Bitdefender Antivirus Free for desktop computers is designed to minimize both the performance footprint on computers and user interactions. Using the same award-winning technology proven to fend off even the most intrusive malware, Antivirus Free not only offers 24/7 protection, but is also fully compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8. Since we’re always trying to improve user experience by including new f...

Hours after the Boston Marathon tragic incident, the words “marathon,” “Boston” or “explosion” had made their way into the subject headers of one in five spam messages, according to a Bitdefender study. The data reveal a disturbing cycle of spammers and scammers seeking to take profits from people concerned about terrorism. Bitdefender anti-spam labs first spotted the trend in the hours after the bombing an...

The moment you suspect you got scammed, start mitigating the situation not matter if it’s a telemarketing scam, internet fraud, identity theft, counterfeit medicine, or business fraud. First off, disconnect the compromised device from the Internet. But don’t power it off. Some malware pieces are designed to discard their payload at reboot, making it impossible for someone to recover the sample and understan...

Most viruses, worms and Trojans circulating nowadays have learned to be discreet to avoid detection. Unlike predecessors that displayed warnings on users’ monitors, modern malware operates silently because crooks understood that users will install an antivirus to clean their computer at the first sign of infection. But, no matter how stealthy these pieces of malware are, there are still signs that give them...

As the travel industry heavily started promoting summer deals earlier; scammers, too, have plunged into the trend with spammed malware campaigns using holiday hooks. Flight confirmation emails are the top lure this season, followed by hotel deals, extravagant cruise packages and vacation loans. In season, holiday spam can reach up for up to 6% of all spam. And if a regular “business spam day” means some 1.8...

Bitdefender is now inviting techies, bloggers and other elite beta testers around the globe to experience the New Bitdefender by visiting beta.bitdefender.com and downloading the beta kit. Join us in making the world’s best antivirus software sharper, faster, and more lethal to malware, and you’ll get the chance to win amazing prizes, such as a 32GB Google Nexus, a 16 GB Samsung Galaxy S3, and a HP Envy dv6...

In a brand new phishing campaign targeting Germans, scammers set their eyes on identification data of PayPal and ING customers in Germany. Germans should therefore take care with the e-mail that seems sent by PayPal or ING asking them to update their accounts for safety reasons. Scammers impersonate customer service representatives of the financial institutions seeking to help secure customers and their pri...

If you’re reading Hot4Security, there’s a good chance you’re into tech, mobile, social media and the security of all of them.Here’s a list of people to follow to help you keep better track of what’s going on in the world of tech security. (Please note that this list is by no means exhaustive and it covers both security and tech folks.) Violet Blue | Twitter | Google+ | Blog  If anybody is absolutely Hot for...

The increasing number of kids using social media platforms and Android devices makes them vulnerable to online predators, cyber-bullying, identity theft and malware. Parents consider social networks the main danger to their children on the Internet. According to Bitdefender statistics, 54 percent of websites monitored or blocked by parents are social networks. “On social media, the main threats children fac...

Only a couple of years ago, cyber-criminals almost exclusively targeted Internet-connected end-users and companies. Now, high profile attacks target isolated, highly secure corporate or business environments. This paper describes the challenges of breaching such systems, achieving persistence for as long as possible and payload delivery mechanisms. Ever since government and companies adopted the Internet on...