#McAfee finds #JimmyKimmel as the Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity of 2014

#McAfee finds #JimmyKimmel as the Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity of 2014 pic.twitter.com/YETfCM75qM
— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) October 3, 2014

McAfee research found that searching for the latest Jimmy Kimmel pictures and downloads yields more than a 19% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.

The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk are:

Position	Celebrity	Percentage
1	Jimmy Kimmel	19.38%
2	Armin van Buuren	19.33%
3	Ciara	19.31%
4	Flo Rida	18.89%
5	Bruce Springsteen	18.82%
6	Blake Shelton	18.47%
7	Britney Spears	18.19%
8	Jon Bon Jovi	17.64%
9	Chelsea Handler	17.22%
10	Christina Aguilera	16.67%

New #LGG3 to have McAfee Mobile Security

Today McAfee, part of Intel Security, and LG Electronics announced that the new LG G3 will come pre-installed with a version of McAfee Mobile Security that includes a new anti-theft feature designed to protect users from unauthorized factory resets.  The Kill Switch provides users the ability to disable their phones remotely in the event of device loss or theft. The software allows content to be wiped to prevent personal information from being compromised.

#Amitabh Bachchan unveiled the #LGG3 in India http://t.co/r3pofYWYmK
— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) July 23, 2014

“We are working with LG to build and implement unique security measures that empower users to live a safer, worry-free digital life,” said John Giamatteo, senior vice president and general manager, McAfee consumer business. “Partnering with global mobile leaders such as LG is one of the many ways that we’re working tirelessly to deliver innovative solutions that enable safer mobile computing for consumers.”

McAfee outlines strategy for Connected Network Security

McAfee, part of Intel Security, today outlined its strategy for helping businesses and government agencies strengthen their network protection through a powerful combination of integrated technologies.  As part of its strategy, McAfee is strengthening its network portfolio with deeper integration and expanded use of both global and local threat intelligence.
Firewalls are the first line of defence for many organizations, however, traditional firewalls do not integrate with endpoint security solutions and do not have access to either global threat intelligence or local threat intelligence. Without this integration, organizations are unable to protect against many of today’s complex attacks. Recent high profile data breaches have underscored this challenge, with many organizations discovering breaches days or weeks after the initial compromise had occurred.
                To address this, challenge, McAfee is delivering a framework that brings network and endpoint together through centralized management and that integrates with both global and local threat intelligence to deliver visibility across all threat vectors.

Network Security Must be Integrated
                As part of its Security Connected framework, McAfee offers network security as part of an integrated portfolio in which security products and services work together to safeguard businesses from advanced attacks. At the core of McAfee Security Connected are the principles of integrated solutions, built-in intelligence, and advanced management offered with an extensible architecture for partners. These solutions integrate with endpoint security to share real-time information, threat intelligence, and workflows to strengthen an organization’s defenses.
“Gone are the days when you could deploy a new standalone security appliance to protect your entire network,” said Pat Calhoun, general manager of network security at McAfee. “The advanced attacks that we’re seeing today happen far too quickly and can easily overwhelm security products that are operating solo.”
                McAfee offers a wide range of integrated network protection technologies including McAfee Threat Intelligence Exchange, McAfee Advanced Threat Defense, McAfee Network Intrusion Prevention, and McAfee Next Generation Firewall.  The McAfee network security framework provides maximum availability, security, integrity, flexibility, and manageability with minimum overhead and risk. With a proven record in network security protection, McAfee is the partner of choice for the most security-conscious companies and governments worldwide.
A recent McAfee report outlined the role of advanced evasion techniques in Advanced Persistent Threats, and the high cost to organizations worldwide to deal with the clean-up and impact of these techniques. McAfee Next Generation Firewall is the most recent solution to be enhanced and added to the growing list of Security Connected solutions.  With the support of McAfee Global Threat Intelligence, the McAfee Next Generation Firewall has access to the latest network threats, cutting down threat identification time and minimizing the impact to network performance.
                “In our demanding environment, there are only a few systems on the market that are capable of meeting our criteria,” said Andreas Schreiber, Chief Business Development Officer at RWTH Aachen University.  “McAfee Next Generation Firewall guarantees both optimal protection and high availability—and with a price performance ratio suitable for a public institution. With McAfee Next Generation Firewall, RWTH is well equipped for the future.”

