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Recent 'NotPetya' attacks might not be ransomware at all
The companies and agencies hit by a cyberattack in the Ukraine, Russia, the US, parts of Europe, Asia and Australia might never be able to recover their data. See, some security researchers, including Kaspersky Lab, believe that the malware that invaded those computers was only masquerading as ransomware in order to lure the media into covering it as a follow-up to the WannaCry incidents. While its developers painstakingly tried to make it look like ransomware, the researchers say it's actually what you call a "wiper," since it overwrites parts that a disk needs to run. It doesn't encrypt those parts, so you can regain access to them after you pay -- it just completely erases them.
Wiper Messenger offers free private calls and text
Wiper Messenger (free) is a new entry in the messaging and calling category that puts an emphasis on personal privacy. The app is not to be confused with Viber, which also offers voice and text services. To use the app, sign up for a free account. If any of your friends are using it, you see that in your Wiper directory. You can call or text any Wiper Messenger account holder, no matter where they are in the world. The app is called 'Wiper' because it is easy to erase your conversations. If you like your privacy, a wipe erases the chat on both the sending and receiving phones. I tested voice quality and found it to be good. The calls are generally of better quality than standard cellphone audio. You get a ring notification from your phone, and you answer by tapping that notification. The process is the same for texts, although in my testing I got no audible alert on incoming text messages, and neither did my testing partner. Wiper CEO Manlio Carrelli told me there is a known bug relating to this that will be fixed in the next update. It seems to occur after trying to hear a text notification after a Wiper call. Wiper Messenger also features the ability to share YouTube videos with friends. You can do it from within the app, which seems mostly setup to find different genres of music, and then your friend receives a link. I'm not sure that's a really compelling feature as you can do this easily directly from YouTube, but some might like to try it. The app is ad free, and the company is well funded, but at some point Wiper will have to develop some revenue models. I thought the app worked well other than the sometimes lack of message audio notifications. I also thought the incoming call ring tone was a bit soft, even with my iPhone audio turned up all the way. Wiper Messenger gives you good audio quality to most any location, with text messaging thrown in and some privacy not offered by other apps. Wiper Messenger requires iOS 7 or later, and it is optimized for the new iPhone 6 series.
