GFI Labs Issues Labor Day Phishing Warning
September 3, 2010 by admin
Filed under Security News
Online holiday retail sales traditionally serve as prime platform for attacks
GFI Software security researchers issued a warning today regarding an expected increase in phishing attacks in relation to the upcoming Labor Day holiday. GFI Labs, the dedicated malware research center of GFI Software, warns that consumers are traditionally at high risk for targeted phishing attacks due to the preponderance of online retail sales events over the holiday weekend.
Amidst the flurry of emails promoting holiday sales are fraudulent messages that include bogus links to sites that download malicious software or phishing sites soliciting personal information. While research from companies like IBM have suggested that phishing attacks were on the decline last year, GFI Labs warns that customers should not be lulled into a false sense of security. According to phishing tracker Phishtank.com, there are over 2,900 active phishing web sites currently verified on the internet. Furthermore, the popularity of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter has made them attractive platforms for holiday-themed attacks.
According to GFI Software, one of the world’s leading providers of security software, consumers can reduce their risk of infection by following three simple rules:
1) Ensure that your computer is protected against the newest malware threats by installing a combined antivirus and antispyware solution. This serves as the first point of protection against dangerous viruses and Trojans – and one without the other is no longer effective.
2) Never click on a link from an email to make a credit card purchase. The email you’ve received may look legitimate, but there’s a high probability that the link will take you to a spoofed site where your credit card information will be recorded by cyber criminals. Instead, navigate to the retailer’s Web site directly through your browser. Again, the email may look harmless, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
3) Even when visiting a trusted Web site, be vigilant about anything that looks out of the ordinary. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have all served as points of infection recently. Do not download anything, even from a trusted site, unless you are 100% sure of its contents.
“Every Labor Day, we see a wave of phishing attacks taking advantage of consumers’ expectations of increased retail email promotions connected with the holiday,” said Tom Kelchner, research center manager, GFI Labs. “Cyber criminals see an opportunity to slip by unnoticed among the legitimate promotions. Along with making sure virus updates and security software patches are current, consumers need to stay vigilant and use common sense in order to avoid any unnecessary headaches that these fraudulent emails look to deliver over the long weekend.”
About GFI
GFI Software provides web and mail security, archiving and fax, networking and security software and hosted IT solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) via an extensive global partner community. GFI products are available either as on-premise solutions, in the cloud or as a hybrid of both delivery models. With award-winning technology, a competitive pricing strategy, and a strong focus on the unique requirements of SMEs, GFI satisfies the IT needs of organizations on a global scale. The company has offices in the United States (North Carolina, California and Florida), UK (London and Dundee), Austria, Australia, Malta, Hong Kong, Philippines and Romania, which together support hundreds of thousands of installations worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world and is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
GFI Backup 2009 Home Edition (build 20100730) now available
August 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under Protection Tools
Changes in this release include:
- NEW: Support for non-Greco Latin Character sets (Unicode) e.g. Chinese, Hebrew & other EMEA region specific languages.
- NEW: Debug log files limited to 10MB by default.
- NEW: “Watchdog” for the agent service that monitors and restarts the service if needed.
- UPDATED: “Close All” button if multiple summary windows are opened.
- FIX: Registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE was not backed up on LAN destination when no compression is used.
- FIX: Emails are now properly restored from AES backups made on CD/DVD.
- FIX: Backups with AES on CD are now compressed properly.
- FIX: Sync tasks are automatically stopped when the first location is missing.
- FIX: When backing up files with filters only the first filter added was being used.
- Various other fixes.
Download Location:
Download GFI Backup 2009 Home Edition from here.
GFI Software Enhances its Security Product Offering with the Acquisition of Sunbelt Software
July 14, 2010 by admin
Filed under Security News
The company’s VIPRE technology will allow GFI to offer its own established antivirus product
Raleigh, NC – July 13, 2010 – GFI Software, a market leading provider of software infrastructure products for small and medium-sized enterprises, announced today that it has acquired Sunbelt Software and specifically its VIPRE® product suite. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition will allow GFI to merge VIPRE technology into GFI’s email security and web security solutions group, and will provide GFI with new security products consisting of world-class and innovative technology. The assets of Sunbelt’s software distribution business, started over 16 years ago and separate from the technology side of the company, will be divested into a separate entity and the company is exploring other strategic partnerships.
