Virusremovalguidelines

Another cryptocurrency theft is in the books! The crypto arena, since its inception has been thronged with heist. The virtual assets seem to beguile some of the most malicious players in the industry. The rising popularity of cryptocurrencies has attracted both thieves & investors in equal measures. It has led to significant increase in both crimes & disputes related to digital assets. As  Crypt-o-currency Mining Apps have been banned by Google from the official Play Store , threat actors are adopting shady tactics to swindle victim’s crypto currency wallets. Recent research reveals that a malicious app designed to steal cryptocurrency has been discovered on Google play, the official Android App Store. Classified as  clipper,  the malware is configured to intercept victim’s device’s clipboard & replace their wallet address stealthily with the one belonging to the attacker. Earlier, similar cryptocurrency stealers leveraging clipboard hijacking techni...

Google Emails Users Affected By Data Breach  Umpteen cyber security issues in Google+ have led to data breaches of millions of customers. The bug in Google+ People API & the decline in the engagement rate of Google+ have triggered the shutdown of this little loved social media platform. Recent research reveals that Google Emails users affected by Google+ API Bug providing the following details: The profile data exposed The third party apps that had access to it. The exposed fields & the associated apps are listed in  details.csv attachment . The full text of the email reads as: Google pulled the plug on its social networking platform  Google + in October last year .  The move came after the company discovered a software glitch that gave third party developers access to Google+ user profile data. In total personal information of around  500,000 Google+ accounts were potentially exposed  even when the relevant information w...

Google’s semi-obsolete Social Network platform, Google+, is in the negative spotlight again as it has exposed personal information of around 52.5 million Google+ users second time this year! Google+ has suffered this ruinous Data Breach for a record second time in consecutive three months. The Tech Giant, Google said in a blog post on Monday that software amendments introduced to Google+ in November 2018 had a bug enclosed in Google+ People API. The Large spread of this Bug in Google+ took place in form of an update released by Google making them the evil eye. Insight in to First Pernicious Data Breach of Google+ This Internet-based Social Network was launched by Google in June 2011 in order to serve as a social spine for different services of Google like Adwords and YouTube. Google integrated distinct unique features to Google+ in order to make it stand out of the crowd of popular social networking services. Alas, the fame of Google+ & Google’s efforts to hike up Google+ wen...

Google to Empower special extension cleaning features to Chrome Cleanup High level of customization, speed& synchronization across computers are predominant reasons that make Google Chrome web browser indispensable among users. With loads of add-ons and extensions available, along with independent process for each open tab, Chrome’s feature set & appearance can be easily tailored to user’s choice without sacrificing a great deal of its performance. The extensive browser flexibility offered by Google Chrome browser often lands users to hornets’ nest. Users occasionally end up with unwanted programs or settings that can range from minor annoyances to potentially dangerous malware. The malware programs once injected in the system can pose threat to user privacy and security. The die-hard need to automatically detect & remove malware programs from the system to safeguard user information led to the introduction of Chrome Cleanup tool, that periodically scans the syste...

Internet Browsing has become an integral part of our lives today. The influence of surfing the Web  even for the tiniest bit of information  is undeniable. It is hence a necessity for the web pages to be fair and truthful. When a web page deliberately plays truant or tries to misinterpret facts to mislead consumers, it is categorized as objectionable web page. The problem of Fake web pages in disguise with misleading information  is getting worse day by day. The practice of designing misleading and fake web pages is not just unethical; it  also violates the major  rights of consumers. Recent research reveals that in a bid to scam users, Web Pages deliver insufficient information about their subscription services. In order to access games or specific content in the website,  many deceptive sites seek mobile information. Users, apart from gaining access to the prompted content,  also get signed up for a mobile subscription without consent o...

The Internet Giant Google is striving continuously to fight irrational traffic and puts to use several filters & machine leaning models. It further makes collaborations with advertisers, publishers, tech ad companies, law enforcement agencies & other third-party corporations in order to locate & avoid potential threats. Still a recent report bared many popular Android apps that tracked user’s behavior & carried out a tremendous multimillion-dollar ad hoax strategy. A report from BuzzFeed News Investigation exposed around 125 Android apps & websites that have stolen millions of dollars through a forged advertising network. In response to the incident, Google clamped down & blacklisted several apps & websites and tightened its restrictions. Method of Operation of Ad Fraud 1. Scammers from a fake front company “We Purchase Apps” purchased established & legitimate applications on the Google Play Store from the developers. With the purchase, scamm...

