According to PandaLabs, social engineering is cyber-crooks’ preferred technique for deceiving users by convincing them to take a series of actions therefore obtaining confidential information from users. Crime-ware and social engineering go hand-in-hand: a carefully selected social engineering ploy convinces users to hand over their data or install a malicious program which captures information and sends it on to the fraudsters.

Cyber-crooks, however, are also exploiting other channels, such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and given the access to millions of users that these social networks provide, they have become just as popular among the criminal fraternity for spreading malware as email. 

A Recently discovered, new Facebook attack that utilizes users walls to spread harmless messages inviting users to install a Valentine’s Day theme on Facebook. However, if the user clicks the wall post, they are redirected to a page where they are prompted to install the theme. This installs a malware file which, once run, displays ads from other websites. It also downloads an extension that monitors Web activities and redirects sessions to survey pages that request sensitive information like phone numbers.

Some weeks ago, the PandaLabs blog reported on a link included in a Twitter profile that took users to a dating site: http://pandalabs.pandasecurity.com/sex-lies-and-twitter/. Special dates like Valentine’s Day can see a proliferation of malicious Twitter posts used to steal users’ confidential data and empty their bank accounts through social engineering. 

Here is a collection of some of the Valentine’s Day themed malware campaigns detected by PandaLabs in recent years: 

Waledac.C: This worm spread by email trying to pass itself off as a greeting card. The email message includes a link to download the card. However, if the user clicks the link and accepts the subsequent file download they are actually letting the Waledac.C worm into their computer. Once it infects the computer, the worm uses the affected user’s email to send out spam.

I Love.exe you: This was a RAT (Remote Access Trojan) that gave attackers access to the victim’s computer and all their personal information. The Trojan allowed the virus creator to access target computers remotely, steal passwords and manage files.

Nuwar.OL: This worm spread in email messages with subjects like “I love You So Much”, “Inside My Heart” or “You in My Dreams”. The text of the email included a link to a website that downloads the malicious code. The page was very simple and looked like a romantic greeting card with a large pink heart. Once it infected a computer, the worm sent out a large amount of emails, creating a heavy load on networks and slowing down computers.

Website that downloaded the Nuwar.OL worm.  Pic available at: http://prensa.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/NuwarOL.jpg

Valentin.E: This worm spread by email in messages with subjects like “Searching for True Love” or “True Love” and an attached file called “friends4u”. If the targeted user opened the file, a copy of the worm was downloaded. Then, the worm sent out emails with copies of itself from the infected computer to spread and infect more users.

Desktop wallpaper displayed by Valentin.E.  Available at: http://prensa.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Valentin.E.jpg

Storm Worm: This worm spread via email by employing a number of lures, one of them exploiting Valentine’s Day. If the targeted user clicked the link in the email, a Web page was displayed while the worm was downloaded in the background.

Web page displayed by Storm Worm. You can see the image at: http://prensa.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/STORMWORM.jpg

PandaLabs offers users a series of tips to avoid falling victim to computer threats:

• Do not open emails or messages received on social networks from unknown senders.
 
• Do not click any links included in email messages, even though they may come from reliable sources. It is better to type the URL directly in the browser. This rule applies to messages received through any mail client, as well as those in Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks or messaging applications, etc. If you do click on any such links, take a close look at the page you arrive at. If you don’t recognize it, close your browser.

• Do not run attached files that come from unknown sources. Especially these days, stay on the alert for files that claim to be Valentine Day’s greeting cards, romantic videos, etc.

• Even if the page seems legitimate, but asks you to download something, you should be suspicious and don’t accept the download. If, in any event, you download and install any type of executable file and you begin to see unusual messages on your computer, you have probably been infected with malware.

• If you are making any purchases online, type the address of the store in the browser, rather than going through any links that have been sent to you. Only buy online from sites that have a solid reputation and offer secure transactions, encrypting all information that is entered in the page.

• Do not use shared or public computers, or an unsecured WiFi connection, for making transactions or operations that require you to enter passwords or other personal details.

• Have an effective security solution installed, capable of detecting both known and new malware strains.

Panda Security offers you several free tools for scanning computers for malware, like Panda Cloud Antivirus: www.cloudantivirus.com

More information is available in the PandaLabs blog: http://pandalabs.pandasecurity.com

According to the report, malware creation hit a new record high in 2011 with 26 million new strains in circulation. This is nearly one-third of all malware (88 million) that has ever existed and been classified by Panda Security.

