PCs are still the biggest target of cybercriminals. But as more people navigate to mobiles and Macs, so do the criminal hackers.

The Android platform for smartphones and tablets remains the largest target for both mobile malware and spyware. In fact, we see very few mobile threats that are not directed at Android phones. After a slight decline earlier in the year, Android malware has rebounded and almost doubled this quarter compared with the second quarter

Mac malware, which compromises Apple’s platform, shows strong, continued growth. This surprises many people because this threat inspires far less discussion than PC and mobile malware, but the numbers do not lie with over 350 new samples in Q3 of 2012.

That’s why today, more than ever, it’s critical to protect all your devices. Most of us have much more personal information than we realize on them—from financial documents to priceless photos and lots of personally identifiable information. All of which, if not protected, could expose us to financial fraud, identity theft and privacy invasion.

But the challenge is how do you do this? Protecting all your stuff and devices with a hodge podge of software is a hassle and often ineffective. And in today’s world, security means much more than just antivirus.

With our reliance on so many Internet-connected devices a part of our everyday lives, cross-device protection is essential.

Today McAfee announced the latest enhancements to McAfee All Access which provides cross-device protection for consumers. McAfee All Access safeguards all facets of your digital life and enables you to enjoy a safe online experience regardless of device or location.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  (Disclosures)

In a recent study, McAfee found that 70% of Americans plan to shop online during the holiday season and that 24% of us will be doing that shopping via our mobile devices. The scary part is that 88% of us would be willing to trade personal information in order to receive a great offer—something that could cause us to fall into scammers’ traps.

Here are the “12 Scams of the Holidays,” the dozen most dangerous online scams to watch out for this holiday season, revealed today by McAfee.

To make sure your holidays are not stolen by the Grinch, here are some tips on how to protect yourself against scams during the holidays, and year-round:

• Stay suspicious—Like mom said, be wary of any offer that sounds too good to be true.
• Practice safe surfing—When searching for holiday gifts, use a safe search plug-in such as McAfee SiteAdvisor^®.
• Practice safe shopping—Make sure you stick to reputable e-commerce sites that have been verified as safe by a trusted third-party, like the McAfee SECURE™ mark. Also look for “https” at the beginning of a site’s web address, which indicates that the site is secured.
•  Use strong passwords— Make sure your passwords are at least eight characters long and contain a variety of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
•  Be careful when clicking—Don’t click on links in messages from people you don’t know, and use a URL expander to know what site you are going to before clicking on a shortened URL.
• Use comprehensive computer security—Make sure you have up-to-date security software that includes antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, and anti-phishing protection for all your devices, including your mobile phone and tablet.
• Educate yourself—Keep up-to-date on the latest scams and tricks cybercriminals use, so you can learn to recognize scams and avoid potential attacks.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert for McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Most people aren’t aware of the numerous com­mon techniques for cracking passwords:

• Dictionary attacks: There are free online tools that make password cracking almost effortless. Dictionary attacks rely on software that automatically plugs com­mon words into password fields. So, don’t use dictionary words, slang terms, common misspellings, or words spelled backward. Avoid consecutive keyboard combinations such as qwerty or asdfg.
• Cracking security questions: When you click the “Forgot Password” link within a webmail service or other website, you’re asked to answer a question or series of questions to verify your identity. Many people use names of spouses, kids, other relatives, or pets in security questions or as passwords themselves. These types of answers can be deduced with a little research, and can often be found on your social media profile. Don’t use traceable personal information in your security questions or passwords.
• Simple passwords: When 32 million passwords were exposed in a breach last year, almost 1% of victims were using 123456. The next most popular password was 12345. Other common choices are 111111, princess, qwerty, and abc123. Avoid these types of passwords, which are easily guessed.
• Reuse of passwords across multiple sites: When one data breach compro­mises passwords, that same login infor­mation can often be used to hack into users’ other accounts. Two recent breaches revealed a password reuse rate of 31 percent among victims. Reusing passwords for email, banking, and social media accounts can lead to identity theft.
• Social engineering: As previously described, social engineering is the act of manipulating others into performing cer­tain actions or divulging confidential information, and can be used as an alter­native to traditional hacking. Social engineering can be employed to trick tar­gets into disclosing passwords.

