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Author Archives: Avast Blog
Welcome Piriform to Avast!
I am happy to announce that we have acquired Piriform. Piriform is one of the largest providers of PC and mobile optimization software in the world, founded and based in London, UK. Their flagship product is the popular CCleaner, used by 130 million pe…
Ransomware Shield’s solid protection now part of Avast Internet Security
No, it’s not a new season of Mr. Robot: this is real life. Unidentified cybercriminals recently launched a malware attack that made global news. The so-called “Petna” ransomware started in the Ukraine and spread rapidly, peaking around June 27, after which online security experts were able to neutralize and contain the threat.
Spyware targets Iranian Android users by abusing messaging app Telegram’s Bot API
A spyware app communicating via the Telegram Bot API has recently targeted Iranian Android users, uploading extensive personal data about users on a remote server in Iran.
Don’t get hooked by today’s phishing scams: What we can learn from the Gmail hack
“Dear user, yourfriendjanedoe@janedoe.com just sent you an email inviting you to edit the following document that she shared with you.”
Pursuing transparency and accountability for both humans and machines
I was honored recently to be one of the recipients of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) 2017 Champions of Freedom award. Tech and privacy giant Bruce Schneier was among the presenters, and my fellow recipients—attorney Carrie Goldberg, Ron Rivest, and Judge Patricia Wald—are all doing important work in protecting privacy online and off in an age where it feels like we are always being watched. EPIC president and executive director Marc Rotenberg made a powerful statement about the vital, and often unsung, role that transparency has in a healthy democracy.
Ransomware: The top 3 reasons you should never ever ever (ever) pay
It’s a nightmare situation, no doubt about it: a virus has taken over your computer and locked up your most valuable files. A ransom note filling your screen says you have a certain amount of time to pay the hacker, or the amount doubles. After it doubles, you again have a certain amount of time to pay before the criminal behind the ransomware attack destroys your files forever.
4 ways you can protect yourself against the rising wave of ransomware
Earlier this week, a Petya-based ransomware virus targeted the Ukraine in the largest cyberattack the nation has ever experienced, taking down the central bank, postal services, and commercial enterprises such as the Antonov aircraft manufacturer. Whil…
Things we have learned about Petna, the Petya-based malware
Earlier this week, we saw another mass ransomware attack happen, less than two months after the WannaCry outbreak. In the hours and days after the attack, this strain was given many different names, including Petya, Petna, NotPetya, EternalPetya, Nyetya, and many more. We originally referred to it as Petya-based, but for simplicity, let’s call it Petna.
Petya-based ransomware using EternalBlue to infect computers around the world
Further to reports of a massive cyber attack hitting a number of companies in Ukraine, including banks, energy companies and transport services as well as the government, we believe this is another example of the Petya-based ransomware, which was first…