Earlier this week it was disclosed that an older version of Microsoft’s Windows software along with the much exploited Adobe Flash software had been exploited by Russian hackers to attack computer systems to gain access to information.  The group that had done these recent hacks appears to be the same Russian hackers responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee earlier this year.  Adobe has already issued a security update to patch the vulnerability.  A link to the security update can be found in yesterday’s Scam of the day.  Microsoft has said that it will have a security patch available on November 8th.  As soon as it is available, I will let you know here at Scamicide.  Users of Windows 10, the latest version of Windows and the Microsoft’s Edge browser are protected from the attack.

Once again, the malware necessary to spread these computer hacks was spread, as so often is the case, by spear phishing emails luring unsuspecting victims into clicking on links that downloaded the malware.

TIPS

The best thing you can do to help protect yourself from being hacked is to never click on links in emails or text messages from anyone until you have absolutely verified that the messages and the links are legitimate.  Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.

It is also important to update your security software on all of your electronic devices as soon as security updates become available.  Hackers constantly exploit vulnerabilities in software for which there already exist security patches, but which have not been installed by consumers.