Malware Advisor

In an article published last week, it was inferred the proper people know who is behind the Storm Worm and maybe even the RBN itself.
Storm Worm: We Know Who

Popular blogger posts a fix for IE7\Vista users to prevent common crash.
IE7 For Vista Crash Tweak

And for those wanting to fly like 007 did in Thunderball with a jet pack, that dream just got a little closer.
Jetpack Dreams Come True

TeMerc · at 11:23 AM

Sorry kids, but I've been busy with the new software upgrade, tweaking things here and there along with MysteryFCM, who has been an invaluable help. If not for him I'd be struggling over at phpBB forum support.

Here are the latest links from the forum, no commentary today tho.

Latest Security & News Info Jan 25-29
Fake IRS Scams
Hackers Rig Google Searches
Malware & Manufacturing
New Rogue Anti-Spyware App
Update: Rogue Banner Ads [Jan28]
Official Top 10 Webhacks
COMODO Outbound Protection Issues
PG Finds DIY MySpace Phish
Zango On Snopes!
Western Union Spam Trojans
UPDATE: Blogspot Malware
Panda Weekly Malware Report

Recent Forum Discussions Jan 25-29
Google Unveils New Search Tips
Jetpack Dreams Come True
Renewed Concerns Over 'Digital Pearl Harbor'
New Freeware Strips Vista To Bare OS
Poll: What's In Your RSS Reader?
New Admin: MysteryFCM
Interview w\Phish Undercover Spies
Lavasoft Considering Ask.com Toolbar
New Forum: Birthday Celebrations
Stamford Wallace: FEDS Looking For $$$
MS: Vista Is More Secure, Please Buy It!

TeMerc · at 12:46 AM

The site will reach well over 1 million hits this month....thanks!
Monthly Site Stats [UPDATED Jan 27 '08]

New software installed, tweaking things now, read about some of the new additions
Forum Software Upgrade This Weekend..Jan 25-27

A poll to see what sort of links you have in your RSS feed reader
What's In Your Wallet....Errrrr.... I Mean RSS Reader?

BillP fights piracy to keep his PLUS users always connected.
WinPatrol: Online Activation is the Future

And it looks like another security vendor may bundle something no one ever wants with their free software.
Lavasoft confirms negotiations to bundle Ask Toolbar

TeMerc · at 6:43 PM

New forum location here

Forum bug thread here

UPDATE: Redirect....from old path will be up shortly....is now operational.

Tweaks and things will be ongoing thru the weekend, thanks for being patient.

TeMerc · at 9:48 AM

Please be patient as I upgrade the forum software from phpBB v2.xx to the latest v3.xx.

Hope to have it done as quickly as possible, so if forums unavailable, that may be why.

TeMerc · at 7:27 PM

Well BillP has gotten a ton of support from all the users after his decision to not bundle WP with any 'extras'. He's very thankful and now we're getting a new Scotty!
BillP Gets The Love & New WinPatrol Jan 25

TeMerc · at 10:06 AM

PG finds a fake program on MySpace that leads to.....drum roll........trojan download! Fake MySpace Program

Donna @ COU gets not one, but two phish emails using Windows Live. Windows Live Phish

Some guy in Japan writes a virus, but that's ok, because over there it's not llegal. So they nab him for copyright infringment instead. BUSTED: Virus Writer In Japan

And with the writers strike going on users are turning to the Net in droves. Survey: Writers Sending Viewers To Net

TeMerc · at 10:11 AM

PG finds some open direcories and gets him a boatload of inf about the scum behind MySpace fake profiles.
MySpace: Fake Profiles, How It's Done

Researchers gets sites shut down via collaborative effort. The power of the Web as a collective.
Google, eBay Thwart Phishing Schemes

Virus List's latest threats.
Malware Miscellany

Mac users will now begin to see malware aimed at them. But don't expect it to reach epic levels....yet.
Cybercrime Moves Beyond Windows

China shuts down over 44K porn related sites. Big deal.
File Under: Drop In The Bucket

MS drops some info about the next gen IE.

