The Olympics are a great display of athletic talent. But in these Olympics, spam, malware and phishing attacks are taking center stage according to Symantec:
Unfortunately, it’s exactly this goodwill that attackers are attempting to prey upon. In this month’s Symantec Intelligence Report, we take a look at how attackers are using Olympic themed hashtags on Twitter to spread malicious code, bundling threats with popular Olympic-themed Android apps, and creating spam and phishing scams that pretend to be contests sponsored by credit card companies—all in the hopes of taking advantage of the excitement surrounding the event. There has also been a few instances of spammers attempting to trick users into downloading malware. For example, one spam email we’ve recently encountered includes a link to a website that mimics YouTube.
Now there’s some other interesting facts in here as well. For example Canada’s spam rate increased slightly from last month’s 66.5% to 67.9%. Canada’s virus rate currently sits at 1 in 275 (compared to June’s 1 in 271.3). But clearly the fact that attacks are being tied to a major event is kind of disturbing. Clearly you have to on guard for these sorts of things if you want to stay safe on the Internet.
Digital Backpack Launches for Android
Posted in Commentary with tags Android, Canada on August 7, 2012 by itnerdI have a soft spot for up and coming Canadian companies. Such a company is Digital Backpack who have launched an app for Android smart phones that allows companies to securely distribute apps without relying on an app store. Here’s how the company explains it:
Our scalable platform helps your organization share and manage digital content and apps on multiple devices. We can even provide you with real-time analytics to help you evaluate which apps and digital content are being used – and which aren’t. With Digital Backpack, you can turn any mobile device into a private, secure, and manageable part of your organization’s community.
Additionally, as more and more organizations implement a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policy in education and the workplace, Digital Backpack helps you securely manage your organization’s private content on your employees’ or students’ personal devices. You do not need to control the entire device, just a small digital “Backpack” (super app) that sits on any mobile device.
Now this makes sense to me. A lot of companies out there could leverage this and not be reliant on Google’s app store to do it. Though I don’t see it happening, it would be nice if this came to the iOS ecosystem. I’m thinking that once companies see the value in this, they’ll be beating a path to Digital Backpack’s door. Another thing in their favor is Mike Sommer who is the CEO of Digital Backpack. He is the former CIO of Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions and founder of Pacific Online Learning – a company whose platform is being used by Facebook, AT&T, The American Red Cross, and Home Depot. It sounds like that he has the ability to take this company to the next level.
My advice, keep an eye on this company. I really think they’re going to be a company that will make a lot a noise.
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