Threat Intelligence is Critical
The ability to quickly spot and pre-empt advanced threats is now a business differentiator as companies seek to protect their intellectual property and assure customers that their data is safe and secure.  Building on McAfee’s leadership experience across network, endpoint and data security, McAfee Threat Intelligence Exchange allows organizations to orchestrate security controls to identify patterns, immunize assets against newly-identified malware, and prevent data exfiltration in real-time – optimizing security for each organization.
Calhoun added, “Just as a team is more powerful than an individual, a beneficial multiplier effect occurs when network security solutions are connected to each other, to endpoints and other intelligence sources – the collective security analysis from these solutions is greater than that of a single solution.”
                For more information about McAfee’s connected network security portfolio, please visit www.mcafee.com/NetworkSecurity.

2014 Outlook from McAfee on Indian Security Industry Trends

Following are the mega trends that will dominate 2014’s security industry in India -

·         Enterprise Mobility and BYOD: Organisations expect one single solution to address the overall BYOD challenge which is not practically feasible. BYOD needs to be looked at from different dimensions like Data Loss Prevention, Network access Control, Authentication system, internal intrusion prevention systems, internal firewalls, securing Wi-Fi etc. This demands that companies relook at the security architecture and rebuild it to fit BYOD needs.


·         Real-Time visibility of threat trends: The volume of threats and the nature of hidden, stealthy malware that is designed to evade traditional protection counter measures will require every organization to have instant visibility across devices. Of critical importance will be the ability to query for data and make decisions on how to protect the network, and then make relevant changes in real time.


·         Advanced Threat Defence in Security: To combat the problem of advanced malware, many organizations are relying on their legacy security products or using stand-alone malware products that are not integrated with the rest of the environment. Hence there is a need to adopt advanced threat defence solutions to respond to attacks faster and seamlessly move from analysis to protection and resolution.


·         Data centre transformation- Data centres are the nerve centre of an organization making data centre security a top priority for most companies today. With the blurring of boundaries between physical, virtual and public/private clouds, organizations are on an evolutionary curve towards next-generation data centres. Resultantly they will face the reality of securing data that moves between server, storage, and networking resources (physical and virtual) of next-generation data centres.


·         Internet of Things and embedded devices – The Internet of Things is permeating the marketplace, bringing physical objects together through remote accessibility across the Internet without the need for human intervention, using the same wireless networks and Internet Protocol (IP) that connects your computer to the Internet. According to Ericsson, there will be 50 billion IP-connected devices by 2020, up from 1 billion just a year ago. This phenomenon has exploded the threat scope for these devices with ATMs, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, kiosks, medical equipment, SCADA systems and other embedded devices being hacked in ever-increasing numbers. To work as intended, most of these devices include embedded sensors that make it very easy to track the movements of those devices and monitor interactions with them. In other words, embedded intelligent devices are now just as likely as PCs, servers or smartphones to be dragged into botnets or hijacked by cyber-attackers.


·         Need for security connected- In the wake of a sophisticated threat landscape and newly emerged business models, security cannot be seen as an instrument to stop bad things from occurring but instead as an enabler for more efficient, effective, and agile business. This realisation is steadily coming into effect with the paradigm of security moving from mere device safety to protection of assets with increased awareness of risk management and the reputational cost. In the ensuing year, there will be greater consciousness for security to be approached from a combination of endpoint, network, and data-centric controls for discovery, prevention, detection, response, and audit rather than each of these elements in a siloed manner. This interlocked approach, ensures better intelligence exchange arming companies with situational awareness and real time for quick and strategic action.


·         Mainstreaming of security amongst SMBs - Indian SMBs largely represent knowledge based businesses such as chartered accountants, law firms etc. They are likely to have money moving around through (wire transfers, vendor payments, and customer payments) and their knowledge intensive nature, makes them potentially vulnerable to cyber threats. Many smaller businesses often lack budget and expertise, and typically have liberal, rarely enforced policies for use of personal devices, in-office Wi-Fi access, installation of unauthorized apps, thereby exposing itself to huge threats. Next year, we will see SMBs get more mainstream in their adoption of comprehensive security.


