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IT Security News Headlines
The latest developments in IT security: your rights online, securing your systems via timely patching, updates on anti-malware tools, and relevant stories on hacking and system vulnerabilities.
Apple releases OS X 10.7.4, patches plain text password bug
- Apple has released a minor update to OS X Lion that patches a security concern that was brought to the general public’s attention earlier this week. OS X 10.7.4 also includes an updated version of Safari that is said to…
Twitter plays down hacker breach, 55,000 accounts posted online
- Twitter has launched an investigation after the popular micro-blogging service was breached and details of 55,000 accounts were published on the Internet by hackers. Despite this, it appears that the spoils were spammer accounts with the published usernames and passwords being of…
New malware freezes computer until ransom is paid
- The latest trend in malware doesn’t just flood your computer with annoying advertising or attempt to steal your banking information. Instead, it quite literally locks a system down and prevents the user from doing anything on it unless a ransom…
OS X Lion security blunder exposes login passwords in plain text
- Security researcher David Emery has exposed what it claims is a major security bug in the currently shipping version of OS X Lion (10.7.3), which causes login passwords to be stored in a plain text file. The flaw specifically affects…
Religious websites are three times riskier than porn sites for malware
- Religious and ideological web pages are more dangerous than pornographic sites with regard to malware infection according to the latest Internet Security Threat Report (PDF) from Symantec. In fact, pages featuring adult content didn’t even make the top five most…
Flashback malware generated $10k per day in fraudulent ad clicks
- People usually speculate as to why someone would create a virus or piece of malware that seemingly does nothing more than cause harm to someone they don’t even know. Are these social outcasts, still living in their mother’s basement with…
SOCA, FBI and DoJ take down 36 credit card fraud sites
- British police arrested three people and shut down 36 criminal-owned web domains on Friday, as part of a two year long international anti-fraud investigation by the UK's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the FBI and the US Department of…
Microsoft patches zero day password reset bug in Hotmail
- Microsoft has rushed out a fix for a critical zero day bug on their popular Hotmail service after it was discovered by a security researcher earlier in the month. Although it was reported to Microsoft in a timely manner, details…
VMware source code stolen by hacker, published online
- VMware just became the latest victim of hackers, with the firm acknowledging a breach that resulted in source code for their ESX virtualization products being stolen and posted online. The attack is reportedly the work of a hacker known as…
Kaspersky CEO says Mac security is 10 years behind Microsoft
- Eugene Kaspersky of Kaspersky Lab security firm has said that in terms of computer security, Apple’s Mac is at least 10 years behind Microsoft. The CEO feels that Cupertino could learn a lot from Microsoft and will have to revise…
Sophos: 20% of Macs harbor Windows malware
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Although folks are currently fixated on the Flashback botnet, Sophos draws attention to the fact that one in five Macs harbors some kind of Windows-oriented malware. The company gathered results over seven days from 100,000 Apple machines using its free antivirus program...
Mozilla removing favicons in Firefox due to security risk
- Mozilla has deemed favicons a security risk and will be doing away with the tiny graphics in Firefox. The organization has already made the change on the most recent nightly build with plans to implement it to the release channel…
Norton releases cloud-based password manager Identity Safe
- Norton is going head-to-head with AgileBits’ 1Password with a new password manager of their own. Identity Safe is a cloud-based program that manages and generates new passwords for the user and is compatible with Windows, iOS and Android.
White House questions CISPA cybersecurity bill ahead of floor vote
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The White House has expressed concern regarding the latest controversial cybersecurity legislation doing the rounds, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) which would authorize internet companies to divulge confidential customer records...
SabPub Mac Trojan spreads through Microsoft Office vulnerability
- Less than one week removed from the Flashback Trojan, there are reports of yet another Mac Trojan that is making the rounds. Backdoor.OSX.SabPub.a is designed to steal information from infected systems and uses an exploit in Java that allows it…
Israeli double agent planted Stuxnet work using a memory stick
- A new report from Richard Sale of ISSSource claims that the Stuxnet worm that crippled Iran’s nuclear program at the Natanz facility was planted by an Israeli “proxy”, essentially an Iranian that was working for Israel. The report further indicates…
SOPA is dead, but CISPA may give Internet citizens a new cause
- Although the demise of SOPA is behind us, citizens of the Internet may have new cause for concern. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been gaining momentum and while it is distinctly different than SOPA, some argue…
Non-profit ISP start up promises fully encrypted, private Internet
- In an editorial piece by Cnet, Nicholas Merrill describes his upcoming Internet service, Calyx, as a "non-profit telecommunications provider dedicated to privacy, using ubiquitous encryption". According to Merrill, his goal is to fully encrypt Internet traffic at the ISP level…
Former AMD, Intel engineer pleads guilty to stealing sensitive documents
- Biswamohan Pani, a former engineer for both Intel and AMD, has plead guilty to five counts of fraud centered around the theft of sensitive Intel documents. The stolen information, valued at an approximate total of $1 billion, included chip-related design…
Hotels using 'web experience manipulation' to serve ads over free WiFi
- Hotel’s that offer free WiFi access generally get a thumbs-up from most travelers in that regard but it turns out that your destination could actually be making money from you while you are on their network.
More than 600,000 Macs infected with Flashback Trojan downloader
- Investigations by Russian antivirus firm Dr. Web have concluded that more than 600,000 Mac computers are currently infected by the new strain of Flashback Trojan, with a massive 56.6% of the total infected machines believed to be in the US…
How much do telecoms charge for mobile phone wiretapping?
- The American Civil Liberties Union recently released a wealth of information obtained from over 200 police departments across the country. The data shows a history of tracking mobile phones and collecting call logs without warrants but perhaps the most disturbing…
Apple finally releases Java patches for Flashback malware
- Apple silently released security patches for Java, addressing 12 separate flaws yesterday after their OS X operating system was found to be vulnerable to the Flashback Trojan. In fact security experts were so worried about the potential for damage from…
Visa drops Global Payments amidst data breach, 1.5 million affected
- Visa has announced that they are dropping Global Payments as a service provider following a data breach that was publically reported last week. It is now believed that as many as 1.5 million Visa and MasterCard accounts in North America…
Pastebin looking to hire staff to police posted content
- The owner of Pastebin.com has announced plans to boost their current abuse report system by hiring more staff in a bid to help with policing sensitive information continually posted on the site, which now experiences in excess of 17 million…
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