As far as viruses are concerned, Apple computers have always been the safer bet. It’s often Android and Windows products that have been targeted. In the last few days, that changed.
Apple Mac computers were targeted by hackers. The culprits used ransomaware. This is the first attack of it’s kind in Apple history. Ransomware is malware that blocks access to your own computer. Hackers remotely take control and will demand a ransom be paid before they give control back to the machine’s owner. This time, the ‘KeRanger’ virus was used. It was born through a tainted copy of data transfer program called Transmission. This piece of ransomware was downloaded over 6,000 times. That’s a very small dent compared to the 8.8 million cyber attacks that happened in 2014 alone. ?The good news is that Apple’s top developers thwarted and stopped the attacks from getting worse. The bad news, according to cyber experts, is more ‘KeRanger’ ransomware attacks should be expected.?”It’s a small number but these things always start small and ramp up huge,” said a?Fidelis Cybersecurity manager, claiming there’s a lot of money to be made. Apple rep said it will prevent further attacks by revoking certificates that enable rouge software. Transmission is doing it’s part as well. They removed the tainted 2.90 software and replaced it with 2.92, which fights ransomware.
We shouldn’t be surprised that hackers tried to go after Macs. And the experts are right. They will try again. Remember the FBI virus, when they made the virus look like the FBI put a hold on the screen. It was really ransomware hackers. I’m glad Apple developers stop KeRanger before it spread like wildfire. But this proves Apple isn’t immune. It seems almost daily, hackers are getting smarter, more clever, and more deceitful. Don’t let this stop you from buying a Mac. They’re going after any device they can. So if the bad guys are getting smarter, shouldn’t we be?
Seven of Donald Trump’s hotels are hacked! The billionaire/real estate mogul/presidential candidate’s Trump Hotel Collection confirmed certain hotels were hit by cyber attacks. Now, customers’ information could be at risk.
These hotels include Trump SoHo New York City, Trump International New York, Trump International Chicago, and Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas. Seven of the 14 hotels Trump manages have been hit. Trump Hotel Collection stated unauthorized malware access may be the blame. In layman’s terms, hotel guest’s and customer’s credit card numbers, security codes and expiration dates may have been compromised. The breached has reportedly happened between May 2014 and early June 2015. ?Trump Hotel Collection confirmed no person’s information was taken, to the best of their knowledge. But they’re taking major precautions and urging customers to do what they can to protect themselves. The company said that during these months, hackers attacked hotel check-in desks, hotel restaurants, gift shops, and other hotel points where credit cards are often used. The attacks have been reported to the FBI, and hackers involved can face severe prosecution and prison time. Trump Hotel Collection is offering a year of free fraud protection and restoration to any customers whose information was compromised.
Yes, I’m reporting another hacking. But the timing of this one is eerie to me. Someone chose to hack Donald Trump’s hotel franchise at a time when Trump is still leading in the Republican polls. His lead has decreased over the last couple of weeks, but he’s still a political force to be reckon with. So who hacked it and why? Something tells this is more than a just a typical hacking. Maybe I’m sounding paranoid, and no, I don’t have any proof of it, but I smell a mystery in the making. Trump haters have come out the woodwork, especially since his presidential candidacy. Could somebody could have done this to disrupt Trump’s campaign? Could somebody have done this to make Trump look incompetent, something like, “If Trump can’t even run his hotels, how can he run the country?”? Is that the cyber attackers’ spin on this? ?Was this cyber attack politically motivated? Did an anti-Trump person do this?
Back in July 2015, a venerability was discovered in Android phones around the world. This threat was called Stagefright. It’s a potential exploit that lurks within the Android global system. Today, just a few months later, it has an even bigger and badder counterpart.
This is an alert: Android vs Stagefright. Or maybe I should say Stagefright 2.0. According to a tech security company called Zimperium, Stagefright 2.0 can be even more potent to even more Android smartphones. Such vulnerabilities allow hackers to encode bad viruses and malware for up to 950 million Android users, those running 2.2 and up. However, Stagefright 2.0 can target Androids running 1.0 and up, which can affect as many as 1.4 billion people worldwide. Let’s put that in perspective: That’s about 20% of the world’s population. Unlike the original Stagefright, the 2.0 version can creep through your phone through a web browser. Then it can still lurk within the Droid global system. Partnering companies Google and Samsung are offering monthly security updates to keep customers safe. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to all Android devices. They’re articles saying these valiant efforts aren’t even going to be enough. The next security measure is scheduled for Monday, October 5. But even that is strictly for Google’s Nexus devices, which run a pure version of Android.
First and foremost: Do not panic! We at Computer Geeks, and other bloggers, don’t write such articles to cause paranoia. Alerts like this are written to raise awareness. It’s better to be told you’re at risk and have nothing happen then to be told nothing’s going to happen and then calamity strikes. With this knowledge comes power. Go to your nearest Android dealer and ask questions to see if your device is at risk. If they don’t have the answer, call Android customer service directly. But wouldn’t you think this next security measure would be available for all Android machines?
