SCAREWARE Pop-Ups

SCAREWARE pop-ups The day starts like any other, you go to your computer to check email, visit a website, or maybe you want to use Google for some research and out of nowhere, a window pops up with a warning that your computer is “infected” or has a “virus”. It will probably use a bunch of technical sounding language to tell you that your account has “suspicious activity”, or you are at risk of “losing your hard drive”. There will most likely be a phone number in the warning message. Sometimes an alarm will sound, or a man or woman’s voice tells you that this is an urgent matter and to call immediately as you may be at risk and not to shut off your computer or your account will be locked or disabled. When you attempt to close the window, it will disappear then immediately re-open. The pop-up will usually prevent you from being able to use your computer for anything else; giving you the feeling, you have no other choice but to call the number to resolve the issue. These messages and sounds are designed to intimidate you, and to scare you into rushing to fix the issue before you have time to think about calling our CP IT help desk. These tactics are called “scareware”. Recently we have also seen scareware appear on smartphones. These pop-ups usually tell you that viruses have been detected on your phone and direct you to download an App that is supposed to rid your phone of those viruses. However, when you tap on “install” to get the app, you are actually giving permission to download malware to your phone. What should you do if you get scareware pop-ups on your devices? First thing to remember is not to panic, nothing bad is about to happen. If you hear the urgent voice or alarm sounds, do not believe anything it says and do not call the number on the screen. We ask you call the CP IT help desk at 1-800-373-7521 for assistance. If we are unavailable, you can turn down the volume on the device and then try to get rid of the pop-up on a computer. You can try closing the browser (Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer) by using Windows task manager, or try to restart the computer or smartphone by holding down the power button until it shuts off, wait a minute then restart. Once the device comes back on the scareware pop-ups should not reappear. What would happen if you did call the phone number on the pop-up? The person you talk to would likely claim to be from Microsoft, Google, or a well know antivirus software company, and tell you they detected a problem with your computer. They will request remote access to your computer in order to run a free scan that falsely detects that you have an infected computer, and offer to “fix” the problem for a fee, meanwhile stealing your passwords, credit card number, and potentially other confidential information. Please remember if you are in this situation or a similar one to be skeptical, don’t believe everything you read on the computer screen and never let a stranger into your computer. Contact our IT help desk @ 1-800-373-7521 or via email at [email protected]. We are available Monday-Friday, 9-5 CST with extended hours until 7 PM on Tuesday and our services are available to you at no cost. If you leave us a message, please know we will respond as soon as one of us is available. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Watch out for Fake Virus Alerts
State of West Virginia Cyber Security Tip ALERT West Virginia Office of Information Security and Controls – Jim Richards, WV Chief Information Security Officer WATCH OUT FOR FAKE VIRUS ALERTS Rogue security software, also known as "scareware," is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective (i.e. free virus scan) but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions. How does rogue security software get on my computer? Rogue security software designers create legitimate looking pop-up windows that advertise security update software. These windows might appear on your screen while you surf the web. The "updates" or "alerts" in the pop-up windows call for you to take some sort of action, such as clicking to install the software, accept recommended updates, or remove unwanted viruses or spyware. When you click, the rogue security software downloads to your computer. Rogue security software might also appear in the list of search results when you are searching for trustworthy antispyware software, so it is important to protect your computer. What does rogue security software do? Rogue security software might report a virus, even though your computer is actually clean. The software might also fail to report viruses when your computer is infected. Inversely, sometimes, when you download rogue security software, it will install a virus or other malicious software on your computer so that the software has something to detect. Some rogue security software might also: Lure you into a fraudulent transaction (for example, upgrading to a non-existent paid version of a program).
