Latest Security & News Info
Recent Forum Discussions
Latest Security & News Info
Recent Forum Discussions
Latest Security & News Info
Recent Forum Discussions
This weekend was pretty light, news wise but today was steady, so I'll give a quick summary below.
The good people at Sandboxie released a new version over the weekend, so go and check that out. I'm loving using it. Very handy.
Always a favorite, the 2007 Darwin Awards have been named. It never ceases to amaze me some of the stupid things people do.
Got a $100 bill? Better be sure it's not one of these super counterfeited bills. But on second thought, they're so good who cares?
Symantec has encountered what they're calling an intelligent man-in-the-middle trojan. Malware is always evolving and for the average Joe Net user things like this become a problem. Unless of course you've got half a brain and never open unknown emails. Then it won't matter how damned intelligent the trojan is, will it?
PG alerts us to a prank on MySpace that changes your default language to Japanese. Easily fixed tho and no real harm is done.
The people behind MySpace, along with several AGs of some states today announce a new plan to protect kids from predators. This sort of effort always turns out win-win for all involved.
A security research company that analyzes websites visited by its clients employees, looking for malware spreading sites is baffled by the 'who' and 'why' of the hundreds of sites that were found.
Over at InfoWorld they've started a campaign to save XP from being discontinued, except it's not being discontinued at all.
More information about the Russian Business Network has been posted by DDanchev. This researcher knows how to track these guys. I'm sure they hate him. But that's good for us.
Over in the BUSTED! forum we have some convicted script kiddie hacker getting charged with extortion after hacking a MySpace profile. He demanded phone sex and nude pix of her to get her profile back. What a dweeb!!
Finally (whew) we have a report that the IRS has yet to fix 70% of IT related security holes since last year. Great, not only do we have to give them all this money they can't even keep our info safe once they do get it.
Another busy day of security news and other tidbits in the forum.
We'll start off with some stats about IM attacks, from FaceTime. They've come up with some percentages displaying which is the biggest target. Would it be MSN, AIM or YIM?
Sandi over at Spyware Sucks has some good news about rogue banner ads. Seems the offensive server has been firewall blocked. She rocks on these don't she? Heck she rocks on alot of stuff.
The RBN seem to be offering the Storm worm domains for sale or rent. This was not exactly something that wasn't foreseen. I've been keeping track of this and it was previously mentioned as a possibility.
Way back when the SoBig worm came out, it seems this was the birth of the botnet according to these researchers. I wasn't even involved in security back then, but I remember the news about SoBig. It seemed scary at the time. But then once I came to know the slightest bit about worms\spam\emails I realized it was the easiest thing in the world to avoid.
Researchers are saying that the 'shadow economy' of malware is worth about 105bn. Of course no one can really put a figure on this, because no one can know what these guys are actually taking in or spreading around.
ICANN is trying to put an end to domain name tasting in an effort to remove a loophole in the system. Many a poor soul have fallen victim to these asshats. Many people consider them nearly as bad as spammers. Can't say I'd disagree.
Well that's about it for now. That ought to be plenty of reading for you. Please take some time to share your experiences in our forums.
SCMagazine reports that one of the latest Storm variants is being used in an expansive phishing scheme targeting two large banking institutions. No matter the season, there's always another Storm brewing.
Wow, forum has been busy since my last post. Well busy with me posting more stuff there anyhow. Why don't you all drop in and comment?
There seem to be more states adding laws that restrict computer forensics to 'official' investigators. This I'm sure is an effort to prevent those who 'think' they know what they're doing from actually doing more harm than good.
An opinion from a journalist expresses concerns over new TLDs as they may relate to new areas of spammer exploitation. Certainly a qualified concern. Lord knows we don't need any more areas to worry about. I know I'll be blocking any of those new ones.
Popular site Geek.com got got hacked late last year, having personal info on users who bought from them in the last year or so stolen. Oppss. One would think a site named 'Geek' would keep extra secure software. Just goes to show you.
PG weighs in on what he thinks really happened with the whole Facebook\Zango 'spyware' situation. Reading it might just surprise you.
To finish off this latest entry we have an update on the wonderful gang over at RBN. They have a new set of servers ready to go. Thankfully we get a pretty ecent jump on this info thanks to the tireless efforts of a dedicated group of people.
Been busy the last day or so with the Blogspot malware stuff. I even got a mention on a major new IT site!
Sandi over at Spyware Sucks blog has more rogue banner ads and PG found some MySpace ringtone spammers using Toms profile! Yea, that's real low key.....they may know how to make some money but these malware guys just ain't too bright. Few code lines short of a program.
The good people at F-Secure got their hands on a malware kit and have it dissected. Scary professional looking too.
Finally we have a potential major problem with file identification. There may be a way for the scumbags to avert one of the ways in which a file is specifically ID'd.
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