Summary: Security experts offer statements about Facebook’s major privacy revamp. Overall, the changes are good, but they could be better.

Facebook this week announced a major revamp to its privacy settings (Photo Gallery) as well as a few new related features. The overall consensus is that this is a step forward, but security experts still have mixed feelings.

ESET, a Slovakian IT security company, declared that the changes were positive. The company particularly underlined that they were good for Facebook’s average user who is clueless when it comes to privacy settings.

“This sort of movement is positive for us security types, well, at least making security choices simpler, the kind of thing my mom may understand and (hopefully) use, maybe even without me explaining it,” an ESET spokesperson said in a statement. “They also say they’ll be listening for feedback from the user base following the rollout, and being responsive, so it’ll be nice to see a proactive stance. Keeping things secure is a continually moving target, so it’s nice to nice to see efforts in that direction from Facebook. These changes will be hitting the streets in the next few days, so keep an eye out. It also might be a good idea to notify your friends that they can no longer threaten you with posting tagged photos of situations you can’t entirely remember, which can’t really be considered career-builders.”

Sophos, an English vendor of security software and hardware, also thought the improvements were solid, but believes that Facebook could do more. The company insists that the social networking giant needs to take even more initiative.

“Facebook, unfortunately, has time and time again eroded privacy introducing new features which share additional information about their users, assuming they want the features turned on,” a Sophos spokesperson said in a statement. “In other words, the onus has been on users to keep a close eye on what Facebook is up to, and OPT-OUT when the firm introduces something they may not want to happen to their personal information. Although I’m pleased to see what appears to be Facebook simplifying its privacy settings, and making them more visible, it has missed an opportunity to lead the way on privacy. Facebook should become truly opt-in. Not just on the basis that a new user opts in altogether by joining Facebook in the first place, but on the basis that everything is locked down until a new user opens up each feature. Facebook should not wait until the regulators in the world’s developed economies start legislating to make it do a better job. If they took the lead, people would love them all the more in the end.”

Facebook started pushing out the changes yesterday but most users likely won’t see them on their accounts for a few weeks.

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“A new study has found that iOS remained untouched by malware during the second quarter, while Android faced 76 percent more threats than in the first quarter, making it the most targeted mobile platform,” Josh Ong reports for AppleInsider.

“Google’s Android platform jumped from being the third-most targeted platform for mobile malware in the first quarter to taking the number one spot with 44 cases of malware. Java ME, the second-most targeted platform, had one-third the volume with just 14 exploits,” Ong reports. “Several security firms warned early this month that Android has become increasingly susceptible to attack, while at the same time noting that Apple’s platform is relatively more secure than its rival.”

Ong reports, “In June, Symantec issued a report that found iOS to have ‘full protection’ against malware attacks, while Android was characterized as having ‘little protection.’”

Read More in Mac Daily News

Free application supporting iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices allowing contacts to be quickly and securely backed up to the cloud

Cybercriminals don’t just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

Telephone tech support scams: What you need to know

Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you’re using.

Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a website to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information is vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

Here are some of the organizations that cybercriminals claim to be from:

• Windows Helpdesk
• Windows Service Center
• Microsoft Tech Support
• Microsoft Support
• Windows Technical Department Support Group
• Microsoft Research and Development Team (Microsoft R & D Team)

Report phone scams

Learn about how to report phone fraud in the United States. Outside of the US, contact your local authorities.

How to protect yourself from telephone tech support scams

If someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support calls you:

• Do not purchase any software or services.
• Ask if there is a fee or subscription associated with the “service.” If there is, hang up.
• Never give control of your computer to a third party unless you can confirm that it is a legitimate representative of a computer support team with whom you are already a customer.
• Take the caller’s information down and immediately report it to your local authorities.
• Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support.

What to do if you already gave information to a tech support person

If you think that you might have downloaded malware from a phone tech support scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, take these steps:

• Change your computer’s password, change the password on your main email account, and change the password for any financial accounts, especially your bank and credit card.
• Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer.

Will Microsoft ever call me?

There are some cases where Microsoft will work with your Internet service provider and call you to fix a malware-infected computer—such as during the recent cleanup effort begun in our botnet takedown actions. These calls will be made by someone with whom you can verify you already are a customer. You will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft or our partners to charge you for computer fixes.