[Show full text]
Android Malware Category and Family Detection and Identification Using Machine Learning
Android Malware Category and Family Detection and Identification using Machine Learning Ahmed Hashem El Fiky1*, Ayman El Shenawy1, 2, Mohamed Ashraf Madkour1 1 Systems and Computer Engineering Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. 1 Systems and Computer Engineering Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. 2 Software Engineering and Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Egyptian Chinese University, Cairo, Egypt. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract: Android malware is one of the most dangerous threats on the internet, and it's been on the rise for several years. Despite significant efforts in detecting and classifying android malware from innocuous android applications, there is still a long way to go. As a result, there is a need to provide a basic understanding of the behavior displayed by the most common Android malware categories and families. Each Android malware family and category has a distinct objective. As a result, it has impacted every corporate area, including healthcare, banking, transportation, government, and e-commerce. In this paper, we presented two machine- learning approaches for Dynamic Analysis of Android Malware: one for detecting and identifying Android Malware Categories and the other for detecting and identifying Android Malware Families, which was accomplished by analyzing a massive malware dataset with 14 prominent malware categories and 180 prominent malware families of CCCS-CIC- AndMal2020 dataset on Dynamic Layers. Our approach achieves in Android Malware Category detection more than 96 % accurate and achieves in Android Malware Family detection more than 99% accurate. Our approach provides a method for high-accuracy Dynamic Analysis of Android Malware while also shortening the time required to analyze smartphone malware.
[Show full text]
A Poisoned Apple: the Analysis of Macos Malware Shlayer By: Minh D
A Poisoned Apple: The Analysis of macOS Malware Shlayer by: Minh D. Nguyen Abstract Historically, the Microsoft Windows operating system family, which currently runs on more than 70 percent of computers in the world,7 has been the main target for malware. However, with the growing popularity of Apple’s MacBook products, the macOS operating system has become a new platform for attackers to target the general computer users. According to the 2016/2017 Security Report of AV-TEST, the number of malware samples for macOS detected in 2016 has increased by an astonishing 370 percent compared to the same figure in 2015.3 In order to address the rising interest of attackers in the macOS operating system, this project provides an analysis of a newly discovered malware for macOS, Shlayer, to reveal a well- known tactic that attackers can utilize to infect machines running on any operating system, and discusses possible countermeasures for this strategy. I. Introduction macOS is often hailed as a more secure operating system compared to its counterpart Microsoft Windows.2 However, in reality, many attacking techniques targeting Windows machines can also be applied to macOS machines. The analysis of the new Shlayer malware, discovered by researchers of Intego in February 2018,1 will reveal a familiar strategy that attackers often utilize to target victim machines without regards of the operating system. With the worldwide growth of macOS usage, it is important to recognize this attacking method and understand that in many cases, the success of an attack does not depend on the security of the operating system but on the awareness of the user.
[Show full text]
Cyren's 2016 Cyberthreat Report
2016 CYBERTHREAT Report AUTOMATED THREAT INTELLIGENCE: The Key to Preventing, Mitigating, and Identifying Cyber Breaches Introduction .................................................................................................4 The Cloud Sandbox Array: A New Tool Against Cybercrime .....................6 The Benefits of Big Data .......................................................................... 12 2016 Predictions....................................................................................... 14 Malware Newsmakers of 2015 ................................................................ 16 The Criminal Power of the Unknown ...................................................... 22 2015 Statistics: Android, Phishing, Malware, Spam ............................... 26 Table of Contents Table CYREN 2016 CYBERTHREAT REPORT 3 INTRODUCTION Lior Kohavi Chief Technical Officer, CYREN, Inc. There is a false perception that sophisticated attacks are too difficult to prevent and the only alternative is detection. But detection is NOT the new prevention. Cybersecurity professionals must make it their mission to STOP attacks, not just become proficient at detecting them. It's no secret that cybercriminals are willing to spend a lot of time and money to obtain the information they desire. And, the risk that these criminals will be caught and convicted is relatively low. Despite well-publicized botnet takedowns, like that of Darknode this past July, researchers estimate that less than 1% of cybercrimes receive a corresponding conviction.
