432 Topics
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 | Recently Google has hit the headlines with [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4163.html"]concerns over privacy[/URL] courtesy of Street View mapping, plus [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4305.html"]allegations of trademark infringements[/URL] with the Android open source mobile phone OS. The latest headlines, though, look like returning to the heart of Google: the search engine. Google SERPs malware manipulation has hit new …  |
| | Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr got together for a rare live performance, and according to [URL="http://www.scmagazineus.com/Paul-McCartneys-website-hacked-to-distribute-malware/article/130330/"]reports[/URL] it would seem the bad guys thought that a spot of media friendly Beatle-mania presented [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3824.html"]the ideal time to target[/URL] McCartney's website. Security specialists ScanSafe told me that its 24/7 Web security scanners first … |
| | It all sounds a little science fiction, but according to scientists at MIT it seems that a virus powered iPhone, laptop and even car are all possibilities stemming from research they have been doing. Although the potential for building batteries from viruses was discovered a few years ago, the MIT … |
 | This is going to be a high-risk blog entry, I know. But I'm in the UK, it's 1 April at eight minutes past ten in the morning and so far we've had no reports of mass outbreaks of the Conficker virus. The BBC was suggesting it was all overblown in …  |
| | Adobe has yet to patch a critical zero-day vulnerability in Acrobat and Reader applications which is in the wild and being exploited by malicious types using malformed PDF files. Now, more than two weeks after the exploit was reported by The Shadowserver Foundation and before Adobe can get the patch … |
 | Early this morning, people using the Google search engine got a strange surprise. Nearly every result for every search was marked with the alert message, "This site may harm your computer." If you clicked on a search result, instead of being directed to a Web site, you were automatically taken … |
| | According to the [URL="http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/012909-Ex-Fannie_Mae_worker_charged_with_planting_computer_virus.html"]DC Examiner[/URL] a former contract worker with Fannie Mae has been indicted, and bailed, on charges of computer intrusion. It is alleged that Rajendrasinh Makwana dropped a virus into Fannie Mae software which had the potential to cause millions of dollars worth of damage if it had … |
| | Apple users opting not to grab a free 30 day demo version iWork 09, or even cough up the bucks for a full retail version, have found themselves getting more than they bargained for. It appears that something in the region of 20,000 people have downloaded a pirated version of … |
| | Heartland Payment Systems, one of the biggest card payment processors in the US, has been the victim of what could well be the biggest security breach of its kind. Malicious software installed onto the Heartland network could have compromised as many as 100 million transactions according to numerous emerging reports. … |
| | If you are a Windows user and have not installed the [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx"]MS08-067 patch[/URL] from last October, then perhaps you had better pull your finger out. Of course, it could well be too late, and you could well be one of the nine million or so users who have already fallen …  |
| | [URL="http://www.messagelabs.com"]MessageLabs[/URL] Intelligence data reveals that, in an announcement that will probably come as no shock to anyone who actually uses the Internet, the average [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2459.html"]spam[/URL] level for the year managed to hit 81.2 percent. Perhaps a little more surprisingly, especially given the number of security vendor [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3419.html"]warnings[/URL] throughout 2008, [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18997/53/"]malware … |
| | Although you might think that your personal information, including your financial data, is hugely valuable to the cyber-criminal fraternity the truth would appear to be somewhat different. Security vendor [URL="http://www.trendmicro.co.uk"]Trend Micro[/URL] has published research which shows that at this time of the year, as we fast approach the climax to …  |
| | The fact that Apple is now encouraging people to use antivirus software on its systems is to be welcomed. I use a Mac myself but I'm regularly disturbed by the number of fellow users who refuse utterly to use AV because 'there aren't any viruses, they're all on the PC' … |
 | Ever had some computer malware spit a bunch of porn onto your screen? Now imagine it happening in a roomful of schoolchildren. Now imagine it could send you to jail -- for forty years. That's what happened to Julie Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Conn., in 2004. Using a … |
| | The United States holds many titles, some of them causes for joy while others are reason for shame. The latter category has long included 'King of Spam' being the country from which the majority of the spam on the planet originates. However, thanks to the [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/daveyw/2008/11/20/spammers-are-in-a-world-of-hurt/"]closure of just one spam … |
| | What happens when your security software thinks your operating system is out to get you? Users of AVG8 discovered the answer when it decided that a Windows XP user32.dll system file was infected with a Trojan, and deleted it. Uh oh Buck, biddly biddly biddly. What happens when you delete … |
