Security

Starting July 1st, 2009 all PCs sold in China are to include Internet content filtering and censorship software also known as " Green Dam Youth Escort software ." The program works by creating log files of all the sites and pages the user tries to ... access. Software Flaws Leave Users Vulnerable Computer experts discovered a series of software flaws, including unencrypted communications between the company's servers and the software itself. It's suggested that the software is susceptible to large-scale disaster, including hackers that could steal private user information or install ... (view more)

A new program called Safe Calculator puts a fresh spin on computer safety: it uses encryption to lock down the system and help protect important information from an attack. Safe Calculator: How it Works When active, Safe Calculator appears to be ... just another standard Windows-based calculator. However, it is designed to take an important piece of documentation, encrypt it and hide it within the application itself, similar to a virtual safe. (Source: techchuck.com ) In many ways, computer hackers and house burglars operate in a similar fashion: both enter without consent, wait until the owner ... (view more)

Banks are being warned of trouble ahead after approximately 20 ATMs, mostly in Eastern Europe, were compromised. The ATMs running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system were infected with malware that captures magnetic strip data and PIN codes. ... According to a report from Trustwave's SpiderLabs, the malware uses the strip data and PIN codes to access the private memory space of transaction-processing applications. Advanced Management Functionality Built into the Malware Attackers gain control over the ATMs by inserting specialized controller cards into the ATM's card reader. (Source: tgdaily. ... (view more)

Owners of RIM's BlackBerry beware: just because what you're carrying is much smaller than the average PC, don't expect hackers to ignore you. Research in Motion has recently revealed a security hole that could allow an intruder to take control of a ... BlackBerry device. In a statement issued late last week, Waterloo-based Research in Motion admitted that they'd discovered a gap that could potentially allow hackers to snag control of servers running the company's BlackBerry system. If that were to happen, intruders could then send emails throughout the system with infected PDF attachments -- if ... (view more)

According to a new study from the Identity Theft Resource Center, the most common use of identity theft involves opening a new credit account in the victim's name. This type of fraud affects almost two-thirds of identity theft victims. 39 per cent ... of the 2008 victims faced fraudulent charges, up more than twice the 15 per cent of those victimized in 2007. According to the 2009 Breach List report (PDF) from the Identity Theft Resource Center, as of 5/26/09, 230 breaches exposing 11,615,507 records had been reported. (Source: pcworld.com ) Reversing ID Theft Requires Time and Money It can take ... (view more)

Microsoft will release critical updates for six security issues next Tuesday. This Patch Tuesday will include a controversially delayed Mac MS Office fix , but won't solve a recently discovered directx flaw for Quicktime files. Biggest Monthly ... Update This Year The monthly update, which will be biggest so far this year, will contain critical fixes for Windows, Internet Explorer, Word and Excel in particular, and Office in general. In all cases, hackers could gain remote control of an affected computer. The Internet Explorer issue appears particularly serious as it reportedly affects all ... (view more)

A new malware worm that targets Google fans and uses Javascript to attack computers through vulnerabilities in Adobe PDF reader and Flash player is on the loose. According to SophosLabs, the virus known as JSRedir-R blows all other web-based malware ... out of the water. JSRedir-R accounted for 42 per cent of all malicious infections found on websites in a one week period. The malware, also known as 'Gumblar,' infected a new page every 4.5 seconds. (Source: sophos.com ) Infected Redirected via Google Result Pages Google users are redirected to other sites that download more malware onto the user' ... (view more)

Another remote hacker threat has arisen, and this time it affects popular streaming media tool DirectX. Microsoft announced yesterday that it is currently working on a fix for the security exploit, which could allow someone to take total control of ... a system by using malicious QuickTime video files. DirectX Exploit: Affected Users The exploit involves Microsoft's audio/video sourcing/rendering software DirectShow and the way it handles the QuickTime format files it supports. Users of Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP are those most affected and will want to keep ... (view more)

Kapersky Labs recently took a new, out-of-the-box M ... (view more)

Although it's been quiet in recent weeks, the dreaded Conficker worm is far from done its reign of terror. In fact, never before has this virus caused so much havoc than when the news mediums stopped printing urgent warnings about its dangers. Now, ... as the reports of countless victims come pouring in, security officials are getting a clear sense of just how many computers are infected on a daily basis. According to one security expert, Conficker infiltrates as many as 50,000 new PCs every day. International Incident What makes matters worse is that the virus has no specific target area, as all ... (view more)