Author Archives: Avast Blog

Phishing scam: University of Texas (San Antonio) email expiration

How’s this for a good phishing scam? Everything seems legit: 1. From email is “customerservice@utsa.edu” 2. No misspelled words and has decent grammar (however, some punctuation inconsistency) 3. Copyright (c) symbol next to the university name 4. Gmail did not filter it as spam, but left it in my normal inbox     Yes, if […]

2013 AV-Comparatives Security Survey: Great news for AVAST

  Results of the AV-Comparatives 2013 Security Survey (pdf) are in, and once again AVAST leads among consumer preferences. Since AV-Comparatives is an independent testing firm, we always look forward to what they have to say. Here are some highlights:   According to survey respondents, AVAST remains the most widely used antivirus solution worldwide, claiming first […]

The avast! 8 User Interface: A study of change

  Everyone knows that change is not easy. When a decision is difficult, people tend to go with the status quo or choose to do nothing. So when we decided to update the look of Avast for version 8, we first had to get through the challenge of change. One of the most important aspects […]

PIN numbers need protection too

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By now, avast! users are aware of the importance of creating strong computer passwords, and guarding their Social Security number like a trained Doberman. But what about the humble four-digit PIN number? Personal identification numbers (PINs) are security features just like passwords. They give access to your mobile phone, credit card, bank account, and numerous […]

Avast Browser Cleanup at work

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Does this internet browser window look familiar to you? If so, you may be the victim of unwanted multiple browser toolbars. These browser add-ons have become a real problem in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, much free software nowadays comes with some unwanted add-ons; in most cases a so-called browser toolbar is installed. Many […]

Banker Omnia Vincit – A tale of signed Brazilian bankers

Let us present the long-term analysis of malware which was designed to steal credentials from more than 25 largest banking and payment systems in Brazil. The unique features of this banking malware include the usage of valid digital certificates, 3 years of evolution and stealing credentials from e-commerce admin pages. This feature opens doors for […]

Analysis of Chinese attack against Korean banks

In this blog post, we will look at the attack originating from hxxp://www.spc.or.kr/ and targeting several major Korean banks. The site, spc.or.kr, is a legitimate Korean website which belongs to Korea Software Property Right Council (SPC). After opening the site and showing its source code, we looked into the included script /js/common1.js. This script includes […]