Security

The reputed "Godfather of Spam", 64-year-old Bloomfield, Michigan man Alan Ralsky, has been sentenced to four years behind bars by a U.S. District Judge in the Motor City. Ralsky and his co-conspirators were found guilty of leading an email stock ... scheme and money laundering operations. Ralsky, a West Bloomfield resident, was convicted alongside his son-in-law, 48-year-old Scott Bradley. Both designed an elaborate spamming operation that took aim at high-value targets: those in involved in the stock market. The pair were able to use spam to help inflate stock prices and in turn profited once ... (view more)

The iPhone has been hit by a virus for the second time this month. And this time the consequences are more significant than an unwanted picture of Rick Astley . A couple of weeks ago, a worm virus left some users of the iPhone with the image of 80s ... singer Rick Astley as their wallpaper. The virus only worked on phones which had been jailbroken: that is to say, their owners had altered them so that they could run software without Apple's authorization. Unfortunately, some of those who did so left the handset prey to a major security breach if they failed to change the default password for ... (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)

Less than a day after its last Patch Tuesday release Microsoft was forced to admit the existence of a Windows 7 zero day bug affecting the Server Message Block, or SMB protocol used for sharing files and printers. It's serious, too: according to ... reports, the vulnerability could allow a hacker to remotely crash Windows 7 (or, alternatively, a Windows Server 2008 R2 system). We first reported on this issue last week, but at the time the Redmond-based software giant had yet to weigh in. Microsoft responded to the issue by releasing an advisory that describes in closer detail exactly what Windows ... (view more)

Facebook was infiltrated on Tuesday by an intruder looking to send the message "Control Your Info". The intruder, who might style himself something of a virtual Boondock Saint, didn't cause any significant damage, but instead sought to show people ... that they need to be as careful with their online information as they are with protecting their safety offline. The attack, if you can call it that, didn't target individual users in an attempt to scoop sensitive data. Instead, it went after Facebook "Groups", online organizations within the social networking platform that allow people to join ... (view more)

One of the most malicious computer viruses ever created has been launched against unsuspecting users. Rather than jeopardize the financial well being of an individual, however, this new form of malware looks to ruin reputations by suggesting that ... innocent people are pedophiles. In this twisted practice, hackers are now unloading dozens of prohibited photographs into computers worldwide. Virus Payload Not Random Acts of Chaos The motivation for doing something so sinister is baffling, to say the least. While many would believe that hackers are engaging in this practice for the purpose of ... (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 recent report suggests that cyber criminals are now setting their sights on small- and medium-sized businesses and institutions. According to an alert posted on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website, there has been a "significant ... increase" in automated clearing house (ACH) fraud over the past few months, targeting small businesses, municipal governments and schools. The FBI believes that about $100 million dollars has moved bank accounts because of this practice. (Source: yahoo.com ) The "weapon of choice" for these fraudsters is online banking and the plan is rather ... (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)

Facebook won an unprecedented $711 million dollar legal victory over one of the world's most notorious spammers, Stanford Wallace. While many feel that the triumph over Wallace is a just legal victory, critics argue that the decision could actually ... help spammers. Spam King Forced to Abdicate Throne Late last week, Judge Jeremy Fogel ordered Sanford Wallace to pay $711 million in damages for flooding Facebook with unwanted spam messages. Dubbed the "Spam King", Wallace would assume control of a victim's account and post dubious wall messages. (Source: computerworld.com ) The posts, which began ... (view more)