Yes, we at Evans on Marketing have made a number of posts about about online security, privacy, identity theft, and related issues. We’re not really trying to scare you, but we are trying to get you to be more alert and to protect yourself better online. That’s why we we’ve posted several tips, such as: 1, 2, 3 (a short video quiz), and 4 (video tips).
So, here’s another alert for YOU!! 🙂
Recently, AV-Test, a nonprofit organization that monitors online security, published its latest report. To grasp the highlights of this report more easily, TechRepublic has summarized what it considers to the top four points made by AV-Test:
- “Android is becoming more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats — While the majority of malware deployed in 2015 and 2016 targeted Windows, the most widely-used operating system in the world, Android is increasingly under fire as well. Malware attacks on Android platforms jumped from about 3% in 2015 to nearly 7.5% in 2016. Though it seems like a fairly small percentage jump, it represents an increase of millions of attacks, and marks ‘a significant trend away from Windows and towards Android,’ the report stated.”
- “Mac’s security fortress is just an illusion — Many Apple Mac users believe that the devices cannot be infected with a virus—even those using Macs in the enterprise, the report stated. And compared to Windows, the number of malware programs attacking Apple’s Mac platform is tiny: Just 819 malware threats targeted Macs in 2015. [Due to the small percentage of Macs in the marketplace — which remain at a 7.5 percent market share as of the date of this post.] However, that does not mean that these attacks were not serious. Plus, attackers would not need to program a large number of malware applications to obtain data from Mac users, as they rarely have antivirus solutions installed, the report said.” [Is this YOU?]
- “The rise of potentially unwanted applications (PUA) — A new cyber risk comes in the form of potentially unwanted applications (PUA), which are deployed by the advertising industry to track personal information on user and movement patterns, and to then display personalized advertising without the consent of the user. PUA represented nearly one-third of the online risks in 2015, the report stated, and are steadily increasing.”
- “The top 10 Windows malware of Q1/Q2 2016 — More than 85% of malware attacks occurred on Windows machines in 2015, with that number dropping to 67% in 2016. Some 12 million new Windows malware programs enter the market each month, the report found. Here are the top 10 malware for Windows to keep an eye out for.”
Click here to access the full AV-Test report. Click here to access the TechRepublic synopsis.
These numbers are very alarming to hear. When all the statistics are put together in front of you, you can really tell how much of an impact security threats are to us. Android is having a hard time this year appealing to customers due to the phone recalls and now it is doing worse with the fact that the AV-Test declared that Android is becoming significantly more attractive to criminals.
Use antivirus software! 🙂
This caveat by professor Evans is very much needed because people have a delusional perception that their devices, whether it be Android or Apple is invincible. Malware can attack virtually any device and create a terrible virus. I must do a better job protecting my devices, whether it is my computer or iPhone. A couple years ago, I had a virus on my computer, so anti-virus software was installed. It has been a life saver, though not perfect.
The thing I care about the most is my payment information after I purchased something online through my laptops, whatever through Mac or Windows devices. But I still feel safe in America due to the service and guarantee policy of the US credit card companies. And I used several antivirus software before such as Norton, NOD32, Kaspersky and Kingsoft. Presently, I am using 360 Protector on my Windows device. It is free and takes less workload to the CPU.
Good
I still remember the Flashback Trojan’s panic in 2012. At that time, the Flashback Trojan hijacked about 600,000 Mac computers. It has infected more than 1 percent of Macs and worldwide Mac users were very nervous. Before that, most people think Mac OS is impenetrable. For the small market share of Mac, few hackers will make a program to hijack it. However, as Mac users, we also need to protect our computers because we can’t predict when the next Flashback Trojan will come.
Since so many information are stored in the device, whatever the computer or phone, people really need to consider the online security. I still remember you stated the public wifi is not safe, maybe it is one of the ways to get attracted. I use Mac and iPhone, i thought it was safe for Apple, maybe I should change my mind and consider the protect software.
Do you use antivirus software? 🙂
Several months ago, I was using a TV show website to watch soup opera, and every time i open that website i will received a lot of malvertising created by malware, and then i have a Anvi Ad Blocker (AntiMalware) which my friend referred to me. That’s really helpful.
good. 🙂
It is known that a Mac is less likely to infect with a computer virus. However, one thing about Apple is dangerous—iCloud. There are many pieces of news about how iCloud gives away users’ privacy accidently. I guess whichever kind of computer you are using; you should always pay attention to the online privacy security.
