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SECURITY ALERT: Fastest Moving Computer Virus Hits Millions Worldwide

VirusOn December 6th millions were hit by what experts are calling the fastest moving computer virus ever. The data security attack hit the UK very hard, but in the world of cyber crime, it doesn’t take long to spread worldwide.

Here are the details that you need to know to avoid the bug and protect your machines from Daily Mail.  Bottom line:  DO NOT IGNORE YOUR ANTI-VIRUS UPDATES and ensure your data protection plan is working.

Worldwide systems were buckling after the ‘Sobig.F’ spread to 134 countries in just 96 hours, generating tens of millions of e-mails.
Experts fear it could increase the volume of electronic traffic by a staggering 60per cent, slowing the internet to a crawl.
It is believed to have cost British businesses alone hundreds of millions in lost orders and system crashes. The global cost will be immense.
Individual companies have been bombarded with millions of copies of the virus, while home users have seen their machines “jammed” by up to 6,000.
The PC World chain said tens of thousands of customers had brought in computers to be “cleaned” by technicians.
Experts say Sobig appears to have been written by senders of “spam” – unwanted junk e-mail – trying to find ways past internet filters which block their messages.
The new digital onslaught comes hard on the heels of two other major viruses, Blaster and Nachi. “This is the worst barrage of viruses in the history of computing,” said Graham Cluley of Sophos Anti-Virus.
“Even companies who are properly protected are feeling a slowdown. Sobig. F is the fastest-spreading virus of all time and if it carries on at this pace for a few more days it will become the most prevalent too.”
MessageLabs, a British-based Internet security firm, said it had intercepted more than a million copies of Sobig.F in 24 hours, more than for any other virus.
One in 17 of all e-mails sent since Monday was infected. By comparison the ‘LoveBug’ virus, which hit the headlines three years ago, was found in one in every 28 e-mails at its height. Sobig.F spreads when unsuspecting users open attachments in e-mails that contain such headings as “Thank you”, “Re: Details” or “Re: Wicked Screensaver”.
It sends multiple copies of itself to every name in a person’s address book – so each infected machine can spawn hundreds of e-mails.
Sobig.F also tries to implant a background program which turns computers into a relay for any messages sent by the virus’s creators – greatly increasing their earnings.
Experts advise users to keep anti-virus software up to date, never open an e-mail attachment unless they know what it is and delete uninvited e-mail – particularly from an unknown sender.
Mr Cluley said even e-mails which seem to come from friends or colleagues should be treated with caution.
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Rising Costs A Growing IT Security Concern With Data Breaches

Data protectionThe following is a data protection guest post article from Manmohan Hebbar at LockLizard PDF IT Security:

Whenever a data breach takes place in an organization, it serves as a cautionary note for other enterprises. IT administrators gather information from such events in order to prevent similar attacks in their organizations that can severely damage the company’s reputation and the consequences it could have on the customer base. What many do not realize is the rising cost of data breaches that can be just as severe as the attack itself.

According to a recent report released by the Ponemon Institute, data breaches that occurred in 2013 cost businesses and enterprises an average of 10% more than the security incidents that took place in 2012, reaching a whopping $5.5 million in expenditures connected to repercussions of data breaches. The report further revealed that data breaches which took place in 2012 cost organizations an average of $200 per endangered or misplaced record, which was raised to $250 per record in 2013.

Other additional findings from the report revealed general trends that can have critical implications for enterprises across the world. These include:

    • Customer base is lost after a data breach, especially seen in the financial services sector. Not many customers remain loyal to the organization after the security incident.
    • Intentional or criminal attacks in organizations have taken prominence as the important cause of data compromises in many countries.
    • For the first time, the report revealed that maintaining business continuity processes involved in the redress of a data attack can help in minimizing the expenditures.

Loss of sensitive information or classified data can take place due to a variety of reasons – including infected documents or a malicious insider – a growing concern that has been one of the largest causes of lost data due to unprotected mobile devices. According to a report by Health IT Outcomes, the healthcare sector has been greatly hampered by security breaches due to malicious insiders with unprotected cell phones. In addition, a recent notice from the FBI alerted the healthcare sector that such incidents could go up further in the near future due to the movement from physical documents to electronic records.