One day we will develop a truly secure password, perhaps a cross-pollination of various access control tools such as biometrics, dynamic-based biometrics, image-based access, and multi-factor authentication. In the meantime, protect your information by creating a secure password that makes sense to you, but not to others.

• Use different passwords for each of your accounts.
• Be sure no one watches as you enter your password.
• Always log off if there are other people in the vicinity of your laptop or other device. It only takes a moment for some­one to steal or change your password.
• Use comprehensive security software and keep it up to date to avoid keystroke log­gers and other malware.
• Avoid entering passwords on computers you don’t control, such as at an Internet café or library. These computers may have malware that steals passwords.
• Avoid entering passwords when using unsecured Wi-Fi connections, such as at an airport or in a coffee shop. Hackers can intercept your passwords and other data over this unsecured connection.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. See him discussing identity theft on YouTube. (Disclosures)

The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on cyber security awareness and education for all digital citizens, partnered with McAfee on a new survey to examine U.S. residents’ online safety posture.  The findings reveal a substantial disconnect between our respective online security perceptions and our actual practices while on the Internet. The online safety survey shows that all of us can increase our efforts to make the Internet safer in light of such notable statistics:

• 90% of Americans agree that a safe and secure Internet is crucial to our nation’s economic security
• 50% say their job is dependent on a safe and secure Internet and 79% say losing Internet access for 48 consecutive hours would be disruptive
• 90% of us do not feel completely safe from viruses, malware and hackers while on the Internet
• 25% of us have been notified by a business, online service provider or organization that our personally identifiable information (e.g. password, credit card number, email address, etc.) was lost or compromised because of a data breach

This data shows that Americans can improve their online safety practices in a number of areas, especially when it comes to accessing the Internet from their personal devices. We can all increase our online safety practices by starting with these simple ways to stay safe online:

• Keep your machine clean
  Use up-to-date comprehensive security software and use the latest versions of your Web browser, and operating systems.
• Own your online presence
  When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing—it’s good practice limit who you share information with.
• Make passwords long, strong and unique
  Use a combinations of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols create a more secure password and don’t use the same password for all your sites.
• Protect all your devices that connect to the Internet
  Along with your PC, make sure to protect your Macs, smartphones, tablets and other Internet-enabled devices.
• Connect with care
  Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots and the potential risks of using them. Also, when banking and shopping, check to be sure the site’s security is enabled.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

Scammers have been very productive in creating fake or infected websites, which are designed to do harm to your computer, your finances or your identity. The bait that lures us to these infected websites may be the latest Twitter trend, a breaking news story, a significant world event, downloads, and even celebrity pictures or gossip. And, the more popular the search, the more likely you are to run into dangerous results.

For the 6th year in a row, McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal which ones are the riskiest to search for online. Emma Watson has taken over the #1 spot from Heidi Klum as the Most Dangerous Celebrity to search for on the Web (#riskyceleb). This year also marks the first time that the entire Top 10 list is comprised of all women. The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk are:

Cybercriminals often use the names of popular celebrities to tempt viewers to visit websites that are actually laden with malicious software. Anyone looking for the latest videos or pictures could end up with a malware-ridden computer instead of the trendy content they were expecting.

And beware of “free” things. Scammers know that this is a word that can get a lot of attention and will use this as a way to get to you. This year, when searching for “Emma Watson and ‘free’ downloads,” and “Emma Watson and hot pictures” and “Emma Watson and videos” you run the risk of running into online threats designed to steal your personal information.

Here’s some tips to help you stay safe while searching online (whether it be from your PC or mobile device):

• Use common sense: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Always double-check the web address (URL) that you are going to. For example, if you are searching for Amazon.com and get a result for “Amazzon.cn”, you should know not to click.
• Use a safe search plug-in, such as McAfee® SiteAdvisor® software that displays a red, yellow, or green ratings in search results, warning you to potential risky sites before you click on them.
• Use comprehensive security software to protect against the latest threats.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

Websites with bad reputations are influenced by the hosting of malicious software (malware), potentially unwanted programs, or phishing sites. By the end of June 2012, the total number of bad URLs referenced by McAfee Labs™ overtook 36 million! This quarter McAfee recorded an average of 2.7 million new bad URLs per month. Of the new bad-reputation URLs, 94.2% host malware that have been specifically designed to hijack your computer.

