malware

Infopackets Reader 'Rebecca' writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently purchased a tablet with Windows 10 and I have Windows Defender running. My question is whether I need to install any other protection to stop people (hackers) from being able to steal my ... bank details, etc. My dad was recently a victim of this but I don't know how to protect myself. How can I keep my PC secure in 2017? Thank you in advance! " My response: I have been asked this question no less than 100 times in the last 16 years I've been writing articles online - but the truth of the matter is that the answer changes slightly as ... (view more)

Android phones from a variety of companies have reached business employees with malware already installed according to researchers. How and why it got there is not yet confirmed. The report comes from Checkpoint, a security company. It says it was ... examining devices used by staff at two businesses: one a "large telecommunications company" and the other a "multinational technology company." (Source: checkpoint.com ) While it's not unusual to find malware on employee phones during some checks -- that's partly the purpose of hiring services such as Checkpoint. ... (view more)

Chrome browser users have been warned to watch out for a sneaky malware attack. The trick involves a bogus on-screen message that claims the user needs to download a missing font. The people responsible are using hacked websites on the WordPress ... platform to operate the scam. They've altered the page so that the text appears to have been corrupted and is made up largely of symbols such as black diamonds and question marks. The page then displays an on-screen message that's carefully designed to look like a genuine Chrome error message, complete with the correct logos, shapes and even ... (view more)

A new form of ransomware offers victims the chance to escape the release fee by fooling two friends into paying up instead. A security expert likened it to a malware version of a pyramid scheme. Traditionally ransomware involves malware getting onto ... a computer and then encrypting all files, with an on-screen message demanding the victim pay a fee to regain access. It's unknown what proportion of people pay up, but some big organizations such as hospitals and police forces are known to have paid the fee in the past, rather than lose sensitive data or access to control systems. The new ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Mike B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read John Lister's article on ' 700M Android Phones Contain Chinese Spyware ', and I have a related question. I've just bought myself a Windows 10 phone (Lumia 640 XLT LTE). I like it, but am ... unsure what I need to do, if anything, about antivirus / malware protection. I'm a bit paranoid about this stuff and keep my home PC up to date and protected, and backed up. I read in a number of places that it's not necessary to have antivirus / anti-malware software on the Windows Phone. Is this true, or do I need some form of malware protection ... (view more)

Google is to take harsher actions against sites that it determines house malware or attempt to steal user data. Repeat offenders will effectively be hidden from view from many users for 30 days. The changes are to Google's Safe Browsing feature, ... which vets sites for malicious content. The feature is built into the Chrome browser and made available for other online tools. It's also built-in to all the links from Google search results, regardless of the user's browser. When Google detects a site is potentially harmful, it won't take users directly to the page when they click on ... (view more)

Opponents of proposed changes that could make government surveillance of computers easier have warned time is running out. The changes will take effect on December 1 unless Congress passes a law to stop them. The debate involves the Federal Rules of ... Criminal Procedure, which is effectively the rulebook of the judicial system. Rule 41 sets out how search warrants work in federal cases. Earlier this year the Supreme Court agreed to a request from the Justice Department for three changes to Rule 41. The first is an exception to the usual principle that a local judge can only issue a search ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jason B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1. After a few days of the upgrade, I keep getting a strange DLL error message stating that 'SysMenu.dll could not be found'. The error ... message always seems to appear right after I boot or reboot the computer, and about 2 or 3 minutes after I gain access to the desktop. The error message is: 'There was a problem starting C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\System\SysMenu.dll. The specified module could not be found.' I have searched Google from high to low on how to fix this error, but the solutions ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gerry O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running windows 8.1 and have a program that reports an ntdll.dll failure. Will an upgrade to Windows 10 (not clean install) create a new ntdll.dll file, would I need to do a clean install of ... windows 10? Is there another way of getting a clean ntdll.dll file without upgrading? " My response: The file ntdll.dll is typically located in c:\windows\system32, and in very old versions of Windows (such as Windows XP), in the c:\i386 directory. The ntdll.dll file is a legitimate dynamic link library file (DLL) and is referred to as the "NT Layer ... (view more)

A newly-identified piece of malware has achieved arguably the ultimate goal of cybercriminals. "Nemesis" is able to infect a Windows computer before the operating system is loaded. The malware is a particularly nasty form of a rootkit . That's ... software which is able to inappropriately access some of the core components of a computer (both hardware and software), often disguising its actions. A rootkit is a serious problem because it's often completely undetectable, which means that it can easily override antivirus software to carry out malicious tasks. In this case, the Nemesis ... (view more)