These figures show cyber-criminals sheer capacity to automate the creation of new malware variants, further evidence show the average number of new threats created and released every day increased from 63,000 to 73,000 since last year.

Panda Security leverages Collective Intelligence, a cloud-based proprietary system that automatically detects, analyzes and classifies 99.4 percent of all malware received, leaving just 0.6 percent to be dealt with manually.

In November 2011, PandaLabs announced that Collective Intelligence had reached a historic milestone by processing 200 million files, and this number has already reached 210 million in 2012.

Malware

In 2009, Trojans made up 60 percent of all malware, the percentage then dropped to 56 percent in 2010. However last year in 2011 the percentage jumped up to 73 percent and Trojans then dominated the threat landscape more than ever before. This means that three out of every four new malware strains created were Trojans, followed by viruses (14.24 percent) and worms (8.13 percent).

The countries leading the list of most infections are once again Thailand, China and Taiwan, with 60, 56 and 52 percent of infected computers respectively. These are actually the only countries that exceed the worldwide average of 38.49 percent.

2011: THE YEAR OF CYBER-ATTACKS, SOCIAL MEDIA AND CYBER-WAR

The report offers a general view of the most important events regarding computer security in 2011. Sony suffered a massive breach that led to the theft of data belonging to 100 million user accounts in what is probably the largest-ever Internet security break-in, whereas the Steam video game service, used by 35 million people, was also compromised by hackers.

Social networking sites, mainly Facebook and Twitter, play a vital role in the life of Internet users and are extensively covered in the report. 2011 witnessed the launch of a new social media service in a bid to rival Facebook: Google+. Despite its rapid growth, with more than 25 million users registered in just few weeks, Google+ is still far away from its direct competitor, Facebook, which makes it less of a target for cyber-crooks.

Cyber-war also grabbed headlines in 2011. The number of cyber-attacks multiplied all over the world, affecting governments and government contractors -like weapons manufacturers- alike.  Besides offering an overview of the most significant events in the computer security field, the 2011 Annual Security Report also forecasts future trends for 2012.

The full report is available at: http://press.pandasecurity.com/press-room/reports/. Visit the PandaLabs blog for more information about these and other threats:  http://pandalabs.pandasecurity.com/

AV-Test.org evaluated the protection, repair, usability and performance impact of 23 home user and 8 corporate antivirus products under Windows 7 in November and December 2011.

Panda Security’s free consumer antivirus solution scored highly across the board, and achieved top rankings in usability (5.5 out of 6 points). In addition, it obtained an excellent score in protection (5 points), well above the average for other solutions.

Panda Cloud Antivirus measured 50 percent below average for impact levels of overall system performance while still delivering good protection levels and only detected one false positive – a legitimate file erroneously tagged as malware – out of the more than 481, 000 test files, whereas other products tested averaged fifteen incorrect detections.

The full report is available at: http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/test-reports/

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.5.1, the latest iteration of the software, includes performance improvements as well as new functionality requested by Panda Security’s user community. This low resource usage is a primary benefit of Collective Intelligence, Panda Security’s proprietary technology for automatically collecting and processing millions of malware samples in the cloud.

This is the third consecutive award of the AV-Test ‘Certified’ seal for Panda Cloud Antivirus, and continues a trend of recognition for the company’s free cloud-based protection after the tests carried out in July-August and September-October.
 
In addition to that, independent lab AV-Comparatives recognized the software with Advanced+ certification in its latest ‘On-demand Detection of Malicious Software’ test. More information on these tests is available at: http://press.pandasecurity.com/news/panda-cloud-antivirus-achieves-advanced-rating-in-its-first-participation-in-av-comparatives-tests/

For more information about Panda Cloud Antivirus and to download the product, please visit http://www.cloudantivirus.com.

Panda Cloud Office Protection 6.0 is an easy to use, secure security solution. It includes policies to block dangerous actions commonly carried out by malware, self-protection against malware that tries to damage or remove the antivirus, and real-time access to Collective Intelligence.

The beta version can be downloaded for free at http://www.pandasecurity.com/promotions/betatest/pcop.

Panda Security has launched a couple of initiatives alongside the beta release: The first 200 new customers who use the beta on at least two PCs will receive six months of free service (up to 250 licenses). In addition, the beta testers who suggest the most helpful improvements will be awarded with a $200 Amazon.com gift certificate.

