyOnline imposes content indiscernible to many

It’s not a far-sighted online strategy to deliver content irrespectively of the language and location of the target users. Obviously, for some reason that’s not an issue to the creators of ArabyOnline, a web portal in Arabic that allows for no lingual choice. But even as odd as it is, this drawback is far from being the worst part about the entity under consideration.

How to control your privacy on Facebook

Facebook’s privacy settings are huge and can be difficult to use. Here’s a guideline to some of the most important Facebook’s privacy controls. 

Removal of Conduit search ensures your Internet liberties

Conduit search affects your browsing with an intrusion of a toolbar and introduction of settings featuring its websites, among which there is a poor quality search engine. 

This happens, most likely, because of your loading something that conceals relevant plug-in and a redirect. Many free packages posted in the web attract people with some free utilities. As you grab these, you pay with your comfort, as a piece of adware comes along. A striking example of such a trap would be VUZE, a common utility enabling file sharing. If you grab free software and media, it is good to ensure they are free of impurities. 

Cookies will pass away, but privacy will not return

Annoying cookies seem to go away. But don’t rejoice too soon because there are better ways of spying.

Plenty of people hate cookies

These are small pieces of code left on our machines by websites. Companies and websites can track you throughout the Internet with their help.

Of course, browsers allow us to remove cookies, but we often forget to sweep these crumbs that follow us through the entire Internet. There have been efforts to persuade the sites not to keep track of us (using the Do Not Track) but it is a tiny step.

The technology of tracking things with cookies is in the past

Internet giants are developing new ways of tracking your online actions, and these systems are way more sophisticated than good old cookies. People who value their privacy will have to deal with as many as three new tracking technologies.

Google

Google is promoting AdID - anonymous identifier for online advertising. The company is currently refraining from any specific comment on this matter, but it seems that every user of Google services will be assigned a unique ID.

Authors from Google believe that these technological improvements can increase your safety while ensuring economic viability.

Facebook

Facebook uses its own system of tracking, not associated with any other ad network. With it help, Facebook may know that you have visited a specific website, which has a Like button. And we all know that there are very few sites without these buttons now. After that, the company can match the information you provided with the data received from Acxiom, and draw a complete and accurate picture of your interests.

Facebook is also testing technologies that can record data on how long a user moves his cursor over a particular part of the website, or what news feeds are displayed on the smart phone display in a certain moment.

This information is then being analyzed and provided to the marketers to define what additional products or services they can offer you.

Microsoft

Microsoft is just going to replace the cookies with a unique user ID. Ad IDs are already implemented in Windows 8.1 and in corresponding Windows Store applications.

According to Microsoft, these IDs are being created for each user and each device. All applications of an individual user on the device have the same advertising ID. Literally, advertisers can now keep track not only of all your Internet actions, but also track what applications you use, when and how you use them.  As a positive side, you can easily disable this AD when installing Windows, or at any time later.

So, why Internet giants need all this?

Firstly, each of the above new methods gives companies more information about the user and provides greater control over data, what, in its turn, allows to attract more advertisers to their ad networks.

Secondly, new technologies from Google and Microsoft allow them to track you even if you are not using a web browser to access the Internet. It is crucial to facilitate the monetization of mobile applications, which often depends on the connection to the Internet but without the explicit use of a web browser.