Layerin’ Ain’t Just for Winter! Bolster Your Security With Layers of Protection

Virus infection

I thought Spyware and Viruses are the same thing?

A virus is malicious code that copies itself over and over in order to do damage to your computers data while Spyware is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of threats such as Trojans, Ransomware, Keyloggers, Cookies, Worms, etc that may do damage to your PC and/or privacy but do not have the intention of totally destroying your computers data and system unlike a virus.

So your telling me I need an Anti-Virus AND an Anti-Spyware?

Strictly speaking, SUPERAntiSpyware© is not designed to be Anti-Virus software. We target Spyware, a focus that allows us to respond quickly to the ever-growing groups of hostile software we address, with new definitions released multiple times a day, and concentrate on the technology that targets the most common threats in the wild. There are a lot of things that are often called viruses (many trojans, worms, and so on) that SUPERAntiSpyware© will remove, but it won’t remove true viruses such as boot-sector viruses.

Security With Layers of Protection

No one security tool can catch everything out there and protect you, which is why we recommend a layered approach. We recommend if you use an Anti-Virus, you supplement it with SUPERAntiSpyware© and if you only use SUPERAntiSpyware© alone, consider getting an Anti-Virus. SUPERAntiSpyware© has been designed to be compatible with popular Anti-Virus applications such as McAfee, Symantec(Norton), Kaspersky, Bitdefender, ESET NOD32, AVG, Avast, Panda, Avira, and so on.

 

Watch out for fake PayPal “unable to complete your recent transactions” phishing emails!

 

Phishing Emails Watch out for fake PayPal

We here at SUPERAntiSpyware have noticed a fairly recent clever email phishing campaign that claims to be PayPal. In the email the fake PayPal scam artists attempt to scare users into thinking that not only have their recent PayPal payments been declined, there is also unusual selling activities and they “will need some more information” about your recent sales in attempt to steal your information.

Example of the phishing email

Phishing Emails

We here at SUPERAntiSpyware recommend you simply delete this email, and do not click any links within the email, especially the fake blue “Check Your Accounts” button. If you have been scammed by this email, immediately change your PayPal account password and consider looking into changing your spam settings to avoid future spam emails such as these. Remember, if you do not recognize the sender address, do not open the email, and if you do open an email such as this always hover your mouse pointer over the emails links to see where they’re trying to take you, usually phishing emails links will point you to a website that has nothing to do with the company they’re posing as.

Update your firmware to avoid the KRACK WPA2 vulnerability!

KRACK

Security researchers have discovered a vulnerability in the WPA2 wireless protocol. The exploit is called KRACK, short for Key Reinstallation Attacks that can allow hackers to snoop on WiFi connections and inject data into WiFi streams to do things such as install malware and other rogue actions such as steal passwords, emails, and other data.

Microsoft issued an update during last week’s October patch release that fixes the problem on Windows OS, if you have not updated your Windows installation it is recommended you do so immediately. Microsoft has stated that even when the vulnerability is patched within Windows, router firmware and Wifi drivers installed or connected to Windows machines that have not been updated can still be affected. To fully protect yourself, Windows users should also install patched WiFi drivers and router firmware if available, in addition to the patch Microsoft released for Windows.

Watch out for fake Office 365 phishing emails!

that claims to be Microsoft attempting to inform users their Office account email storage space is almost full and to prevent incoming/Outgoing mail from getting bounced back, to click the supplied link to add an additional 10 gigs of free and mandatory storage. This of course is an obvious scam to phish your password as the link takes you to a fake Office 365 login screen.

Example of the spam. Beyond the obvious sketchy character of the email, hovering over the links within the email with your mouse pointer clearly shows it takes you to a different website and not a Microsoft website.

We here at SUPERAntiSpyware recommend you simply delete this email, and do not click any links within the email. If you have been scammed by this email, immediately change your Office 365 account password and consider looking into changing your spam settings to avoid future spam emails such as these. Remember, if you do not recognize the sender address, do not open the email, and also if you do open an email always hover your mouse pointer over the emails links to see where they’re trying to take you.

How to protect your PC from Petya/GoldenEye ransomware

Protect your PC from Petya/GoldenEye Ransomware

There are two ways this strain of ransomware is infecting large businesses, governments, and other entities around the world:

  • An attack via a vulnerable Windows Server Message Block (SMB) service which windows uses to share Files/Printers across networks.
  • The Microsoft PxExec tool with admin credentials from target computer.

These problems have been patched by Microsoft, but there are still users out there who have not downloaded the patches for their Windows Operating Systems so the ransomware keeps spreading.

Fight Back

To fight back and protect yourself from this global ransomware attack make sure you do the following:

1) You have Windows Automatic Updates turned on and you are up to date. If you don’t have auto update on, you can download the security update for your version of Windows HERE

2) Make sure your copy of SUPERAntiSpyware is the latest edition and is current with the latest definitions. If you own the Professional Edition, make sure Real-Time Protection is enabled.

3)Backing up your computer regularly and keeping a recent backup copy not connected to any PC. We recommend using Support.com Online Backup which we offer on our online shopping cart as an optional offer when purchasing SUPERAntiSpyware Professional.

What Are Cookies?

What Are Cookies and How do they work?

