Security

Though it has struggled to gain the attention of many computer users set in their XP ways, Windows Vista is considered to be relatively safer from malware than its predecessor. Unfortunately, according to one prominent security company, that's about ... to change. In a recent report by well-known software developer McAfee Inc., Vista is labeled as a targeted system for calendar 2008. That will certainly change the current state of affairs, where hackers have bypassed the new Vista in continuing to attack old XP users. "Most of the current malware has ignored Vista," admitted McAfee researcher ... (view more)

The Cold War ended almost twenty years ago. After decades of tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the Russian people opted for democracy and economic change, taking a much different political stance than dictators like Stalin and Krushchev. ... Now, it seems something else is ready to replace the Soviets in threatening American -- and global -- national security. Some analysts now fear that the world is about to be crushed within the icy grasp of a "cyber cold war". The frightening concept comes after prominent security company McAfee released their annual report last week. According to ... (view more)

Google has removed more than 40,000 sites from its index after discovering they were fronts for malware (software that infects a visitor's computer). The sites used the fake codec technique. This is where a message appears on the user's screen ... saying they need to download an update to their system in order to view an image or video. For instance, it may claim they need a newer version of ActiveX, which can be used to show animations on web pages. Unfortunately, the link actually downloads a virus. It appears the people behind the scheme were deliberately flooding search engines with the sites ... (view more)

What were you doing at age 18? I was mired in a freshman flop, utilizing fantastic studying strategies like reading a history textbook while also trying to watch the latest episode of 'The Simpsons'. It didn't lead to great academic revelations ... (ahem, that year), and needless to say, nothing much worth reporting. However, in New Zealand an 18 year old has caught the attention of the entire world. Unnamed by the media for legal reasons, the teen is allegedly responsible for stealing millions from bank accounts spanning the entire globe, all from the comfort of his home hacking network. ... (view more)

An article from Computer World says the Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) beta, recently released to about 15,000 testers, runs Microsoft's Office Suite 10% faster than Windows XP SP2. Performance testing was done by Devil Mountain Software, with the ... results leading to further speculation that Windows XP is going absolutely nowhere. The tests were also performed with Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1. Benchmarks from the tests show Windows XP SP3 to be more than two times faster than Vista SP1, which doesn't bode well for Windows Vista. Craig Barth, Devil Mountain's chief technology officer, ... (view more)

A security expert has produced proof that Internet phone calls could be hacked. Peter Cox has produced a program named SIPtap, which is designed to monitor VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) streams that carry phone calls through services such as ... Skype. The program can record conversations as audio files and even index the calls by date or caller. The software only needs to be installed on one machine (through a virus) to record all the calls made on the network. A skilled hacker could even install it across an entire Internet service provider's system. Mr. Cox has only used SIPtap to prove ... (view more)

Facebook users and privacy groups have criticised a new advertising scheme from the social networking site. Designed to net Facebook more ad dollars, the program plays Big Brother with the site's loyal (and growing) membership. The 'Beacon' system ... is a partnership between Facebook and 44 other sites. Whenever a user visits one of these sites while logged in to Facebook, their activities are monitored. Certain events are then automatically posted on their Facebook news feed which can be seen by all of their online friends. The events which are reported include online purchases, movie rentals, ... (view more)

"Black Friday" really isn't so bad. Despite the fact that Friday, November 23 represents the busiest shopping day of the year, it's certainly no Black Tuesday: the infamous October 29, 1929 stock market crash that sent the world into a decade of ... desperate poverty. "Black Friday" doesn't really stack up. Or, does it? According to some security experts, Black Friday could indeed prove a frightening day for the world's web users. Vice president of strategic accounts for Secure Computing Paul Henry recently warned all Internet surfers to be especially vigilant today. "The holiday season in ... (view more)

Do you think you've been a victim of a phishing scam? First of all, don't call or write us here at Infopackets! Unfortunately, we can't do anything for you, other than tell others to be careful! But here are some things you can do that will help ... ... Phishing is done through email and it is a big problem. In the past year alone, I have received thousands of emails that included huge lottery winnings from just about everyone in Europe, folks that were dying from cancer, car and plane crashes, and, of all things, tooth decay, part time job offers, and all sorts of "official" messages from ... (view more)

You thought you were safe didn't you? Being ever so careful not to enter a site you couldn't trust, scanning every email before you opened it. It was all so perfect...until that banner ad. Late last week it was reported that hackers had found a ... remarkably sophisticated way to break into the average computer. Several trusted websites found malicious software hidden within banner ads on their web pages. Companies affected included The Economist.com, Canada.com, and MLB.com. (Source: cbc.ca ) The amazing part about the scam was that you only had to visit the site and see the infected page for ... (view more)