Security News

• Posted by animo on April 29th, 2007 filed in Daily Blog, Free Stuff, Web 2.0, Web Enterpreneur, Yahoo Products

Security News

Billion-Dollar Lawsuit Targets Big Spammers

NewsFactor - Fri Apr 27, 12:57 PM ETUnspam Technologies has filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against “John Doe” spammers for violating the CAN-SPAM Act and the Virginia Computer Crimes Act.

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• New Image Spam Scheme Hits Photo-Sharing Sites TechWeb - Fri Apr 27, 12:39 PM ETInstead of embedding images in e-mail, spammers are embedding links to the images that are set up on popular photo-sharing sites.
• Malware Writers Target Google AdWords NewsFactor - Fri Apr 27, 12:18 PM ETGoogle has removed paid advertisements that link to 20 search terms online criminals hijacked to steal the personal identities of people searching the Internet. Google canceled the ads on Tuesday, but security researchers said there might be additional links that need to be removed.
• Apple QuickTime Bug Could Be Days Away, Experts Warn TechWeb - Fri Apr 27, 12:07 PM ETResearchers say hackers could be a few days away from finding the vulnerable code, and then exploits and malicious sites could be built within a week.
• Anti-Spam Company Files Billion-Dollar Spam Lawsuit TechWeb - Fri Apr 27, 6:00 AM ETUnspam Technologies is seeking damages on behalf of the members of Project Honey Pot, based on the Can-Spam Act.
• Companies Can’t Break Ties to Adware PC World - Fri Apr 27, 4:00 AM ETDespite vows not to advertise through adware, companies still can’t escape.
• Experts: Google AdWords needs policing InfoWorld - Thu Apr 26, 5:41 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - Google could avoid future malware attacks carried out using advertisements posted on its Web sites if the company more thoroughly investigated customers of its AdWords system, according to security and legal experts.
• Lawsuit targets ’spam harvesters’ AP - Thu Apr 26, 4:14 PM ETMcLEAN, Va. - An anti-spam organization filed a federal lawsuit Thursday targeting so-called spam harvesters, who facilitate the mass distribution of junk e-mail by trolling the Internet and collecting millions of e-mail addresses.
• News in Brief PC World - Thu Apr 26, 1:00 PM ETAd-Aware Upgrade: Lavasoft says that a new version of its popular Ad-Aware antispyware program due in June will feature improved detection of adware and hidden malware, a scanning engine that goes easy on PC system resources, and an updated interface. A personal-use version will remain free, while the $40 Ad-Aware 2007 Pro will include advanced features such as Ad-Watch TrackSweep, a tool that clears the cache, cookies, and history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera.
• Startup pitches smarter AV InfoWorld - Wed Apr 25, 12:15 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - With a name like Robot Genius you wouldn’t expect the company’s leaders to be modest, but the more you hear the firm’s Chairman Stephen Hsu talk about his startup’s new approach to anti-malware, the more you believe the name might fit.
• Microsoft Labs Tackle Security PC World - Wed Apr 25, 11:00 AM ETIn a move to strengthen its response to security threats, Microsoft Corp. is opening two labs to study the growing amount of malicious software circulating on the Internet, security executives announced Wednesday.
• Microsoft ups security stance with new labs InfoWorld - Wed Apr 25, 10:46 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - In a move to strengthen its response to security threats, Microsoft is opening two labs to study the growing amount of malicious software circulating on the Internet, security executives announced Wednesday.
• Microsoft Preps Business Antivirus, Antispyware Product PC World - Tue Apr 24, 6:00 PM ETThe business client security product Microsoft has been working on since 2003 will finally make its debut in May, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday.
• Malware Spikes In 1Q As Hackers Increasingly Infect Web Sites TechWeb - Tue Apr 24, 9:47 AM ETSophos researchers discovered 23,864 new threats in the first three months of 2007, more than double the number of new malware identified in the same period last year.
• No News Is Big News for Sana Security PC Magazine - Tue Apr 24, 4:00 AM ETSana Security today announced version 2.2 of the Primary Response SafeConnect anti-malware utility, which works exactly the same in Vista as in Windows XP.
• Blogs Now Infested With Offensive Content PC World - Mon Apr 23, 7:00 PM ETThe Internet’s blog sites have become overgrown with a variety of unpleasant content, including porn, offensive language, hate posting, and malware, a new threat analysis has suggested.
• Security Watch Story Feed: April 23 PC Magazine - Mon Apr 23, 9:54 AM ETAn anti-spyware bill and slicker Javascript attacks are in the news. Read it all in the story feed.
• Free Anti-Rootkit Tools PC Magazine - Mon Apr 23, 9:41 AM ETMany free tools are available to detect rootkits. Some also attempt to remove them.

