NSA Is Giving Microsoft Some Help On Windows 7 Security Submitted Wednesday, November 18, 2009 @ 05:48 PM Microsoft company information - ( Microsoft News ) npr.org -- The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.
The confirmation of the NSA's role, which began during the development of the software, is a sign of the agency's deepening involvement with the private sector when it comes to building defenses against cyberattacks. See the complete story here.Bogus E-mails 'From' FDIC Link Computer Users To Viruses, Say... Submitted Sunday, November 08, 2009 @ 11:02 AM sciencedaily.com -- Cyber criminals are using fake messages claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to deliver a virus capable of stealing unsuspecting victims' bank passwords and other sensitive personal information, says Gary Warner, the director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). See the complete story here.Big-Box Breach: The Inside Story of Wal-Mart’s Hacker Attack Submitted Tuesday, October 13, 2009 @ 09:52 PM wired.com -- Wal-Mart was the victim of a serious security breach in 2005 and 2006 in which hackers targeted the development team in charge of the chain’s point-of-sale system and siphoned source code and other sensitive data to a computer in Eastern Europe, Wired.com has learned.
Internal documents reveal for the first time that the nation’s largest retailer was among the earliest targets of a wave of cyberattacks that went after the bank-card processing systems of brick-and-mortar stores around the United States beginning in 2005. The details of the breach, and the company’s challenges in reconstructing what happened, shed new light on the vulnerable state of retail security at the time, despite card-processing security standards that had been in place since 2001. See the complete story here.Microsoft Patch Tuesday Update Sets Record Submitted Friday, October 09, 2009 @ 04:27 PM Microsoft company information - ( Microsoft News ) crn.com -- Microsoft's upcoming Patch Tuesday update will set a record as the largest yet, with 13 patches that fix a total of 34 vulnerabilities -- including two zero-day flaws.
Microsoft gave eight of the 13 patches the highest severity ranking of critical, indicating that they repair errors that allow hackers to launch malicious attacks remotely, typically to steal information.
Thus far, Microsoft's patch record has been 12 in one month, which it reached both in February 2007 and October 2008. See the complete story here.Online thieves step up bank raids Submitted Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 01:07 AM news.bbc.co.uk -- Cyber-criminals have developed sophisticated ways to remain undetected, a new report finds.
The report, from security firm Finjan, describes how one gang, based in the Ukraine, stole 300,000 euros (£269,000) in 22 days. See the complete story here.IRS scam now world's biggest e-mail virus problem Submitted Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 12:48 AM computerworld.com -- Criminals are waging a nasty online campaign right now, hoping that their victims' fears of the tax collecter will lead them to inadvertently install malicious software.
The spam campaign, entering its third week now, is showing no signs of slowing down, according to Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. This one campaign accounts for about 10 percent of the spam e-mail that his group is presently tracking, he said. "This is the most prominent spam-delivered virus in the world right now," he said. See the complete story here.Rivals mock Microsoft's free security software Submitted Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 12:44 AM Microsoft company information - ( Microsoft News ) computerworld.com -- Although one of the top consumer security vendors welcomed Microsoft's Security Essentials to the market, another dismissed the new free software as a "poor product" that will "never be up to snuff."
Earlier today, Microsoft launched Security Essentials, its free antivirus and antispyware software suite, which has been in development for almost a year. See the complete story here.Microsoft unveils shield for critical Windows flaw as attack ... Submitted Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 12:13 AM Microsoft company information - ( Microsoft News ) computerworld.com -- With attack code that exploits a critical unpatched bug in Windows likely to go public soon, Microsoft wants users to run an automated tool that disables the vulnerable component.
The bug in SMB (Server Message Block) 2, a Microsoft-made network file- and print-sharing protocol that ships with Windows, affects Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and preview releases of Windows 7.
When the flaw was first disclosed Sept. 7, it was thought that attacks would only crash PCs, causing the notorious Blue Screen of Death. Since then, however, researchers have figured out how to create exploits that can be used to hijack a vulnerable computer. See the complete story here.Malware worldwide grows 15 percent in September Submitted Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 12:11 AM news.cnet.com -- A rise in malware has caused the number of infected PCs worldwide to increase 15 percent just from August to September, says a report released Tuesday from antivirus vendor Panda Security.
Across the globe, the average number of PCs hit by malware now stands around 59 percent, an all-time high for the year. Among 29 countries tracked, the U.S. ranked ninth with slightly more than 58 percent of its PCs infected. Taiwan hit first place with an infection ratio of 69 percent, while Norway came in lowest with only 39 percent of its PCs attacked by malware. See the complete story here.First look: Microsoft Security Essentials impresses Submitted Tuesday, September 29, 2009 @ 11:59 PM Microsoft company information - ( Microsoft News ) arstechnica.com -- Microsoft's new antimalware solution, Microsoft Security Essentials, is now available for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Ars puts MSE through its paces and finds an unobtrusive app with a clean interface that protected us in the dark corners of the Internet. See the complete story here.Why virus writers are turning to open source Submitted Friday, September 18, 2009 @ 01:36 PM news.cnet.com -- Malware developers are going open source in an effort to make their malicious software more useful to fraudsters.