When it comes to sophisticated international hacking, the US, Russia and China take the prize right? Not so fast. There’s a hacking group in the Middle East that’s causing concern everywhere.
A group called the Yemen Cyber Army hacked a Saudi Arabian news website called Al Hayet. Not only did they infiltrate, they threatened Saudi Arabia over the continued violence and unrest in Yemen. That was back in April, and Yemen Cyber Army has gotten stronger ever since. On May 20, they used Twitter accounts to hack the Saudi foreign ministry. The next day, Iran’s state run news blamed Yemen Cyber Army for this attack, which led to the leak of foreign ministry employees’ personal information. Now, Wikileaks is announcing the release of around a million records from the Saudi foreign ministry. Wikileaks didn’t say the exposed documents were given to them by Yemen Cyber Army. But Wikileaks did credit them for breaching the Saudi Foreign Ministry. This cyber group has no spokesperson. It’s not verified they’re even based in Yemen. Some of them claim to be from Yemen. But yet they won’t speak Arabic or give away their location. In fact, an Israeli cyber security group called ClearSky believes Iran’s government is behind the group. They discovered malware deployed against 550 different targets throughout the Middle East. Half of those targets are against Saudi Arabia.
Whether the Yemen Cyber Army is made up of Yemen or Iranian hackers, or both, one thing should be clear. Cyber conflicts around the world show no signs of slowing down. In fact, I expect them to only intensify. Unfortunately, the Internet seems to be a new way for individuals, corporations, and whole nations to attack and attempt to destroy each other. Obviously, there’s a lot of good the Internet does. In fact, there’s more good than harm. But ClearSky has a valid point. With all the turmoil in Yemen, I’m convinced the Yemen Cyber Army is getting a lot of help from outside Yemen, though I do believe some are from Yemen. Iran is just one of the nations helping them. Are there others?
Samsung, one of the biggest phone makers today and of all-time, is facing a problem. In fact, Samsung faces 600 million problems.
Let me explain. There is a default keyboard threat facing as many as 600 million Samsung phones. The pre-installed SwiftKey keyboard looked for language updates while over unencrypted territory and in plain text. This leaves the door open to create phony proxy servers. These servers can send malware to venerable devices and data to keep bad code on the device. That way, they can further exploit the users’ device. Do you know the power this gives a hacker? They can exploit this keyboard mishap and get a Samsung user’s name, address, email, SSN, text messages, bank information, social media passwords, and anything else they want. Not only that, the malware can be used to spy on users near and far, invading privacy. This discovery was made by Ryan Welton, a security expert representing a firm called NowSecure. Welton talked about the potential attack at a Blackhat Security Summit. According to NowSecure CEO Andrew Hoog, this threat likely affected Samung Android devices like S3, S4, S5, Galaxy Note 3, and Galaxy Note 4. A SwiftKey spokesperson said they are investigating this threat. The spokesperson also said SwiftKey apps on Google Play and the App Store isn’t affected by this threat.
Let me make it clear: This is just a warning. The cyber attack hasn’t happened and it isn’t happening now. So don’t go throwing away your Samsung Galaxy phones away. But you should be alerted of this threat. Some have said to me, “Talking about the threat will give hackers ideas.” Believe me, they’ve already thought of this. Ryan Welton is investigating and bloggers like me are reporting this because you need to know. Now what is SwiftKey going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?
It’s no secret Android has had malware problems. At this time last year, a scathing report said most of mobile malware is on Android mobile products. Google is combating malware and it looks like Google is winning.
According to Android‘s own State of the Union report, the malware rate fell by 50% over the course of 2014. The article claiming 97% of all mobile malware is on Android came put in March 2014. According to Google, only one percent of Android devices had harmful apps installed in 2014. This State of the Union is 44 pages long. It doesn’t just talk about malware problems. This report tackled things from ransomware to SMS abuse. They expect to continue do more research on harmful glitches and bugs. This is part of Google’s war on malware wherever it exists, from Android devices to Chrome. Last week alone, Google cut out around 200 harmful extensions in their web browser, making web surfing easier for nearly 14 million people who struggled otherwise. But the report didn’t talk about the high risk Android Jellybean phone. There’s still controversy about the lack of a venerability patch, but some Android leaders say that was the best course of action for protection.
If this report is accurate, then it sounds like Android is making tremendous progress in reducing their malware threat. I’m guessing that March 2014 article was a wake up call. I was a little skeptical of getting a Droid phone, but then I remember the majority of malware issues came from Asian and Pacific nations. But there are still things you can do to prevent a malware attack, no matter what your favorite smartphone brand is. Get good antivirus protection. Today’s it’s simple to get and very essential. Watch the apps you subscribe to. If it looks suspicious, stay away from it. I can think of some websites to steer clear from. How well do you think the malware problem has improved?