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  House panel approves anti-spyware bill Reuters - Thu Apr 19, 7:59 PM ETWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation that would help protect consumers from harmful spyware that can harvest personal data from a user’s computer was approved on Thursday by a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

• Spammers, hackers seize on Virginia Tech shootings InfoWorld - Thu Apr 19, 12:26 PM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - Spammers and hackers are using the slayings at Virginia Tech as a gory lure to infect computers with malicious software, security experts noted Thursday.
• Trojan Horse Uses Virginia Tragedy as Bait PC World - Thu Apr 19, 12:00 PM ETSpammers and hackers are using the slayings at Virginia Tech as a gory lure to infect computers with malicious software, security experts noted Thursday.
• State Department got mail _ and hackers AP - Wed Apr 18, 8:29 PM ETWASHINGTON - A break-in targeting State Department computers worldwide last summer occurred after a department employee in Asia opened a mysterious e-mail that quietly allowed hackers inside the U.S. government’s network.
• Limited Attack Potential From Microsoft DNS Worm PC World - Wed Apr 18, 8:00 PM ETMost business servers should not be vulnerable to current attacks directed at an as-yet unpatched flaw.
• CDT preps new authentication and ID policies InfoWorld - Wed Apr 18, 4:48 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - The CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) offered a sneak peak at a new list of guidelines it will present to the FTC next week that are meant to help businesses and consumers balance issues of online privacy and authentication.
• Attacks On Microsoft Zero-Day Bug Picking Up TechWeb - Wed Apr 18, 4:45 PM ETResearchers say the Rinbot worm is exploiting the vulnerability in Microsoft’s DNS server, which could put a lot of corporate users at risk.
• Beware Online Scams About Virginia Tech Tragedy TechWeb - Wed Apr 18, 1:28 PM ETSecurity researchers are warning people that hackers, virus writers, and phishers generally try to launch schemes associated with big news events and tragedies.
• Hackers Attack PowerPoint More Than Microsoft Word TechWeb - Wed Apr 18, 12:52 PM ETA MessageLabs report also shows that hackers are forgoing widespread campaigns for targeted attacks that take aim at specific employees inside a company.
• Britain spearheads European e-crime reporting portal InfoWorld - Wed Apr 18, 12:40 PM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - British computer security experts are designing a Web portal to gather more precise statistics on Europeans victimized by Internet crime, an area that remains difficult for collecting accurate data.
• Hackers Exploit Windows DNS Vulnerability NewsFactor - Wed Apr 18, 12:15 PM ETAccording to I.T. security firm Sophos, a worm is exploiting an unpatched zero-day vulnerability in the DNS services of several Windows operating systems.
• Large enterprises still serving up spam InfoWorld - Tue Apr 17, 7:18 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - Well-known enterprise companies are still having their IT systems hijacked by spammers despite investing in many different types of technologies aimed at stopping the problem.

• P2P worms get their turn InfoWorld - Mon Apr 16, 2:18 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - Massive networks of infected computers controlled by attackers worldwide will serve as a powerful engine for the new breed of so-called P2P worm that is currently echoing across cyberspace.
• New DVD Restrictions Loom PC World - Mon Apr 16, 12:00 PM ETNext week, new HD DVD movies will hit the shelves that won’t play on some players, the first countermeasure by the content and software industries to combat intensive efforts by hackers to break copy-protection technology.
• HD DVD, Blu-ray protection in question after attacks InfoWorld - Mon Apr 16, 10:30 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - Next week, new HD DVD movies will hit the shelves that won’t play on some players, the first countermeasure by the content and software industries to combat intensive efforts by hackers to break copy-protection technology.
• New Worm Wriggles on Skype PC World - Mon Apr 16, 9:00 AM ETA worm targeting Skype Ltd.’s VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) application is harvesting e-mail addresses and directing users to a range of sites hosting other malicious software, security vendors said Monday.
• New worm wriggles around on Skype InfoWorld - Mon Apr 16, 8:43 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - A worm targeting Skype’s VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) application is harvesting e-mail addresses and directing users to a range of sites hosting other malicious software, security vendors said Monday.