More information

For more information about how to recognize a phishing scam, see Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently.

If you need help with a virus or other security problem, visit the Microsoft Virus and Security Solution Center.

To help protect against viruses and other malicious software, download Antivirus Software.

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While the web is a wonderful place, there are many dangers online that can put you and your computer at risk. Your browser is the first line of defense against attacks on the web, and it plays a critical role along with anti-virus and other security software to help keep you safe online. With Internet Explorer, SmartScreen helps protect users from socially engineered malware attacks by stopping them before they have a chance to infect your PC.

NSS Labs, an independent security research and testing organization, released two reports today that show SmartScreen continues to offer industry-leading protection against socially engineered malware. According to the global test conducted by NSS, “IE9 caught an exceptional 96% of the live threats with SmartScreen URL reputation, and an additional 3.2% with Application Reputation.” The graph below compares the test results from various browsers and shows that Internet Explorer blocks up to seven times more malware than other browsers in the global test.

IE9 with SmartScreen Leads Malware Protection Once Again

Source: NSS Labs, August 2011 – Global Socially Engineered Malware Protection

Other regional tests released by NSS for socially engineered malware targeted at users in Asia Pacific and in Europe showed similar and consistent results. In all cases, Internet Explorer 9 leads across all browsers in protecting users from these live threats of malware.

Source: NSS Labs, Asia, Global, and Europe Reports (2011)

We continue to improve the quality and protection SmartScreen technology offers to our Internet Explorer users. You can see these improvements in how much faster SmartScreen is in blocking malware over time. Since the October 2010 NSS report, the average time taken by SmartScreen filter to block a threat has gotten 28% faster – and if Application Reputation is considered, then the average time has improved by 85%. Not only has the effectiveness of the technology improved, but so has the speed at which it is able to identify socially engineered malware. For our Windows customers, this means fewer infections and headaches for you.

Internet Explorer is designed with your security and privacy in mind. Innovative features such as SmartScreen and Application Reputation are examples of technologies that help protect you as you browse from an increasingly prevalent threat – socially engineered malware. According to Bruce Hughes from AVG Technologies, “Users are 4 times more likely to come into contact with social engineering tactics as opposed to a site serving an exploit.” As this threat becomes more common consumers need better protection and the SmartScreen filter in Internet Explorer is designed to directly address this threat.

When it comes to browsing the web safely, your browser choice matters. If you haven’t already done so, download Internet Explorer 9 and experience a safer browsing experience.

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Astonishing 27% of people with existing contact information in their old phones manually entered that information into their latest smart-phone; cloud-based IDrive® Lite to the rescue!

A much more efficient solution has emerged that uses the cloud to do all the work – IDrive Lite. IDrive Lite is a free application supporting iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices allowing contacts to be quickly and securely backed up to the cloud, and simply copied down to a new smart-phone when desired – completely hassle free! IDrive Lite has helped over 200,000 users transfer an amazing 75 Million contacts.

Learn more about IDrive Lite and download the application for free at http://www.idrive.com/idrive-lite

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One third on the Irish enjoy holiday gloating while another third prefer secret holiday destinations

With the holiday season nearly over we wanted to know how much of their holiday plans or activities do Irish reveal on social media. This security issue goes beyond announcing your house will be empty in a certain period and inviting burglary this way. Lately cybercriminals often contact social media friends of their target with some sort of financial scam that involves the holiday destination.

Urban Schrott, ESET Ireland’s cybercrime analyst comments: “Say someone posted on his Facebook profile that they’re looking forward to their holiday in Lanzarote. Well, cybercriminals often check for such info on visible Facebook accounts and then they can easily fake an email seemingly from them and target some of their friends saying something like ‘I was mugged in Lanzarote, please send me €500 to sort things out and get home,’ with a request to transfer funds through untraceable Western Union. Scams like this appear credible, and are occurring all the time. With the location of the holiday made known, many people fall for it and send ‘friend in distress’ money, then are shocked to find the friend was never mugged and knows nothing about it.”

