Search results for antivirus software breach | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Stop tempting fate and take a look at our picks for the best antivirus programs on the market today. Every year there are billions of malware attacks worldwide. And these threats are constantly evolving. So if you are not currently using antivirus software, or you still rely on some free software you downloaded back in 2017, you are putting your cybersecurity in serious jeopardy.  Need help picking out antivirus software? Well, we've got you covered. Below you can find our picks for the best antivirus products of 2021. But before we get to that, let's set a few things straight so we're all on the same page.  When we talk about antivirus products, we're really talking about anti- malware  products. Malware is a catchall term that refers to any malicious program created to damage, disrupt, or take charge of a computer. Types of malware include not only viruses but spyware, trojan horses, ransomware, adware, and scareware. Any good antivirus product in 2021 must be ab...

There has been no shortage of massive security breaches so far this year. Just last July, Capital One disclosed that it was hit by a breach that affected more than 100 million customers. Also recently, researchers came across an unsecured cloud server that contained the names, phone numbers, and financial information of virtually all citizens of Ecuador – around 20 million people . These are just the latest in a long line of security breaches affecting enterprises over the past few years. The Yahoo!, Equifax, and Marriott hacks and Facebook's scandal should still be fresh in people's memories, reminding everyone that even large corporations with budgets for enterprise cybersecurity may not be secure enough to protect customer information. These records are now out there, stored in hackers' data dumps , and are potentially tradable over the Dark Web. The availability of such information online increases a person's risk of being victimized through fraud and iden...

ZoneAlarm, an internet security software company owned by Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point Technologies, has suffered a data breach exposing data of its discussion forum users, the company confirmed The Hacker News. With nearly 100 million downloads, ZoneAlarm offers antivirus software, firewall, and additional virus protection solutions to home PC users, small businesses, and mobile phones worldwide. Though neither ZoneAlarm or its parent company Check Point has yet publicly disclosed the security incident, the company quietly sent an alert via email to all affected users over this weekend, The Hacker News learned. The email-based breach notification advised ZoneAlarm forum users to immediately change their forum account passwords, informing them hackers have unauthorizedly gained access to their names, email addresses, hashed passwords, and date of births. Moreover, the company has also clarified that the security incident only affects users registered with the "...

Throughout 2020, businesses, in general, have had their hands full with IT challenges. They had to rush to accommodate a sudden shift to remote work. Then they had to navigate a rapid adoption of automation technologies. And as the year came to a close, more businesses began trying to assemble the safety infrastructure required to return to some semblance of normal in 2021. But at the end of the year,  news of a massive breach  of IT monitoring software vendor SolarWinds introduced a new complication – the possibility of a wave of secondary data breaches and cyber-attacks. And because SolarWinds' products have a presence in so many business networks, the size of the threat is massive. So far, though, most of the attention is getting paid to large enterprises like Microsoft and Cisco (and the US Government), who were the primary target of the SolarWinds breach. What nobody's talking about is the rest of the 18,000 or so SolarWinds clients who may have been affected. For the...

Do you know—United States Government has banned federal agencies from using Kaspersky antivirus software over spying fear? Though there's no solid evidence yet available, an article published by WSJ claims  that the Russian state-sponsored hackers stole highly classified NSA documents from a contractor in 2015 with the help of a security program made by Russia-based security firm Kaspersky Lab. Currently, there is no way to independently confirm if the claims on the popular security vendor published by the Wall Street Journal is accurate—and the story does not even prove the involvement of Kaspersky. "As a private company, Kaspersky Lab does not have inappropriate ties to any government, including Russia, and the only conclusion seems to be that Kaspersky Lab is caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight," Kaspersky said in a statement. The NSA contractor working with the American intelligence agency, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, reportedly do...

If you have downloaded the VSDC multimedia editing software between late February to late March this year, there are high chances that your computer has been infected with a banking trojan and an information stealer. The official website of the VSDC software — one of the most popular, free video editing and converting app with over 1.3 million monthly visitors — was hacked, unfortunately once again. According to a new report Dr. Web published today and shared with The Hacker News, hackers hijacked the VSDC website and replaced its software download links leading to malware versions, tricking visitors into installing dangerous Win32.Bolik.2 banking trojan and KPOT stealer. Even more ironic is that despite being so popular among the multimedia editors, the VSDC website is running and offering software downloads over an insecure HTTP connection. Though it's unclear how hackers this time managed to hijack the website, researchers revealed that the breach was reportedly ne...

A European telecommunications organization is said to have been targeted by a threat actor that aligns with a China-nexus cyber espionage group known as Salt Typhoon . The organization, per Darktrace , was targeted in the first week of July 2025, with the attackers exploiting a Citrix NetScaler Gateway appliance to obtain initial access. Salt Typhoon, also known as Earth Estries, FamousSparrow, GhostEmperor, and UNC5807, is the name given to an advanced persistent threat actor with ties to China. Known to be active since 2019, the group gained prominence last year following its attacks on telecommunications services providers, energy networks, and government systems in the U.S. The adversary has a track record of exploiting security flaws in edge devices, maintaining deep persistence, and exfiltrating sensitive data from victims in more than 80 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the incident observed against the European telecommunications enti...

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, it's crucial to reevaluate how we secure web environments. Traditional antivirus-approach solutions have their merits, but they're reactive. A new report delves into the reasons for embracing proactive web security solutions, ensuring you stay ahead of emerging threats.  To learn more, download the full report  here . The New Paradigm If you've been relying on the old-style antivirus-based approach to website security up to now, then we could summarize why you need to update to the more proactive approach simply by saying — prevention is always preferable to cure. That's the overarching rationale for adopting a proactive web security solution, but let's break it down into a few more detailed reasons for updating to the newer and more effective proactive approach.  To be clear, we're not denying that an antivirus-approach solution is ideal for detecting and responding to threats, but there's no escaping the fact that it's limit...

When it comes to safeguarding your Internet security, installing an antivirus software or running a Secure Linux OS on your system does not mean you are safe enough from all kinds of cyber-threats. Today majority of Internet users are vulnerable to cyber attacks, not because they aren't using any best antivirus software or other security measures, but because they are using weak passwords to secure their online accounts. Passwords are your last lines of defense against online threats. Just look back to some recent data breaches and cyber attacks, including high-profile data breach at OPM ( United States Office of Personnel Management ) and the extra-marital affair site Ashley Madison , that led to the exposure of hundreds of millions of records online. Although you can not control data breaches, it is still important to create strong passwords that can withstand dictionary and brute-force attacks . You see, the longer and more complex your password is, the much harder...