Viruses & Malware

Security researchers are warning about ransomware called Koler that demands $300 from Android users who bite on a fake app typically found on porn sites.

The phony BaDoink streaming app, which contains the Koler Trojan, is up on porn sites around the world, says Armando Orozco, senior malware intelligence analyst for Malwarebytes. The company gives credit to a researcher working under the name Kafeine for the discovery of the Android ransomware.

You can't see some malware until it's too late. Sophisticated attacks arrive in pieces, each seemingly benign. Once these advanced attacks reassemble, the target is already compromised.

FireEye takes a new approach to malware detection with its NX appliances. As this Clear Choice test shows, the FireEye device allows advanced malware to proceed – but only onto virtual machines running inside the appliance.

You might soon need an antivirus package for your smart television set, according to Eugene Kaspersky. The 48 year-old chief executive of Kaspersky Labs has been speaking to the Telegraph about the future of computer security in the wake of Heartbleed, and warned that as the Internet of Things expands, users need to stay on top of the security packages they have installed.

"Virus Shield", an app that briefly shot to the top of the charts on Google Play, has turned out to be a complete fake and has therefore been pulled by Google.

The scam, turned up by Android Police, is as simple as a con-man could wish for: the app includes almost no functionality whatever, yet it was briefly a chart-topper on Google Play, something that at $US3.99 for the download.

Malwarebytes has announced the release of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.0, its flagship security tool.

A new heuristics engine detects malware based on its behavior, rather than signatures. The integration of Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit further enhances its protection, and Anti-Malware’s interface has been completely redesigned for a simpler, more modern look.

Don't click on any link that says it has shocking video of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. According to multiple reports, links promising resolution for the missing Flight MH370 are scams.

Videos with titles like "Malaysian Airlines missing flight MH370 found in Sea -- 50 people alive saved" have spread through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Wired U.K reports. Malware intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes Chris Boyd told Wired that links being spread through Twitter originally appeared on Facebook.

David Jevans, CTO and founder of Marble Security, recently received some bad feedback from a potential customer testing his company's product, which helps organizations manage and secure their mobile devices.

"They basically said 'Your stuff doesn't work'," Jevans said. "It thinks Netflix is malicious."

Early computer viruses spread over what we called "sneaker net," with one infected floppy disk inserted in one computer after another. Online networks make infections move much faster — but, until now, all the infections had been from computer to computer, or server to computer. They had never spread from one disconnected Wi-Fi network to another before.

One of the go-to strategies for securing a computer network when a machine is infected with malware is to remove that machine from the network. This effectively prevents the malware from spreading to other devices.

The technique is called "air-gapping" — network admins are building a "roadblock" quite literally made out of air to stop malicious computer code from propagating throughout a network. With no cables connecting the affected machine to the rest of the network, malware has no "road" by which to travel.

Until now, Google hasn’t talked about malware on Android because it did not have the data or analytic platform to back its security claims. But that changed dramatically today when Google’s Android Security chief Adrian Ludwig reported data showing that less than an estimated 0.001% of app installations on Android are able to evade the system’s multi-layered defenses and cause harm to users. Android, built on an open innovation model, has quietly resisted the locked down, total control model spawned by decades of Windows malware.