Information security is a very important in modern life. According to my experience, many people lost their personal information even payment information since they downloading software from unknown or unsafe sources. Those actions often incur virus affection on their devices. Personally speaking, installing anti-virus software is necessary in a sense. By the way,I also highly recommend my friends downloading software from official site such as apple store or google play.
Evans is enlightening me to use anti-virus software and on all my devices. For some reason, people think that securing their phones or computers is completely unneccessary. With regards to securing my very own devices, whether it is my PC or iPhone I know always use anti-virus soft ware because a few years prior, I had a problem on my Lenovo PC, that someone hacked into my computer. I had to return my lenovo PC and go to geek squad to resolve this issue.
Have you added antivirus software?
I used to believe that Apple Mac cannot be infected with a virus until I clicked a video website for Korean drama last week. And after that, unfortunately, I could never open my Safari. Another thing I always worry about was payment security, but I bought the video website experience, I already installed a software to anti-advertisements and virus. Thank to the development of high-tech;)
I do agree that, nowadays, internet security is very important. As Prof. Evans addressed in our course, everything is traceable and private information can be stolen. However, a lot of websites actually have good policies for consumers. But it would be better if people have double protection on their computer so that they can avoid unnecessary lost and inconvenience.
Wow, from this post, I know that how poor situation my software is. It is time for me to use anti-virus software on all my devices. Since I always shop online and leave my credit card information on some sites, I really care about the money and afraid someone stealing money though my card information. Now, I use .anti-virus software on all my devices and find my devices are protected all time. It is so great to see the security software always active—updating and protecting wherever I go online.
I was totally an ignorant of online security before, until my computer attacked by a virus from a program I downloaded, the program is called MacKeeper(DON’T download this).the ironic thing is the reason why I downloaded this MacKeeper is there was a warning window popped out said: your computer has a virus, download MacKeeper immediately to scan and kill the virus. I stupidly downloaded that then my computer was really attacked. So, guys, never download something that not from an official website, even though it got a name that sounds so official and secure. It is worth for any of us to invest in a security program, protect our computer before terrible thing happens.
Apple makes us all believe that their software is the safest to use, however thats a lie. My macbook Pro has been infected TWICE, resulting of me having to take my laptop to hammer lab and the experts there fixed it for me. Honestly I have never experienced a software that didn’t get infected somehow. Maybe I should stop clicking on everything that pops up. Because of this, however, I backup all of my things onto a portable hard drive because I just don’t trust anything anymore.
I still remember the first time when I had my own computer, the sales helped me uploaded Kaspersky in my computer. So after years I still had the concept that antivirus software is a must in my computer until I bought my first Macbook. The sales told me confidently that there’s no need to install antivirus software on my Mac and I believed him. It is known that criminals target the lowest hanging fruit, and it is harder to target Macs. Moreover, the numbers of Mac users are relatively small, but that situation could change. After reading this article I think I should seriously consider purchasing an antivirus software for my Mac.
After reading this post on my Windows laptop, I did get a little anxious about possible security threats and viruses. Luckily, after checking right now, it appears that at some point Windows Defender was installed onto my laptop and has been keeping it secure since. While that’s good to know now, it does remind me of all the computers my family has used without any kind of security, as the pre-installed free trial of whatever security system would expire and we were too unaware to pay for the full software. In retrospect, it probably would have been more beneficial to just pay the annual fee for the security system so we wouldn’t have gone through so many computers in the first place. Thankfully, with my current security software, I have yet to encounter any malware on my personal computer. This post does make me consider getting some kind of protection software for my iPhone, however, since it holds much more personal information than my computer does.
I regret to say that I am one of those people who thought you didn’t need antivirus software on a Mac, until now. While the number of intrusions on mac os is lower than windows, it does not mean it is not possible to get malware on your computer. I will definitely we using antivirus software in the future.
I think this post is very interesting. I have never entertained the fact that viruses can sometimes be a bigger threat than just a nuisance like simple pop-up ads. I have yet to actually install anti-virus software, although I’ve had two instances where my entire PC was ruined and broke down causing me to buy another. Now that I have a laptop (Mac) I’ve seen even more horrors come into play, much like hacked webcams that has honestly made me put tape on my camera when not in use!