Security

A new ethical hacking contest, called "Pwn2Own" is set to get under way this coming March 24, 2010, with awards of $100,000 in prize money. Predictions on which operating systems will be first to fall prey to hackers are already being heard; ... according to the event's organizer, the speediest, easiest hack will almost surely be on Mac's new Snow Leopard. Fundamental Beliefs: Mac Vs PC Security For years, it's been said that one of the main reasons why consumers have purchased Macs is because of the popular belief that Mac computers are more secure than PCs running MS Windows. Many ... (view more)

A new Trojan horse has surfaced online; its primary functionality makes it appear to be friendly to end users, but the final result can prove disastrous. On one hand, the Spy Eye toolkit is celebrated for its ability to remove malicious rival ... programs from infected computers. It boasts a feature called "Kill Zeus" which removes all traces of the notorious Zeus virus from a victim's PC. Of course, the Trojan horse has ulterior motives in playing the hero. It "Kills" the Zeus Trojan so that the computer is once again susceptible to attack, meaning that Spy Eye has exclusive access to usernames ... (view more)

While most malware infections occur when an unsuspecting user clicks onto a dubious web site, a new report suggests that malware infections also occur on legitimate sites. Websense Security Labs recently released their bi-annual research report ... which suggests that 71 per cent of known websites containing malware are actually legitimate sites. The report encompasses the second half of 2009. Hackers Poison Social Search The report also sheds some light on another growing malware trend: an increased number of searches for the latest news or current buzzwords often leads to malware. In a recent ... (view more)

According to reports, Google and the National Security Agency (NSA) are teaming up in the name of cyber security. Under the agreement, the NSA would help Google defend against attacks like the one that targeted the search company (along with Adobe ... and several other firms) from China several weeks ago . Google announced publicly that their systems had been hacked beginning in December . The Google intrusions targeted Google source code and extended to more than 30 other large tech, defense, energy, financial and media companies. Gmail accounts of human rights activists in Europe, China and the ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed a flaw in Internet Explorer could be used by hackers to access the files on a user's computer. The flaw was demonstrated at a security conference this week. The man who discovered the flaw, Jorge Luis Alvarez Medina of Core ... Security Technologies, says that so far as he can tell, it's not something which can be easily patched. The good news is that Windows Vista and Windows 7 both have default options for Internet Explorer which can block the problem. Medina first noted the existence of the flaw last week, but held back details until this week's Black Hat Conference. ... (view more)

United States security officials have joined European officials in noting the potential security risks of running Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). But they haven't gone as far as issuing a formal warning to stop using the browser. The United States ... Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), part of the Department of Homeland Security has issued an advisory suggesting users review the recent Microsoft security patch and apply any updates which will improve security. That could be interpreted in two ways: patch IE6 immediately, or update to a later edition; the latter of course would make more ... (view more)

Hackers are now hiring new recruits on a contract basis to carry out attacks. According to Kevin Stevens, a threat intelligence analyst for SecureWorks, the "hiring hackers" have no shame in listing exactly what their positions entail. Cash Offered ... for Infected Downloads The desired candidates must be willing to take malicious code and link it to something scandalous that people will likely click on. The incentive is there, however, as new malware peddlers will be compensated for every 1,000 times the compromised software is downloaded onto a computer. One recruiting website boasted a payment ... (view more)

A new phishing scam is out in the wild and is targeting users with online bank accounts. However, unlike thousands of similar phishing campaigns that hope to entice a user into clicking onto malicious link which redirects to a malicious website, ... this new campaign is banking on the fact that users will actually decline the request. How the Phishing Attack Works It all starts when a user receives a 'notice' to their email account. The message then claims that there has been a request issued by the service provider for the user to reset their password. Next comes the hook line: "If you didn't ... (view more)

A recent report suggests that most users that use social networking sites have reported being spammed, with more than a third of those messages containing malicious links, or malware attached to the bogus messages. The security firm which ran the ... survey says the issue could be a serious threat to corporate networks. According to security experts Sophos, 57% of those questioned say they received unsolicited messages on their social networks last year, compared with 33% in 2008. The proportion who received either infected files or links to harmful material rose from 21% to 36%. Businesses Aware ... (view more)

There are a handful of people already cashing in on the iPad , well before Apple has had a to release the product to the masses. Security officials are warning computer enthusiasts everywhere to approach with caution when visiting a website ... containing information about the iPad device. That's because a number of fraudsters have rigged their websites that promise pertinent information on the tablet computer, but instead deliver a malware payload to the user visiting the site. Hackers "Poison" Online Searches According to Ivan Macalintal of Trend Micro, hackers tend to "poison" online searches ... (view more)