Apple’s iPad is scheduled to hit stores April 3, 2010. Social media users need to be cautious and watch for “free iPad” offers circling around. Scammers are using this new product release to confiscate personal information. The scam claims to offer you a free iPad (or to be a beta tester), but requires a credit card number and cell phone number. Social media users are even encouraged to invite their friends to the fake pages to increase their chances of being selected to try the iPad. It signs you up for a cell phone service, and you will start being billed $10 per week.

Expect these scams to circulate not only through social media, but through email and normal search engines. Be cautious when you see anything offered for free, especially if it’s a new product. If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

Reports say hackers are using the story of the killer whale that killed Dawn Brancheau, a US SeaWorld trainer, to try to infect computers and steal people’s credit card information. Hackers have taken the opportunity to use our internet curiosity against us. They have created webpages that supposedly contain video footage of the tragedy showing the killer whale Tilikum. Searching for terms such as “killer whale video pictures” and “Dawn Brancheau video” will lead to malicious search results. After clicking on a link, website visitors get a fake antivirus alert. They are told there is a security problem on their computer, and are urged to download the antimalware program. The visitor is then prompted for their credit card details, and this alert is hard to remove and will often freeze up a computer.

It is horrible that hackers would try to profit from the death of an innocent woman. She definitely didn’t deserve this, but why are so many people drawn to see such horrible footage? Perhaps the malicious hackers thought they were targeting people who wanted to see a gruesome video and deserved something to happen to them. Be sure to go to established news sites if you want to get information on events.

The number of attacks on corporations is so large and their sophisitcation so great. Many organizations have trouble determining which threats post the grestest risk. New ways to conduct internet fraud are constantly unleashed.

A research study shows exactly what CEO’s perceptions of threats are.

• 82% reported their organization had suffered a breach
• 50% reported attacks occur on a daily or hourly basis
• 48% believe their organizations are rarely attacked
• 68% consider the CIO responsible for information security
• 24% of other C-level executives consider the CIO responsible for information security
• 64% of executives believe their organizations will be breached in the next 12 months

Internet security should be a top priority. Organized crime is on the rise, as we saw with the discovery of 75,000 corporate computers worldwide hacked by the Kneber BotNet. Social networks and applications being hosted as services online are opportunities for hackers to attack. Internet security is a global concern, as the number of websites tampered exceeded 42,000 in 2009. 50% of CEOs reporting attacks are occurring on a daily or hourly basis is something to be concerned about.

The newest, massive hacking network “Kneber BotNet” has breached more than 75,000 PCs around the world. Hackers gained access to private data at nearly 2,500 companies and government agencies. Criminals use a botnet to control an army of computers and usually distribute massive amounts of spam and malware.

With this particular botnet, analysts believe hackers aren’t interested in money, but they have built a secret underground network to rent out or sell stolen personal information to cybercrooks. This botnet is gathering logins for financial systems, social networking, and email and reporting it back to the criminal. Social networking sites can easily be used to spread malware, as Facebook and Yahoo accounts have been hacked the most. Investigations report 68,000 corporate logins were compromised. These criminals have also poisoned search results. If you search for “Kneber BotNet removal” you will likely get results that will contain fake anti-virus software.

Several large companies like Paramount Pictures have been attacked. It is becoming easier to become a cybercriminal as tools for creating these malicious infections are becoming available on the underground economy. Corporations should monitor outgoing traffic. Stay up to date on security software and you will be protected. The Tizer Secure™ behavioral scan will search for unusual botnet behavior. Download the free 14-day trial.

This week we have launched three new tools that are free for personal use. Over the years, computer usage has become part of everyday life and the amount of malicious threats has risen dramatically as users leave computer ports open while surfing the internet. These free tools are Tizer™ UnLocker, Tizer™ SysScan, and Tizer™ Rootkit Razor. All are compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (32-bit) and have been listed on all major free download websites.

Tizer™ UnLocker is a powerful tool that gives you control over locked files and folders that may be in use by an application. If you are faced with a situation where you want to use, delete, move, or rename a file and get an error message that you can’t, UnLocker is your solution. The advantage it has over similar products is that it allows the user to kill or unlock multiple processes, as well as delete, rename, and move files. It also does not require you to reboot your system after deleting a file like other freeware does. Click here for more details or to download this free useful tool. Tizer™ UnLocker has already been awarded 5/5 stars by soft82.com.

