Security

Hackers are now hiring new recruits on a contract basis to carry out attacks. According to Kevin Stevens, a threat intelligence analyst for SecureWorks, the "hiring hackers" have no shame in listing exactly what their positions entail. Cash Offered ... for Infected Downloads The desired candidates must be willing to take malicious code and link it to something scandalous that people will likely click on. The incentive is there, however, as new malware peddlers will be compensated for every 1,000 times the compromised software is downloaded onto a computer. One recruiting website boasted a payment ... (view more)

A new phishing scam is out in the wild and is targeting users with online bank accounts. However, unlike thousands of similar phishing campaigns that hope to entice a user into clicking onto malicious link which redirects to a malicious website, ... this new campaign is banking on the fact that users will actually decline the request. How the Phishing Attack Works It all starts when a user receives a 'notice' to their email account. The message then claims that there has been a request issued by the service provider for the user to reset their password. Next comes the hook line: "If you didn't ... (view more)

A recent report suggests that most users that use social networking sites have reported being spammed, with more than a third of those messages containing malicious links, or malware attached to the bogus messages. The security firm which ran the ... survey says the issue could be a serious threat to corporate networks. According to security experts Sophos, 57% of those questioned say they received unsolicited messages on their social networks last year, compared with 33% in 2008. The proportion who received either infected files or links to harmful material rose from 21% to 36%. Businesses Aware ... (view more)

There are a handful of people already cashing in on the iPad , well before Apple has had a to release the product to the masses. Security officials are warning computer enthusiasts everywhere to approach with caution when visiting a website ... containing information about the iPad device. That's because a number of fraudsters have rigged their websites that promise pertinent information on the tablet computer, but instead deliver a malware payload to the user visiting the site. Hackers "Poison" Online Searches According to Ivan Macalintal of Trend Micro, hackers tend to "poison" online searches ... (view more)

A 26-year-old who made cash on the side by selling cable modems he'd hacked now faces a potential prison sentence longer than those handed down to murderers. New Bedford, Massachusetts' Matthew Delorey faces up to forty years behind bars. Delorey ... began his campaign by posting ads for the modified cable modems on Craigslist, followed by an even more tempting series of YouTube videos featuring names like "How to Get Free Internet Free Cable Internet Comcast or any Cable ISP--100% works," and "How to bypass Comcast registration page with premod cable modem SB5100, SB 5101." This wasn't exactly ... (view more)

Security firm Sophos tells PC World that two security measures introduced in Windows Vista and expanded in Windows 7 have had a marked effect on levels of infection on computers. Nevertheless, several online security professionals have reminded ... users of Windows 7 that while the new operating system (OS) offers enhanced security over its predecessors, it's not invulnerable. They note that human vulnerabilities will always leave people at risk to hackers. Two New Security Features Mark Improvements Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) partially randomizes the order in which data is stored ... (view more)

Security researchers are warning the Twittering world that their credentials may be vulnerable to hackers. The most disturbing news, however, is that the problem, which exploits Adobe System's Flash programming language, was first discovered almost ... four years ago. Mike Bailey, a senior security analyst with Foreground Security in Orlando, Florida has informed Twitter of the flaw. However, all warnings seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Most website operators have downplayed the severity of the situation, even though it could compromise many users. No Restorative Actions to Date Frustrating ... (view more)

Microsoft has admitted it knew about the latest Internet Explorer zero-day flaw more than three months ago, news that's likely to prompt criticism about the way the firm prioritizes security issues. The bug, which involves an invalid pointer ... reference, was first reported to Microsoft by Israeli security expert Eyal Gruner on August 26. He says that because it was so easy to discover the vulnerability, he expected less scrupulous people would also find it and develop ways to exploit it. MS Confirmed Flaw in September Microsoft says it received this warning and confirmed it in early September. ... (view more)

According to a recent report, most users still haven't answered the call by security experts to implement more robust passwords. In fact, in a list of the most easy to hack passwords, simply typing '123456' took a truly forgettable top prize. ... Security firm Imperva this week released its list of the passwords most likely to be hacked based on 32 million instances of successful hacking. Imperva named their report "Consumer Password Worst Practices," and some of the entries near the top are truly simple. Worst Password Practices The top three passwords all included the simple streaming of ... (view more)

A change made to Windows in 1993 may have opened up a security hole that, surprisingly, remains unpatched today. The issue is unlikely to affect home users but could pose a risk to corporate networks. The problem stems from Windows NT version 3.1, ... which was one of the first 32-bit operating systems. As with the recent development of 64-bit operating systems, this meant some compatibility problems with older software. At the time, Microsoft added a feature known as a Virtual DOS (Disk Operating System) machine to run 16-bit applications on the system. The feature has been a fixture ever since ... (view more)