About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

Jagdish Mahapatra, Managing Director, McAfee India and SAARC

McAfee offers solution to remediate Advanced Malware

McAfee today announced an end-to-end solution to help organizations combat the increasing challenges of advanced malware. McAfee’s approach to comprehensive threat protection allows organizations to respond to attacks faster and seamlessly move from analysis and conviction to protection and resolution.  McAfee goes beyond single-feature, static analysis sandboxing products to address all three key requirements needed to counter today’s stealthy threats: the ability to find advanced malware with the new McAfee Advanced Threat Defense appliance, the ability to freeze the threats with McAfee network solutions, and the ability to initiate a fix with McAfee Real Time Advanced for ePO.

Enterprises are struggling to meet the threat defense challenges facing them today.  Malware is now more sophisticated and stealthy.  Many organizations are relying on their legacy security products and waiting for additional advanced malware protections to be incorporated, thereby exposing their organization to malware threats.  Or they are using stand-alone malware products and plugging in third party products that are not integrated with the rest of the environment. While this may be expedient it is not a good strategy and can end up costing more money in the long run. Dealing with multiple contracts, multiple deployments, support headaches, development tasks, or paying a premium for connectors to enable the integration are just a few of the issues for organizations.

McAfee is the first company to Find, Freeze and Fix advanced threats via an end-to-end solution:

·         Find: Innovative analysis technologies work together quickly and accurately to detect today’s sophisticated threats across multiple protocols.

·         Freeze: Integration with McAfee network solutions freezes the threat from infecting additional devices.

·         Fix: McAfee Real Time Advanced for ePO identifies the device(s) that require remediation and streamlines the response, enabling automated investigation across all endpoints resulting in cost-effective remediation.

                “Advanced malware is a difficult problem facing organizations of all sizes,” said Pat Calhoun, general manager of network security at McAfee. “Detecting malware is only one piece of the whole solution. You also have to stop it from further infecting the network and remediate any infections. Difficult problems don’t require difficult solutions. McAfee combines superior threat detection with network and endpoint protection resulting in lower total cost of ownership for businesses.”



                McAfee Advanced Threat Defense and McAfee Real Time Advanced for ePO are part of the McAfee Security Connected framework.  Integration with network protection ultimately lowers the cost of training, implementation and ongoing maintenance. A centralized, multi-protocol malware analysis model eliminates appliance sprawl and eases integration with existing technology investments. Unlike stand-alone sandboxing products, McAfee Advanced Threat Defense layers full static code analysis on top of an advanced dynamic analysis engine for more cost effective, efficient and accurate detection.



“The gap between recognizing advanced attacks and remediating them with a high degree of confidence has remained wide,” said John Grady, research manager for Security Products at IDC.  “With employees being more mobile and multi-device oriented than they've ever been, it is impossible to defend against all attacks with a single product.  Integrated solutions that combine network and endpoint-level visibility and controls are the best way to combat targeted attacks and quickly enable remediation.”



Availability

McAfee Advanced Threat Defense and McAfee Real Time Advanced for ePO are expected to be available in Q4 2013. . For more information visit: www.mcafee.com/advancedthreatdefense. McAfee also announced today a new SIEM solution to help organizations respond to advanced attacks URL.



McAfee Security Connected

McAfee Security Connected brings McAfee Network Security, McAfee Endpoint Security and McAfee Mobile Security together through an extensible framework of centralized management through the McAfee® ePolicy Orchestrator platform.  Integrated with McAfee Global Threat Intelligence, enterprises gain unprecedented visibility across all threat vectors, delivering unmatched protection from new and advanced cyber-attacks.  The McAfee Security Innovation Alliance extends Security Connected with a network of more than 150 partners who integrate their solutions with McAfee through an open architecture.