It isimportant to make sure you are aware of things that can happen when you are exposed to a malicious site. The web is a dangerous place for the uninformed and unprotected.Protect yourself:

• Make sure your OS is updated: Keeping your operating system updated is a must to protect against security threats. The updates protect you from any known holes that could expose you.
• Keep your browser updated: Running the latest versions of the browser also help to protect you against threats that you could be exposed to.
• Use security software: Having up to date comprehensive security software is a must. It should include antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, anti-phishing, a firewall and a safe search tool.
• Use strong passwords: Little yellow sticky notes on your monitor with your passwords isn’t good. Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols that are at least 8 characters in length. Also use different passwords for each of your accounts and if possible consider changing them up every 6 months.
• Stay educated: Make sure you stay up to date on the latest tricks and tools that hackers use by reading blogs, and getting tips from trusted security sources.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

With the malware growth rate up nearly 100,000 per day, McAfee has identified these key variations of malware affecting everyone, which include, mobile malware, Twitter hackers web threats and specifically ransomware.

Data can sometimes be held hostage with the help of “ransomware,” also known as “ransom software.” This software infiltrates your com­puter when you download an infected attachment or clicking a link within the body of an email. You can also get ransomware simply by visiting the wrong website, in what is called a “drive-by.”

Once your computer or mobile device is infected with ransom­ware, it locks down your files to prevent you from accessing them and gives a hacker full control of your machine. Sometimes the ran­somware poses as a “Browser Security” or “Anti-Adware” security product whose license has expired. Computers running Windowsthat are infected by ransomware are confronted by a full-screen message that resembles a Windows “error alert”.

Ransomware is not common, but it’s definitely a rising malware threat. The best way to avoid ransomware is to make sure that your computer is running the most current version of your operating system and has updated antivirus software. It’s also very important not to click on links in the body of an email or visit unfamiliar websites that may contain viruses that will attempt to inject them­selves through any security vulnerabilities in your browser.

As PC malware writers master their craft, they are transferring their skills to other popular consumer and business platforms, such as Android devices. After the mobile malware “explosion” in Q1 2012, Android malware shows no signs of slowing down, putting users on high alert.

While malware most typically affects PCs due to Windows software, malware can be written for any operating system and platform. Cautioning all Mac fans they too are susceptible to malware, the McAfee Threat Report notes Mac malware’s steady growth, with more than 100 new samples over Q1 2012.

Users must understand how criminals use psychology with lures of easy money. The most effective way to protect yourself is to install a full suite of security protection on your computer so your money and your information remain guarded.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

To make sure your vacation isn’t spoiled by cybercriminals and to make sure you travel with more ease, here’s some things to be aware of.

Taxis
From the moment you leave your home make sure your cab driver thinks you will be back that night and give the impression your home is alarmed, there is an attack dog there and your roommate Rocco will be home. You don’t want to let the taxi driver know your address and that no one is going to be home for a week.

We often leave stuff in cabs, such as mobile phones, tablets and flash drives. And usually, once it’s left, it’s lost for good. Create sticky labels with your contact information and stick them on the device. If the cabbie or the next person in the taxi is honest, you may get your devices back. You should also consider using a security product on your mobile devices that lets you remotely locate, lock and wipe them in case your mobile phone or tablet is permanently lost or stolen so no one can access all the personal data you have on the device.

Airplanes
Keep your devices with you or under the seat in front of you. You probably don’t want to check them in with your luggage and you should be wary when putting them in the overhead compartments. Make sure you check all the area behind you when you deplane and if you get up to use the restroom or walk around, take your device with you or make sure a traveling companion is watching it.

Hotel Rooms
Hotel rooms are not secure. More than once I’ve entered a hotel room with somebody else’s stuff laid out on the dresser and on the bed. Sometimes the clerk assigns the same room to two people, or the keys work in multiple rooms. Never ever leave anything of value in your room, including in the hotel safe.