Now ESET Ireland asked Irish computer users how much info they reveal on social media. One third of Irish adult internet users never post their travel plans on a social media website. Just under 1 in 10 always post, while another 1 in 10 only allow certain friends to see the information. If we say the worst security offenders are those that tell all, well, there’s only about 9% of those. But add to that another 13% that sometimes post, and 8% that only tell some friends, then nearly a third does reveal some info, therefore putting themselves and their friends at risk.

The full results of the survey are as follows:

Another interesting detail is that 11% of Irish males but only 7% of Irish females post before travelling, while only 9% of males and 16% of females post after they’ve returned home. And the people of Leinster, who scored highest in never posting and lowest in always posting of all regions, seem to be wisest in telling everyone it’s nobody’s business where they spend their holidays.

ESET Ireland recommends you behave safely online and try to filter information you disclose about yourselves so the chance of them being abused in any way is minimised.

Read More in Urban Schott Eset Ireland’s Blog

ESET releases ESET Mobile Security Business Edition for Windows Mobile and Symbian. The Business Edition of ESET Mobile Security shares the functions of the current ESET Mobile Security, while adding functionality to remotely manage through ESET Remote Administrator 4. With ESET Mobile Security, users on the go will be provided with reliable and tested data security with proactive protection against emerging threats.

ESET Mobile Security Business Edition is ESET‘s advanced security solution for the most popular smartphone operating system: Symbian, which according to Gartner accounted for 37.6 percent market share in 2010. Furthermore, it can be used by businesses on the Windows Mobile platform.

“Protection of mobile devices is increasingly important for both consumers and businesses alike. ESET Mobile Security Business Edition provides a powerful security solution for the most widely used platform, Symbian. It is also built for smartphones and pocket PCs running Windows Mobile,” says Peter Vrana, ESET’s Senior Product Manager for Business Security. Peter Vrana adds: “There are many rogue applications out there, some of them even include spyware targeting businesses. Our ultimate goal is to protect our customers from both privacy invasion and costly data losses. ESET Mobile Security Business Edition delivers on that objective.”

ESET Mobile Security Business Edition is available in the following languages: English, Czech, Slovak, German, Spanish, French, Turkish,  Polish, Russian, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.

ESET Mobile Security Business Edition

ESET Mobile Security Business Edition Key Features:

• Remote Administration Support — ESET Mobile Security Business Edition can be managed via ESET Remote Administrator 4. This brings many advantages especially in a business environment, where administrators can now send and receive the configuration from the mobile client, perform On-Access or On-Demand Scans, conduct a Security Audit, adjust Firewall settings and Spam Filter logs or set update schedule according to preference. In addition, administrators can gather and change the configuration of the mobile client, send a message via the ESET Remote Administrator 4 Console and remotely update the virus database if necessary.
• Anti-Theft — Prevent unauthorized access to data in the event the device is lost or stolen.
• Remote Wipe — Delete all sensitive data using a simple SMS command (contacts, messages and removable memory media) in the event the device is compromised and stolen.
• SIM Matching — Define a list of trusted SIM cards and receive notification of an unauthorized SIM inserted into a compromised device, including the card’s telephone number, IMSI and IMEI.
• Password Protection — Safeguard mobile devices against unauthorized uninstallation or modification of security software that weakens your security posture.
• Security Audit — Schedule regular diagnostics of all vital phone functions, including battery life, free disk space, running processes, Bluetooth and device visibility.  Intuitive risk indicators provide actionable information to remediate security risks.
• SMS and MMS Antispam — Define trustworthy contacts via customizable black, whitelist or simply block unknown numbers.
• Firewall — Monitor all incoming and outgoing communications with a customizable rule-based filter.

Additionaly, ESET Mobile Security brings the following benefits to users on the go:

• Proactive Detection —  The optimized heuristics of the ESET scanning engine ensures protection from current and emerging threats.
• Quarantine — An option either to delete threats right away or isolate them, with the restore feature.
• Broad Scanning Options — Scanning and cleaning of the device’s integral memory as well as removable memory cards. It is also possible to check memory running processes. All files incoming or leaving via wireless connections are scanned for infiltrations.
• Automatic Virus Database Updates — Provides protection against the most current mobile security threats. The user can schedule the delivery of updates on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Read More In Eset Ireland’s Blog By Urban Schrott

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition for Linux Desktop and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 for Linux, the company’s new security solutions for corporate workstations and home computers running Linux now available. ESET NOD32 Antivirus for Linux capitalizes on the award-winning ThreatSense engine to deliver advanced protection against cyber threats with minimal impact on system performance.

