Following the latest variant of the WannaCry(pt) RansomWare that spread throughout the globe last weekend, Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, blew a gasket. He argues, “Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military […]
Microsoft Windows
Help for MalWare & RansomWare?
The best way to stay safe in today’s world is to know the equipment that your using. Mostly, good common sense is all that is needed. But if you’ve been infected with RansomWare, you’re probably doomed and need to restore from backup. The keyword here is “probably“. In cases where a cryptographic hashing function has […]
BOLO: WannaCry(pt) RansomWare
First observed in February the WannaCry, or WannaCrypt, virus is wreaking havoc in European networks. Major outbreaks of a new variant were first detected Friday, 5/12/2017 in Spain but it has now traveled to over 99 countries. It also took out England’s National Health Service (NHS). The virus is web-based and spreads from users clicking […]
BOLO: Netrepser Espionage Trojan
Netrepser is a JavaScript (JavaScript ≠ Java) Trojan designed for espionage purposes. This was detected and reported by Bitdefender on May 5, 2017. Believed to be of Russian origin, the common distribution of this Trojan is by Email. However, its JavaScript nature suggests that this may be able to cause infections in web-based “Drive-By Download” […]
BOLO: New “Jaff” RansomWare
Yesterday, May 11, 2017 a new type of ransomware was released called “Jaff”. This is spread via the Necurs Botnet using Email as the transmission media. Considering last weeks exploits of Google Gmail accounts, I suspect this will eventually migrate to appear as Emails from legitimate friends. Beware of any emails with the subject lines […]
BOLO: Critical Update – Windows AntiMalware
Microsoft is pushing an out-of-band Critical Update that fixes issues with their AntiMalware Protection Engine. This affects Security Essentials, Windows Defender, Endpoint Protection, etc. The bug allows for remote code execution from hackers and allows them to take control of your PC. More details can be found in Microsoft Security Advisory 4022344. This is also […]
BOLO: Microsoft Word Infections Without Macros?
This got beamed into my head through a LinkedIn post a couple of weeks ago. The poster had wanted a more authoritative response to the question, “Can opening Microsoft Word documents cause an infection without Macros?”. Yes, you can get infected without having Macros. Apple, Microsoft, and Linux have all been dealing with image exploitations […]
A Quirky Look at Windows 10 Creator’s Edition
In August we got the Anniversary Edition of Windows 10 and on Tuesday, 4/11/2017, Microsoft released the Creator’s Edition. The most interesting feature of this new Windows 10 Edition is improvements to the handling of Critical Windows Updates. Microsoft, to their credit, continues to improve the security of the Windows platform, especially in Windows 10. It […]
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