And the Academy Award for the most dangerous search term goes to…

The team at Norton have been busy digging through the gossip since Sunday’s glamorous Oscar ceremony. They weren’t just looking for juicy rumours though; they’ve been looking for malware around the Academy Awards.

Cybercriminals often take advantage of public interest in both individual celebrities and world entertainment events, so it is no surprise that when the two combine, crooks get busy infecting websites. Norton found that around 50% of Oscar related internet search results lead to “poisoned” sites.

 Some of the most dangerous search terms (and the percentage of infected results) include:

  • “Oscar 2010 Winners” – 60% infected
  • “Music By Prudence” – 58% infected
  • “Kathryn Bigelow height” – 48% infected
  • “Sandra bullock Meryl Streep kiss” – 43% infected

Criminals predict public curiosity and infect pages that contain key words with malware. When a victim clicks through on links from search engines they inadvertently end up with their computer infected with a virus or inundated with pop-ups for fake, and in some cases dangerous, “anti-virus software.”
 
When searching for anything online, Oscar-related or not, it is important to be on guard. Make sure you have legitimate antivirus software that includes all the latest updates, and if you don’t, make sure you buy software from a reputable source.
 
Abigail Lovell

Photo by Flickr user Zadi Diaz, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Phishing, Virus, cyber-crime, security | Leave a Comment 

There’s One Born Every Day… Part II

So scams are rife and cyber-criminals do make money – but just how much would you give up to a Nigerian 419 scam? $400,000? OK, so its amazing to me that anyone falls for this anymore, but… the story outlines how the victim was drawn in, a little at a time, evidently to a point where they didn’t think they could give up sending money.

There is no such thing as a free lunch… if a deal looks too good to be true, then it is.

November 17, 2008 | Filed Under cyber-crime | 1 Comment 

How Much For Your Name?

Symantec recently conducted some consumer research where we asked people to put a monetary value on different pieces of their identity. In other words,  the vital information that we all use when making transactions on the Internet. 
 
Most people thought that their name was worth about a pound, and 89 per cent would happily share it with someone they didn’t know. But when it came to their date of birth, people were a little bit more wary. Only 23 per cent of people said they would share it with someone they didn’t know, and people tended to put a value of £100 on it.
As for other pieces of important information, bank and credit card details, passports and password information, most people valued these at £100 apiece. Only 1 per cent of people said they would share their bank details, passport or password information with someone they did not know.
In reality your personal information isn’t worth all that much to the cyber criminal, unless they’re dealing in bulk.   A recent Symantec Internet Security Threat Report found that UK bank account details are being sold in bulk on “cyber crime supermarket” style underground economies, for as little as £5 an account.

So, how much is your name worth? Unfortunately not a lot, the price has come down for the cyber-criminal, while the impact to you should your information be compromised has gone up.

You can get a complete copy of the findings and recomendations in our new online security guide (3MB).

October 15, 2008 | Filed Under data-loss | Leave a Comment