MS Confirms IE8 = 3 Render Modes

Another teacher accused of some sort of sexual contact with a minor.
Louisiana Teacher Facing PC Sex Charges

I don't know why they need a study for this. Anyone with half a wit knows ads suck
Web Ads Face Growing Opposition

TeMerc · at 12:20 AM

Experts Map Out Future Of Malware
WinFixer Kicked To Curb
Updates To Rogue Banner Ads
US AG To Get Bills Heard
When Keywords Go Wrong
Flashing Home Routers
Trend Micro: Remove All Other Security Software
COMODO Firewall Offers No Outbound Protection
YIM Now Includes Symantec Scanning

TeMerc · at 10:06 AM

Ain't Karma a bitch

TeMerc · at 11:34 PM

Updates To Rogue Banner Ads

PG Rats Out Script Kiddie To His Mom!!

MySpace Feature Open Season For Spammers

Attackers Using New

Technique On Home Networks

MySpace Spam Seeking Botnets

DIY Fake MSN IM Client

Reports: Malware Near Epidemic Levels

FBI Warns On Fake Spam Scam

Russian Business Network Updates

90% Of Emails To Corps Spam

Researcher Breaks YaHoo! CAPTCHA

Info World 'Save XP' Campaign Updates

Malware Art

UFOs Spotted In Texas

Chinese Hit 200 Million Net Users

MS Warns On Forced IE7 Update, Corps Only

PC Shipments Up Double Digits 4Q

Former Fairfax Deputy Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Case

9 Busted In Canadian Pr0n Case

TeMerc · at 7:02 PM

Chalk one up to integrity and ethics.

Ask.com, owned by IAC approached the WinPatrol developer about including a toolbar in with the product we all have come to love using and recommending. Would Bill be tempted by the $ signs dancing in front of him? Will he think more of the bottom line and less of his users?

Do I have to really answer that?

TeMerc · at 10:02 AM

List of latest Storm Worm, with some 'Subject' lines as well

92.80.105.5/
92.81.116.188/
92.80.105.5/
24.210.161.135
80.74.59.103
75.36.203.254/
99.165.13.64/
Our Love Nest - 65.185.86.166/
Dream of You - <same as above>
Hugging My Pillow - 24.88.247.128/
76.252.189.167
72.40.18.255/
69.236.21.121/
92.81.116.188/
92.80.105.5/
24.210.161.135
80.74.59.103
75.36.203.254/
99.165.13.64/
72.224.23.148/
123.140.200.190/
A Toasty My Love - 24.23.163.181
Our Love Will Last - 64.126.47.223/

More subject lines here as well

TeMerc · at 1:11 PM

On the teen dating site mentioned earlier, it appears someone may have found some child pr0n on it. The sites been reported. Updates as received.

I also posted about the latest Storm worm variant, but neglected to say there iis also a new link to keep track of these variants located on the Secure Computing website. Nothing like collaboration between researchers to maintain an ever present vigil eh?

TeMerc · at 12:02 PM

Check out the latest Valentines Day related Storm email!

TeMerc · at 10:33 AM

Got some action this morning already, so lets get to them.

First up is a disturbing new incarnation for a site which PG had previously written about, but this time its turned itself into a teen date site. Teens meaning 13 year olds!! Oh and Zango is involved. Can you say you're surprised? I can't.

Then a security vendor is claiming that in a corporate environment over 90% of emails received are spam. I'm glad I don't work in an corporate environment.
Or any 'work' environment actually. LOL

There is a report that most home routers are vulnerable to remote take over. So you better read up and make sure you're protected.

Comcast is being investigated by the FCC about its Internet filters. With lots of users complaining I guess it makes sense to see wtf is going on.

PC vendors Dell and HP are sued over fire damage claims by a couple of different people. One case disfigured a daughter of a complainant. Another burned down a business. Not exactly the kind of 'hot' press you wanna see if your the PR guy eh?

Live in Texas? If so did you see the UFOs??? Did ya, did ya??

TeMerc · at 7:46 PM

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.

TeMerc · at 2:01 AM

Geeez....I was out all day for the most part. And there was tons of news to boot. I'm too tired to give a quick round up......so just go read the forums!!

TeMerc · at 11:29 AM

Sorry for going OT here but I needed to vent some.

The other day I went to have my tires rotated & balanced at the local Discount Tire store. Typical time for this is 45 minutes, no biggie, me and wife went to Wal-mart.

I’ve gone to this Discount Tire store plenty of times, outcome hasn't always been as good as I’d have liked, but this does not surprise me. Could be the combo of my wheels and tires, I don't know.

Having previously been in the tire biz for a few years, I've heard my share of Discount Tire stories. Also had many a customer come to the shop I worked at to ‘re-do’ what they had done.

