dell

quoted May 23, 2014

Quoted in Dell Tech Page One: The value of not paying cyber extortionists

The value of not paying cyber extortionists By Erin Richey According to Sorin Mustaca, product manager for anti-virus company Avira GMBH, most extortionists negotiate in good faith. “In general, it is not common that the cybercriminals don’t keep their promise. They keep their promise because they want the next victim to pay,” wrote Mustaca in an email interview. He added, “The information we have about this phenomenon is very, very scarce. People are afraid to tell and, I think, also ashamed.” […] But Mustaca wrote that this is the reason not to pay: “If someone pays, even if it is $1, the more victims [extortionists] will make.” […] Most victims, Mustaca wrote, simply reinstall their operating systems without retrieving any data. If an organization has no plan in place and hasn’t prepared for the possibility of data loss, the results can be devastating.

quoted April 19, 2014

Quoted in Dell’s TechPageOne: Are attacks by governments the next big threat?

Are attacks by governments the next big threat? Small and medium-sized enterprises may be at risk for state-sponsored hacking By Michael O’Dwyer – Tech Page One April 17 2014 “My personal blogs are daily attacked by at least 500 IP addresses, which come from all over the world. Is it safe to assume that the [IP addresses reflect the attackers’ actual locations]? No, I think it is too easy,” says Sorin Mustaca, IT Security expert at Avira, a maker of anti-virus software.

quoted April 10, 2014

Quoted in Dell Tech Page One: Small businesses brace for the end of Windows XP

URL: http://techpageone.dell.com/technology/small-businesses-brace-end-windows-xp Sorin Mustaca, an IT security expert at Avira, a global provider of IT-security protection for computers, smartphones, servers and networks, agrees that Windows 7 may be an easier option. ”Our experience shows us that most software is still not adapted to make native use of Windows 8′s new APIs (application programming interfaces) and functionalities,” he says. “So, it might be easier for most companies to plan a migration to Windows 7 than to Windows 8.” “Not upgrading is out of the question,” says Avira’s Mustaca. “From the moment that XP does not receive security updates, this operating system will [attract] cyber criminals.”