Weekly Round Up

As I was away for most of the week, I'll give a little round up of what's been posted since my return.

Another Fake MS Email Update Alert

As usual, don't click these emails, you're likely to need a visit to our Extraction Forums

Why We Click On Spam

A bit of research into the hows and whys of the social engineering tricks spammer use.

Another Storm On The Net

Latest variants of the Storm worm have resurfaced and are filing inboxes over the Net.

iPhone Hype = Malware Ripoffs

It didn't take long for first iPhone scam site\malware to surface.

Cybergangs Duke It Out On Net

Rival gangs expend time on eachother, which could be good for us.

Matrix Needs An Adjustment Perhaps?

Net traffic has spiked in some parts of the world with no exact cause pinned down as yet.

Brief Vacation

I'll be taking a few days off to hit Disneyland with the family, so this blog won't be updated until I return

WinPatrol A Virus!??

Some false\positives from some Kaspersky and a couple of others, claiming WinPatrol is a nasty. Corrected for the most part. Read & Discuss Here

New threads In The Forums

Apologies for not bringing these to you sooner, here are some new threads in the forums:

New Method Of Virus Detection

Better Method To Certify Sites As Legit

Two Windows Live Messenger Threads

Malware Costs Down, Profits Up

As malware scumbags fine tune their targeting, the over all costs to end users go down, while their profits go up. Read & Discuss Here

What is 'meocentrism'?

This is a new term for online advertising. It was made up by some guy. Maybe not specifically for the adware business, but it certainly sounds much better than the one word that strikes fear into the hearts of users globally.....adware!

And who is behind this push for the new terminology? It appears to be WhenU, but I'm unsure at this time. It would seem fit a theme WhenU CEO Bill Day touted last year when he said "Adware as a term will die in twelve months". Sounds like they have begun down that path with this association. Read More & Discuss

Zone Alarm For Vista

CheckPoint Software Technologies, parent company behind Zone Alarm products announces availability for Vista compatible products. Official launch June 14. Read More Here

MS Updates, Julie Amero, YouTube Worm, HijackThis!

This months Windows updates are out, be sure to check them out. Four critical ones, one important and one moderate.

Malware researchers have banded together to help prevent a fiasco such as the Julie Amero case from ever happening again. It has some very prestigious malware researchers involved, its called the Julie Group

And a new worm uses a video from YouTube to infect users. While they watch the vid, malware downloads a trojan to steal your info. I'm surprised there has not been more of this, read on.

Finally I have HijackThis! analysis available and it's fast too. No days of waiting to get assistance to remove malware. So if you have any unwanted software on your machine, join the forum and drop a log into Countermeasures: Extraction Help forum.

New Rogues: ContraVirus & SpyCrush

Two new rogues have hit the scene, ContraVirus and SpyCrush. Each is targeted by special removal tools already. Read More Here

As usual, if you're infected with either of these or any other SmithFraud\Zlob variants, be sure to have us look at a log in our Countermeasures: Extraction Forum.

Ad-Aware 2007 Released...But Troubled

Lavasoft released their new version of Ad-Aware yesterday, Ad-AWare 2007, after much beta testing. Well, I guess it wasn't quite enough. Several users have complained about glitches, system crashes and Vista incompatibility too.

Read & Discuss In Our Forum

Malware Launch Points

F-Secure security firm researches the most popular launch points for malware. Nicely done with detailed analysis and screen shots. Read & Discuss Here

Cexx Forums Back Online

Cexx forums was returned to service shortly after me posting my previous entry about it. Sorry for my delay in reporting that here.

Cexx Forums Offline

Well it looks as tho the recent story about Dreamhosts being hacked has affected Cexx forums in that when you go there as of this writing, you get a blank page. The admin is well aware and is working to restore status as quickly as possible. Keep an eye on this blog for its return to service.

Zango vs. Spyware Doctor...Who Won?

Zango recently filed a lawsuit against Spyware Doctor. Just earlier today, Zango was denied a TRO. They then claimed that because Spyware Doctor changed its detection of Zango that they were victorious by forcing their hand.
Read & Discuss Here

Site Advisor: State Of Search Engine Saftey

McAfee SiteAdvisor team posts up a state search engine safety write up. This follows previous write ups and of course it's never very good news. Another reason for users to use things like SiteAdvisor or other related browser
protection devices. Read & Discuss Here

Good Reading In Our Forums

The spam and phishing forum has been very busy this week. Friday brings no end. A bit on the major spammer arrested and why it won't impact your inbox.

And then a look into what the future of spamming techniques holds

Then we have a bit of a technical read about the effectiveness of anti virus software

Lastly there is a new MSN IM worm spreading

Enjoy and don't forget to let us know what you think.