Anyway, I get the car back, start driving home and almost immediately I'm getting steering wheel vibes at about 45-50 mph. Then body vibes as well. The first thing anyone in the tire sales biz asks, if a customer complains about any vibration is;"Does the steering steering wheel shake or do you feel it in the seat of the pants”. Steering wheel generally means front tire out of whack, balance or bent. Seat of pants means it’s a rear while\tire problem.

So having no time to turn around I called the following day about 11:55 to tell them of the problem. The guy says no problem, we'll have you out in 45 minutes. I'm like, umm….no....I need to be taken care of sooner rather than just fitting into the regular rotation of other customers. I’m a returning customer of a complaint of about a job perhaps done incorrectly.

When I ran my own biz and worked in the tire shop, whenever someone came in to complain or to have something looked at which was done wrong previous, he got pushed to the head of the line, no matter what. Customer service is many things, one of those things is perception. If a customer thinks he being treated in what he thinks is quickly and fairly, even tho that may not exactly be the case, that's really an impression worth making.

So he says out the door maybe 30. I'm fine with that. At least I got the impression he was gonna try. And I know how busy those guys can be on any given hour.

I show up @ 12:33 or so. I pay attention cuz I hate being later than I say. By the time I get to the counter it’s another couple minutes as I'm 3rd in line. I explain my story, he’s very congenial we joke about the vibrations, me saying if I was a woman I may not mind it too much, wife smacks me, we continue. He says 45 minutes I say that’s not good enough. No I didn't mention that the other guy said 30 minutes. He says under 45. I accept that.

He writes me up, slips the ticket into a plastic sleeved jacket, which I notice is the only one in this type of packet. I can only surmise this means 'rush' or similar and then he slides said jacket into a box with slots in it. Obviously, the techs grab their next work slips here. I look at my watch, 12:45. (I come to find out later the ticket says 12:39) more on this below.

I look in the bay and I see 3 empty bays out of about 7. I'm thinking, if these guys are on the ball, my car gets in next. Even if they don't begin working on it right away, at least it shows an effort to start it.

Overall activity is very relaxed, several of the techs are moving at what I’d consider fuckin’ off speed. Almost like the manager was gone or something. Ok, I give em a while.Those bays over the next 10 minutes (I check time) get filled with cars. Two of which got checked in after me, one perhaps lady before me. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I'm gonna get out in the time period the guy said, cuz I know it takes at least 20 minutes to get a car redone. Minimal.

Mind you, if it’s just a re-balance then it’s easy. But if there is something else, then we're looking at more time and I'm fully aware that any time frame previously given is out the window. At that point if it is something that requires more time I can then decide if I have the time to fix it. After all, I drove the car in, I could drive it out if time was a factor.

By 1:05 my car is still outside and I'm not seeing any flurry of activity or the like. Now there are still 3 empty bays mind you. I'm beginning to get annoyed because I know I'm not gonna get my car in the time they said.

By 1:10 as I see that another car has been pulled in and no one has even picked up my ticket, I go and ask for the keys. I tell the guy “Hey, it’s not getting done, I’ve wasted 35 minutes of my day and not gotten this fixed in the time you said”. The guy of course says your car is next car up. I explain that it isn't in the time I was promised and other cars have been brought into the bays which were written up after me and they’re being worked on. Where is the priority for a customer with a complaint?

I start to leave, decide to talk to a manager. I ask the tech and he says “Well, we're all managers”, but then calls in another tech. I explain that I was told I’d get the car in and out in 45 minutes or less. This is obviously not gonna happen. The guy proceeds to tell me that they can get cars in an out on an average of 11-13 minutes, I say “So what”. I explain about other cars written up after me that were brought and were being worked on. He continues to say that they can get the car done. I try to explain that I should have gotten priority over anyone that was before me as I was a customer who was having to return to have something they did incorrectly remedied. He counters with stats about the 175 cars a day they do there, once again, I say “So what”.

He tries to explain that if I didn't continue to yak or try to walk out the car could be done, by now it’s already 1:15-18. There’s no way it gets done in their 11-13 minute window and keep within that 45 minutes or under time table I was promised. Mind you I'm going off of my time of 12:45, not the ticket time of 12:39. That’s totally blown. This of course excludes any time for the 'unforeseeable'. And by now the guy brings up the 'unforeseeable' and I say, “I understand that, I'm talking about the time it took to just get my car in the bay”. Again I point out that other cars got in before me that were written up after mine and being worked on, he again begins to explains that if we stop yammering (my words, not his) the car can get done. I guess he thought time stopped and he could still somehow get the car done.I say “No thanks, I want a phone number where I can call to complain”. Then he says “…that would be a waste of time...yada-yada-yada-…” more about gettin the car in instead of complaining. He still don’t get it.

