Bonza Mobile Computer Repairs

Threats are obvious only when we have knowledge of them and since cyber threats change from day to day… 

Words like phishing, hacking and malware have become part of the vernacular, but as our online connectivity increases there’s a new batch of cyber security threats we should be aware of.

What to look out for in 2011

Social Networking: Photos and personal information are easy targets for hackers, and many users have already had their personal pages infiltrated – me included! Beware of unusual messages or requests from your friends online. Cyber criminals are using Twitter to point to malware-laden websites and in Facebook accounts, someone you don’t know will try to ‘friend’ you to con you into giving personal information.

Social Engineering attacks thrive on Facebook and Twitter because of the enormous pool of potential victims, many of whom are maintaining a constant Facebook connection on their smartphones and other mobile devices. Attacks have become more convincing, more anonymous, more international and more professional.

Gadgets and Smartphone Mobile devices: The massive popularity of the iPhone and other iOS devices like the iPad means these devices become a more valuable and sought after target. The most serious threat is to online banking transactions done via smartphone, especially the iPhone. Targeted malware will continue to increase in sophistication in 2011 with the popularity of the iPad and iPhone in the business environment combined with a lack of security for these devices.

Trending Topics: Cybercriminals watch for online trends and poison search engine results, which can leave users at risk of clicking on an infected link.

Shortened Web Addresses: Twitter and Facebook have created short URLs so users can easily click and share information, but the short addresses also make it easy for cybercriminals to take advantage of them and difficult for users to see where the link is really taking them. Clicking on unknown links can direct users to a website that installs malware on an internet connected device.

Pharming: Pharming is similar to phishing and is more difficult to detect because it’s not reliant upon the victim accepting a “bait” message, but instead redirects victims to a bogus web site. While phishing attempts to capture personal information by getting users to visit a fake website, pharming redirects users to false websites without them even knowing it. Hackers attempt to change/exploit the DNS settings of a server so when you enter the address of a legitimate website, it redirects you to a fake copy of the original site hosted somewhere else.

Botnets: Botnets collectively generate 95% of the world’s spam and have infected an estimated 100 million computers. That makes defending against botnets difficult, and it’s not getting easier. Spam will increasingly make use of news and current affairs by consuming RSS feeds from major news aggregators and using these headlines as subjects in the messages. Hiding their commands within images or music files distributed through file sharing or social networking websites will increase. Home users are the most vulnerable to botnets. Warn the kids!

Here are a few ways to protect against cyber attack suggested by Mary Landesman well known About.com Guide and Antivirus Expert.

Update your computer. If your budget will allow it, consider upgrading Windows (7) or buying a Mac. Either will offer better overall security.

Stay on top of patching. This means patches for all software, not just the operating system. Particularly problematic are the many vulnerabilities continually being exploited in the ubiquitous Adobe Reader and Flash apps.

Install the latest antivirus. Whether you’re using fee or free antivirus, always use the latest version available.

Limit social contacts. When it comes to online friends and security, less is truly more. Only accept friend requests from people you know and trust. And speaking of trust, don’t blindly follow links in Facebook or Twitter. Use the same precaution you should already be applying to email links, if you didn’t request it and didn’t expect it, treat the link with caution.

Keep a close eye on your identity. Set up transfer or balance threshold alerts for online accounts, consider freezing your credit report or signing up for a credit monitoring service, and shred documents and junk mail that contain personally identifying information.

Tags: computer security threats, Social Networking threats