| | We all knew it was going to happen, and that there was nothing we could do to stop it. In fact, it was only a matter of time until the polls had closed and Barack Obama had officially become the President-elect of the United States of America. It is not … |
| | Here we go again. It seems like only last week (there's probably a reason for that) that I was at my desk talking about the amount of alarmist stuff about malware that's out there on the Internet. You know how it goes; someone proves in a lab that something can … |
| | This is just what we needed to make us comfortable as the recession (I think we can stop calling it the credit crunch as we've been doing in the UK) starts to bite uncomfortably. Mobile devices are becoming vulnerable to malware attacks. It must be true, I've read it on … |
| | I was privileged to attend the 5th [URL="http://www.kaspersky.com/"]Kaspersky[/URL] Lab forum, held in the city of London, yesterday. It was actually a Cybercrime Forum (I have no idea if the other forums were as well, as this was my first), and so the main focus was – yeah, you guessed it … |
| | Now I'm not usually one who advocates the use of spyware of any sort. As a parent myself, I like to think that trust works better than software when it comes to controlling access to questionable content online. However, in the case of the British parents who spied on their …  |
| | According to [URL="http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2008/09/02/sex-spyware"]Sophos[/URL] it seems that cyber-tension between North and South Korea is increasing of late. Not least thanks to allegations from the South that officers of the military command and control centre have been targeted by the North in a spyware attack on the orders of the infamous electronic … |
| | Paris Hilton is 27 years old and pretty much made her name for two things: being the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, and starring in a home made porno flick that ended up on the Internet. OK, make that famous for one thing, being the heiress to the Hilton … |
| | It might come as a surprise to some that there is an underground economy online which revolves around the sale of malware. However, with botnets for hire by the hour and rootkits to purchase outright such off-the-shelf security nightmares have been the norm for a number of years now. What … |
| | Security researchers within the Marshal TRACE Team have [URL="http://www.marshal.com/trace/traceitem.asp?article=714"]warned[/URL] that malicious spammers are using fake United Parcel Service invoices in order to deliver a malware payload. Always looking for a new and convincing hook to snare the unsuspecting user into downloading malicious components from the web, this new attack utilises … |
| | It’s been more than 10 days since the latest AppleScript.THT Trojan horse for Mac OS X reared its ugly head, yet still no word or fix from Apple. The new threat to versions 10.4 and 10.5 is classified as critical by the SecureMac security site, exploits a hole in the … |
| | The story exposing how some TomTom satnav units had been sold complete with no less than three pieces of malware pre-installed which [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1276.html"]broke right here[/URL] in the DaniWeb blogs last year was yesterday named 'Best Information Security News Story' at a prestigious awards ceremony held at the Haymarket Hotel in … |
| | [URL="ttp://www.kaspersky.com"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] is warning the public at large to be on the lookout for a new version of the blackmail virus Gpcode which has started to appear in the wild. This particularly nasty twist on the virus format encrypts your files using an RSA encryption algorithm, this time with a …  |
| | The [URL="http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/34/40724457.pdf"]Malicious software (malware): a security threat to the Internet economy[/URL] report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development over the weekend suggests that the PC malware infection rate in the US has hit 25 percent. These OECD cybercrime infection findings are highly disturbing, admits Geoff Sweeney, CTO … |
| | Threat statistics just released by managed security company [URL="http://www.network-box.com"]Network Box[/URL] reveals that phishing attacks now account for 67 percent of all malware by volume. This compares with just 24 percent in February and 48 percent in March, suggesting that the phishers are continuing to be successful where other distribution and … |
| | According to [URL="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/gta_spyware_scam/"]The Register[/URL] gamers who are desperate to get hold of the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and let's face it that has to be just about every hardcore gamer who did not get a copy today, are the latest target of drive-by spyware scammers. Spam …  |
| | How stupid do you have to be to get caught by spam email with the subject line of 'we caught you naked [your name] - check the video' is a question I have been asking myself today. Not because I have been caught naked, and if I had my only … |
| | Rather surprisingly, Kaspersky Lab has forecast that the security threat landscape will increase by more than 20 million programs by the end of 2008 when compared to the 2007 year-end figures, a ten-fold increase no less. That is worth repeating: the number of [B]new[/B] malicious applications in circulation by the … |
| | [URL="http://www.fortiguardcenter.com"]According to unified threat management specialist Fortinet[/URL] Facebook users had better start paying attention to the postings that appear on their message wall within the popular social networking site. It appears that spammers are moving away from targeting third party applications, as evidenced in the recent 'Secret Crush' case, and … |
