WebUser – 21 August 2019

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12 21 Aug - 3 Sept 2019 Email us your security questions [email protected]

Q

How worried

should we be

about password-

stealing malware?

Matt Jenkins, Twitter

A

According to

Kasp ersky’s

data, the number

of users target ed by

password thieves ro se from

less than 600,000 in the

first half of 2018 to over

Security flawsfound in

Nvidia graphicscards

Five dangerous vulnerabilities,

including one thatcould allow an

attackerto execute maliciouscode

locally, have been discovered in

a host of Nvidia graphics cards.

Anyone who has an Nvidia

GeForce, Quadro orTesla graphics

processing unit(GPU) in their PC

is urgedto update their drivers

immediately, after thecompany

published details of therecently

discovered fla ws.

The most severe vulnerability

involves a flaw in acomponent of

the Windows GPU Display Driver

software. If exploited, itcould allow

an attackerto install malware ona

victim’s machine.Two other flaws

affect DirectX drivers andwould also

let a hackerexecute maliciouscode

or launch a denial-of-serviceattack.

Although the vulnerabilities are

rated ‘highly severe’, an attacker

940,000 during the same

period of 2019.

Password Stealing Ware

(PSW) is a major weapon in

the cybercriminals’ toolkit.

This type of malici ous

softwareuses various

methods to grab data from

your web browser. Often this

information is se nsitive and

includes access details for

online accounts, as well as

financ ial information such as

saved passwords , autofill

data and bank card details.

Someversions of th is type

of malware are designed to

steal browser cookies, files

from specific locations, such

as your desktop, and files

from apps, including

messenger services.

Because we use the

internet to perform so many

everyday tasks, our digi tal

profiles are filling with data.

This makes them lucrativ e

target s for criminals, who

have various waysof making

money from them.

Kasp ersky offers the

following advice to ensure

your passwords and other

creden tials remain se cure:

• Don’t share passwords or
  personal information with
  friends or fa mily, because
  they could unwittingly make
  them vulnerable to malware.

Don’t post them on

forums orsocial media

channels either.

• Alwaysinstall upda tes
  and product patches to
  ensure you’re protected
  from the latest thre ats.


• Use a reliable securi ty
  tool such as Kasp ersky
  Password Manage r ( bit.ly/
  kaspersky482), which
  is designed to securely
  stor e passwords and
  personal information,
  including passports,
  driving licences and
  bank cards.

News about the latest threats and advice from security experts

Stay Safe Online

SECURITY ALERT! |What’s been bothering us this fortnight

Security Helpdesk|Your questions answered by security specialists

would need physical access to a device,

so they’re less likelyto be a problem than

flaws that can beexploitedremotely.

Security patches that fix the flaws are

available through Nvidia’s Support site

(bit.ly/patches482) and may also be

rolled outby GPU hardware makers.

bit.ly/nvidia

Google finds vulnerability in

Apple’s iMessage app

Securityresearchers are

urging iPhone usersto update

their devices immediately after

vulnerabilitieswere discovered

in Apple’s iMessage messaging app.

Google’s bug-hunting ProjectZero

team found five flaws in iMessage that

could leave iOS devices opento attack.

The researchers said one of the

vulnerabilitieswas so severe that the

only way to rescue a targeted iPhone

would beto delete all the datastored

on the device. Another flawcould be

used to co py files from an iPhone

without theowner’s permission.

Applereleased fixesfor the

vulnerabilities after ProjectZero

reported its findings, but the

researchers said they also flaggeda

sixth problemto Apple, which hadn’t

been patched at the time of writing.

Apple hasn’tcommented on

the specific iMessage flaws, but

the company urges usersto install the

new version of iOS. “Keepingyour

software upto date is one of the

most important thingsyou can do

to maintainyour Apple product’s

security,” it said in astatement.

bit.ly/imessage

Password StealingWare (PSW)

uses various methods to grab data

from your web browser

THIS ISSUE’S EXPERT:

Alexander Eremin,

securityresearcher

at Kaspersky

(www.kaspersky.co.uk)