It is the second Tuesday of the month again and this means security patch day at Microsoft and Adobe. Adobe has just released a security bulletin for Adobe Reader and Acrobat that fix several critical vulnerabilities in versions of the pdf software. Vulnerabilities affect Adobe Reader X and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh, Adobe [...]

It is the time of the year again where security software developers are pushing out the regular yearly updates for their products. Avira has just started the official beta test for their new product line, which includes beta versions of Avira Free Antivirus, Avira Internet Security 2012 or Antivirus Premium 2012. Windows users who are [...]

Sometimes you may want to protect some files or maybe even just one document from third party access. While you could use an encryption software like TrueCrypt to create a container to put those files into, you sometimes may prefer an easier solution. MultiObfuscator is a free program for Windows that uses multiple security layers [...]

Are you a Twitter user who is following all users that are following you? Or do you limit your friends list on Twitter to real life friends, business contacts and family? The first group of users is taking more risks than the second, but none are really 100% safe from malicious tweets and traps. A [...]

Every computer security company under the sun releases new versions of their product line once a year. AVG is no difference, and the latest versions of the company’s security software has just been released to the public. AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 is, the name implies it already, the free basic version of the company’s security [...]

Agnitum, the company that is developing the security software Outpost, recently ran a promotion where users could “swap” their existing commercial antivirus solution against Outpost’s Internet Security Suite free of charge. We have covered that promotion in detail, mainly because it was a unique marketing idea that we did not see before on the Internet. [...]

Virus Total is a wonderful service for users who want to scan a file for malware before executing it. The core benefit of using the malware scanning service is that it scans the selected file or archive with dozens of antivirus engines. This puts more weight on the results that are produced. The popularity of [...]

Some days ago I canceled my pre-order of the Battlefield 3 Limited edition for Windows PCs. It was a reaction on the news that the game would ship without ingame server browser, which had been replaced by a server browser in an external web browser. This meant that you had to keep Origin, the distribution [...]

My story on Cnet’s Download.com installer that the company added to many downloads on their website has sparked the interest of other websites and software developers. Users who download software from download.com now download an installer first that comes bundled with a toolbar. This web installer then offers to download and install the installer of [...]

If you are running a full security suite to protect against malware, there are often compatibility issues between certain anti-malware software and the built-in Windows Defender. Windows Defender is a standard part of Windows 7 and it cannot actually be uninstalled, but it can be disabled if it is interfering with your security suite. I [...]

Facebook on Thursday has released a security guide aimed at young adults, parents and educators to educate them about security concepts on the social networking site. The 14 pages of the pdf document are packed with information that range from general account protection information to using Facebook’s advanced security settings or recovering a hacked Facebook [...]

I just tried to make a credit card payment at a merchants website that was using 2Checkout as the payment processor. The process on first glance looked like any other checkout process on the Internet. I first had to enter my personal information, and then on a second page my credit card number, verification code [...]

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 is Bitdefender’s top of the line security product that offers all the features of the two sister products Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2012 and Bitdefender Internet Security 2012 plus several features of its own. When you look at the product comparison chart on the Bitdefender website, you will notice the following differences [...]

In this post I’m going to tell you how to remove XP Internet Security 2012. If you didn’t know, this is a fake security tool that produces fake pop-ups, and fake scan results, with the sole purpose of intimidating you into buying the software. All the viruses and security issues it finds are simply made [...]

In the wake of rioting in London, England, the British police are turning to CCTV footage in an attempt to capture the ringleaders involved in the rioting and troublemaking. With the advances of high-tech facial recognition software used in airports to identify people at immigration, they say it should be possible to match up faces [...]

I have to admit that I’m not a LinkedIn user. I probably should have an account with my Internet business and all, but then again, it feels to me like yet another network that I have to spend time on. So, no LinkedIn for me. I recently stumbled upon a story over at Connection Agent. [...]

The first version of Security Software Downloader was released in 2010. The program allows Windows users to download security software comfortably from the program interface. That’s handy especially on new systems, on systems that need a change in security software and PCs that are infected by malware that the installed antivirus software cannot remove. Security [...]

