New Flame virus goes after government information

Most Geeks On-site technicians aren't phased by headlines about the latest virus or spyware because, for the most part, they know that their Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. virus removal  services can take care of the problem. But, there is a new virus targeting governments in the Middle East that is becoming a challenge for international virus and spyware removal experts, and it's called the Flame virus.

Once the Flame virus has infected a network, it can work its way around a local network and onto removable USB drives. Experts still aren't sure how it initially invades a system, but they do know what it's capable of when it does.

Vitaly Kamlyuk, an expert at the Moscow-based IT Security company Kapersky Lab, told the Russian news channel RT that the most impressive and worrying thing about Flame is the sophisticated way it collects information.

Not only does the virus find out personal information by taking over input boxes and cracking encrypted passwords – it also taps into visual and audio information. Flame can get information from audio recorded by a device's microphone and from screen captures it takes on your device.

And with so many ways to compile information, it's no wonder that governments around the world are nervous about this new threat. For Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, virus removal has become a top priority.

Luckily, while the United Nations and other government security forces are figuring out how to hold Flame at bay, there are local Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia spyware removal companies like Geeks On-Site that can take care of the less intimidating but still incredibly frustrating viruses that could infect your computer.

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Summer Olympic fans may be prime targets for hackers, says report

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London will bring in a whole new wave of cyberattacks, reports the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC). Anyone following the games should be on guard for scams and malware campaigns, otherwise they may end up requiring Washington D.C, Virginia or Maryland virus and spyware removal services.

According to the NCCIC report, a group of hackers made $3.5 million by selling fake tickets to 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Overall, China was "subjected to over 12 million online attacks" over the course of the event. The scheme was so lucrative, that just two months later, hackers were already actively producing malicious material centered around the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The source provides an example of one of the methods its researchers have detected, showing an email scam that invites users to enter a competition to win tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies. Interested parties are asked to provide personal and financial information in order to take part in the draw.

Hackers also plan to take advantage of all the attention the games will receive by creating fake Olympic-themed websites, screensavers, videos and even apps that unsuspecting Olympic fanatics may visit, click on or download without a second thought.

As part of their efforts to keep virus and malware infections under control during the games, the NCCIC also published a list of general "good email practices" for consumers that could prevent their devices from getting hacked and requiring computer repair. These include deleting emails from people or organizations you don't recognize, and using antivirus software and spam filters on your laptop or desktop computer.

The source also suggests that those who do follow the games view all emails in plain text without images, research the source of any email sent with attachments and steer clear of links in emails from unfamiliar sources.

But if your device does become infected this summer, the Geeks On-Site team can provide efficient spyware and virus removal in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.

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