Google+ Announced its Shut Down After a Software Glitch exposed Info of 500k Accounts Google Plus, an Internet-based Social Network owned and operated by Google was launched in June 2011. This social media platform experienced a l ot of fanfare in its initial years  and posed as a possible competitor to Facebook. The  service had over 10 million users  just two weeks after its launch. Now, the world has been taken aback by Google’s out of the blue announcement of  Google+ closure . According to the announcement made Google, Google+ would be  fully shut down by August 2019, to allow users to download and migrate their information. What differentiates Google+ from its counterparts? Google+  was created to serve as a  social spine for Google’s disparate services  like Adwords, Youtube etc. Each service provided by Google had access to the features implemented in Google+ refraining the tech giant from implementing the same social features indep...

The huge release of  Chrome 69  brought in many new features to the search giant. Google Chrome got  applauded  for the  slick new theme ,  Auto-fill improvements & Password Generator ,  Built-in Ad blocker ,  colorful backgrounds  &  custom shortcuts on new tab page & much more! Despite the new features ,  Google has been a  target of criticism  and  reproval  from its users for  omitting www  and  m sub-domains from the URL . The  counterblasts  compelled Google to  soften its stance  and consider public feedback, as stated in the Chromium bug tracker issue. Search Giant decided to  roll back the changes  made to Chrome 69; however, the reversal will persist till the release of Chrome 70. Security experts & users are still up in arms after noticing  another weird behavior  of  Chrome 69 . Any Idea? Another Weird Behavior of Chrome...

Google celebrated its tenth anniversary this month which marked the major release of Chrome 69 Version. The New Chrome browser got a facelift; however it left the users stunned by eliminating “www” and “m” protocols from the URL in the Address Bar. This announcement brought about a wave of criticism and anger to the search giant. Furthermore, the URL truncation created confusion among many users as it was harder to identify if the websites were legitimate and it could pave a way for more scams on the web. The idea of snipping Chrome www URLs raised questions on the Google’s intents and kindled fierce reproval from Chrome Users. The annoyed users found out way to return to classic Google Chrome interface by changing the flag settings. The counterblast from the users compelled Google to soften its stance. It considered the public opinion & feedback and rolled back this change in Chrome 69, as stated in the Chromium bug tracker issue. Google brought back subdomains “www” ...

WWW (World Wide Web) or the Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. This is an information space (network of online content) of interlinked HTML pages that can be accessed over the internet. Since 1989, the Web has continued to evolve and been a centre of development to the Information Age. It has become the primary tool that billions of people use today to interact. Google Chrome  celebrated its tenth anniversary previously this month & redesigned its browser & gave it a major facelift. However, with the extricate of the latest version of  Chrome 69 ,  Google  has decided to omit  www sub-domain  from the URL displaying in the  Browser Address Bar (URL Bar). Furthermore, the new  Chrome 69  also removed “m.” sub-domain that is used for web pages specifically designed for mobile browsers. The removal of sub-domains  initiated a wave of concern and outrage  among the users and security experts. But a  ...

Privacy Intrusion by Android servers! Ever Imagined how it feels if you are under continuous  supervision ? How does it feel to let others know about  your whereabouts all the time? A serious privacy breach with your information getting gathered! With the ease of technology enabling a large percentage of people to carry Smart phones, the OS developers have their own sweet unique method for continuous improvements! The Market Giants like Apple, Microsoft and Google are in a war to be the best. They have the strategic advantages with IOS, Windows and Android operating system increasing popularity. These Smart phones have to be constantly updated to ensure the protection against threats! It has been observed in recent studies that Android Phones have frequent Server encounters as compared with IOS. Even when the phone is placed in the idle mode, Android phones seem to constantly upload information to the parent servers. Let us try to understand about this collected in...

Security Risks in SD cards : Android Apps vulnerable to new Attacks via microSD Cards Android is an infamous mobile operating system that powers more than billions of smartphones and tablets. It is a Linux-based open source Operating system developed by Google designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices. Since its launch in 2008, Android platform had gained immense popularity and is the trending OS now with 80% global market share. Its Open source model makes it a clear leader among mobile operating system as it provides flexibility and adaptability. However, the open source model has placed devices running on Android platform in dire straits. Open market model allows registered software developers to create applications for Android mobile devices in Java and list them in Android Market without undergoing review and waiting for approval. Although Android’s developers have created set of rules for app developers to ensure the safety of their apps, developers rarely f...