| | Security provider Webroot has today published its [URL="http://www.webroot.com/En_GB/land-sois-home.html"]State of Internet Security: Protecting Business Email[/URL] research report and estimates that every single business email account will receive some 42,000 spams during the course of 2008. Or 116 junk messages every single day if you prefer. That is an increase of some … |
| | [URL="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/180843/mozilla-boss-attacks-apple-over-autoinstalling-safari.html"]According to UK IT magazine PC Pro[/URL] the Mozilla CEO has accused Apple of coming close to using malware tactics to install the Safari browser on Windows PCs via the iTunes updater. It reports that the latest version of the Windows iTunes updater, designed to make upgrading to the latest … |
| | A hearty slap on the back must go to authorities in South Korea who have [URL="http://www.sophos.com/news/2008/03/lee-shin-ja.html"]arrested and charged[/URL] the 41 year old ex-CEO of an antivirus software company with distributing fake security scareware. Lee Shin-ja was formerly CEO with security outfit Media Port, and stands accused of distributing the 'free' … |
| | Unified threat management specialists Fortinet has [URL="http://www.fortiguardcenter.com/reports/roundup_feb_2008.html"]announced[/URL] the most reported high-risk threats during the course of the last month, and it makes interesting reading. According to Fortinet it proves that birds of a feather do flock together as the most definable malware trend was most definitely the fact that the … |
| | Today sees the official formation of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization ([URL="http://www.amtso.org"]AMTSO[/URL]) which has come about following an industry wide concern about the lack of any real-world standards that apply to anti-malware solutions when it comes to testing. Why is this important? Because unless the testing methodologies used to evaluate … |
| | It has been a long time coming, but a virus writer has finally been arrested by the Japanese authorities. According to security specialists [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos[/URL] law enforcement agencies in Kyoto, Japan, have arrested three men who stand accused of plotting to infect users of a popular P2P file-sharing network with a … |
| | Kaspersky Lab has [URL="http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791980"]published its list[/URL] of the most prevalent viruses for the end of 2007, and although an email worm retains the top spot the more interesting stuff is happening immediately below it in the rankings of shame. Specifically, the second, fourth and seventh places which are all occupied … |
| | According to security researchers at [URL="http://news.bitdefender.com"]BitDefender[/URL] a new Trojan has been discovered which hijacks text based Google adverts and replaces them with ads from a totally different provider. Trojan.Qhost.WU acts by modifying the infected computers' Hosts file to include a line which redirects the web browser from the expected .googlesyndication.com … |
| | All is not well for Apple, in a week when it should be flag waving the release of Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' the firm finds itself, and its users, under attack instead. The culprit being a new Trojan which, once installed, changes the Mac's domain name system server. This … |
| | The number crunchers at security specialists [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos[/URL] have published the figures revealing which bits of malware have been spreading the fastest during August. While the fact that infected spam attachments have dropped from one in 322 for the first six months of the year to one in every 1000 for …  |
| | Controversial media company and alleged spreader of adware Zango, formerly 180solutions, has been forced to back down from its legal attempts to get both Kaspersky Lab and PC Tools to reclassify its applications as non-threatening and prevent security software from blocking them. Kaspersky Lab [URL="http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207575556"]reports[/URL] that the US District Court … |
| | Romanian security developer [URL="http://www.bitdefender.com"]BitDefender[/URL] has issued a warning about a fast spreading Trojan dubbed Spammer.HotLan.A which is using Hotmail and Yahoo accounts to send spam. According to BitDefencer some 15,000 accounts have already been compromised and the situation is likely to get much worse over the next few days. Viorel … |
| | Mention mobile phone viruses and the chances are you will get one of two responses:[LIST=1] [*]It is a money making exercise for security vendors who have created the mobile phone virus myth so they can sell protection nobody needs. [*]Hahahahahahahahahahaha.[/LIST]However, the arrest of a 28 year old man in Valencia, … |
| | Independent Austrian antivirus testing outfit [URL="http://www.av-comparatives.org/"]AV Comparatives[/URL] has a reputation for going the extra mile when putting products through their paces. Something that Microsoft discovered to its cost earlier in the year when, rather embarrassingly, its flagship OneCare antivirus product managed to finish last and fail to get a highly … |
| | IT security and control firm [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos[/URL] is warning of an ongoing spam campaign which promises not only a trailer featuring, but also free tickets to see, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End’ movie. The warning signs are all there, the familiar skull-and-crossbones logo of the popular film … |
| | IT security professional Didier Stevens has been conducting an experiment into computer user stupidity by running a Google Adwords campaign which offers to infect your PC for free. The advert actually read: [B]Drive-By Download Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here![/B] Which should be enough to stop all but … |
The End.