Spyware Techie

Some researchers have said due to the economic downturn and tech layoffs we will see a steady rise in cybercrime.

As the economy sinks into a deeper hole that no one can quite climb out of right now we start to see even more tech layoffs resulting in a rise in cybercrime. Recent reports have come in finding a good amount of credit card and PIN codes have been stolen in a fashion that Finjan, a web security firm, said is “commoditized”. Finjan also warns of a sharp rise in cybercrime in 2009 due to the current economic conditions where persons may financially benefit from stealing data or committing other cybercrime acts over the internet.

In no way are we saying people holding an IT or technology job are criminals. Let’s face it, people that are laid off from a technical type job have the skills to make money over the internet but it is not always legal. Many of them just want to make it through the month without missing their bills and have resorted to joining the cybercrime community.

Hackers are selling Facebook accounts for a low cost to spamming groups that spread Malware.

Lately it has been found that hackers are starting to sell stolen Facebook accounts for a very low price to gangs that send millions of spam messages to computer users. These spamming gangs are sending spam messages that urge computer users to click on fake video or photo links within the message. Being able to use a stolen Facebook profile they can reach several users and flood their inboxes with these malicious messages in a sneaky way.

When you are the member of a social community such as Facebook or MySpace you automatically have a certain level of trust that people on your friends list send you legitimate messages. What if a hacker obtained your profile and sent out messages that included malware? You would probably become infected because you fell for this trick.

Do you know what VirusProtector 2008 is?

DESCRIPTION

VirusProtector 2008 or Virus Protector 2008, is a fake anti-spyware program that is known to come from the Zlob or Vundo Trojan. Usually VirusProtector 2008 is installed without notification to the system administrator. This can pose a serious issue if VirusProtector 2008 is left on a computer for a good amount of time. Virus Protector 2008 may start to perform malicious actions while installed such as changing settings on your web browser or interrupt your internet connection at times.

In many cases VirusProtector 2008, once installed, starts to prompt you with several popups or system alert messages that are totally bogus. You may start to notice that your system is not operating at its full speed due to having VirusProtector 2008 installed.

Do you know what MS Antispyware 2009 is?

DESCRIPTION

MS Antispyware 2009 was exposed as a sneaky and fake anti-spyware program. MS Antispyware 2009 may not be on your list of programs to download but it may be installed without your actions through a Trojan horse. In many cases MS Antispyware 2009 is installed through a Trojan infection such as Zlob or Vundo without getting the computer administrators permission. MS Antispyware 2009 may also come directly from the www.msantispyware2009.com website which should never be visited.

MS Antispyware 2009 performs many malicious actions such as scanning your system for parasites. Not to our surprise is the fact that the MS Antispyware 2009 scan results are bogus. It may list legitimate spyware parasites in the scan list but they are probably not present on your computer. MSAntispyware 2009 cannot be trusted to scan for spyware or even remove it. MS Antispyware 2009 is actually a useless program.

Parents Not Doing Enough to Prevent Kids from Become an Online Predator or Cybercrook Victim.

A new nationwide survey was conducted by CA, Inc. revealing that parents are not monitoring their kid’s online activity nor being proactive when it comes to online security. Less than half of the parents who took the survey were reported to be monitoring their teen children. From the vast amount of social networks to online chatting, kids are utilizing these online tools to communicate with unknown persons and unsecure networks which could be a serious security risk to you and your child.

Let’s face it, there are many online creeps and criminals looking for their next victim who may not know that they are being targeted. The reality is, everyone is a target. CA, Inc., an Information Technology Management company, conducted its survey showing 90 percent of American adults are concerned about the safety of personal information online. On the other side of the spectrum are kids of these very same adults. It seems the adults, although concerned about their online safety, have not taken the proper actions to monitor their kid’s online activities. About 87 percent of teens are using social networks online. Of that 87 percent, 38 percent of them post their education info, 32 percent post their email address, 28 percent disclose their birthdates and about 19 percent display their full name online. With enough information at his or her disposal, an online predator would not have many roadblocks to overcome if they were looking for their next young victim of identity theft.

The state of Cybersecurity could have a negative impact on the economy if we do not act now.

Just the other day we talked about the battle of cybercrime getting out of control. We also mentioned that Cybercrime is like today’s economy, if we do nothing now then we could be setting ourselves up for even greater disasters. Now let’s talk about that statement and how it really relates to the economy.

Security researchers believe that cybercrooks would eventually worsen the economy even further. So what we are facing is an actual reality of cybercrime causing a much worse economy. You may ask the question: “How can this economy get any worse”? It is simple actually, more layoffs, more businesses closing and desperate people trying to make a living any way they can. That means hackers are in the mix too. Hackers will resort to attacking more and more systems over the internet and stealing money through cyberspace under our noses.

Do you know what SpyRemover Pro is?

DESCRIPTION

SpyRemover Pro is an utterly ridiculous excuse for a spyware removal program. SpyRemover Pro is nothing more than another rogue anti-spyware program that may come from shareware or key crack websites.

SpyRemover Pro uses fake virus infection reports or popup messages to scare computer users into purchasing a full license to SpyRemover Pro. SpyRemover Pro makes your computer run slowly may cause damage to personal files or other stored data.

During our economic slowdown more and more hackers are seeking desperate measures and seem to be committing cybercrime at an alarming rate

It may be getting to the point where the public is such in a frantic state that they fall victim to scams designed to use the failing economy as an attack angle. Law enforcement agencies are actually losing the battle to conquer cybercrime.

Every day I look at one of my primary email inboxes and I have to literally delete up to a hundred spam messages from the spam queue (messages thought to be spam). I see messages from penis enlargement pills to free $500 holiday gift cards. It seems more and more systems are being compromised such as in the case of the Srizbi Botnet. I even brought our reader’s attention how spam is still increasing despite shutting down a main culprit that hosted botnets that send spam messages. It seems to be a never-ending battle.

Do you know what System Booster 2009 is?

DESCRIPTION

System Booster 2009 or SystemBooster 2009, is a fake optimizer program that may be heavily promoted on malicious websites over the internet including www.systembooster2009.com. System Booster 2009 does not “boost” the performance of your computer. In reality, System Booster 2009 may slow down your computer because it is really designed to promote itself through popups or aggravating messages that tell computer users that they have system errors or system risks.

System Booster 2009 may be advertised on hacker web pages that say it is the best program to fix all problems. One thing they fail to mention is that System Booster 2009 is your problem. Do not ever trust the System Booster 2009 program and for goodness sake, never purchase the System Booster 2009 program.

Do you know what Antivirus 360 is?

DESCRIPTION

Antivirus 360 is another rogue anti-spyware program that is named to trick users into thinking that it is related to a well-known security tool such as Norton 360. Antivirus 360 is nothing like Norton or any other reputable security tool. The Zlob Trojan may be responsible for installing the Antivirus 360 program onto computers over the internet without the permission of the computer operator.

Antivirus 360 is basically 360 degrees of utter destruction. When Antivirus 360 is installed it will promote the purchase of the full version through scare tactics usually from popups and fake alert messages. The Antivirus 360 messages usually tell you that it is identified or found an infecting or error on your system. These messages are totally bogus and cannot be trusted.