About McAfee:

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

McAfee reveals Lily Collins as the MOST DANGEROUS CYBER CELEBRITY of 2013

Lily Collins, star of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and Mirror, Mirror, has replaced Emma Watson as McAfee's most dangerous celebrity to search for online. For the seventh year in a row, McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest Hollywood actors, musicians, comedians, and personalities on the Web. The McAfee Most Dangerous CelebritiesTM study revealed that women are more dangerous than men, with nine of the top ten being female. Following Lily Collins, Avril Lavigne takes the number two spot and Sandra Bullock comes in third. Jon Hamm is the only male to make the top 10 list this year. Musicians also comprise nine of the top twenty most dangerous celebrities.
Cybercriminals consistently take advantage of consumer interest around award shows, new movies and TV shows as well as the latest cultural trends driven by celebrities. These criminals capitalize on the public’s fascination with celebrity to lure them to sites laden with malware that enables them to steal passwords and personal information. This year, searching for a celebrity name coupled with the search terms “free app download” and “nude pictures” resulted in the highest instances of malware-laden sites.
“Today’s consumers often are completely unaware of security risks when searching for celebrity and entertainment news, images and videos online, sacrificing safety for immediacy,” said Paula Greve, director of web security research at McAfee. “Cybercriminals prey on consumers’ addiction to breaking news and leverage this behavior to lead them to unsafe sites that can severely infect their computers and devices and steal personal data.”


Lily Collins Searches Yield a Nearly One-in-Seven Chance of Landing on a Malicious Site

Fans searching for “Lily Collins and free downloads,” “Lily Collins and nude pictures,” “Lily Collins and fakes,” and “Lily Collins and free app downloads” are at risk of running into online threats designed to steal personal information, such as email addresses and passwords. Clicking on these risky sites and downloading files such as pictures and videos expose surfers to a larger risk of downloading viruses and malware.

McAfee research found that searching for the latest Lily Collins pictures and downloads yields more than a 14.5% chance of landing on a website that has tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware.

Position	Celebrity	Percentage
1	Lily Collins	14.5%
2	Avril Lavigne	12.7%
3	Sandra Bullock	10.8%
4	Kathy Griffin	10.6%
5	Zoe Saldana	10.5%
6	Katy Perry	10.4%
7	Britney Spears	10.1%
8	Jon Hamm	10.0%
9	Adriana Lima	9.9%
10	Emma Roberts	9.8%

 

The study uses McAfee® SiteAdvisor® site ratings, which indicate which sites are risky to search when attached to celebrity names on the Web and calculate an overall risk percentage. The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk are:

 Women are More Dangerous than Men
Jon Hamm (No. 8) is the only man to rank in the top 10, followed by Justin Timberlake (No. 12) and Patrick Dempsey (No. 13) in the top 20.

Musicians Sing Their Way to the Top
Searching for musicians, especially young female pop stars, yields malware and risky websites. Seventeen musicians make the top 50 list, with three of them ranking in the top 10: Avril Lavigne (No. 2), Katy Perry (No. 6), and Britney Spears (No. 7). Other musicians at play include: Shakira (No. 11), Justin Timberlake (No. 12), Selena Gomez (No. 14), Demi Lovato (No. 16), Miley Cyrus (No. 20), Rihanna (No. 28), Lady Gaga (No. 30), Beyoncé (No. 34), and Pitbull (No. 50).

Dangerously Funny Men & Women
Sandra Bullock (No. 3), Kathy Griffin (No. 4), Amy Poehler (No. 17), Ellen DeGeneres (No. 23), Jimmy Fallon (No. 24), and Jimmy Kimmel (No. 39) all rank in the top 50.

Battle of the TV Personalities
Let the battle rounds begin between The Voice co-judges Blake Shelton and Adam Levine! Searching for Blake Shelton (No. 21) is more dangerous than doing so for Adam Levine (No. 32). Searching for downloads of Kanye West (No. 22) is more risky than searching for his new Kardashian family: Kourtney Kardashian (No. 27), Kim Kardashian (No. 35), Khloe Kardashian (No. 36), and Kris Jenner (No. 38). Media mogul and TV host Ryan Seacrest (No. 40) rounds out the top 40.

Latinas Heat Up the List
This year, four Latina women are in the top 20: Shakira (No. 11), Selena Gomez (No. 14), Demi Lovato (No. 16), and Eva Mendes (No. 19). Additional Latina women spicing up the top 50 are Sofia Vergara (No. 26), Jessica Alba (No. 31), and Salma Hayek (No. 43).

              From One Year to Another
Emma Watson, Jessica Biel, and Megan Fox have all dropped out of this year’s list (in 2012 they ranked No. 1, No. 2, and No. 6, respectively).


Tips to Stay Protected:
·         Beware of content that prompts you to download anything before providing you the content. You may want to opt to watch streaming videos or download content from official websites of content providers.