[Show full text]
Mac Security Report 2020
Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software Mac Security Test & Review TEST PERIOD : JUNE 2020 LANGUAGE : ENGLISH LAST REVISION : 26TH JUNE 2020 WWW.AV-COMPARATIVES.ORG Mac Security Report – June 2020 www.av-comparatives.org Contents MACS AND SECURITY SOFTWARE 3 SECURITY SOFTWARE FOR MACOS CATALINA 5 MALWARE PROTECTION TEST 6 RESULTS 7 SUMMARY 8 AV-COMPARATIVES’ MAC CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 9 REVIEW FORMAT 10 AVAST SECURITY FOR MAC 11 AVG INTERNET SECURITY FOR MAC 14 AVIRA ANTIVIRUS PRO FOR MAC 18 BITDEFENDER ANTIVIRUS FOR MAC 21 CROWDSTRIKE FALCON PREVENT FOR MAC 24 FIREEYE ENDPOINT SECURITY FOR MACOS 27 KASPERSKY INTERNET SECURITY FOR MAC 29 POCKETBITS BITMEDIC PRO ANTIVIRUS 32 TREND MICRO ANTIVIRUS FOR MAC 36 APPENDIX – FEATURE LIST 39 COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER 40 2 Mac Security Report – June 2020 www.av-comparatives.org Macs and Security Software It is an often-heard view that macOS computers don’t need antivirus protection. Whilst it is certainly true that the population of macOS malware is very tiny compared to that for Windows and Android, there have been instances of macOS malware 1 getting into the wild. Moreover, Apple Mac security needs to be considered in the wider context of other types of attacks 2. In addition, it should be noted that Apple themselves ship some anti-malware capabilities within macOS. Firstly, there is “Gatekeeper”, which warns when apps without a digital signature are run. Then there is “XProtect”, which checks files against known-malware signatures. Finally, Apple provide the MRT (Malware Removal Tool). Gatekeeper and MRT are essentially invisible to users and have no direct user interface for the user.
[Show full text]
Malware Risks and Mitigation Report
MALWARE RISKS AND MITIGATION REPORT June 2011 BITS A DIVISION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE 1001 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE NW SUITE 500 SOUTH WASHINGTON, DC 20004 202-289-4322 WWW.BITS.ORG BITS Malware Risk and Mitigation Report Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................3 2. Malware Evolution................................................................................................................3 2.1 Malware Categories...............................................................................................................................5 2.2 Malware Example .................................................................................................................................8 2.3 Polymorphic Malware ........................................................................................................................10 3. Malware Supply and Demand ............................................................................................ 10 3.1 The Malware Industry ........................................................................................................................11 3.2 Malware Supply Chain........................................................................................................................13 3.3 Beyond Crime......................................................................................................................................14 4. Malware in Financial
[Show full text]
Ransomware Destructive Attack
Ransomware Destructive Attack Jay Spreitzer, Vice President, Cyber Threat Management Wells Fargo Bank About - Jay Spreitzer Has over 18 years information security experience. Over the last 10 years as a senior member of a cyber intelligence team at Wells Fargo. Prior to joining Wells Fargo Jay retired from the US Army, after 23 years of service working in various technology and information security roles. He holds a Masters in Information Assurance and Security as well as multiple computer security certifications. 53 What is ransomware? Ransomware is a type of malware that can be covertly installed on a computer without knowledge or intention of the user that restricts access to the infected computer system in some way, and demands that the user pay a ransom to the malware operators to remove the restriction. Some forms of ransomware systematically encrypt files on the system's hard drive, which become difficult or impossible to decrypt without paying the ransom for the encryption key, while some may simply lock the system and display messages intended to coax the user into paying. 54 What is ransomware? Ransomware wreaking havoc in American and Canadian hospitals Tech & Science March 23, 2016 Spike in ransomware spam prompts warnings Technology, March 10, 2015 Ransomware alert issued by US and Canada following recent attacks April 4, 2016, Big paydays force hospitals to prepare for ransomware attacks Tech, April 23, 2016 55 The first known ransomwares and its evolution § AIDS Diskette ransomware discovered in 1989. § Contained a warning message in the letter regarding licensing fee and penalty. § Users were supposed to send a license fee to a PO box in Panama for "PC Cyborg Corporation.” 56 The first known ransomwares and its evolution Creates the file ATTENTION!!!.txt in every folder in which § Gpcoder was ransomware it encoded a file.
