Avast Security News

Does your smartphone need an antivirus app? The answer is absolutely yes, and the truth of the matter is that there are a multitude from which to choose. As an aid to consumers, independent testing lab AV-Comparatives periodically assesses security software to evaluate its effectiveness. The lab did such a study recently on Android antivirus products and learned that over half of those tested were “risky,” meaning they were at best buggy and at worst deceptive. Avast, however, received a perfect score of 100% malware detection.

Atlanta suffers massive ransomware attack

Zuckerberg apologizes for Cambridge Analytica ‘breach’ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg finally broke cover after nearly a week of silence as the fallout from the row over how a data company, Cambridge Analytica, was able to access the profiles of some 50m people who hadn’t consented to share their data with the company.

Everyone’s favorite social media site is currently the subject of hot debate, and we’re here to keep you grounded amidst the madness. First, let’s talk about what happened. Back in 2014, a quiz made the rounds on Facebook. 270,000 users took the quiz, which harvested data not just about them, but also their friends. As a result, the quiz aggregated the private info of 50 million Facebook users. All that data was then allegedly sold to the Trump presidential campaign.

Weekly security roundup week of March 12th Samba admins urged to patch An important vulnerability that came to light this past week is one in the venerable Samba open-source networking stack – and if you’re a Samba admin, you need to update now.