Adobe has synced their security release schedule with that of Microsoft. It is therefor not surprising that the company announced yesterday the availability of security updates for several of their products. Security updates were released for Adobe Shockwave Player, Flash Media Server, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Photoshop CS5 and RoboHelp. All security issues have received [...]

Microsoft yesterday evening released this month’s security patches for their software products. The 13 security bulletins fix security related issues in Microsoft products such as the Windows operating system, Microsoft Office, the .Net Framework and Internet Explorer. Two of the security bulletins have received a critical severity rating, the highest possible rating while nine have [...]

Back in 2010 I reviewed the Stuxnet Removal Tool by BitDefender, part of BitDefender’s Free Virus Removal Tools on the BitDefender website. The removal tools are specialized programs that remove a specific virus or malware from a computer system. That’s convenient if you know which malware has made its way on your computer, not so [...]

The most important aspect of a good antivirus program that is essential for proper PC security is that it is consistently updated to recognize new threats. Malware changes constantly and so does the security to protect against it. Threatfire is an excellent free utility that detects potential malware threats running in the background. It does [...]

SUPERAntiSpyware Pro has been reviewed twice on Ghacks in the past two years as part of the annual Ghacks Christmas Giveaway. The recent acquisition of SUPERAntiSpyware by Support.com, and the release of version 5 of the software, justify a new review. In particular we wanted to know if the new parent company had any impact [...]

The UK newspaper business must be wondering what’s going on these days. Only a few weeks after the News of the World was forced to shut up shop for good amongst phone hacking scandals, it’s now been reported that The Sun has suffered a serious breach of security with details of customers stolen and re-published [...]

It was only a matter of time until a security developer would come up with an ingenious idea to increase their market share. The first company to do just that is Agnitum with an offer for residents of the United States or Canada. Here is how the deal works. You can trade-in your current antivirus [...]

Windows XP systems are more prone to being infected with rootkits as Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7. That’s the result of a study conducted by Avast that surveyed more than 600,000 Windows PCs. Reasons for this higher infection rate are systems that are running the now unsupported service pack 2 and better protection of [...]

Casir, which stands for Common and Stubborn Infections Remover, has been specifically designed by its developer to remove virus infections on a system that many regular antivirus software programs have troubles disinfecting. These types of malware often manipulate the system to make their removal more difficulty, for instance by disabling Safe Mode, preventing the installation [...]

It does not happen often that software updates ship with critical security updates. But that’s exactly the case with the Skype 5.5 release for Windows. Skype 5.5 is the first version with Facebook integration. Skype users with a Facebook account can now use some of Facebook’s functionality right in the voice over IP software. This [...]

Rkill stops malware processes from running. It is useful because active malware processes running on your PC may not be detected by antivirus software. You can always go to the Task Manager in Windows to view active processes. If you cannot identify them, or they are blocked from the Task Manager list, you will find [...]

Microsoft has improved the Windows Firewall ever since it was included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The majority of usability and security issues have been dealt with. Outbound Packet Filtering was for instance introduced under Windows Vista. There are still some issues left that Microsoft has not yet addressed. Especially the firewall’s configuration [...]

It is essential to protect your PC with reliable antivirus software. The drawback to this is that it often slows the PC down. In some cases it does so significantly. Some antivirus software can be very thorough and scan “potential invaders” that are part of your normal applications. Many of these programs do not need [...]

Cookies are practical when you are able to block the ones you don’t want and allow the useful cookies. Cookies are tiny files that store information. These can come in handy if you want them but they are simply irritating if you don’t. Tracking cookies that record private information are the ones that most people [...]

A computer with a malware infection causes serious troubles for its owner or the current users, especially if they are not aware of the infection. The danger itself depends largely on the type and purpose of the malware, and can range from stealing files to destructive behavior or using the hijacked computer as a proxy [...]

Like many other security software companies, Avast is offering both a free basic version of their software and a commercial advanced version that comes with extra features. Avast Internet Security is the companies’ flag ship product that includes all the features of the free and pro versions of their product plus a firewall, antispam protection [...]

