by Lee Mathews on January 24, 2011 at 05:00 PM

Keeping the computers on your home network can be a messy business, but Kaspersky has a solution which can make things a bit easier to manage. Their re-tooled Pure Total Security suite offers full-spectrum network protection from malware defense to backups to parental controls.
Pure packs a ton of functionality, including malware protection, firewall, spam and phishing protection, backup and ...
by Lee Mathews on January 10, 2011 at 04:00 PM

AV-Comparatives spends all year evaluating antivirus applications, and their recommendations are always worth paying attention to. The company's 2010 summary report has been posted, and F-Secure has been declared the top Windows antivirus program.
AV-Comparatives also states that it was extremely difficult to choose a winner this year -- which is a good thing, because it means that security ...
by Lee Mathews on December 30, 2010 at 08:00 AM

Over at the Lookout Mobile Security blog there's news of a sophisticated new trojan spreading on Android devices. Dubbed Geinimi, the Trojan has been injected into legitimate versions of Android games (primarily) and apps, and distributed via third-party app stores in China.
While Lookout isn't certain of Geinimi's intent, the company believes it to be capable of receiving commands from a ...
by Lee Mathews on December 29, 2010 at 10:30 AM

Traditionally, Windows' massive user base has made it a juicy target for malware authors, but a new report from McAfee suggests there could be a major shift in 2011. The security company is predicting that attacks on the exploding smartphone segment and Apple devices will increase significantly.
Mac trojans have already become increasingly common in 2010, and McAfee finds that "lack of user ...
by Lee Mathews on December 17, 2010 at 07:30 AM

There's really no question what the most popular, free antivirus program for Windows is here at Download Squad. You, our readers, make it pretty clear whenever we post about the topic that Microsoft Security Essentials is at the top of the heap -- and we tend to agree. With detection rates every bit as good as some competing paid products (and better than many), MSE might just be the best piece ...
by Lee Mathews on November 30, 2010 at 09:00 AM

Malwarebytes is one of the most trusted and effective tools for removing all kinds of malicious software. Over at the Malwarebytes forums, there's big news today: MBAM 1.5 has been released, and it's faster, smarter, and better than ever. Startup time has been trimmed to just a few seconds and scanning speed improved by as much as 500%. There's also a host of new detection algorithms which allow ...
by Lee Mathews on November 21, 2010 at 10:55 AM

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The holiday season has always been a time for gathering -- but in recent years, it's also been a time when family and friends come bearing gifts of computer ...
by Lee Mathews on November 13, 2010 at 06:35 AM

The Inside Windows Live blog has announced that Microsoft has temporarily disabled active links for Windows Live Messenger (WLM) 2009 users. Its motivation: to prevent the spread of a malicious worm plaguing users of the instant messaging program. An infected user who is chatting with someone else could unknowingly send a poisoned link to other users -- who then click the link and download its ...
by Lee Mathews on November 10, 2010 at 11:00 AM

Microsoft has pushed an update to Security Essentials 2, which is currently in beta testing. While there aren't a vast number of forward-facing changes, there is one important one: the re-introduction of context menu scanning. Once again, you can right-click any file on your system to quickly check it for infection with MSE.
When Security Essentials 2 is finally released, it will include ...
by Lee Mathews on November 4, 2010 at 11:00 AM

It never hurts to have a wingman when you're trying to avoid malware on the Web, and VirusTotal has been a trusted companion for quite some time. Its Web-based scanner offers an easy way to check a file for infection prior to downloading, and it's just gotten a lot easier to access in Google Chrome.
A new extension called VTChromizer adds two-click analysis via VirusTotal to your Chrome ...
by Samuel Gibbs on October 28, 2010 at 09:00 AM

Bad news for Mac users -- a cross-platform Trojan that can infect the OS is currently being tracked, masquerading as a video. Boonana, official designation 'trojan.osx.boonana.a,' or 'OSX/Koobface.A' depending on who you want to go with, is being spread across Facebook and other social networks with the old 'Is this you in this video?' ploy. Appearing on people's Facebook pages, the link launches ...
by Lee Mathews on October 27, 2010 at 06:10 PM

We're big fans of Microsoft Security Essentials -- it's lightweight, free, and offers malware protection that's every bit as good as (if not better than) more recognized names like Norton and McAfee (quit giggling, DS regulars...). Today, Microsoft has begun offering Security Essentials as an optional install via Windows Update.
Like Live Essentials and the Windows 7 Language Packs, users can ...
by Lee Mathews on October 27, 2010 at 09:00 AM

Facebook's immense popularity has made it a prime target for cybercriminals. Malicious (or 'poisoned') links, spam, and malvertising are all too common -- and it's far too easy for an unsuspecting Facebook user to be taken in. Hey, if one of your friends sends you a link to what seems like a hilarious picture, there's a decent chance you'll click through, right?
... And that's how the bad guys ...
by Lee Mathews on October 26, 2010 at 10:30 AM

The battle against malware sure has changed over the past couple of years. It's no longer you and I in our chairs at home armed only with knowledge and an antivirus app. No, today's fight against trojans, botnets, and other software evil-doers involves everyone from lawyers to the police.
In the case of the recent Bredolab botnet, it was the Dutch police who stepped up. Following a concerted ...
by Sebastian Anthony on October 26, 2010 at 06:30 AM

A new and exceedingly evil piece of malware that very cleverly imitates Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) has emerged. It goes by the designation Win32/FakePAV -- and if you haven't recently updated your virus and malware definitions, do it now.
Screenshots on the Malware Protection Center website show this piece of malware to be depressingly good -- it really does imitate MSE very well. It ...