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  Hackers upgrading Apple TV’s capabilities USATODAY.com - Mon Apr 16, 7:14 AM ETWeeks after Apple released its newest media device, Apple TV, rogue programmers have unlocked features the computer maker didn’t include. Unveiled in January, Apple TV wirelessly connects video and music from a computer’s iTunes library to the bigger screen and better speakers of new widescreen TVs.

• Storm Outbreak: Building A Bigger, Better Botnet TechWeb - Fri Apr 13, 4:36 PM ETThe outbreak that washed across the Internet on Thursday died down Friday morning, but not before hackers added thousands of newly infected computers to their botnet.
• Hackers Attacking New Microsoft Zero-Day Bug TechWeb - Fri Apr 13, 1:31 PM ETUnlike a Microsoft vulnerability on a desktop that affects a single user, this zero-day DNS bug could affect a company’s entire roster of employees.
• New Storm Surges Through I.T. World NewsFactor - Fri Apr 13, 11:18 AM ETAccording to the Internet Storm Center, a hurricane-like virus is blowing through the PC world, with at least 20,000 infections on Thursday and thousands more expected. It’s a new variant of the notorious Storm worm that’s been plaguing I.T. administrators since last year’s widespread outbreak.

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  Deadly virus phone threat causes Pakistan panic Reuters - Fri Apr 13, 10:22 AM ETKARACHI (Reuters) - Mobile service providers in Pakistan have been inundated by calls from subscribers worried by a prank message that they could die of a deadly virus being transmitted via their phones.

• New Storm Worm Outbreak Blasting The Internet TechWeb - Fri Apr 13, 6:05 AM ETThe latest variant is dangerous because it’s encrypted to hide from antivirus programs and uses a hard-to-squash peer-to-peer network.
• Consumer Alert: Massive Virus Outbreak PC World - Thu Apr 12, 6:00 PM ETA PC World test shows that many antivirus programs fail to catch today’s Storm Worm variant.

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  Chinese spammers go quiet at start of year AFP - Wed Apr 11, 11:45 PM ETBEIJING (AFP) - The amount of spam, unsolicited email advertisements, originating from China dropped dramatically in the first three months of the year, according to a US IT security firm.

• Microsoft Investigates Reports of New Office Flaws PC World - Wed Apr 11, 9:00 AM ETSecurity experts have discovered more vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and other software, although hackers do not appear to be exploiting them yet. The flaws have been reported just as Microsoft Corp. releases its latest round of security patches.
• Microsoft investigates reports of new Office flaws InfoWorld - Wed Apr 11, 8:23 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - Security experts have discovered more vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and other software, although hackers do not appear to be exploiting them yet. The flaws have been reported just as Microsoft releases its latest round of security patches.
• McAfee: Cyber-crime will continue to pay InfoWorld - Wed Apr 11, 12:00 AM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - The latest research report from McAfee’s Avert Labs paints a frightening picture for enterprise IT administrators and end-users, predicting continued maturation of cyber-crime and the technological means being used to carry out external attacks.
• Symantec Patches Flaw in Enterprise Security Manager PC Magazine - Tue Apr 10, 8:38 AM ETAnti-virus vendor plugs hole that could have been exploited remotely.
• Grisoft Offers Free Rootkit Removal PC Magazine - Tue Apr 10, 5:39 AM ETGrisoft, makers of the popular AVG Antivirus, today released a free tool specifically aimed at eliminating malicious software that hides itself using rootkit techniques.
• Hackers Dupe Users with Bogus US-Iran War Spam PC World - Mon Apr 9, 3:00 PM ETA weekend spam run tried to dupe recipients into downloading the infamous “Storm Trojan” by attaching files that posed as videos of a bogus missile strike by the U.S. against Iran, antivirus vendors said Monday.
• Security Researchers Discover iPod Virus NewsFactor - Mon Apr 9, 12:04 PM ETResearchers at security firm Kaspersky Lab have discovered a virus that can infect Apple’s popular portable media player, the iPod. But users do not have to scramble for protection just yet. The virus would only affect players that run Linux instead of the iPod’s native operating system.
• Researchers Question Vista Security after .ani Exploit PC World - Fri Apr 6, 8:00 PM ETMicrosoft Corp.’s failure to spot the animated cursor bug in Windows Vista is, at best, a flag to hackers that old flaws may abound in the new operating system, researchers said Friday. At worst, it’s a disconcerting sign that Vista’s security-oriented development process slipped up.
• Spammers feast on ANI vulnerability InfoWorld - Wed Apr 4, 4:13 PM ETSan Francisco (InfoWorld) - Microsoft moved to fix the critical .ANI vulnerability that affects roughly a dozen of its most popular products, including Vista, but spammers and malware brokers are already tapping into the flaw to infect unprotected machines.
• Hackers Promise ‘Nude Britney Spears’ Pix To Plant .ANI Exploit TechWeb - Wed Apr 4, 3:50 PM ETThere are problems with the patch Microsoft released Tuesday for a critical .ANI vulnerability, and hackers have launched a new spam campaign to take advantage of the flaw.
• Spammers Feast on ANI Vulnerability PC World - Wed Apr 4, 3:00 PM ETMicrosoft moved to fix the critical.ANI vulnerability that affects roughly a dozen of its most popular products, including Vista, but spammers and malware brokers are already tapping into the flaw to infect unprotected machines.
• Netsky Still Crawling PC World - Wed Apr 4, 9:00 AM ETAlthough protection has been available for more than three years, the Netsky family of worms still accounted for almost a third of all malware detected during the month of March, 2007.
• British UFO hacker loses extradition appeal InfoWorld - Tue Apr 3, 9:12 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - A British hacker who broke into U.S. military computers looking for evidence of UFOs lost another extradition appeal on Tuesday in London’s High Court.
• British Hacker Loses Extradition Appeal PC World - Tue Apr 3, 8:00 AM ETA British hacker who broke into U.S. military computers looking for evidence of UFOs lost another extradition appeal on Tuesday in London’s High Court.