As I'm walking out the door he’s saying “Sir come back!”, and I'm like no fuckin way, you'll never see me here again.

All they had to do was give me the impression that I was a priority as I should have been. Even if it took longer than I had been told, had I at least FELT like I was gettin some sort of preferential treatment I’d have been annoyed but not nearly as pissed off as I was.

Needless to say ill never buy another set of tires from Discount Tires again.

TeMerc · at 1:56 PM

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.

TeMerc · at 5:03 PM

In our BUSTED! forum you can read about the longest sentence given to someone for computer sabotage.

Websense posts an alert about an infected\compromised website to be on the watch for.

There is a report that ties watching pr0n and violent movies creates a drop in criminal activity.

Finally from Symantec we have info on the a new MBR rootkit

TeMerc · at 11:13 AM

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.

TeMerc · at 10:20 AM

Over at Trend Labs they warn of another IM worm making the rounds. WTF, are people still clicking these unknown links? Wake up people!!

TeMerc · at 1:12 PM

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.

TeMerc · at 10:46 AM

The first Monday in 2008 brings us some good reads in the forums.

Got Vista? Then read about stopping those annoying balloon alerts about start up programs. I know this was annoying when I was using Vista....all of 3 minutes at least.

It seems there is a never ending stream of banner ads running on sites everywhere. I ought to just make a 'sticky' post for them already.

Users of YaHoo! based webmail have a new spam defense system which was just rolled out. That's always good news. Die spammers!!

Lastly there may be a reprieve for users of the old Ad-Aware SE. You just might be able to keep using it. But so far we have no idea how long. we'll keep you abreast of things tho.

TeMerc · at 3:19 AM

Well Saturday nite I went cruisin' for malware on Blogspot. And I'll bet ya can't guess what I found there?

TeMerc · at 8:21 PM

One Critical, one Important

Critical - Remote code execution

Important - Local elevation of privilege

TeMerc · at 7:39 PM

Couple of updates and our first BUSTED! entry in the new forum.

The thing that PG found earlier, thinking it was a MySpace exposure turned out to be the companies hosting company. So no major worries.....we think.

Sears went rather quickly to disable the search function found earlier which exposed everyone's buying history to most anyone. Good work Sears!

Lady Justice is tracking a few scumbag spammers who were involved in a spam\scam\fraud scheme. And one of them is on the run.

And filing under 'embarrassing', a security vendors site was hacked earlier in the week but is ok now. Guess whoever was in charge of maintaining server stability was off drinking eggnog or something. Hope he got some coal for that.

TeMerc · at 10:57 AM

We have a new member, so drop in to say 'hello'

Researchers have put forth proof that a virus could spread via wi-fi connections pretty easily.

It seems PG has stumbled across something that could be a MySpace control & command application, but he's not sure!

Finally users of the ever popular IMs need to take heed as the number of attacks has increased recently and more are expected for 2008.

TeMerc · at 1:38 AM

Some new info posted in the forums, so I'll summarize here for you.

A new set of rogue domains has been posted, I'm sure all will be added to most hosts files soon enough.

The rogue banner ads thread has an addition, a German sites been hit now and Sandi has details as usual.

As if things were not bad enough, sears has suffered a serious privacy issue. Bought anything there lately? If so I can tell you what it is.

Trend Labs lists their top December threats for those keeping score.

Finally we have a new forum called BUSTED! In there you'll find links and articles of people who've been busted in online related scams. Not so much rogue stuff really, more for actual legal cases.

TeMerc · at 2:28 PM

The gang at Sunbelt alerts us that Fortinet researchers have discovered a widget that tries to installs Zango on Facebook. Check it out and warn your fellow FBers, I know I am.

TeMerc · at 11:02 AM

Wow...busy day already.

We have two 'Emerging Security Threats' to post about today. One in Real Player and the other a flash player problem.

Then we have what Kaspersky is calling Diehard virus variants making their top ten list for December and Sunbelt finds a a trojan which requires a phone call to activate a license.

In the Spam\Phish forum we find that users of Facebook are being phished with fake account that is live.