When the Federal Reserve’s computers in New York and Chicago branches were hacked into, sophisticated hackers gathered the personal information of the employees, including names and personal records that left the Federal Reserve wondering how it could have been left exposed to such a security disaster. Even though the Federal Reserve invests a good deal of money on data security, industry sources pointed out to weak data management and poorly guarded data storages that compromised the entire data of the system.

Worldwide research agency Gartner has also claimed that such IT security issues are likely to grow bigger as security threats and the dangers of unreasonable interdependence start to become common.

New IT security threats are constantly on the horizon and along with new directions, such as virtualization, changing network topographies. But the debate arises whether it is still important to secure the network perimeter or opt for open collaboration in order to minimize data breaches. And while the debate rages on, it is important first and foremost to control the data within an organization.

Decision makers need to realize that documents and files within their organization must be controlled while unauthorized distribution of PDF documents must be safeguarded. Safeguard PDF Security from LockLizard is the ideal mechanism that offers complete protection for PDF documents through its multi-layered security levels that does more than just password protection.

Register for our Data Protection Assessment

Recieve a $25 gift card from Great Lakes Computer when you register for a free network assessment to evaluate your data protection and data recovery practices.

The Author, Manmohan Hebbar, is an expert in the field of intellectual property and online Data Management. She contributes her views about online document Security, PDF security, Enterprise PDF DRM Software and related topics.

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Does Free Antivirus Software Do the Job?

Data SecurityWhen you run a small business, you spend money on the bare essentials – and that’s it. Sometimes, that means cutting some corners. Others, it’s hard to tell what really is essential to running your business.

So does antivirus fall into the category as something essential that you should spend money on? Let’s take a closer look:

The Pros of Free Antivirus

    1. The Obvious Benefit – It’s Free:You don’t have to pay for it, so that’s nice. The cliché goes “the best things in life are free.” And let’s be honest – you do get some protection with a free antivirus program.
    2. You Have Control: You don’t have to call someone else to make the fix for you. You don’t have to train or manage another employee. You can take care of managing your antivirus when, how, and where you want to.
    3. You can Preview the Program Before You Buy It: Wouldn’t it be nice if you could try out a new car for 60 days before you purchase it, knowing you could get all money back if you didn’t like it? The nice thing is with most free antivirus programs, you can at least get a taste of what they do before fully committing.

The Cons of Free Antivirus

    1. You Have to Administer It: If you don’t like technology, or you’re not the DIY type, administering your antivirus can be a real headache. Technological problems, if you don’t have the specific expertise, will eat away hours of your day that would be better spent doing what you’re really good at.
    2. It’s not as Strong as a Paid Antivirus Option: Malware, viruses, trojans, and all sorts of cyber-attacks can sneak right past your antivirus. With a free option, this is much more likely to happen.
    3. They Aren’t Updated as Frequently as Paid Versions: This means cybercriminals have a window of opportunity to attack your computer and your network. It’s still unlikely they’ll nail you during a limited window of opportunity, but it can happen.
    4. Sometimes They Come with Unnecessary Junk You Don’t Want:This can include social networking toolbars, search toolbars, and annoying pop-up ads. They’re not harmful to your computer, but they are irritating to deal with.
    5. Some Won’t Catch Malware Before it Hits Your Hard Drive: Most good anti-virus programs identify and remove the threat before it even gets on your computer. Free antivirus programs may let the malware actually get on your computer, and then attempt to remove it. Once malware is on your computer, though, it can wreak havoc, even if you have a good antivirus program. Some can completely disable your antivirus and internet access. Others take your computer hostage and force you to pay a ransom fee to get use of your computer back.

Get Paid Antivirus and Hire Someone Else to Monitor Your Computer Network If You Can

In business, it always makes sense to do what you do best and hire out the rest. If a virus takes your computer network down for 1, 2, or 3 days, how much is that going to cost you?
Will you go bankrupt if that happens?

Paid antivirus is a good preventative measure to take – use it as soon as possible.

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Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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