worm

Security experts at Kaspersky Lab, one of the leading anti-virus and computer security firms, recently announced they were able to take control of a hacker-built botnet containing more than 100,000 compromised computers. Unfortunately, less than 24 ... hours after the successful takedown, Kelihos, the cybercriminal gang behind the botnet, has already started building a new, large-scale collection of compromised computers to replace the one taken down. To stop the initial botnet, Kaspersky specialists used a method called "sinkholing." This technique involves direct infiltration of the botnet's ... (view more)

When Chinese officials warned Internet users of a new worm inching around online earlier this week, little was known about the virus. The source of the worm has now been identified as a direct descendant of the "Panda Burning Incense" virus which ... had infected millions of Chinese PCs almost three years ago. Also called Fujacks, the original Panda worm was initially launched during a time when public knowledge about computer security was lesser known than it is today. Not surprisingly, national panic ran wild as users sat back and watched in vain as the image of a panda bear holding three ... (view more)

If your iPhone's wallpaper has suddenly changed to a picture of singer 1980's singer sensation Rick Astley, it's not just a prank by a friend. Instead, it's a worm virus that could lead to significant harm. The problem only affects "jailbroken" ... handsets, those which have been adapted by the user to allow them to run applications without any restrictions. Note that a jailbroken iPhone is different from an unlocked iPhone, which allows the phone to make calls on any network. The worm takes advantage of the fact that many people who have jailbroken their phone go on to use a file transfer system ... (view more)

A recently released security report from Microsoft warns that cyber crooks are digging deeper into computers in order to steal and control data. The Security Intelligence Report reveals that rogue security software ("scareware") was the biggest ... threat during the first half of this year. Worm Activity on the Rise In a recent report, Jeff Williams, Microsoft's Malware Protection Center principal architect noted that rogue security software is no longer the primary tool for hackers and that worm activity, particularly the Conficker and Taterf worm, are on the rise. Scareware usually ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Mule63' writes: " Dear Dennis, I would like to know how to get rid of Tracking Cookies. They seem to be using my email to send inappropriate messages to people and my Internet Service Provider (ISP) has threatened to cut my ... Internet service. Could this cause the computer to go slower? Thank you for any information you can give me. " My response: The short and sweet answer is that tracking cookies probably aren't the issue here. The more likely answer is that your computer is infected with Spyware, is part of a botnet, and is being used to proliferate spam. Allow me to ... (view more)

Malware (a portmanteau of "malicious software") is any software program developed for the purpose of causing harm to a computer system, similar to a virus or Trojan horse. Malware can be classified based on how it is executed, how it spreads, and/or ... what it does. The classification is not perfect, however, in the sense that the groups often overlap and the difference is not always obvious, giving rise to frequent flame wars. Overuse of the term 'Virus' Because viruses were historically the first to appear, the term "virus" is often applied, especially in the popular media, to all sorts of ... (view more)

While many people were expecting the arrival of Easter Bunny greeting e-cards over the weekend, an unwelcome "Twitter bug" hopped onto many systems, too. According to reports, the worm was still mutating and affecting countless user profiles well ... into Monday. Initial reports of the "Mickeyy" worm began on Saturday morning at around 2 a.m., as users were hit with a barrage of questionable messages. As is becoming the norm for most malware attacks (ie. Koobface ), users were enticed to click onto an infected page posted by another user. The clicks then set off a chain reaction that posted ... (view more)

Last week the latest variant of the Conficker worm surfaced -- and just to prove it, the worm infected at least 700 computers at the University of Utah. According to school officials, two main systems are affected by the infection: the university's ... three hospitals, but also its adjoined medical, nursing, and pharmacy colleges. The tip-off was a simple one most of us are quick to associate with trouble: staff noticed something was amiss when Internet service slowed considerably and email correspondence bogged down altogether. (Source: allheadlinenews.com ) Researchers are still not entirely ... (view more)

So, a couple days have come and gone and we're without any real evidence that the Conficker worm was a legitimate threat. Was it all just a bunch of hooey? Maybe, but if there's one thing we should take away from the debacle, it's that the problem ... isn't yet solved, even if there was no disaster. Most security experts were just happy to breathe a sigh of relief when April 1st came and went without planes falling out of the sky. "I'm not sure what to think," remarked BT chief security officer Bruce Schneier. "In a sense, the whole Conficker thing just puts a name on a general problem." (Source ... (view more)