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  British hacker loses U.S. extradition appeal Reuters - Tue Apr 3, 7:03 AM ETLONDON (Reuters) - A British computer expert accused by Washington of the “biggest military hack of all time” lost an appeal on Tuesday against plans to extradite him to the United States to stand trial.

• JavaScript botnet code leaked to Internet InfoWorld - Mon Apr 2, 6:38 PM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - Software that could be used to turn a Web browser into an unwitting hacker’s tool has been posted to the Interne, after it was downloaded by a quick-thinking attendee at last month’s Shmoocon hacker conference.
• JavaScript Botnet Code Leaked to Internet PC World - Mon Apr 2, 6:00 PM ETSoftware that could be used to turn a Web browser into an unwitting hacker’s tool has been posted to the Internet, after it was downloaded by a quick-thinking attendee at last month’s Shmoocon hacker conference.

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  Microsoft issuing animated cursor security patch Reuters - Mon Apr 2, 1:23 PM ETSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. plans to patch a security hole in Windows on Tuesday related to an animated cursor that hackers have used to launch attacks after users click on links to malicious Web sites.

• After 3 Years, Old-Timer Tops March Malware List TechWeb - Mon Apr 2, 12:54 PM ETThe Netsky family of worms had the biggest impact on the Net in March, according to security company Sophos.
• Attacks Escalate As Microsoft Announces Emergency .ANI Patch TechWeb - Mon Apr 2, 12:03 PM ETMicrosoft is getting ready to release an off-cycle patch Tuesday for the bug that has spawned more than 100 malicious sites and a worm over the last few days.
• MySpace bug hunt off to a slow start InfoWorld - Mon Apr 2, 11:32 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - A group of hackers has kicked off its month of MySpace vulnerabilities, which it hopes will make more of a splash than January’s month of bugs for Apple Inc.’s software.
• The Pleasures of Hacking the Apple TV PC World - Fri Mar 30, 9:00 PM ETHackers, both Apple and PC users, rush to turn the new multimedia box into a full-fledged computer.
• Microsoft Warns of New Zero-Day Exploit NewsFactor - Fri Mar 30, 11:22 AM ETOn Thursday, Microsoft warned that hackers are actively exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in animated cursor, or .ANI, files for Windows. Some security researchers are comparing it to last year’s widespread Windows Metafile (WMF) attacks.
• Virus Disguised as IE 7 Download PC World - Fri Mar 30, 9:00 AM ETIf you receive an e-mail offering a download of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, delete it. A new virus is making the rounds that comes disguised as a test version of Microsoft Corp. current Web browser.
• New virus comes disguised as IE 7 download InfoWorld - Fri Mar 30, 7:58 AM ETSan Francisco (IDGNS) - If you receive an e-mail offering a download of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, delete it. A new virus is making the rounds that comes disguised as a test version of Microsoft’s current Web browser.