Finally those of you using Ad-Aware SE must upgrade to Ad-Aware 2007 as SE will no longer be supported

TeMerc · at 1:42 AM

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.

TeMerc · at 1:45 AM

Well I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. I'd expected a good number of hits this month as I watched and tracked. Was figuring I'd get maybe 800K. But lo and behold, you guys got me to over 920,000 hits.

Thanks! Some more stats here....

TeMerc · at 1:49 AM

Well I've posted this info about these blogs in several forums, even posted to StopBadware.org. Lets see how long it takes Google to remove these, even if they are not currently spewing malware. My documentation ought to be good enough. Updated Info......

TeMerc · at 12:16 AM

Couple of new links in the forums today.

From security researchers in Denmark comes the stat that 1 in 5 machines are unpatched Windows OSes. This of course could lead to zombie armies that run amok across the Net giving me loads of HijackThis! log files to do. Read on about my hobby-to-be continued-for-the-foreseeable-future

And from a malware specialist who has written some great detailed analysis of RBN comes a challenge for users to ruin a malware gangs holidays

TeMerc · at 1:36 AM

After a short while of inactivity, it appears the BMG(Blogger Malware Group) are at it again. After reading another security blog, I wandered on over and was not disappointed. Every blog I hit once I saw a pattern delivered a good payload of malware, calling out to the same sites. Read about the details here...

TeMerc · at 8:11 PM

The latest variant of the Storm worm is out and about. Some details can be read here in the forums and that thread is linked to more detailed analysis.

TeMerc · at 11:35 PM

Was a busy day and I didn't have time to post these as they were added to the forum so here's the round up.

A security and privacy researcher informs as to the effectiveness of crowd rating phish sites. His discovery may well shock you at how easy the system can be 'gamed'.

PG is out once again, donning his 'Godamm Batman' attire to show a script kiddie how easily they get 0wnd. Always a good read.

Anti-virus vendor AVG has subpoenaed major software and Internet companies to gain counterfeiters info and none of these companies have complied.

And some guys got busted over on MySpace for mass spamming so you know it won't be a very good X-Mas for those guys...I know a tear welled up in my eye too....NOT!!

Then the good folks at eWeek share with us a researchers reverse engineering of malware that showed how very complex and professional it is in it's distribution.

Finally we have some launch dates for F-1 cars in '08 and the hpHosts competition comes to an end.

TeMerc · at 8:08 PM

Wow...this sounds really bad. A researcher from CA, formerly PestPatrol joined a community for Sears.com and got something he didn't bargain for....spyware! A proxy was installed and tracked and sent information to a
third party marketing company! Read on for frightening details.

TeMerc · at 6:45 PM

As more teens blog, IM and create pages on social networks, it has begun to look as tho they cherish their personal info. Most are very selective with whom they share that info with. That can only be a good thing

TeMerc · at 6:33 PM

It would seem the latest update from Kaspersky to their anti-virus has caused a few systems to crash, and it's the second time this week. See what happens to systems....

TeMerc · at 11:01 AM

The good folks at AVG Grisoft have just updated the free version of their popular free anti-virus program. Details & download link

TeMerc · at 12:16 AM

Our favorite RBN blog has a look into the business end of getting paid thru rogue installs of the gang most reportedly responsible for all the malware on the Net. Very well detailed with graphics and links.

TeMerc · at 10:57 AM

Another problem related to Google ad accounts. It seems they are being hijacked to rogue servers and of course offering users the usual...malware.

Google is aware of the problem and working to eliminate as many of these accounts as possible.

TeMerc · at 10:52 AM

Those of you who use the Google Orkut social networking site need to read about the worm spreading which infects you just by viewing it! 400,000 already infected.

TeMerc · at 11:10 PM

Tuesday was a busy day in the forums. And I didn't get a chance to post 'as it happened' what with X-Mas stuff to get done still.

Direct Revenue is back in the news, with Dutch firms being fined for unauthorized installs. Who knew? Too bad the gang in the states didn't get what they deserved.

The Zone alarm\Ask.com toolbar thread links to some very interesting ommentary, mostly against, where there is always one guy who see the ruckus over naught. Probably one of the affiliates, they can never see the unethical side of things.

Speaking of Zone Alarm, there seem to be some problems with the latest updated version, so if you have it let us know if you're experiencing troubles.

Got Google's toolbar? Then you'll want to read this about an unpatched hole, leaving users exposed to phish attempts.