“Over the past several years, we have looked extensively for the best technologies, the best developers and the best management teams that will allow us to expand our current product offerings and to provide the best service we can to our customer base. We were impressed by the high quality and innovative technology that underlies Sunbelt’s VIPRE line of products and immediately saw strong synergies between the two companies. We have acquired a good, growing and cash-flow positive business that fits well within GFI’s strategic vision to consolidate our products and grow our business,” said Walter Scott, GFI’s CEO.
“Furthermore, Sunbelt’s technology is backed by a reliable, committed customer support team that provides great service – something so important for us. We see this investment in Sunbelt and its VIPRE technology as an excellent opportunity to increase our install base, drive the software globally through our international partner channel and also build our consumer market, which has a powerful drag-along effect on the SME and SoHo markets,” Mr. Scott added.
“The technologies developed by both companies are highly complementary and I have a hard time imagining a better combination,” said Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software. “Additionally, GFI and Sunbelt are rooted in similar business principles, with similar markets and a commitment to superlative customer service.”
About Sunbelt Software
Headquartered in Tampa Bay (Clearwater), Fla., USA, Sunbelt Software is a leading provider of Windows security software including enterprise antivirus, antispyware, email security, and malware analysis tools. Leading products include the VIPRE® and CounterSpy® product lines, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver™, CWSandbox™, and ThreatTrack™.
About GFI
GFI Software provides a single best source of web and mail security, archiving and fax, networking and security software and hosted IT solutions for small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) via an extensive global partner community. GFI products are available either as on-premise solutions, in the cloud or as a hybrid of both delivery models. With award-winning technology, a competitive pricing strategy, and a strong focus on the unique requirements of SMEs, GFI satisfies the IT needs of organizations on a global scale. The company has offices in the United States (North Carolina and California), UK (London and Dundee), Austria, Australia, Malta, Hong Kong and Romania, which together support hundreds of thousands of installations worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world and is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
To view this release online, go to:
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Press/Releases/?id=362
For more information:
GFI Software
Please email David Kelleher on dkelleher@gfi.com
GFI – Malta: Tel: +356 2205 2000; Cell: +356 7906 3606; Fax: +356 21382419.
URL: http://www.gfi.com.
Sunbelt Software
Please email Brian Alberti on sunbelt@daviesmurphy.com
Sunbelt – US: Tel: +1-781-418-2403
URL: http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com.
The Main Risks Associated with Spam
July 12, 2010 by admin
Filed under Security News
There was a time when spam was considered little more than an invasive annoyance. It was merely an attempt, albeit an unwanted one, to communicate information about a product or service to as many people as possible. But then hackers saw another opportunity. They decided to use this tool as a means to exploit consumers and businesses.
Spam then, can pose considerable risk to the enterprise. But what are the primary issues?
Productivity – If we estimate the time that it takes for an employee to evaluate and delete an unwanted email, and multiply that by the number of employees, we begin to see how costly spam is. While this scenario may not represent real dollars spent mitigating the problem, it does translate into productivity losses which can have a financial impact. Time spent dealing with spam is time not spent on company business.
Storage Space – Company managed anti-spam solutions typically include one or more servers and software. Some estimates indicate spam accounts for over 90% of email. What this means is that a significant portion of that server space is used to receive and sometimes quarantine suspicious emails. If messages aren’t deleted, space can be easily consumed, forcing the purchase of additional storage space.
Security – Unfortunately, many spam messages are sent with the intent to harm the receiver. Clicking on erroneous links or opening infected file attachments can result not only in damage to the computer, but loss of data as well. In an era where privacy laws protect consumer data, the loss may be further compounded by financial penalties and damage to company reputation.
Spam can no longer be viewed as a problem of convenience, targeted at potential consumers. Real loss of data, reputation or company services can prove costly. Based on these risks, businesses should invest in solid anti-spam service solutions. To further reduce costs, cloud-based solutions have proved that they are not only up to the task, but will also save your time and money in the process.
Additional Resources:
http://www.allspammedup.com/2009/10/taking-control-of-the-risks/
http://blogs.computerworld.com/16285/outbound_spam_hard_data_illustrates_real_risks
This guest post was provided by Veronica Henry on behalf of GFI Software, a leading software developer that produces network and messaging security solutions for SMBs. More information about GFI anti-spam solution can be found at http://www.gfi.com/mes
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