Security firm NSS Labs have been running some tests on different modern web browsers to see how they defend and protect their users against socially-engineered malware.  This is malware that attempts to trick users into installing it, much in the way Apple Mac users have been suffering with the recent spate of ‘Mac Defender’ malware. [...]

Ghacks readers know that online security is of uttermost importance. That includes picking passwords that are not common, easy to guess or dictionary words. The majority of Internet users on the other hand select convenience over security when it comes to their online password, or shall I say password. Many users pick a common password [...]

Microsoft Fix-It solutions are great, really. They are basically small programs that fix certain issues that users may experience under Windows. They were mostly run and forget kind of tools in the beginning, but have quickly expanded into different types. The Malware Prevention Fix-It belongs to that category. While it still comes with an option [...]

It is the second Tuesday of the month which means it is patch day over at Microsoft. The Redmond based company has released a total of four security bulletins that month. One bulletin has received a maximum severity rating of critical, while the three others one of important. The critical vulnerability addresses a issue in [...]

For months now I’ve been writing about the security problems with Google’s Android operating system.  Now yet more malware has been found in the Android marketplace, this time by security researchers. The news, which was reported by ComputerWorld, said that four new malware apps were discovered on Friday by Lookout Security that were infected by [...]

Malware on the web has exploded in recent years. Malicious organizations and users have moved from the Windows operating system as their main target to the web, and that with great success. When you look at the operating system in past years, you will notice that Microsoft has improved the security of it considerably, thanks [...]

When you look at various sign in and log in forms on sites and services like Google Mail, Facebook, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail you will notice that they all look different despite sharing the same basic principle. Users somehow need to enter their username and password, and often have options to stay logged in for [...]

Our data is becoming more and more important to us as we’re keeping ever more of our lives on our PCs, tablets, smartphones and in the cloud.  Currently there are precious few ways to encrypt this data in a way that’s guaranteed to be trouble-free.  Two of the most obvious being hard disks with encryption [...]

Microsoft did enable full session HTTPS encryption for their Hotmail email service back in November 2010. This was regarded by experts and users alike as a step in the right direction, considering that SSL connections improve security significantly over standard HTTP connections. Less than a year later more than two million users have opted in [...]

Smartphones are wonderful things that have helped people do so much more, be so much more productive and keep in touch with friends and family.  Nobody will doubt the benefits of the smartphone for these tasks.  What would happen though if you were to be in an accident, or incapacitated in some way.  Could your [...]

For the last few days I’ve been using the new beta update to Microsoft’s smartphone operating system, Windows Phone, on my HTC handset.  I’ve written a full hands-on review of this ‘Mango’ update at our sister website Windows7News.  It’s a great update and finally brings full cloud services to smartphones with the integration of SkyDrive [...]

I received my Google+ invite this morning and have been playing around with Google’s “answer” to Facebook since then. The thing that I like about it most is the circles feature which allows you to create groups of friends or contacts. One of the problems that Facebook currently has is that you do not have [...]

PayPal users from the European Union are receiving emails these days with the subject “Additional information required by 29.9.2011″. What first looks like another phishing email is in fact a legit PayPal email. According to PayPal, users from the European Union need to confirm account information because of a new EU law. Users who fail [...]

I never really understood why it was this difficulty to identify the people benefiting from running a botnet. I mean, while it is relatively easy to use chained proxies, middleman and other means to stay anonymous, it is not as easy to anonymize the flow of money. Eventually, the money will land at the people [...]

Security and operating system companies have been very successful in the last year of taking down major botnets, networks of malware-infected PCs that can act in unison under remote control to perform distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks and send huge volumes of spam email.  Now a new botnet, named TDL, has been discovered that is very [...]

Keyloggers are either hardware devices or software which can record the key strokes of a user. Both are legal to own in the US and other countries despite their ability to be used in identity theft and fraud. While software keyloggers are the most common, hardware ones need to be watched out for too. While [...]

Free products often have a much wider reach than commercial software. This may be especially true when it comes to security software for the PC. This in turn makes the programs ideal candidates for companies like Ask or UniBlue who want their applications to be installed on as many computer systems as possible. Avira recently [...]