Ten new security tricks to protect you this year

Criminals invented Cryptolocker, spying malware and Zeus banking Trojan. We have new protection against them.

Each year it gets more complicated to protect your computer or mobile device from online threats, as criminals constantly invent new tricks to steal your money, your data or even hold it hostage. It is no wonder that the security industry must constantly innovate. Here is the list of new protection technologies that counteract fresh (and sometimes scary) tricks of hackers in 2014. We will implement all of them in our new 2015 version of Kaspersky Internet Security ―Multi-Device.

1. UNDO CRYPTOLOCKER

You may know of Cryptolocker, as it has made headlines at least two times in the past year. This nasty malware encrypts your documents with a unique key and demands a ransom (typically, about $300) for decryption. Removing the malware won’t restore encrypted documents.

Moreover, it’s often impossible to restore documents without a key (and only criminals behind Cryptolocker have it). The solution is simple if you have a recent backup of all your data, but many people don’t have it. Here is the new solution – our improved System Watcher automatically backups a user’s documents when any suspicious application tries to access it. If later on, it is discovered that app is a cryptolocker-like malware, all changes to documents (read encryption) will be undone.

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2. KEEP BANKING TROJANS AWAY

Yes, cybercriminals can steal money directly from you. This is done using banking Trojans, which are very effective (just one gang recently stole over 500 000 euro in a week) and sometimes manage to circumvent two-factor authentication and other banks’ protection measures. Trojans are watching you as you type your password, copy and paste credit card numbers from your data vault, and even when you take screenshots when you’re banking online!

Safe Money prevents keyboard spying, clipboard spying and making screenshots while you’re banking.

To protect a user, his/her security solution must make sure that a computer communicates to the right web site, that strong encryption is in place and that the user’s computer has no intruders. Kaspersky Internet Security ―Multi-Device has a special technology called Safe Money, which combines all these measures, preventing a Trojan from spying on a keyboard, interfering with a web browser, and so on. New protection measures include a screenshot prevention (this may be used by a Trojan to spy on virtual onscreen keyboard) and clipboard protection.

3. WARN OF INSECURE WI-FI

Your digital life is fully exposed when you use an open Wi-Fi network, especially in public spaces. It’s ridiculously easy to spy on such connections, which is why you’d better avoid them. However, the list of possible network issues doesn’t finish with a no-password Wi-Fi. That’s why smart protection software should detect possible insecurities and warn a user.  We go even further ―we notify the user about open Wi-Fi and, with relevant setting in place, block your passwords from being transmitted unencrypted.

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Moreover, we give advice on how to set up home network properly and recommend avoiding known dangerous public networks.

4. PREVENT CAMERA SPYING

This may sound like the plot of a bad Hollywood movie, but it actually happens. Hackers may use a computer’s web camera to spy on the user. It’s often used for cyber-espionage, but sometimes ill-intentioned geeks do it just for fun or even to blackmail someone (especially relevant for nice-looking girls).

Do you need to cover your camera with duct tape? Not really, there is a better solution ―we warn you when a new app tries to access your camera. You can allow it for Skype or Hangouts and prevent other apps from ever accessing the webcam. Easy and efficient.

5. STAY ON TOP OF KIDS’ ACTIVITIES AND KEEP THEM SAFE

The Internet is an ocean of possibilities for children ―including everything good and bad altogether. To support your effort in managing your kid’s online life, there are multiple parental control solutions, which can prevent kids from spending too much time gaming, accessing inappropriate web sites or talking to dangerous strangers.  However, most interactions today happen on social networks, and due to Edward Snowden revelations, many social networking sites today send their content encrypted.  This rendered many parental control solutions ineffective. However, our solution is able to check encrypted content if a parent decides to do so. This helps to prevent cyber-bullying and other dangers from social networks. In addition, our new product allows users to set up appropriate restrictions more quickly and easily.

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6. PROTECT FROM PHISHING EVEN BETTER

Every device with a screen and online capabilities should be protected from phishing ―an online scam trying to steal user’s credentials and financial data by imitating a trusted web-site (a bank, a social network, and so on). Typical phishing protection checks a webpage address in a comprehensive database of fraud sites, preventing a user from visiting malicious sites. However, new phishing sites emerge daily, and we must protect a user from visiting completely new scam sites as well. Thus, we developed over 200 criteria helping to distinguish bad and good sites and we apply this knowledge to each site users visit, helping to avoid new frauds.

7. SEAMLESSLY WORK WITH NEW BROWSERS

Browser developers also try to make the web a safer place. In this effort, they introduce some changes that may break compatibility with older browser plugins and add-ons. One such change is a recent Google movement to centralized distribution of Chrome plugins. We addressed this change and aim to provide every major browser with ongoing support.

8. KEEP AN OWNER POSTED ABOUT A PROTECTION STATE

Times when everyone owned just one home computer are long gone. A typical family may easily find 3-5 different digital devices ― laptops, tablets and smartphones ― at home. That’s why we introduced multi-device licenses some time ago, but this raised yet another challenge – to manage the protection for all these different devices. You can use our new web-based Kaspersky Protection Center to view the protection status of all devices on one webpage in real time, easily manage licenses and activate security on any device, get technical support and access additional Kaspersky Lab products and services, including free tools.

9. KEEP IMPORTANT PEOPLE PROTECTED

When your friend suddenly starts posting weird ads of “slimming pills” or something even weirder on a Facebook profile, or sends to you an indistinct link with even more indistinct commentary, you can guess that he or she was hacked ― probably via password theft and/or malware infection. A responsible person must inform a victim of an ongoing hack as soon as possible.  But what can you do to prevent such a situation from ever happening again?  You can protect your friend! Use Kaspersky Internet Security Multi-Device to suggest a protection suite to your friends, give personalized advice of protection. Your friends will be protected and you will be one step closer to our gratitude ― a free protection for yourself.

10. ALWAYS UP-TO DATE

This may sound minor, but in the security world, being always updated to a recent software version is a paramount protection measure. That’s why important software like Windows itself or Chrome auto-updates itself these days. We introduce the same concept for Kaspersky Internet Security. The software will automatically update not only antiviral database, but the program itself to the latest available version. And if you use, let’s say, version 2015 and we release version 2016, you will be automatically upgraded ― for as long as your license is valid.

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