[Show full text]
Ransomware in Windows and Android Platforms
Ransomware in Windows and Android Platforms Abdulrahman Alzahrani, Ali Alshehri, Hani Alshahrani, Huirong Fu Department of Computer Science and Engineering Oakland University Rochester, Michigan 48309 Email: faalzahrani, aaalshehri, hmalshahrani, [email protected] Abstract—Malware proliferation and sophistication have Ransomware exhibits behavioral differences if compared to drastically increased and evolved continuously. Recent traditional malware. For instance, most malware types aim indiscriminate ransomware victimizations have imposed critical to steal users’ data, like banking credentials, without raising needs of effective detection techniques to prevent damages. Therefore, ransomware has drawn attention among cyberspace sus-picions. In contrast, ransomware operations behave researchers. This paper contributes a comprehensive overview of differently since the attack notifies victims that their devices ransomware attacks and summarizes existing detection and have been infected [7]. prevention techniques in both Windows and Android platforms. This paper focuses on Windows and Android, the plat-forms Moreover, it highlights the strengths and shortcomings of those frequently targeted by ransomware attacks due to their techniques and provides a comparison between them. popularity in both desktop and mobile market-share. The rest Furthermore, it gives recommendations to users and system administrators. of this paper is organized as follows. Section II defines the concept of ransomware, and illustrates the functionality and Index Terms—Windows ransomware, Android ransomware, how it works. Then, a brief overview of the history of crypto-ransomware, locker-ransomware, ransomware families, ransomware cyberattacks is provided in Section III. Section IV countermeasures lists the most affected industry sectors by malware attacks around the world. Next, Sections V and VI summarize the I. INTRODUCTION notable observed behaviors of ransomware in the Windows Cyber-extorting malware is increasing and evolving con- and Android platforms, respectively.
[Show full text]
Understanding Android Financial Malware Attacks: Taxonomy, Characterization, and Challenges
Understanding Android Financial Malware Attacks: Taxonomy, Characterization, and Challenges Andi Fitriah Abdul Kadir, Natalia Stakhanova and Ali A. Ghorbani Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC), University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada E-mail: andi.fitriah; natalia.stakhanova; [email protected] Received 18 February 2018; Accepted 12 April 2018; Publication 14 June 2018 Abstract With the increased number of financial-related malware, the security com- munity today has turned their attention to the Android financial malware. However, what constitutes Android financial malware is still ambiguous. A comprehensive understanding of the existing Android financial malware attacks supported by a unified terminology is necessarily required for the deployment of reliable defence mechanisms against these attacks. Thus, in this paper, we address this issue and devise a taxonomy of Android financial malware attacks. By devising the proposed taxonomy, we intend to: give researchers a better understanding of these attacks; explore the Android financial malware characteristics; and provide a foundation for organizing research efforts within this specific field. In order to evaluate the proposed tax- onomy, we gathered a large collection of Android financial malware samples representing 32 families, which are selected based on the main characteristics defined in the taxonomy. We discuss the characterization of these families in terms of malware installation, activation and attacks, and derive a set of research question: how does the malware spread to the Android users?, Journal of Cyber Security and Mobility, Vol. 7 3, 1–52. River Publishers doi: 10.13052/jcsm2245-1439.732 This is an Open Access publication. c 2018 the Author(s). All rights reserved.
