Information and Cyber Security round up 18 April

Ransomware attacks – where criminals encrypt your files and demand a ransom to give you access to them again – is still a major issue. But there is some good news. A tool called ID Ransomware gives information about what has happened and, for some types of ransomware, points you to sites that can decrypt the files.  Originally this blog was going to include a link to a second tool, but this turned out to be malware!

If you have a Windows PC and are using QuickTime to handle video or audio, this is the time to uninstall it.  Why – two new vulnerabilities have been found and Apple are not going to issue fixes as they are ‘deprecating’ QuickTime for Microsoft Windows. I looked up the definitions of depreciate. One of them is to ‘to describe (something) as having little value’. To be on the safe side, try to uninstall QuckTime if you use WIndows. If you aren’t running QuickTime, you will not find it in the list of programs.

Facebook users have been the target of more scams. The first is a fake warning message seemingly from the Facebook Ads Team claiming that your account has been found in violation of terms of service and will be shut down for safety reasons. They are after your account details. The second is from a message with titles like ‘My First Video’, ‘My Video’ or ‘Private Video’. After clicking a link you are asked to download a plugin to play the video…which will install the malware.

And finally, to prove that IT issues are not the main causes of cyber security problems here are the top risks from Zurich (the insurance company). This backs up results from other surveys. If you aren’t educating users – start doing it NOW! 

Zurich - top 5 risks