Tizer™ SysScan generates a report for you after it scans your system files, processes, DLLs, and registry. It shows you both legitimate software and unwanted malware and if you are not an expert you may save the log to ask for technical advice on a forum. You also have the option to send your log to the Tizer™ Secure support team for a free analysis. Tizer™ SysScan has a strong advantage over similar tools because it will display hidden processes, modules, drivers, and registry entries while others don’t. Click here for more details or to download.

Tizer™ Rootkit Razor will detect malicious rootkits on your computer through multiple methodologies. It will detect and remove them without damaging your system. Stop rootkits from altering files, changing processes, or stealing your personal information. Take advantage of our advanced rootkit detection technology and find out more details here. It is currently the only anti-rootkit application compatible with the most common Windows operating systems.

Internet usage is part of daily life, and usage continues to rise around the globe. There has been a lot of talk regarding whether an Internet Service Provider (ISP) should be responsible to prevent against the spread of internet viruses. Studies show that about 70% of subscribers assume it is the responsibility of the ISP to provide protection against malware. IT security experts believe an ISP should attempt to increase awareness among customers, but the ISPs are not interested in playing this role. Every computer linking to the internet today has potential to spread new viruses and attacks. Increased bandwidth availability also increases the speed of attacks. A study done by Websense found that as much as 13.7% of searches for trending news and buzz words led to malware. An ISP can see what is flowing through their network and look for virus patterns but customer downloads cannot be controlled. Certain fire-share applications can be blocked or monitored, but does an ISP really want to block these? Many users would not want to be monitored. ISPs find this a challenge, since a user can easily switch providers if security blocks are put in place.

At the very minimum, an ISP should help educate their users on protection from malware and look at offering proactive security to their customer base to make their network safer. If you do not have your computer protected and are looking for comprehensive protection from malware, download the free 14-day trial of Tizer Secure™ and you will be pleased.

Police in China shut down a hacker training operation that recruited thousands of members online to teach them cyber attack lessons and malicious software, stated the Associated Press. Officials think it was the largest training website for computer hackers. China seems to be the ongoing center for internet crime, after the amount of email accounts hacked last month.

Three people were suspected of running the hacker website, the Black Hawk Safety Net, which recruited more than 12,000 paying subscribers and collected more than $1 million in membership fees. The China Daily newspaper said users would pay about 200 yuan ($14-$29) for these malicious lessons. They also sold Trojan software, allowing others to access a computer remotely. Hackers seized control of online accounts for their own entertainment and hacked into bank accounts. Police took nine servers, five computers, a car, and shut down all sites involved. They also froze $250,000 in assets.

Authorities had investigated the website after a cyber attack back in 2007 and realized some of these suspects arrested were members of Black Hawk Safety Net. Reports from China state that hackers caused 7.6 billion yuan ($1 billion) in losses within the last year and tampered with more than 42,000 websites. Google is reviewing all operations in China.

A rootkit is when malware, viruses, trojans, and spyware are hidden from computer users and even antivirus programs. They have malicious intent and give access to files and system information without your knowledge. A rootkit attacks your operating system while placing and hiding files. These hidden files are responsible for malicious activities.

For example:
1. A hidden process may indirectly run another process without the user knowing.
2. A hidden port, or a “back door,” may transfer some vulnerable data into your system or transfer some private data such as login information out of your system.
3. A hidden module loaded in a legitimate process may alter the normal behavior of that particular process.
4. Some hidden registry entries may be placed so that a virus/rootkit will start up automatically.

Rootkits alter files, change processes, and distribute spam. These can be attached to a trojan, file, graphic on the web, or spam email and they can tamper with computer files and processes that you cannot even see in the task manager. Only download software from trusted websites, delete spam without opening it, and avoid clicking on banners. Detecting a rootkit that has already infected your computer is easier than you think. Tizer Secure™ offers you protection to allow you to detect these hidden rootkits and easily remove them. Download the free Tizer™ Rootkit Razor removal tool at http://tizersecure.com/rootkitdownload.php. Clean and remove malicious objects that are on your computer today.