Category Archives: ant-virus

Anti-virus firm Avast shuts down its data-selling subsidiary

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Anti-virus company Avast said this week it will stop collecting and selling user data through a subsidiary following media reports and criticism from privacy advocates. The “data collection business is not in line with our privacy priorities as a company in 2020 and beyond,” said Ondrej Vlcek, CEO of Avast, which boasts 435 million users worldwide. Avast had been collecting users’ web browser data and, through its subsidiary Jumpshot, using that data to sell analytics products to big multinational companies, according to a joint investigation from Vice’s Motherboard and PCMag. The investigation prompted U.S. senators to question Avast and the Federal Trade Commission over the program. It also reinforced broader concerns about the ability of big tech firms to collect and monetize user data. Founded in 2015, Jumpshot advertised its ability to closely track consumer habits across over more than 150 websites like Amazon and Netlflix. “I realize the recent […]

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Czech software firm Avast says CCleaner was attacked — again

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An unidentified attacker used stolen credentials to gain high-level privileges on the network of Czech software security vendor Avast, the company said Monday. The target of the persistent attack was likely Avast’s software-cleaning tool, CCleaner — the same product that was infiltrated in an infamous 2017 supply-chain attack breach that affected over 2 million computers. Worried that the attackers would manipulate CCleaner again, Avast said it halted an upcoming release of the product, revoked its previous security certificate, and put out a security update to users. Those measures, Avast CISO Jaya Baloo assured customers, were enough to ensure that CCleaner users were unaffected by the attack. Avast, which boasts of 400 million users of its products around the world, said it will study its network logs to learn more about the intrusion. “[I]t is clear that this was an extremely sophisticated attempt against us that had the intention to leave no traces […]

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Microsoft’s chip patch is messing with anti-virus products

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Some major anti-virus software vendors were forced to reconfigure their programs after Microsoft rolled out a patch that changed their products’ processing architecture, industry experts tell CyberScoop. In response to the “Spectre” and “Meltdown” vulnerabilities, which affect nearly every microchip created since 1995, Microsoft immediately offered a software patch that would prevent attackers from targeting these flaws. Microsoft and Amazon — much like the microchip makers — have known about the two vulnerabilities for months but have been under a strict embargo. During this timeframe, Microsoft worked on creating an adequate software update that could remediate the problems. However, due to the embargo, many cybersecurity companies were left in the dark; entirely unaware that either Microsoft or the microchip industry was dealing with the issue. This lapse in coordination is currently causing major headaches for security companies. Microsoft’s emergency update causes the operating system to change how it processes data at the kernel level. Processes […]

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