·         “Free downloads” are significantly the highest virus-prone search term. Anyone searching for videos or files to download should be careful as not to unleash malware on their computer.

Always use password protection on your phone and other mobile devices. If your phone is lost or stolen, anyone who picks up the device could publish your information online.
Established news sites may not entice you with exclusives for one solid reason: there usually aren’t any. Try to stick to official news sites that you trust for breaking news. However, trusted sites can also fall prey to hackers. Make sure to use a safe search tool that will notify you of risky sites or links before you visit them.
Don’t download videos from suspect sites. This should be common sense, but it bears repeating: don’t download anything from a website you don’t trust — especially video. Most news clips you’d want to see can easily be found on official video sites, and don’t require you to download anything. If a website offers an exclusive video for you to download, don’t.
Don’t “log in” or provide other information: If you receive a message, text or email or visit a third-party website that asks for your information—credit card, email, home address, Facebook login, or other information—for access to an exclusive story, don’t give it out. Such requests are a common tactic for phishing that could lead to identity theft.
If you do decide to search for information on a major event or celebrity in the news, make sure your entire household’s devices have protection, such as McAfee LiveSafe™, which protects all devices from your PCs, Macs, and tablets to your smartphone. It also includes malware detection software, McAfee® Mobile Security, to protect your smartphone or tablet from all types of malware.
·         A complimentary version of SiteAdvisor software can be downloaded at www.siteadvisor.com.


About McAfee SiteAdvisor technology
McAfee SiteAdvisor technology protects users from malicious websites and browser exploits. SiteAdvisor technology tests and rates nearly every trafficked site on the Internet and uses red, yellow and green icons to indicate the website’s risk level.

SiteAdvisor site ratings are created by using patented advanced technology to conduct automated website tests SiteAdvisor software works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

McAfee Data Center Suite provides ELASTIC SECURITY for HYBRID DATA CENTERS

McAfee today announced a new version of its data center security solution.  The McAfee Data Center Server Security Suite provides complete visibility to all workloads in hybrid data centers so organizations can secure and expand that environment confidently into the cloud. This flexibility gives organizations elastic security that is auto-deployed when new virtual devices are provisioned either on-premise or in the public cloud.

The new McAfee Data Center Server Security suite allows organizations to:
·         Discover all workloads including those from VMware’s vCenter and Amazon Web Services to provide the security administrator with complete visibility of the security status.

·         Protect every physical and virtual machine in the hybrid data center with fine-grained policy management and data center trust attestation with ease-of-use manageability with McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator.

·         Expand compute capacity securely into the private and public cloud and ensure identical security posture between on-premise and cloud-based machines.            

McAfee Data Center security optimizes security, flexibility, and manageability of virtual environments with its MOVE AV functionality, finally providing a simplified security solution for companies investing in virtualization for data centers, applications, and desktops.


“The McAfee MOVE AntiVirus solution has provided us with an excellent resolution for our complex IT infrastructure which contains dozens of assorted operating systems in use,” presents difficult challenges of both functionality and performance,” said Rick Snyder, Endpoint Security Manager at Boston Scientific.  “Our organization handles sensitive data from customers, vendors, business partners and our own internal activities.   Maximizing performance while continuing protection across multiple internal entities is a high priority for our IT department, as is providing reporting on its effectiveness.  McAfee MOVE has been integral in achieving these simultaneous goals by giving us the ability to offload all scanning of data into a gateway virtual appliance.  This streamlined and efficient approach saves resources and maintains our security posture.”


Customers now have complete visibility to all workloads on-premise and in the cloud, which then enables them to secure all important workloads.  With the ability to expand their compute resources into the public cloud while also securing these workloads, customers can now maintain their security posture even in the public cloud.


“Enterprises must stay compliant and meet government regulations and that is a typical barrier for organization who want to move workloads into the cloud,” said Rishi Bhargava, vice president of data center security at McAfee.  “With McAfee’s latest Datacenter Server Security Suite and its elastic security, enterprises are now empowered to do just that. McAfee provides comprehensive security from servers to networking to storage.”
             

To see a demo of the new McAfee Data Center Suite and other solutions such as McAfee Network Security Platform now integrated with VMware NSX, stop by McAfee #635 at VMworld, August 25-29.