Bit Defender released its Top 10 Malware for '07 today as well. I don't suppose anything new will crop up to make the list.

Last but not least, a security researcher thinks Facebook's registration page asks for a little too much info about you and expresses concerns. To be honest, I think he has a point.

Well there you have it, lots of reading to catch up on....enjoy and don't forget to offer your thoughts. The forum only thrives when the people are heard.

TeMerc · at 6:30 PM

A security researcher thinks the botnet as it's become to be known as needs to be called something else. Their reasoning is that it no longer properly describes the level of activity that it does. Got any suggestions?

TeMerc · at 4:41 PM

Well Zone Alarm has decided to try and make a few buck off unknowing users.

Following Webroot's lead, they've added a 'spyblocker'\toolbar. Of course the install option is already ticked for your convenience, isn't that nice of them? Ummm...no thanks ZA.

And by pre-ticking that lil box, it almost guarantees many installs, thereby leading to mucho money for ZA and of course Ask.com a well. Vent your
anger here....

TeMerc · at 12:28 AM

A highly crafted trojan is stealing bank account info from certain types of accounts and doing so very quietly. It's one of those types of programs that even tho made by lowlifes, researchers are impressed by the complexity. Lets hope this trend does not take off

TeMerc · at 11:31 AM

With success comes notoriety. In most cases this is a good thing. Unless of course you're a criminal enterprise. In that case, the more exposure you get the more you increase your chances of getting caught and or having to uproot your operations. This is the challenge facing the Russian Business Network. Read more on RBN tracking

TeMerc · at 10:53 AM

A researcher writes about the weakness of password recovery questions and wonders why they are not more complex and or more in number. How hard are your pw questions....?

TeMerc · at 11:08 PM

The folks over at PCWorld have a new set of stats, collected with Prevx that indicates root kits are on 20% of all machines. Read More Here.

TeMerc · at 11:18 PM

Once again, the Phish & Spam forum are taking the bustling 'n' hustling title for the day. Symantec has a new trend to speak of, fake newsletters. Anything you can think of, spammers will try. And then some.

From a respected security analysis, we get an overlook of the last year in spam. Trends new and old, site life for phishes and more.

As spam increases each year, it climbs higher as a total amount of email sent. These numbers almost can't be believed, upwards of 90% were spam in '07

Own an HP laptop? It appears some of the software involved exposes users to a risk of getting hijacked

For the last entry into the daily grind we have a couple of tools which may allow some cookie security holes to be exposed or created. There may finally be a reason to fear cookies.

TeMerc · at 12:35 PM

Today MS released 7 updates to Windows users. 3 critical, and 4 inportant. Be sure to get yours. Check 'em out.

TeMerc · at 10:18 AM

Well it's time for a monthly round up of what's been hot and popular with the scumbags who make malware and today Trend Micro has Novembers details

TeMerc · at 10:13 AM

Today we have a small tool which will help keep your MSN IM conversations limited to who you want to receive them. A must have for all those 'personal' IMs we all make eh?? Not to mention it may keep the boss from knowing you're planning to sneak off to a game one afternoon. Check it out now....

TeMerc · at 10:04 AM

This morning starts out with a bang in the Phishing and Spam forum, with articles from Symantec referencing credit unions and community banks being targeted, and we have the best and worst domain registrars from Brian Krebs at Security Fix.

Then at Computer World they look at the latest Web 2.0 trends which may affect DNS servers. Finally we have Avert Labs talking about recent trends in spam and phishing campaigns.

Whew....that wore me out, go check 'em out and drop a comment.

TeMerc · at 11:55 PM

It would appear something that's been being talked about has finally come about, malware using RSS feeds to push files to users. Took them long enough, we've been hearing about the possibility for a couple of years, I've got two links related in this latest thread

A phishing campaign that's been going on for a month at least gets some updated info, and of course the home sites are in China, the new play ground for scumbags, go figure

The rogues list from Malwarebytes gets some new additions this last week or so

For a little chuck at the expense of MS, some people have come up with what may or may not be Windows error messages

TeMerc · at 3:53 PM

This month Symantec catalogs the holiday spam subjects, looks at the last 12 months of wonderful inbox filling spam and mentions new email harvesting campaign by spammers. See more here...

TeMerc · at 12:07 AM

MS has decided to offer users a new way to keep track of their passwords, with a new site. I guess they figure if they make it easy enough, then users won't have so much trouble remembering longer, complex pws and make things a tick safer. Read about it here and comment

TeMerc · at 7:57 PM

As ever expansive as search is becoming, who would think that you could find all sorts of exploit code hiding where it could circumvent security software? Not me.....