[Show full text]
For Seminar Attendees Only 1 1 the Next Frontier of Cyber Modeling
©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 1 1 The Next Frontier of Cyber Modeling Scott Stransky Pamela Eck Vijay Raman ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 2 2 Agenda Recent Cyber Events Individual Risk Events Still Drive the Majority of Claims Systemic Ransomware Aggregation Beyond the Cloud Cyber as a Peril (aka Silent Cyber) Cyber Modeling Platform – Key Enhancements ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 3 3 Recent Events: Marriott and Continued Data Breaches Estimated insurance loss: USD 350 million ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 4 4 Recent Events: Norsk Hydro and the Targeted Ransomware Estimated insurance loss: GBP 75 million ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 5 5 Recent Events: NotPetya and the Rise of Systemic Ransomware Estimated insurance loss: USD 320 million (to traditional affirmative cyber policies) ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 6 6 Cyber Regulatory Environment Is Ramping Up GDPR fines Continue to Ramp Up New regulations in the U.S. Amount of Fines(Euros) month Counts of fines Counts of fines Source: enforcementtracker.com month ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 7 7 Individual Risk Events Still Drive the Majority of Claims ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 8 8 Individual Risk Modeling: The Next Generation of Data Compromise Business By Country Interruption Frequency Predictors Correlation by Attack by Attack Vector Vector ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc. CONFIDENTIAL: For Seminar Attendees Only 9 9 Business Interruption Continues to Drive Losses ©2020 Verisk Analytics, Inc.
[Show full text]
Scare Ware Virus Infection Scareware Infections Are Malicious Pieces Of
Scare Ware Virus Infection Scareware infections are malicious pieces of software which pose as legitimate anti virus programs. As such they look like anti virus programs that you would often use. Do not let their appearance fool you. These programs will attach themselves to infected web sites and will ask you to scan your computer to remove potential infections. If you choose to scan the machine the virus will activate and will appear as below. There are many different strains of the virus and the appearance will often vary. However, the basic look will be similar and you should be able to spot the infection. You should only ever run Anti Virus which you have chosen to install on your computer. Anything trying to access your machine from the internet should not be allowed to run. How to Prevent Scareware Infections 1. You should ensure that you have an active anti virus program before accessing the Internet. The University recommends Microsoft Security Essentials 2. When browsing the web you may receive a message from the web page saying something like “Internet Anti Virus” “Security Tool” ( etc ) “would like to scan your computer, click here to scan” This is how the Scareware installs itself. Do not click on the pop up box as this will install the Scareware. Instead Press Ctrl Alt Del keys on your keyboard to access the Task Manager > click Task Manager > Application > highlight the offending web page in the Task Manager > click End Task. This should shut the web page down. If this does not work you can try and log off, or restart the machine.
[Show full text]
Alert—Virus Software Scam
Alert—Virus Software Scam Facilities’ IT staff has been receiving an increase in the number of reports concerning “Free Security Scans.” Please read the following to learn what to be aware of and what you should do to minimize your risk. Messages telling you to install and update security software for your computer seem to be everywhere. So you might be tempted by an offer of a “free security scan,” especially when faced with a pop-up, an email, or an ad that claims “malicious software” has already been found on your machine. Unfortunately, it’s likely that the scary message is a come-on for a rip-off. The free scan claims to find a host of problems, and within seconds, you’re getting urgent pop-ups to buy security software. After you agree to spend $40 or more on the software, the program tells you that your problems are fixed. The reality: there was nothing to fix. And what’s worse, the program now installed on your computer could be harmful. Security firm McAfee has warned computer users to avoid hackers’ latest trap: So-called ‘scareware.’ Here’s how the scam works: While browsing the Web, potential victims see a pop-up ad saying their computer is infected with a virus. If they fall for it, they click a link or button that takes them to a site selling phony anti-virus software. Once installed, the software turns out to be malware — so not only do victims hand over money for something they don’t need, the program actually steals personal information that can be used for identity theft.
[Show full text]