New toys have malware

With the Christmas season upon us, we will be getting gifts that plug in. Many rechargeable gifts now come with USB charges, although many of us will think it is completely safe to plug these new devices into your computers. There are many reports of these devices containing malware; most of these devices use USB connection because it is convenient. They were never meant to connect to your computer, but people know that you will and because of that they have malware ready to inject into your system.

If it is not designed to connect to your computer, but it has a USB do not connect it to your computer. The best practice is to always use a wall plugin, they have more power available than your computer. Most of the malware that has been found in these devices is known as injector viruses, these kinds of malware install without knowing it. Often times this opens the gateway for other software to be downloaded. Of course all without the user knowing.

Scott Gamet

A+ Net+ 

CCENT

Fake Android Update - Malware

          There is a never ending amount of fake Windows updates. One of the most recent ones that I can remember was for Windows 8.1, you clicked a link and it came up with an official looking update screen. Well it was not a Microsoft update and it generally left the computer useless. This is not to mention the Java and Flash updates that are fake. So the point is that there is a great deal of fake updates, today I saw one for Android.

          This is the first one that I have personally seen, or heard of. Now people will root there phones and sometimes turn them into a brick, or put a custom mod on that may turn it into a nice paperweight. This is not what I came across today. Here is a screen shot of what I saw:

          The funny thing is that I arrived here after clicking a link to a local news website from Facebook. The new Facebook internal browser was used, not Chrome. There was a dialog box that informed me I was low on memory and asked do you want to clear up memory Yes or No, I clicked NO. This was in the background and the dialog box was in the foreground.

          Needless to say this is not an official update and I am not entirely sure what would happen if I click Update, although I am very sure it will install several different pieces of malicious software. Be on the lookout for these kind of traps, they are out there and they will do real harm to your phone.

          I have made several attempts today for this to happen again but with no luck. I have been able to find two other articles about this, but neither one have said how they got to the link. Mine was through Facebook and I hope that it was just a coincidence.

Scott Gamet

A+ NET+ CCENT


#Facebook
#Android
#Windows 8
#Microsoft
#Malware
#fakeupdate