domains

Microsoft has convinced a judge to grant it legal ownership of 276 web domains previously used to control networks of infected PCs. It's the first time this has happened, and the company believes it could be used as a legal weapon. The case involves ... a botnet , created from computers infected with the Waledeac worm . A botnet is short form for "robot network" -- or quite simply, a network of infected computers controlled by one or few individuals. Botnet Sends 1.5 Billion Spam Email Messages Per Day At one point an estimated 80,000 computers were under part of the botnet and were ... (view more)

Website domain name registration business Network Solutions says that domains marked "page under construction" have been dishing up malware. It's suggested that millions of websites have been infected, and that the malware has been live for several ... months. The domains used a malicious script targeting Taiwanese and Hong Kong IP addresses to deliver a fake chat message that directed users to other web sites. (Source: computerworld.com ) Drive-By-Downloads Infect Unsuspecting Users Malware spread when a now-disabled widget in the Small Business Success Index section of Network Solutions' ... (view more)

Microsoft recently administered a devastating blow to the Waledac botnet , one of the world's biggest networks of compromised computers and as such a huge contributor of spam and malware to the world wide web. One would think this was good news for ... Internet users everywhere (and in many ways, it is) -- however, some critics are wondering if the end justified the means. Microsoft Sidesteps ISPs According to Richard Boscovich, Microsoft's senior attorney within its Digital Crimes Unit, the attack on Waledac began when Microsoft filed a formal complaint with the U.S. District Court of Eastern ... (view more)

There is some fear circulating among industry insiders over a domain name on sale right now. While wpad.cn might be of little significance to the average end-user, cybercriminals would rejoice over its acquisition. Duane Wessels, the president of ... Measurement Factory, knows how important the wpad namesake is. Wessels is the owner of five wpad domains: wpad.com, wpad.net, wpad.org, wpad.biz and wpad.us. While not a popular domain for Google searches, the sites are frequented by Windows computers erroneously searching for network configuration information, due to a decade-old Windows bug that ... (view more)

Sophos Security is warning that the Conficker/Downadup worm ("Conficker worm") is targeting multiple domains -- including Southwest airlines -- that could end up causing Denial of Service ( DoS ) attacks and temporary disruptions. The Conficker worm ... has been kicking around since last year and usually spreads via a) removable storage devices such as USB drives and b) network sharing. It exploits a Windows vulnerability that was patched by Microsoft last year. According to a blog entry by Mike Wood of SophosLabs Canada, those computers infected with the Conficker worm are programmed ... (view more)

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has decided to radically expand the choices of domain names that can be assigned. Two new proposals to the regulatory group were recently considered: a) allowing non-Latin characters (e.g. ... Russian, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) and b) domains that consist of any letter or number combination up to 64 characters in length. (Source: cbc.ca ) The proposal to consider non-Latin characters will be tested before final approval. The proposal to open up domain names was approved. The change was initiated by concerns that all the meaningful domain names ... (view more)

Google Inc. has sent out email notifications on January 24, informing its business partners of a change in the way the company deals with advertising-generated revenues. The new policy is aimed at tackling the prevalent practice of 'domain tasting', ... which critics believe hurts legitimate domain ownership. The practice of domain tasting takes advantage of the Add Grace Period (AGP), which is the allocation of a 5 day grace period during which time registrants can cancel their request for a domain at no cost. Several online businesses have been set up to take advantage of this loop hole, which ... (view more)