Security

Security firm Symantec estimates that 93% of computer users who wind up with ' scareware ' on their machines have intentionally downloaded it. Symantec also believes some people distributing the scareware could be earning more than a million dollars ... each year. Scareware involves giving Internet surfers bogus scans of their machines, often triggered by pop-up messages on Internet sites falsely claiming the user's PC is infected. The user is then encouraged to buy a fake antivirus / security program to remove it, though usually this program will be of little use. Symantec says it has found more ... (view more)

What's worse than downloading fake antivirus software and paying to "clean" your system of a virus that never existed in the first place? How about being locked out of your PC and having your files held for a $79.95 ransom? Malware Peddlers Up the ... Ante with Ransomware In the past, malware peddlers cashed in after coaxing innocent people into purchasing fake software they don't need. In an effort to spike profits, however, malware scammers are now upping the ante by infecting PCs and demanding users pay a set ransom to retrieve their files and documents. All it takes is 1 wrong click ... (view more)

On the same day Microsoft unloaded a record-breaking 34 fixes , eight of which were listed as critical, Adobe has made a similar gargantuan patch offering. The company, best known for its Reader and Acrobat software, yesterday fixed a total of 29 ... vulnerabilities, including one labeled critical. That software covered by the fixes includes version 9.1.3 of both Acrobat and Reader, version 8.1.6 of Acrobat for Windows, Mac, and Unix, and version 7.1.3 of Acrobat and Reader for Windows and Mac. Adobe encourages everyone using its programs to download the update, warning users that if they fail to ... (view more)

A British hacker accused of infiltrating computers at NASA and the Pentagon has failed in his most recent attempt to evade extradition to the United States. Gary McKinnon may soon be making his way across the pond to face charges stateside. For some ... time McKinnon has been lobbying London's High Court in a desperate attempt to avoid being extradited to America. Unfortunately for McKinnon, the High Court has refused to even hear the case, pointing out that it did not meet "points of law of general public importance." In other words, the case simply doesn't warrant a halt on the extradition. ( ... (view more)

Amidst news that thousands of Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts have been compromised in recent weeks, there's some good news for the good guys: over a hundred phishers have been brought to justice in a multinational investigation spanning half the ... globe. Phishing involves using a fake web page to dupe visitors into entering their sensitive information, including passwords or credit card data. The phisher can then use that information to steal identities and clear out bank accounts. Operation Phish Phry The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday revealed that it had charged ... (view more)

A security researcher claims a virus probably led to the compromising of 30,000 email passwords. However, most other sources continue to blame phishers. The email details appeared in two lists published by a user on a legitimate website designed for ... developers to share code. The first list included details of 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts , while the second boasted 20,000 . Mary Landesman of ScanSafe says that while investigating a piece of malicious software in August she discovered the people controlling it had around 5,000 Hotmail user names and passwords which appeared to have been ... (view more)

It seems as if the massive phishing campaign reported yesterday was not specific to Hotmail.com as was initially believed. According to a report by the BBC, many Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts have also been compromised. (Source: computerworld.com ) ... While the source of the latest attacks has not been determined, many are pointing to the same bug that claimed at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail. Microsoft, Google Prompt Password Reset Microsoft has done their part in blocking all known hijacked Hotmail accounts and created tools to help users who had lost control of ... (view more)

Details of a Hotmail security breach emerged early yesterday, and it's suggested that approximately 10,000 accounts could have been compromised. While the exact number of accounts has not yet been confirmed, the breach was likely the result of a ... phishing campaign -- a different kind of hack that uses fake web pages in order to acquire all kinds of sensitive information, from login data and passwords (such as in this case) to credit card and social security numbers. (Source: cnet.com ) "We determined that this was not a breach of internal Microsoft data and initiated our standard process of ... (view more)

New malware being used by cyber criminals takes hacking to a whole new level: it hides evidence of a fraud victim's dwindling bank balance by rewriting online bank statements on-the-fly. The hack employs a Trojan horse program installed on a ... victim's machine that alters HTML (hyper text markup language) coding before it's displayed in a user's web browser. The altered HTML code either erases evidence of a money transfer transaction entirely from a bank statement, or it alters the total amount of money balances and transfers. The hack buys cyber criminals more time before a victim finds out he ... (view more)

It's not often you hear about smartphones being infiltrated by hackers using phishing schemes, but a recent Research in Motion security fix is designed to prevent just that kind of issue. The Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion, which ... produces the extremely popular BlackBerry smartphone, late last week issued a patch for a reported vulnerability which left many of its users susceptible to attack by phishing hackers. According to reports, the flaw could allow a remote hacker to fool a BlackBerry owner into visiting a malicious website with their handheld multimedia device. A BlackBerry ... (view more)