Recently the Department of Homeland Security joined Interpol and the FBI to issue a serious warning about a botnet called the Simda botnet.  A botnet, as readers familiar with Scamicide will know, is a network of infected computers used by cybercriminals to spread malware.  According to the Department of Homeland Security more than 770,000 computers have already been affected by the Simda botnet which has been around since 2009 preying on computers that are not properly protected by up to date anti-malware software.  The Simda malware not only enables the cybercriminals to use their victims’ computers to spread this and other malware, but it also enables the cybercriminals to steal personal information from the infected computers that make up the botnet and then use that information for purposes of identity theft.

TIPS

Here is a link to which you can go to find out if your computer has been infected with the Simda malware.  http://www.cyberdefense.jp/simda/

If you have been a victim of the Simda malware, you should install anti-virus and anti-malware software to rid your computer of the Simda malware.  You should then change the passwords for all of your accounts because they have been compromised.  You should also get a copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian to determine if you have already become a victim of identity theft.  You should also lock up your credit reports with a credit freeze at each of the three credit reporting agencies.  You can find instructions as to how to do this here in the Scamicide archives.

Even if you have not become a victim of the Simda malware, you should make sure that your anti-virus and anti-malware software is constantly updated.