Key Features of the new release includes Device control technologies against malware in external devices, allowing companies to increase productivity by preventing improper use of those media. This technology allows companies to enforce actions -deny access, force read-only access, grant total access- on multiple types of devices (USB flash drives, digital cameras, DVDs, etc.) from the Panda Cloud Office Protection Web-based console.

The new version is hosted in Windows Azure, a cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers and designed to support highly available, scalable and reliable applications. Windows Azure uses a set of privacy and security controls that ensure maximum protection of its hosted data and applications.

Micklefield previously ran various products on their network none which worked as expected. “We experienced a vast number of threats, slowdowns and had problems with the renewal process as it had to be done manually on every computer,” says Judi Francisco, computer teacher from Micklefield School.

Simplified IT Services – an IT infrastructure service company delivering branded products to the commercial sector, recommended and implemented Panda Cloud Office Protection using the built-in deployment tool.

“Micklefield wanted to go forward in IT thinking and as there is no IT infrastructure as such, Panda Cloud Office Protection is perfect” says Mureed Abrahams from Simplified IT Services.

Panda Cloud Office Protection is easy to use and maintain it ensures effective end-point protection while reducing security headaches such as complexity, administrative and financial overhead and malware threats.

Since installing Panda, Micklefield has noticed a reduction in security threats and no longer has to deal with time consuming renewal processes, resulting in fewer support calls to Simplified IT Services.

Panda Cloud Office Protection allows the service provider to manage and prevent any network and virus issues that occur while enabling educators to focus more on educating and less on maintaining and update anti-virus tables.

Barracuda needed a solution to work efficiently with the Blackspider antispam product and one that did not interfere with its EPOS system, as had previously occurred.

Panda Cloud Office Protection has been implemented across the network with minimal interruption and queries were swiftly dealt with by the Panda UK technical support team.

“One issue was identified in early testing where the deployment tool needed minor updates to work with our custom proxy settings,” says Mark Gurney, IT Manager for the Barracuda Pub Group.

“Having experienced products from a number of various suppliers, Panda’s most significant differentiator is the focus on providing a service rather than just a product,” he adds.

Panda Cloud Office Protection is the endpoint solution protection of Panda Cloud Protection, a cloud based security solution, delivered in a Security as a Service model that provides complete protection services for the major threat vectors: endpoint, email and web.

Since installing Panda, Barracuda has noticed a reduction in time and resources in protecting users and on-going maintenance is almost non-existent. “The automatic reports showing intrusions stopped and graphs assure us the protection is working,” says Gurney.

Panda Cloud Office Protection offers ease of use, detection capabilities of 100percent of known and unknown malware threats and full visibility of all systems at a single glance through the console.

This November Panda Security and DreamWorks Animation present an exciting new promotion; with any purchase of either Panda Internet Security 2012 or Panda Global Protection 2012 you will receive a free copy of the new Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD.

The Panda Security 2012 range is a comprehensive suite of security solutions for consumers that protects against viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud, identity theft and all other internet-borne threats.

Like other Panda products, the Panda Security 2012 range is powered by the company’s unique underlying technology, Collective Intelligence, which automates the resource intensive process of malware scanning and analysis in the cloud, enabling faster protection against the newest and most dangerous threats while reducing the antivirus’ impact on PC performance.

The promotion runs until the end of December 2011 making it the perfect Christmas gift for “Panda” fans.

DVD’s only available from the 21st November 2011.

To claim your DVD or for more information, visit http://www.scorewithpanda.co.za/

Panda Security’s, Panda Cloud Office Protection is a cloud-based antivirus and endpoint protection that helps you Forget Security headaches like:
•    Complexity – no more antivirus servers or VPNs needed.
•    Financial Overheads – Eliminate costly management and maintenance of computing resources
•    Slowdowns in system performance – Lighter footprint
•    Undetected malware defeated by combining security from the cloud with traditional endpoint protection.

This is all possible with just a single web browser to install and manage the endpoint protection from anywhere at any time.

Panda Cloud Office Protection is uniquely suited to small and medium-sized businesses, which want easy-to-use, yet robust virus protection so they can concentrate on their core business.