Cookies are files, typically text files which are stored on a user’s device. They are made to contain data specific to the user or website, and can be accessed either by a web server or the users device. Cookies cannot themselves harm your computer in any way. Cookie allow the web server to deliver a web page “suited” to the user, or the web page itself can contain a script which is reading the data in the cookie and so is able to carry information from one visit to the website to the next website.

Typically what this means is that cookies are used to remember logins and keep track of user settings on websites, this information might include the name of the site, particular products being viewed, pages visited, etc. Cookie can be used to track your movement on the Internet ONLY if a site is aware of the cookie and is designed to use the specific cookies. Because of their use in tracking online activity, many feel that this constitutes spyware. Most antispyware applications, including SUPERAntiSpyware, detect tracking cookie in one form or another.

Cookie are not blocked by SUPERAntiSpyware because they are required for most web functionality.  Cookie will come back every time you surf the web, and can be cleaned by running a Quick or Complete Scan.

Our Top 5 Google Chrome Extension Picks For Better Web Security

Top 5 Google Chrome Extension Picks For Better Web Security

Security and privacy are some of the major concerns when using the internet. One of the more popular internet browsers Google Chrome allows users to add extensions to the browser adding new functionality. Here are our picks for the top 5 Google Chrome security and privacy extensions that you should install for safer web browsing along side using your SUPERAntiSpyware software on your PC.

Click on each link and it will bring you to the Chrome Web Store where you can learn more about the extension and its creators. Most of these extensions are available on other popular browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera so do not feel limited to only Google Chrome!

1) uBlock Origin – A lightweight ad-blocker and anti-tracking extension that is efficient on memory and CPU footprint.

2) Privacy Badger – Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).  Privacy Badger is an anti-tracking extension that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from tracking where you go on the web. Privacy Badger Works great alongside uBlock Origin.

3) HTTPS Everywhere – Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and The Tor Project. HTTPS Everywhere ensures that you always connect to a website using a secure HTTPS connection if one is available. HTTPS is a form of encryption making your browsing much more secure.

4) DuckDuckGo for Chrome– DuckDuckGo is the search engine that doesn’t track you. This add-on makes DuckDuckGo your default search engine and includes some other useful features.

5) LastPass: Free Password Manager – “Only remember one password. Your LastPass master password. Save all your usernames and passwords to LastPass, and it will auto-login to your sites and sync your passwords everywhere you need them.”

Do you have any Google Chrome extension recommendations? Feel free to leave a comment below!

SUPERAntiSpyware Team

Watch out for fake USPS delivery emails!

usps

Fake USPS Delivery Emails?

We at SUPERAntiSpyware have been alerted to scam emails hitting users claiming to be from the US Postal Service (USPS) that contains a link that will infect them with malware. One of the emails being used by this scam is notice@ussp(DOT)com

The subject line of the email will typically be titled “Delivery notification – Parcel delivery *NUMBER* failed” containing a message that the user please call the number on the shipping notice we left at your doorstep (which there will be none!) to arrange a new delivery, and a link which you can view the delivery notice online, on the USPS website.

This is a fake link to a malware infested website.

If you see a link in a suspicious email such as this do not click the links or open the attachments no matter how innocent they sound. If it claims to be from an official organization, call them and ask if the email is legit. Better safe than sorry!

“The HoeflerText Font Wasn’t Found” Google Chrome Malware Scam – What it is and how to avoid it!

HoeflerText Font Wasn’t Found ?

You are browsing the web and accidentally land on a website with nonsensical characters instead of letters and you receive a prompt to download a missing font in order to read the website. You are told in order to fix the error and display the text, you have to update the “Chrome Font Pack”. Whatever you do, please do not click that blue Update button!

HoeflerText
Fake Google Chrome Prompt asking you to install the malware

It is a scam designed to trick users into installing malware onto their systems. This malware is ranging from Ransomware, to Trojans, to various adware bundles.

How to avoid it

The fake dialogue box informing you that the “The HoeflerText Font Wasn’t Found” will claim you are using Chrome version 53 even if you are not using that version, which tells you something isn’t right and that the prompt you are seeing is fake.

Make sure you are using the latest version of Google Chrome which you can download by clicking here

Make sure you are also using the latest version of SUPERAntiSpyware with Real-Time Protection enabled, a feature only available for SUPERAntiSpyware Professional users.

Tax Season is here – Watch out for Identity Stealing Spyware!

Taxes The Season is Here !

Keep your personal information safe this tax season by doing a Free scan with SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition

We want to remind everyone that tax season is the time of increased attacks in the forms of spyware, various methods of phishing , and scams. Spyware and Malware authors significantly increase their activity during the tax season in order to try to steal data and withdraw money from bank accounts, steal credit cards, passwords, and other malicious acts.

Watch out for Identity Stealing Spyware!

During this tax season its important to do a few things to help protect yourself online:

1) Make sure your Operating System and software applications such as web browsers and email clients are up to date.

2) Run a Complete Scan with SUPERAntiSpyware regularly with the latest updates, at least twice a week during this period of increased activity.

3) Be cautious before visiting strange websites, or opening strange email attachments. Think before you click!

4) Manually erase, or use privacy software, to delete sensitive data from you PC. Spyware cannot steal what isn’t there!

5) Lookout for spam phishing email impersonating government, bank, or tax company officials asking for sensitive information.

Do you have any security recommendations that help you stay safe during the tax season? Feel free to leave a comment below!

SUPERAntiSpyware Team