From an outbreak of malicious spyware to the UK’s bill on investigatory powers, here’s our comprehensive breakdown of cybersecurity news from the past week.
Remtasu is disguised in Facebook hacking tool
ESET’s Camilo Gutierrez Amaya reported how Remtasu, a well-known piece of spyware, which first surfaced almost four years ago, is now appearing in disguise on an app to hack into Facebook accounts. Whereas previous incarnations of Remtasu were spread in email attachments, this strain is coming from direct download sites and is installed when a user downloads and executes the file themselves after seeing adverts for it’s capabilities. Mr. Amaya noted that “although having security software can help in detecting malicious content, taking care of what you click on will bring further protection against such threats”.
How to isolate VBS of JScript malware with visual studio
ESET’s Diego Perez detailed how you can use Microsoft Visual Audio to isolate malware and debug a computer. “This is one of the methods we use at the ESET Laboratory to analyze a file written in JavaScript,” explains Mr. Perez. “Using these processes and tools, we can study each step in a possible malware infection, understand its goals and grab the original code from samples which are strongly obfuscated.”
Facebook security cheat sheet
Social sharing on networking sites has become commonplace, but many users still aren’t fully utilizing Facebook’s security features, and, furthermore, do not understand the implications of sharing personal information publicly online. ESET released its Facebook cheat sheet to coincide with Safer Internet Day detailing how to customize privacy settings and avoid compromising personal information.
Southwest Airlines flight giveaway scams spread on Facebook
Once again Facebook users have been duped into liking and sharing a Facebook page, in the belief that they might be rewarded with a first class plane ticket. A page purporting to be Southwest airlines received 23,000 shares and 14,500 likes on one such post. “The end result of all these shenanigans, of course is to trick Facebook users into poor decisions – whether it be taking online surveys which earn affiliate cash for the scammers, signing up for expensive premium rate mobile services, or spamming the unwary with unwanted (and sometimes malicious) messages,” noted security analyst Graham Cluley.
ICS calls for latest draft investigatory powers bill to go further to protect privacy
The Intelligence and Security Committee in the UK deemed the latest Draft Investigatory Powers Bill as a “missed opportunity”, according to its latest report. The bill aims to give issues such as mass data collection and hacking by British spies a more comprehensive legal framework, but the ICS stated that it “fails to deliver the clarity so badly needed in this area”.
Cybersecurity e-learning course launches in the UK for HR staff
It was reported that a free online course to help HR professionals effectively deal with cybersecurity issues has been launched in the UK. This comes a year after government statistics found that online security breaches can cost businesses up to $2.1 million. The minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, Ed Vaizey, stated that “HR professionals handle sensitive personal data so it’s crucial they are able to protect this properly”.