It is ideal for businesses with:
•    Limited budgets and small IT teams, helping to reducing IT costs and reducing travel time
•    Remote offices/distributed users
•    A need for stronger security, Maximizes Protection, provides continuous Security Updates and Collective Intelligence

BizTech Magazine reviewed the Panda Cloud Office Protection and stated “Panda Cloud Office Protection (PCOP) provides cost-effective enterprise-class security for SMBs, the cloud simplifies management and reduces costs, while also providing more effective security with less impact on PC performance.” For the full article, visit http://www.biztechmagazine.com

Panda Security has launched a mini site to help users understand the benefits of Panda Cloud Office Protection. There are helpful whitepapers and an introductory video on how the technology works. Visit http://www.forgetsecurity.co.za/ for more information.

AV-Test.org and AV-Comparatives.org evaluations compared Version 1.5.1 of Panda Cloud Antivirus to over 20 other free and paid antivirus programs. Panda successfully detected 99.3 percent of the more than 200,000 samples used by AV-Comparatives. The results of these tests reinforce the powerful protection capabilities of Panda Cloud Antivirus. Tests also included a false positive detection report. Panda incorrectly detected only one clean file as malware, whereas other top free antivirus solutions had 10 or more false positives.

The full reports are available at AV-Comparatives.org and AV-Test.org.

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.5.1, launched this June, includes performance improvements as well as new features suggested by Panda Security’s user community. Since Cloud Antivirus’ initial release in 2009 as the first free ‘in the cloud’ security service for home users, millions around the world have benefitted from its award-winning free antivirus protection and incredibly lightweight footprint. The latter is a major benefit of Collective Intelligence, Panda’s proprietary technology for automatically collecting and processing millions of malware samples in the cloud instead of locally on the user’s PC. 

For more information about Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition or to download the product, please visit http://www.cloudantivirus.com

Panda Internet Security 2012 has obtained great results in the latest detection tests conducted by the AV-Test.org and AV-Comparatives.org laboratories. According to Andreas Marx, CEO of AV-Test.org, “Once again, Panda Internet Security was one of the top products in our certification tests. It’s the first time we tested the new 2012 edition of Panda Internet Security, and it performed very well in our tests. We do not only focus on protection, but also on repair and usability aspects in our tests and in all tested areas, Panda Internet Security scored 5 points or higher out of a maximum number of 6 points.” It was also one of only four products to achieve a score higher than 15 points.

Global IT vendor Panda Security has announced the launch of its new 2012 consumer product lineup: Panda Internet Security 2012 for Netbooks, Panda Antivirus Pro 2012, Panda Internet Security 2012 and Panda Global Protection 2012. All these solutions are available for online purchase from June 1 and will be hitting the main retailers and department stores over the next few months.

“Panda Security’s 2012 product line is the most complete ever”, says Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda’s sub-Saharan operations. “The new solutions have been especially designed for Internet users who make the most of Web 2.0 and the digital world.”

These products deliver real-time protection against known and unknown threats by leveraging the knowledge and experience of millions of users through Panda’s unique cloud-based Collective Intelligence technology. Every day, PandaLabs receives around 98,000 new files to analyze. Of these, some 73,000 are new malware strains that Collective Intelligence analyzes, classifies and remedies in 99.4 percent of cases. By gathering information on malware from the worldwide Panda community, Collective Intelligence continuously improves protection levels and offers more rapid response to new malware attacks.

Panda Global Protection 2012, the most comprehensive solution in the new product line, is specifically designed for highly active users with the most demanding protection needs. Its benefits include Panda Safe Browser, which preserves user security and privacy on the Internet and especially in Web 2.0 environments like social networking sites. It also lets users encrypt private files and folders to prevent theft of personal, banking and financial data as well as any kind of valuable multimedia content.

The new release builds on the core functionality that has positioned Panda Global Protection as the preferred solution among PC users. This includes a highly effective antivirus engine to protect against all types of known and unknown viruses; a firewall with WiFi security to block intruders and hackers; Panda USB Vaccine to prevent USB devices from spreading infections; confidential information filters to keep personal data safe; backup and system recovery, and PC performance tuning.

The solution also includes the following new and improved features:
•    New technologies to enhance cloud-based scanning of viruses and other threats, and improved parental controls for even safer Internet surfing.
•    Anti-spam protection with improved block rates for unwanted email
•    New URL filtering system.
•    Personal firewall with WiFi security to block intruders and hackers
•    New user interface look and feel

You can try the new 2012 consumer products free at http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/downloads/