Cold Boot Attacks Are Still Hot

I found this article very interesting and informative and everyone should give it a read. It talks about how cold boot attacks can steal passwords in under two minutes, how the attack occurs, and how to defend against the attack.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cold-boot-attack-steals-passwords-in-under-two-minutes/

What are bots?

Bots are internet robots, also known as spiders, crawlers, and web bots. They are basically used for repetitive jobs. You've probably seen these bots on social media in the comments section. They often come in the form of malware which will take over your computer. Bots can also be used for positive things such as gathering info, automatic interaction with instant messaging. However, most bots are used for negative purposes such as gathering pass3words, to obtain financial info, launch Dos attacks, open back doors on the infected computer. These bots usually go unnoticed and will hide in "the shadows" of a computer. Your computer is probably affected by bots if your internet access is slow, computer crashes for no reason, programs are running slow, pop ads popping up even when you're not using a web browser and much more (check the link). Some of the ways you can protect your computer from these bots are:
Install firewalls
Use complicated passwords
Don't use the same password
Make sure your software's are up to date
Don't use portable storage drives in an infected computer.

Link: https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware-what-are-bots.html

Ako Ransomware

Ako ransomware is the most modern ransomware and it is spread through networks. This ransomware will post a file labeled "ako-readme.txt" on the desktop. According to Bleeping computer, this ransomware was found targeting an entire network instead of individual workstations. How does it work? This ransomware will delete the shadow volume copies and backups. It then disables the windows recovery environment. During file encryption, it will randomly add extensions to the files. It skips files with .exe, .sys, .dll, .ini, .key, and .rdp extensions. It checks other connected machines on the network to complete the encryption process. In the end, the ransomware will place a file labeled "ako-readme.txt" on the desktop. Ako ransomware is a very serious threat. By infecting the entire network it forces the victim companies to pay the ransom, which could cost them millions.

Source:https://cyware.com/news/ako-ransomware-could-be-the-next-threat-to-your-network-f2ff369b