TeMerc · at 7:52 PM

As RBN gets more exposed, so to do their inner workings. One thing that has come to light is their ever increasing amount of rogue spreading domains

TeMerc · at 7:40 PM

Continuing on the George Lucas\StarWars connection, we have a look at the innards of a lightsabre

TeMerc · at 12:29 AM

It's that time of the month, MS has released Decembers Bulletin Advanced Notice, with 4 critical updates and 3 important one.

In Kaspersky's quarterly malware code analysis we get a break down of the hottest trends in malware. Always interesting stuff there.

Interested in how bots work on the Web? Then this in depth read of an IRC botnet is for you.

For those of us who are true geeks, a look into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch sound studios will be a pretty cool quick tour.

TeMerc · at 11:55 PM

Looks like MS pulled out all the stops when it came to naming the next iteration of IE. Probably cost them hundreds of thousands, maybe millions in consumer testing, brand recognition and the like. ....See if it was worth it

It looks like they've found a way to make cookies a bit more of a threat. With new variants, they can circumvent some cookie control apps and anti-spyware tools. Read the crumby details here

With Vistas spiffy aero looks and improved over all display, it appears that MS decided to put a twist on the BSOD....now Vista offers a PSOD.

AV vendors have gathered to see if they can nail down testing guideline that will give users a sense of conformity. Yeah, sure....we all know how well the naming convention meeting went. More here...

TeMerc · at 12:44 AM

There is a new tactic malware scum are trying out. Rather than telling users they need a codec to install, instead they say there is an error with playback to get their crap installed. Found by MS MVP WinHelp2002, Read more about it...

Researchers at F-Secure claim malware has risen 100% over the last 12 months, doubling the amount it took 20 years to get to. Pretty scary....comment here

To soften the bad PR they have gotten, MS has decided to soften their policy on pirated software and re-do the whole set up. See the details here

Come into the forums and meet our latest moderator, he's been with us since the get go....Meet Johnincal

TeMerc · at 7:44 PM

Apologies for not blogging much this last week, I'll be back at it this week, but here are some hot links for now:

PG Takes Down Phish Kiddies

More Banner Ad Fun

Inside MS 'War Room'

Botnet Server Analysis

Fast-Flux To RockPhish

New DNS Tech To Stop Badguys

Google Thinks Spammers are Giving Up

Cops Raid 1 Million Botnet Guy

MSN IM Worm Spreading

TeMerc · at 3:31 PM

Well as no surprise, the RBN was behind the recent Google search poisoning. Lots of good detailed analysis will keep RBN moving, and that's never good if you're a criminal. Too much time spent on evading the authorities will cause
mistakes. Read On...

TeMerc · at 3:24 PM

Defeating CAPTCHA encoded websites is one malware scumbags biggest problems.

But they have ways of doing, including service that use the human element. Likely some third world country paying absurdly small amounts of money. More Here

TeMerc · at 11:54 AM

Looks like the boys behind Gromozon malware have turned to social engineering and rogues to pull in unknowing users. Read All About It!!....

TeMerc · at 11:45 AM

Well in the phishing and spam forum we have two new items. The first deals with some spam containing fake YouTube links that -GASP!-...re-direct to malware! OMG! Whoda thunk they could do that? Hehe.

Next we have what looks to be some gang trying to reach Storm worm gang notoriety. Using celebs names as bait, they of course get suckers to install their trojans by duping them into opening emails. Uh-Huh...When will people get a clue? Have you been suckered in?

TeMerc · at 12:04 AM

I for one trust Google to provide fairly safe search results. But in this day and age of malware scumbags looking at every vector to infect, they've combined two tactics, a type of 'seeding' of key search words and drive-by downloads.

While doing a search for my son I stumbled upon some odd search results which led to something that has gotten huge and is making alot of news on main media sites. I call it Google Poisoning.

TeMerc · at 5:30 PM

Researchers are finding more malicious hacking of well visited popular sites using IFRAME exploits to take them over. And as usual, these exploits can be traced back to......give ya 2 guesses.

TeMerc · at 1:39 PM

From the FTC, over 8 million people victims of ID theft. In at least half of the instances less than $500 was pilfered. In 10% of the incidents over $6000 was taken. Read More Here.....

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