About McAfee:
McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

McAfee Labs Q2 Report finds Mobile Threats Rebound

McAfee Labs today released the McAfee Threats Report: Second Quarter 2013, (Please see attachment for India specific updates) which found that Android-based malware achieved a 35 percent growth rate not seen since early 2012. This rebound was marked by the continued proliferation of SMS-stealing banking malware, fraudulent dating and entertainment apps, weaponized legitimate apps and malicious apps posing as useful tools. McAfee Labs registered twice as many new ransomware samples in Q2 as in Q1, raising the 2013 ransomware count higher than the total found in all previous periods combined.



The second quarter also saw a 16 percent increase in suspicious URLs, a 50 percent increase in digitally-signed malware samples, and notable events in the cyber-attack and espionage areas, including multiple attacks on the global Bitcoin infrastructure and revelations around the Operation Troy network targeting U.S. and South Korean military assets.



McAfee Labs researchers identified a set of common mobile strategies employed by cybercriminals to extract money and confidential information from victims:


·         Banking Malware.  Many banks implementing two-factor authentication require customers to log into their online accounts using a username, password and a mobile transaction number (mTAN) sent to their mobile device via a text message. McAfee Labs researchers identified four significant pieces of mobile malware that capture the traditional usernames and passwords, and then intercept SMS messages containing bank account login credentials. The malicious parties then directly access accounts and transfer funds.


·         Fraudulent Dating Apps. McAfee Labs discovered a surge in dating and entertainment apps that dupe users into signing up for paid services that do not exist. Lonely users attempt to access potential partners’ profiles and other content only to become further frustrated when the scam is recognized. The profits from the purchases are later supplemented by the ongoing theft and sale of user information and personal data stored on the devices.



·         Trojanized Apps. Research revealed the increasing use of legitimate apps altered to act as spyware on users' devices. These threats collect a large amount of personal user information (contacts, call logs, SMS messages, location) and upload the data to the attacker’s server.


·         Fake Tools. Cyber criminals are also using apps posing as helpful tools, such as app installers that actually install spyware that collects and forwards valuable personal data.


“The mobile cybercrime landscape is becoming more defined as cybergangs determine which tactics are most effective and profitable,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president, McAfee Labs. “As in other mature areas of cybercrime, the profit motive of hacking bank accounts has eclipsed the technical challenges of bypassing digital trust. Tactics such as the dating and entertainment app scams benefit from the lack of attention paid to such schemes; while others simply target the mobile paradigm’s most popular currency: personal user information.”

Beyond mobile threats, the second quarter revealed the continued adaptability of attackers in adjusting tactics to opportunities, challenges to infrastructure upon which commerce relies, and a creative combination of disruption, distraction and destruction to veil advanced targeted attacks:

·         Ransomware. Over the past two quarters McAfee Labs has catalogued more ransomware samples than in all previous periods combined. The number of new samples in the second quarter was greater than 320,000, more than twice as many as the previous period, demonstrating the profitability of the tactic.



·         Digitally-signed malware. Malware signed with legitimate certificates increased 50 percent, to 1.2 million new samples, rebounding sharply from a decline in the first quarter. The trend of illegitimate code authenticated by legitimate certificate authorities could inevitably undermine confidence in the global certificate trust infrastructure.


·         Suspicious URLS. The second quarter’s increase in suspicious URLs shows how important “infected” sites remain as a distribution mechanism for malware. At June’s end, the total number of suspect URLs tallied by McAfee Labs reached 74.7 million, which represents a 16 percent increase over the first quarter.


·         Spam Volume. Global spam volume continued to surge through the second quarter with more than 5.5 trillion spam messages. This represented approximately 70 percent of global email volume.


·         Attacks on Bitcoin Infrastructure. The sudden activity in the Bitcoin market over the course of the past quarter attracted interest from cybercriminals. In addition to disruptive distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), the group infected victims with malware that uses computer resources to mine and steal the virtual currency.


·         Operation Troy.  McAfee Labs uncovered evidence suggesting that attacks on South Korean banks and media companies in March and June of this year were in fact connected to an ongoing cyber espionage campaign dating back to 2009.  A study of forensic evidence suggested that the campaign was designed to target U.S. and South Korean military systems, identify and remove confidential files, and, when necessary, destroy the compromised systems through a master boot record (MBR) attack. Read the full report: Dissecting Operation Troy: Cyber Espionage in South Korea.