Rental Cars
My wife traveled to Spain, got off the plane, and rented a car, and drove off the lot. At the first stop sign, a man knocked on her passenger window and pointed, saying, “Tire, tire.” She put the car in park and walked over to the passenger side. The tire was fine and the man was gone. When she got back in the car her purse had disappeared from the front seat. Her driver’s license, passport, cash, and credit cards were all gone. Don’t leave things unattended in the rental car and be sure to check everywhere before you return the car as mobile phones can easily slide under the seat or between the dashboards.

Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi connections are hotbeds for thieves, especially if they are unsecured, like most public hotspot or free Wi-Fi access locations are. When you’re a Wi-Fi connection in a hotel, café or wherever you are when traveling, make sure you don’t access financial sites or do online shopping. It’s easy for criminals to setup fake connections that appear legitimate but are traps to capture information from unknowing victims.

I hope these travel tips help keep your devices safe when you’re traveling so you can enjoy your vacation!

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

Phishing is similar. The cybercrook sends out spam email and waits for a victim to take the bait. A phisher can send thousands of phishing emails a day, and eventually some people will get hooked.

Phishing is a multi-billion dollar business. Unlike the ongoing depletion of the ocean’s fisheries, there are still plenty of people out there to phish. Today, many victims in developing nations like India and China have only recently gotten broad­band Internet access, and are considered fresh meat by the bad guys.

Phishers follow a similar editorial calendar as newspaper and magazine editors, coordinating their attacks around holidays and the change in seasons. They capitalize on significant events and natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, the Japanese Tsunami and the swine flu. On their radar right now is the 2012 Olympics.

Francois Paget, Senior Threat Researcher at McAfee discovered numerous emails combining scam lotteries and the Olympics. Like chocolate and peanut butter these two topics go great together.

“These mails inform the recipients that they have won a substantial amount of money. After contacting the lottery manager, the victims of these rip-offs will be asked to pay “processing fees” or “transfer charges” so that the winnings can be distributed. In some cases, the organizers ask for a copy of the winner’s passport, national ID, or driver’s license. With that personal information compromised, future identity theft activities are guaranteed.”

Awareness is the best way to avoid being scammed. Knowing what the bad guys are doing to hook their victims and learning not getting caught is your best protection. Here’s  a video that explains what phishing is and how to detect if an email is phishing. You should also be aware of phishing when reading emails on our mobile phone. For more information about mobile phishing, read this.

• Invest in security software that includes antivirus, anti-spyware anti-phishing and a firewall.
• Never click links in the body of an email unless you are 100% sure it’s legit
• Don’t go snooping around your spam folders opening emails that look suspect.
• When in doubt, delete. Like mom said, if it’s too good to be true, it is.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. See him discussing identity theft on YouTube. (Disclosures)

The problem of course, is that all these conveniences have led to gaping security holes that allow criminals from all over the world to compromise your computer and various accounts which of course leads to identity theft and financial loss.  Even scarier is when criminal predators use the Internet to exploit children in various ways.

What this means is that all of us need to increase our security intelligence by understanding what to look out for and what systems need to be put in place so we can reap the benefits of the Internet safely and securely.

Since June is Internet Safety Month, it’s a good time to review essentials that all of us should be aware of every day.

• Protect your personal information. Don’t give out personal data unless it is a trusted source requesting it and a secure site accepting it.
• Look for httpS in the address bar when you are shopping online or on a site where you are entering personal information.
• Update your browser with the latest version and use the highest security settings.
• Update all your devices’ operating systems whenever a new version or critical security patch is available.
• Beware of requests coming in via email asking you to update personal information. It’s best to go directly to sites instead of clicking on links in emails, or text messages.
• Teach your children the “rules of the road” for the Internet and make sure they understand what is and isn’t acceptable online.
• Think before you post online. It’s always good to use this rule of thumb—everything you post online is public and available forever—even if you use the highest security and privacy settings.
• Keep your devices updated with the latest version of antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-phishing and make sure to have a 2-way firewall.
• And remember, if something sounds too good to be true—it usually is, so don’t fall for the scam.

We can all do our part to stay safe and be better digital citizens by staying educated on the latest threats and scams.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)