1bn Yahoo users’ information stolen in biggest breach ever

Internet giant Yahoo announced this week that it had discovered over 1bn of its users’ accounts had been compromised following a historical hack three years ago.

Yahoo has announced that they have discovered a historical hack from August 2013 which surpasses their own previously set record of 500 million accounts, set only months earlier in September. This is an act that they claimed had been conducted by an ‘unnamed’ government.

Watch out for ‘Locky’ Ransomware spreading via social media

Reports are coming in of dangerous Ransomware beginning to spread through social media networks.

Users have reported receiving suspicious JPEG files in personal messages through social media networks like Facebook & LinkedIn which contain Ransomware.

Sent via personal messages, these image files trigger an automatic download when clicked on. This downloaded file contains Ransomware.

This particular strain of Ransomware known as ‘Locky’ is activated as soon as the unsuspecting victim clicks on the downloaded image. As soon as this happens they find that all of their files on their computer have become encrypted and are no longer accessible.

Warning: your Google Chrome browser might be an imposter!

A report by security researchers MalwareBytes has identified a dangerous new form of Adware which masquerades as the Google Chrome Browser.

The Google Chrome copycat named ‘eFast Browser’ is a form of Adware which replicates the look and feel of Chrome to trick users into thinking they are using the official thing.

Upon installation, eFast attempts to delete Chrome, removing desktop and taskbar shortcuts and replacing them with its own, which look similar.

Weebly users’ data leaked: how can you protect your own passwords?

Weebly, a popular ‘drag and drop’ build your own website company, has become the latest target for hackers as the company announced a huge data leak of customer data.

Weebly, which is based in San Francisco, has begun notifying customers of a serious data breach which occurred earlier this year. According to LeakedSource, over 43,000,000 customers had their details stolen with usernames, email addresses, passwords and IP addresses all obtained.

Will your employees be tricked by email scams and viruses?

Despite an ever increasing number of online attacks being reported in the media and harrowing new cyber threats like Ransomware being created, many companies are still failing to take effective action to improve their online security. As well as failing to keep their anti-virus software and firewalls up to date, they also fail to educate their workforce on the latest threats - a key part of securing their operations.

Phishing scams are one of the most common forms of fraud committed online today. They involve tricking an email recipient into handing over sensitive data and trusted information. A hacker may send an email which looks as if it has been sent by a supplier, a company that you work with on a regular basis, a service provider or even another employee in your own business. So they aren’t always obvious. They hacker may then try and encourage the recipient to download a piece of software, visit an unsafe website or supply them directly with sensitive information that they can exploit.

5 Windows 10 features that can help secure your business

With Windows 10's Anniversary Update imminent, all the signs suggest security tools will be expanding. But what are some of the security features that are already proving to be popular?

Sign-in options
Windows 10 has enhanced passwords with PIN entry and a new 'Picture' password included.

Alongside the traditional word-based & PIN options, 'Picture' passwords are a brand new feature.

The 'Picture' password is akin to the 'Pattern Lock' on Android phones which asks users to swipe their finger to register a specific pattern.

It asks the user to select a photo and then draw a pattern on top of it. For example, on a photo of your house you might be asked to swipe from the letterbox to the chimney.

3 ways to speed up your computer that actually work

A slow computer can be incredibly frustrating but before you fork out for an expensive new laptop or PC computer you should consider trying out a few of these tried and trusted techniques below. Often speeding up your computer can be easier and less costly than you might expect.

Ransomware is ‘biggest immediate cyber threat’

A recent report from the security firm Kaspersky Lab has claimed that so called ‘Ransomware’ is now the biggest and most persistent threat to internet security.

Their report, which you can read here, acknowledges that there were as many as 2,900 incidents of Ransomware attacks during the first three months of 2016, a 14% increase on the previous quarter.

Chrome scraps support for Windows XP, Vista and more

Along with the release of Google Chrome version 50 has come the news that support has ended for a number of older operating systems including Windows XP and Vista.

Google has been promising since November that they would end support for older operating systems such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, OS X 10.6, OS X 10.7 and OS X 10.8 and this month they followed through with that promise.

Microsoft strengthen Office 365 security

Responding to the ever growing threat of cyber crime, Microsoft has ramped up their security efforts for their Office 365 platform. Users will now benefit from better visibility, control and security of data when using the cloud based services.

In a blog posted on the Microsoft website, Bret Arsenault, Chief Information Security Officer for Microsoft, explained that their new approach “empowers customers to accelerate their adoption of a ‘protect, detect, respond’ security posture”.

Whaling – a dangerous new cyber threat

One of the most recent cyber security threats to come to our attention is the ‘whaling’ scam. This is a highly personalised form of phishing used to trick victims into giving away sensitive information and access to networks.

What is it?

Most phishing scams target a wide range of people and hackers will send their scam emails to a large number of recipients. However ‘whaling’ is different in that cyber criminals approach one ‘high value’ target with a highly personalised message instead.

Ubiquiti Networks, a provider of high-end wireless networking products, recently fell victim to a whaling attack which resulted in losses of $47m (£30m) for the company.

Ransomware: could you be blackmailed by hackers?

Ransomware is one of the most recent threats to your online security. We look at what it is, how it works and how you can protect your business effectively.

What is it?
Ransomware, as the name suggests, is a form of malware which locks away a victim’s files and then requests payment from them to have them returned.

In 2013, Cryptolocker attacked around 250,000 computers worldwide stealing personal files and refusing to return them unless a ransom was paid immediately, which a high amount of victims went ahead and did.

Ransoms are paid through a digital currency such as Bit coin, which allows transactions to be made anonymously.