Security Advisory: Antivirus Firm Thirtyseven4 Cautions of Probable Ice Bucket Challenge-Themed Scams

MEDINA, Ohio, Aug. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirtyseven4, LLC, a leading provider of Windows, Mac and Android antivirus solutions, cautioned today to be on alert for potential Ice Bucket Challenge-themed scams.  The Ice Bucket Challenge is a phenomenon spreading ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) awareness across the Country and world.   The premise of the challenge is for a person to challenge their friends, family or co-workers (usually over social media) to either dump a bucket of ice water over their head within 24 hours or donate $100 to ALS.  

"Cybercriminals have a long history of capitalizing on the hottest trends and latest headlines to disguise their evil doings. Recently, we've seen it with Facebook scammers posting bogus video claims of beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams saying his last goodbyes.  Cybercriminals are also exploiting the world's attention to the Ebola virus outbreak by luring them into opening malicious email attachments.  The now viral Ice Bucket Challenge will be no exception, especially with high-profile celebrities getting involved and the challenge going global. I feel it's only a matter of time before fake ALS donation websites start polluting social networking sites and other malware operations start surfacing," said Steven Sundermeier, Owner of Thirtyseven4. 

Thirtyseven4 suggests five steps to avoid falling victim to potential Ice Bucket Challenge-themed attacks:

1. When interested in hot news topics or donating to a charity, go to a reputable news source website or organization's website by typing in the web address directly in to the browser.
2. Never click 'Ok', 'Yes', or similar if a message box appears seeking permission to install some component or update or asks for consent to view locked content. 
3. Be suspicious when reading too-good-to-be-true stories, posts or emails. Exercise common sense. 
4. Make sure antivirus software is installed and virus database files are up-to-date.
5. Maintain regular operating system updates.

Evaluation licenses of Thirtyseven4 Antivirus are available at: http://thirtyseven4.com/downloads.html. 

About Thirtyseven4:

Born out of a desire to better connect antivirus protection solutions with premium customer support and service, Thirtyseven4 seeks to protect schools, businesses, governmental agencies and home‐users with the best antivirus products available. Thirtyseven4 is an American company built on honesty, trust and value for the customer. http://www.thirtyseven4.com.

CONTACT: Steven Sundermeier, 877-374-7581, [email protected]

SOURCE Thirtyseven4, LLC