Google launched Chromebook Ad that Mocks Windows and macOS Operating Systems In order to be recognized in the growing Competition for laptops, Google took a massive hit on its rivals: Microsoft and Apple. The renowned Tech giant launched a mocking and hilarious  Chromebook Ad  that highlights various issues encountered by users of  Windows and macOS Operating Systems. The issues of Windows and macOS Operating Systems depicted in this 60 seconds commercial include: various system errors, storage issues, Update reminders that annoys users, unexpected system shut down problems, up gradation issues, insecure data control, lack of proper system security, need for application reinstallation, abrupt appearance of blue screen demanding system Restart While some of these issues may be genuine, the commercial however exaggerates these problems to lure users to buy the lightweight, low-cost convertibles Chromebooks that is already popular among school going kids. ...

Google has recently updated the Play Store Developer Policy page to prohibit several categories of apps including the ones that mine cryptocurrency on user’s device. Google states that “We don’t allow apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices”. According to newly added policy Google will however continue to “permit apps that remotely manage the mining of cryptocurrency”.  This implies that the crypt-o-currency mining operations that utilize device’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) will be removed from the official play store. Hence, only those mining apps will be permitted on Google’s official Play Store that control the mining operations on remote devices – such as cloud based mining servers or desktop . Google bans Cryptocurrency mining apps – Reasons behind this act

Data Transfer Project that will allow users to transfer data (contacts, contents, and many more) across apps (form one service to another) without needing to download it and re-upload it. The transferred data would be encrypted making it difficult for the third partied to access it without user permission. Formed in 2017, DTP is an open source data portability platform that any online service can join. The motive behind this project is to enable users to transfer data (import and export data) between online service providers anytime without ant hassle. DTP already supports a few prototypes that allow online platforms to transfer several data including photos, email, calendar, contacts and tasks. However this information cannot be shared directly online from one app to another without downloading it. Data Transfer Project makes use of APIs used by existing services and authorization mechanism to access data. But the transfer of this data could be challenge as the data contain...

A Campaign active since August 2015 which had been using MDM Protocol to spy on 13 iPhone users in India was recently uncovered by security researchers. The attackers who were posing to be Russians were most probably operating from India. MDM or Mobile Device Management Protocol is security software which is utilized by large companies or enterprises to monitor and control policies on the devices used by the members of the workforce. The MDM protocol was being used to dispatch and regulate new applications via remote access. The MDM protocol is connected with the Apple Push notification service (APNS) to manage the connected device by sending a wake-up alert on the device. Once the device is linked, it connects to a pre determined web service that can be used for giving out commands or installing apps and services on the targeted device. The security researchers were unable to find out how the cyber attackers succeeded in installing the  MDM Malware  into the 13 iPho...

Earlier when most web browsers were designed, the web pages were simple and hence were rendered in the same process, to keep resource usage low. However, with the growing technology, there has been a significant shift in the active web page content. Ranging from pages designed using JavaScript to make the web pages interactive and create richer user interfaces with reduced server load to Flash, a technology used by Adobe to show animation on web pages, web-pages nowadays are full of “web apps”. Browsers that keep all the running apps in one process may face real challenges related to security, responsiveness and robustness. 1. If one web app crashes, it will take the entire web browser with it, including all the web apps that are open. 2. Web apps have to compete for CPU time, on a single thread rendering the browser unresponsive at times. 3. Some webpage may have malicious code embedded that may compromise the entire system. Hence the browser must keep different apps isolated ...

Today the internet has undeniably become an indispensable part of our daily activity. A reliable internet connection in the world of technology is just as vital as electricity for phone and computers. Addiction on internet is ranked above food, shelter and sleep according to a recent survey conducted by TP-Link, a UK based broadband service provider. Today’s generation rely on internet and spend majority of their time on internet devices for entertainment, knowledge, research, social networking, and business. Internet connection plays a potential role in promoting substantial development of the country as a whole. Internet has so permeated our lives that it is impossible to imagine what the world would be like if the Internet ceased to exist. Despite of the constant efforts of Internet industry to ensure proper internet connection to the potential users, there happens to be some constraint in Internet connectivity and access. This may pose a potential risk to accelerated deve...