“Given the importance of consumer and business usage of Linux, it is essential to equip users with advanced security software to protect against cyber-attacks,” said Richard Marko, CEO of ESET. “With ESET NOD32 Antivirus for Linux, ESET’s protection is now available for all major platforms and this ensures up-to-date protection against threats aimed at Linux, Windows or Mac OS,” he added.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 for Linux offers complete protection against cross-platform and emerging threats, enhancing the security of Linux platforms. The scanning engine automatically detects and cleans malicious code, including threats designed for Windows and Mac based systems. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition for Linux Desktop includes ESET Remote Administrator, which provides IT administrators with a management console to control an entire network from a single screen — supporting tens or thousands of heterogeneous computers.

With the latest addition, ESET now delivers advanced protection to more than 100 million Linux, Windows and Mac users worldwide.

Key Benefits and Features

• Smart Detection and Proactive Cross-Platform Protection – Advanced heuristics technology delivers real-time, proactive protection from malware, hacker attacks and exploits. Product protects against Linux, Windows, and Mac malware.
• Small System Footprint – The unique build of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition for Linux Desktop has been optimized to perfectly match the system environment. ESET engineered a smart solution with one of the lowest system footprints on the market ensuring fast startup and smooth performance.
• Graphical User Interface – Optional graphical user interface which delivers intuitive access to features includes full screen mode, informative graphs, statistics and scheduler.
• Security Settings Control – Defines which user accounts have the capability to change settings, so unauthorized users cannot disable or lessen protection
• Streamlined Management – Easy management and oversight of network security across all platforms allows to push tasks and updates and apply security policies from a single console.
• Removable Media Access Control – Scans or blocks usage of USB, FireWire, CD/DVD devices to minimize risk of infection or data loss.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition for Linux Desktop and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 for Linux will be available in 15 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Czech, Canadian French, Latinoamerican Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition for Linux Desktop and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

Read More In Eset Ireland’s Blog By Urban Schrott

ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server 4.3 is available for businesses. The update is available for free to existing customers of ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server and offers a more advanced antispam engine with precision score dials, and spam and greylisting logs.

Out of the top twenty corporate endpoint security vendors worldwide, ESET is the fastest growing company in this category according to IDC. ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server is built on the award-winning NOD32 Antivirus 4 ThreatSense® engine and provides customers with the industry’s most effective proactive technology for detecting viruses and other malware. In addition to stripping malware from messages, the integrated antispam and greylisting features keep unwanted spam from reaching end users.

“We are always focused on continuous improvement and with that mindset we enhanced the antispam capabilities and provided tools and logs for easy management,” said Pavel Luka, Chief Technology Officer, ESET. “Messaging security is the first line of defense against malware outbreaks, spam interruptions, and phishing attacks, and ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server provides fast and accurate messaging security with minimal overhead for businesses of all sizes.”

ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server offers proactive protection against emerging threats, without waiting hours or day for signature updates. Additionally, the solution has a light system footprint that has minimal impact on mail server performance and is easy to deploy. The solution provides fast and effective messaging security, while offering antispam protection with precision score dials and logging for minimal productivity disruptions.

New features of ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server 4.3

• Antispam engine – New antispam engine that keeps inboxes uncluttered.
• Antispam score dials – Define antispam threshold scores at three levels with greater precision for more control.
• Advanced setup tree – Redesigned advanced setup tree for more intuitive navigation.
• Automatic exclusions – Automatically detects and excludes critical server files for smooth operation.
• License merging – Automatically merges two or more licenses with the same customer name for easier license management.
• Spam log – Displays sender, recipient, spam score, classification reason and action taken for actionable information.
• Greylisting log – Displays greylisted sender, recipient, action taken and shows status until connection denial period ends for actionable information.

ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server Delivers Enhanced Spam Detection

Read More In Eset Ireland’s Blog By Urban Schrott