Avast Security News

In November 2017, we detected a strain of malware known as JSMiner in Google Play. The Monero cryptomining capabilities were discovered inside the gaming application Cooee. At the time of discovery, we forecasted a rise in mobile mining malware as attackers shift their attention from PC to mobile. And this week, we identified two more cryptomining apps in Google Play: SP Browser and Mr. MineRusher with a combined subscriber base in the thousands.

Lawmakers urge better security for smart devices The first indication that internet of things (IoT) devices posed a real security threat came in October 2016 when a botnet — made up of devices such as security cameras infected with Mirai malware — attacked Dyn, a provider of DNS services.The attack came in the form of a DDoS (distributed denial of service) assault on Dyn’s servers. By firing off multiple requests every second, the attack took down websites all over the USA and Europe, as DNS servers were overrun with requests from millions of infected devices.

Following the CCleaner incident last year, we have continued to investigate what happened and have shared our latest insights at the Security Security Analyst Summit today.

Equifax reveals more victims of 2017 breach The breach at credit-reporting agency Equifax was one of the worst not only of 2017, but of all time.

This morning at Mobile World Congress Barcelona, we announced the latest in protection from Avast — Avast Smart Life, a new Internet of Things (IoT) security services platform. Our strategy is to leverage our large, intelligent network to continue expanding the ways we protect you from today’s latest threats, no matter where you are in the mobile connected world we live in. Whether at home, the office or on-the-go, Avast Smart Life uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology to identify and block threats so that consumers and small businesses can keep their IoT devices, networks and sensitive data secure.