Security

Thousands of legitimate websites have fallen victim to a widespread web attack. While the full extent of the attacks remain unknown, security analysts suspect that the hackers used what is called an "SQL injection attack" in an attempt to fool ... legitimate web sites into running malicious database commands. In short, the attack injects malicious HTML content into a web browser while users are viewing an otherwise legitimate site. If the malware is successfully installed, it opens a gateway which allows hackers to remotely control a PC. (Source: networkworld.com ) Up to 114,000 Sites ... (view more)

Facebook users are once again being warned of a new online scam designed to send unsolicited messages to all of their friends via the social network site. The warning comes from Sophos, a well-trusted security developer and vendor of anti-virus, ... anti-spyware and anti-spam software. Sophos announced that "hundreds of thousands" of Facebook users have already been duped by what is being referred to as the "likejacking" scam. The most common form of the likejacking reported by victims starts with a message carrying the tagline "This man takes a picture of himself EVERYDAY for 8 YEARS!" The ... (view more)

A researcher at the UK's University of Reading has given new meaning to the term "having caught a virus." Dr. Mark Gasson has actually self-implanted an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip into his wrist, and then purposely infected it with a ... computer virus. The virus itself was installed onto a corrupt RFID tagging chip. This is the same kind of tracking mechanism that is sometimes embedded into pets to help identify them if they become lost. The device works by using electromagnetic energy to transmit small amounts of data. For pets, however, the data is simple code that corresponds ... (view more)

A new survey appears to confirm what most would suspect: people who discover security flaws make more money selling the details to criminals than to legitimate security companies. Research firm "Unsecurity" has carried out a survey of people who ... have discovered zero-day vulnerabilities and them sold them to security companies that then use the data to improve their products. Zero-day vulnerabilities occur when the original software manufacturer is unaware of a security risk in a software program. The name comes from the idea that once the manufacturer discovers the problem, there's ... (view more)

Research conducted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) suggests that more than 8 in 10 of web browsers have unique signatures, creating identifiable "fingerprints" that can be used to track almost any user that browses the Internet. The ... results ( PDF ) were found after an experiment was conducted by the EFF with volunteers who visited panopticlick.eff.org. Each participant who visited that site had the configuration and version information of their operating systems, browser, and browser plug-ins anonymously logged. (Source: eff.org ) The information gathered by the website ... (view more)

More and more research is proving that those who know how to create viruses and malware are keen on reaching out to others, most likely to cash in on their deceptive knowledge. Such can be proven with TwitterNet Builder: a new tool designed to ... simplify botnet-based attacks over Twitter. Botnets: A Virtual Army of Zombie Computers For those unaware, a botnet is a technical term used to describe a network of computers under the control of a malicious software program. Once a computer has become compromised, the botnet program runs silently and autonomously until issued a command from a master ... (view more)

Do you have an on-board computer system in your vehicle that's connected to the Internet? If so, then you might be at risk for a potentially devastating cyber attack by hackers, says a recent scientific study. "We demonstrate the ability to ... adversarially [sic] control a wide range of automotive functions and completely ignore driver input -- including disabling the brakes, selectively braking individual wheels on demand, stopping the engine, and so on," says a new report by scientists from the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego. (Source: nytimes.com ) Vehicle ... (view more)

A ten week investigation into the Lower Merion School District's (LMSD) use of webcams to spy on students with school-issued laptops has found that the school did nothing wrong -- aside from taking 58,000 images without consent . The 72-page report ... (PDF) exonerates most higher-level school officials, concluding that there is no evidence indicating that anyone above the IT level "knew how TheftTrack worked or understood that it could collect large quantities of webcam photographs or screenshots." (Source: techdirt.com ) The report also confirms that 58,000 images were captured. Report ... (view more)

Beware any program that describes itself as a Windows 7 compatibility checker promising to verify whether or not your system can run Microsoft's new operating system (OS). Prominent security firm BitDefender first reported the attack earlier this ... week, but noted that the problem has not yet become widespread. However, because the Trojan appears genuine, it could actually have an enormous impact on users in the near future. Trojan Emulates Microsoft in Emails As one might expect, scammers are using the popularity of Windows 7 to spread malware. "This [Trojan is in particular is appealing to ... (view more)

A group of security researchers say they've found a workaround for just about every antivirus product on the market today, effectively making Windows-based security programs totally useless. Security research site Matousec.com recently issued an ... advisory for a process that allows malware to evade security detection. Note that this doesn't just apply to Microsoft's free Security Essentials software or other freeware antivirus products, but also targets full software packages from industry leaders like Norton, BitDefender and McAfee. Matousec's Morphing Malware According to reports, Matousec. ... (view more)