Each quarter, the McAfee Labs team of 500 multidisciplinary researchers in 30 countries follows the complete range of threats in real time, identifying application vulnerabilities, analyzing and correlating risks, and enabling instant remediation to protect enterprises and the public.

McAfee MOBILE SECURITY offers enhanced PRIVACY PROTECTION and APP ‘SAFE ZONE’ for kids

McAfee today announced an updated version of McAfee® Mobile Security offering new, cutting-edge privacy features including the Multi-user App Profile function which allows consumers to create multiple user profiles or “safe zones” on one device with customized or restricted access to apps. The new version of the award-winning software also features the option to choose between a basic or premium version. The premium version provides a full range of security and best-in-class privacy features on top of the basic version capabilities; the basic version provides select antivirus, backup and anti-theft capabilities at no cost.

 In 2012, 1.6 million Americans fell victim to smartphone theft, and stolen mobile phones cost consumers over $30 billion.  McAfee Mobile Security basic provides consumers with an easy way to protect themselves from theft and the loss or invasion of their personal data. It protects users’ privacy as it allows them to back up, wipe and restore contacts remotely through an easy-to-use web portal, as well as locate a lost or stolen device on a map, and remotely sound an alarm.

“When consumers contemplate securing their smartphones and tablets, they often think in terms of their susceptibility to mobile malware, overlooking the very real threat to their privacy should their devices become lost or stolen,” said Ari Jaaksi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Engineering and Operations at McAfee. “With McAfee Mobile Security basic we’re helping consumers protect their privacy at a baseline level at no cost, which we hope will help encourage users to take a more proactive role in securing their mobile devices and employ secure computing practices and protections.”



Supported by McAfee Global Threat Intelligence, the premium version of McAfee Mobile Security is an all-inclusive solution that includes the industry’s best-in-class app privacy features including app privacy reporting and call and SMS filtering. In the Mobile Security: McAfee Consumer Trends Report – June 2013, McAfee found that more than one quarter of mobile apps are likely more than just adware and may be collecting and handing over precise GPS location, account, and activity information to criminals.



To protect consumers against the abusive permissions of these risky apps, McAfee Mobile Security premium now features the Multi-user App Profile function that allows users to create a “safe zone” for kids, friends, family members or even strangers that may pick up or misuse their devices. It also includes new Data Exposure Analysis, which gives consumers the ability to see for themselves the level of risk their apps may pose.



In addition, the premium version will include a Hidden Device Admin Detector feature, which protects users from Trojans such as the newly discovered Obad.  This feature is also included as part of the McAfee Mobile Innovations app available to Android users at no cost on Google Play.



Over 110 Mobile Worldwide Partners
McAfee Mobile Security has shipped with over 150 M devices and is available in over 30 languages to users across the globe. To date, McAfee has signed over 110 mobile partnerships, including Airtel, SingTel, NTT Docomo and SoftBank Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. McAfee is also working closely with Intel to expand its presence across emerging platforms and markets so that mobile users everywhere can enjoy the robust privacy protection features offered by McAfee Mobile Security and recently launched with Safaricom in Kenya.



Award Winning Technology
McAfee Mobile Security has received numerous accolades for superior performance by leading publications such as LAPTOP Magazine, PCMag, China Computer Weekly and  PC Advisor UK. Additionally, McAfee Mobile Security received a perfect score on the March 2013 test conducted by independent testing lab, AV-Test, as well as the highest score from Stiftung Warentest, a well-recognized Quality Testing Institution & Magazine in Germany.



Availability
A free two week trial of McAfee Mobile Security with all premium features enabled is available on Google Play. After the trial expires, users can choose to use McAfee Mobile Security basic without the premium features at no cost, or purchase the premium version of the app for $2.99 US for a monthly subscription or $29.99 US for a 12-month subscription. McAfee Mobile Security is also available as part of McAfee All Access and McAfee LiveSafe which provide protection across PCs, Macs, tablets and mobile devices.

For more information on McAfee’s consumer mobile security offerings, please visit www.mcafee.com/us/mms.

About McAfee:
McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com