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Consumer Reports: Smartphone safety is lacking
- Smartphones may be one of the most convenient electronic gadgets in this day and age but they also pose a huge security risk as highlighted by Consumer Reports in their annual State of the Net report. The publication found that…
Ex-Hostgator employee allegedly installed backdoor on 2,700 servers
- A former Hostgator employee has been charged with felony breach of computer security for allegedly installing a backdoor that granted nearly unimpeded access to more than 2,700 servers owned and operated by the popular web hosting company.
Weekend tech reading: 'BadNews' malware found on Google Play
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Lookout has discovered BadNews, a new malware family, in 32 apps across four different developer accounts in Google Play. According to Google Play statistics, the combined affected applications have been downloaded between 2,000,000 -- 9,000,000 times. We notified Google and...
Google implements new measures to protect Chrome from malware
- Google is implementing additional security measures to protect Chrome users from malicious browser extensions. Users will begin to see Safe Browsing malicious download warnings within the next week when attempting to download software that has been flagged as malicious, the…
Malwarebytes update disables thousands of machines, fix released
- A botched software update by Malwarebytes disabled thousands of systems around the globe this week, according to a blog post penned by CEO Marcin Kleczynski. Around 3PM PST on Monday, April 15, the security vendor released a definitions patch that…
A fourth of all PCs are unprotected from virus and malware threats
- Nearly a quarter of all PCs in the world are unprotected from virus, malware and other malicious threats according to Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report. In it, Redmond said computers without any protection are 5.5 times more likely to become…
Android infections tripled in 2012, "Bill Shocker" costliest mobile malware ever
- Android has become an increasingly popular target for malware authors, a recent report (pdf) by NQ Mobile indicates. The security firm claims that it discovered over 65,000 types of malware -- more than double the amount from 2011 -- and bills…
Study says Bing is five times more likely to find malware than Google
- An 18-month study has concluded that searches on Bing are five times more likely to link users to malicious websites than searches through Google. The study, conducted by German independent testing firm AV-Test, noted that although strides have been made…
Bitcoin-mining trojan spreading through Skype spam, Kaspersky warns
- Skype users beware: Kaspersky has discovered a new trojan that's spreading through Microsoft's chat service. Revealed late last week, the malware campaign is believed to have only began on March 1 but has grown rapidly and the infection is essentially…
Microsoft study reveals a third of all software is counterfeit
- A recent white paper released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) on behalf of Microsoft revealed that roughly 33 percent of all software is counterfeit. The paper further highlights the fact that issues related to counterfeit software like identity theft,…
Chameleon clickfraud botnet costs advertisers $6 million a month
- Researchers at Spider.io have detailed the discovery of a clickfraud botnet that is purportedly causing at least 70 times more financial damage than the Bamital network Microsoft and Symantec killed in early February. By its estimates, the security outfit says…
Mysterious MiniDuke malware takes aim at governments worldwide
- Government agencies and high profile institutions from at least 20 countries may have fallen victim to a sophisticated new cyber-attack, according to security firm Kaspersky and Hungary's Laboratory of Cryptography and System Security (CrySyS). Dubbed MiniDuke, the attack in question…
Symantec: Stuxnet existed two years earlier than anyone realized
- A new report from security firm Symantec highlights the discovery of a new version of the Stuxnet virus that crippled Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. The most recent finding predates the earliest known instance of the cyber weapon by two years,…
McAfee says malware is getting more sophisticated
- McAfee’s fourth quarter 2012 threats report highlights the fact that malware attacks are not only growing in frequency but sophistication. The security firm said the number of trojans built to steal passwords was up 72 percent during the last three…
Apple, Facebook not only companies targeted by recent hack. More details surface.
- Security experts believe a sophisticated attack responsible for infiltrating computers at Twitter, Facebook and Apple wasn't isolated to just those companies. According to a report by ComputerWorld, the attack -- which targeted a previously unknown Java exploit -- gave hackers…
Apple says they were hacked by the same group that hit Facebook
- In a rare admission on Tuesday, Apple announced they too have fallen victim to a sophisticated malware that targeted Twitter and Facebook in recently weeks. Just like the attack on Facebook, Apple says some of their employees’ computers were infected…
New Mac virus skirts Gatekeeper, initiates creepy reverse-shell connection
- A new trojan virus is targeting computers running Mac OS X and initiating an encrypted reverse-shell connection, allowing attackers potentially unfettered access to infected machines armed with basic, inbound-only firewalls. Security firm Intego appears to be the first to report…
Major ransomware operation dismantled by authorities
- Authorities have detained 11 individuals thought to be responsible for the proliferation of a nasty "police ransomware" virus which demanded users pay €100 ($135 USD) to re-gain access to their infected PCs. Amongst the 11 caught -- a crew of…
Android continues to be a key target for mobile malware
- A new report from web security provider Blue Coat Systems reveals that Google’s Android platform is quickly becoming a key target for mobile cyber attacks. These cyber criminals are fine-tuning their abilities to compromise the OS’ wide range of flavors,…
Adobe issues emergency Flash update, warns of active exploits on Windows and OS X
- Adobe has released a patch for two Flash player vulnerabilities that are being actively exploited against Windows and OS X users to install malware on their systems. The first of them, CVE-2013-0633, works by tricking Windows users into opening a…
Microsoft and Symantec kill Bamital search hijacking botnet
- In partnership with Symantec, Microsoft has disrupted yet another botnet, marking its sixth takedown in the three years since starting Project MARS (Microsoft Active Response for Security). Called "Bamital," the malware network has evolved into several variations since Symantec began…
Android malware steals data, records audio via PC microphone
- Two newly-discovered Android apps found on Google Play were designed to spy on their users, claim security experts at Kaspersky. The apps, SuperClean and DroidCleaner, posed as innocuous Android clean-up utilities; however, each app could quietly copy photos, contacts and…
Skype calls purportedly being tapped, Skype-based malware spreads
- In terms of security, privacy and trust, it looks like 2013 is shaping up to be a tough year for Skype. The latest ding against the Microsoft-owned company comes from Reporters Without Borders' online censorship project leader Grégoire Pouget, who…
Microsoft Security Essentials fails AV-Test certification... again
- Microsoft Security Essentials has once again failed to make the grade for certification at AV-Test, an independent but non-required honor that most anti-virus programs enjoy. By extension, Windows 8's built-in virus protection, Windows Defender, likely suffers the same shortcomings as…
USB drives responsible for infecting two US power plants with malware
- The latest quarterly report from the U.S. Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) reveals that control systems at two different power plants in the US were found infected with malware last year. The organization didn’t name which plants…
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