By giving criminal coders free access to malware that steals financial and personal details, the malicious software developers are hoping to expand the capabilities of old Trojans. See the complete story here.Is Facebook Fan Check a virus? Careful whom you ask Submitted Tuesday, September 15, 2009 @ 10:42 AM features.csmonitor.com -- A Facebook application, titled “Facebook Fan Check,” has generated quite a frenzy on the website, prompting users to ask “Is it a virus?”
The application, which recently appeared on the social networking site, generates a list of top Facebook friends depending on how much they post on a person’s wall or comment on photos. See the complete story here. Mozilla patches three public Firefox bugs Submitted Monday, August 03, 2009 @ 06:25 PM Firefox company information - ( Firefox News ) computerworld.com -- Mozilla today patched Firefox 3.5 and Firefox 3.0 to quash three security vulnerabilities, including a pair unveiled last week at Black Hat, and a third Mozilla itself revealed last month.
Firefox 3.0.13, the update to the older browser that Mozilla will drop off the support list in January 2010, includes two bugs, while Firefox 3.5.2 fixes a separate flaw. See the complete story here.Apple fix to iPhone security flaw Submitted Monday, August 03, 2009 @ 06:09 PM Apple company information - ( Apple News ) news.bbc.co.uk -- Apple has released a software patch to address a recently described security flaw in the iPhone.
Experts revealed on Thursday that modified SMS messages could result in iPhones being disconnected from the network or hijacked altogether. See the complete story here.NJ man is first to be charged with Web name theft Submitted Monday, August 03, 2009 @ 06:05 PM tech.yahoo.com -- A northern New Jersey man is charged with stealing a prime piece of Internet real estate and reselling it to basketball player Mark Madsen in one of the nation's first prosecutions of a suspected domain name thief. See the complete story here.Lack Of Cybersecurity Talent Could Leave U.S. Vulnerable: Study Submitted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 @ 04:43 PM crn.com -- The pool of cybersecurity talent needed to beef up U.S. cyberinfrastructure is in short supply and could leave the U.S. susceptible to malicious security threats if left unaddressed, according to a government study.
The study, titled "Cyber In-Security: Strengthening The Federal Cybersecurity Workforce," which was conducted by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton, found that the pipeline for skilled cybersecurity professionals is abysmally inadequate and leaves gaping holes in U.S security that could leave the country vulnerable. See the complete story here.Adobe investigating zero-day bug in Flash Submitted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 @ 04:12 PM Adobe company information - ( Adobe News ) news.cnet.com -- Researchers on Wednesday said they have uncovered attacks in the wild in which malicious Acrobat PDF files are exploiting a vulnerability in Flash and dropping a Trojan onto computers.
The situation could affect tons of users since Flash exists in all popular browsers, is available in PDF files, and is largely operating system-independent. See the complete story here.Intel chief: Computer attacker still a mystery Submitted Wednesday, July 22, 2009 @ 02:23 PM Intel company information - ( Intel News ) google.com -- The U.S. still has not figured out who was behind the July 4 cyberattacks that took down a series of government Web sites, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said Wednesday.
After an address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Blair also told the crowd he is trying to patch up the relationship between Congress and the intelligence agencies, which was badly strained by a secretive Bush administration and flared up again with revelations this month that the CIA had hidden from the intelligence committees word of a program to develop secret hit teams. See the complete story here.Chinese Web sites close amid tightening controls Submitted Tuesday, July 21, 2009 @ 01:42 PM tech.yahoo.com -- Two more Web sites dedicated to social networking went offline in China on Tuesday amid tightening controls that have blocked Facebook, Twitter and other popular sites that offered many Chinese a rare taste of free expression.
China's crackdown on social networking sites began in March, when Chinese Web users found they could no longer visit YouTube shortly after video appeared on the site purporting to show Chinese security officials mistreating Tibetans. See the complete story here.Mozilla moves fast to fix security flaw Submitted Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 11:29 AM Firefox company information - ( Firefox News ) tgdaily.com -- Mozilla has released an update to Firefox that fixes a security flaw discovered in the last week.
The company has moved fast to make Firefox 3.5.1 available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users as a free download. It resolves a Just-in-Time (JIT) JavaScript compiler flaw in version 3.5 which left users at risk of memory corruption and malware infection. See the complete story here.
