virus posts

'Smooth Criminal' Spammers Capitalizing on Michael Jackson's Death

by Warren Riddle — Jun 26th 2009 at 4:25PM

It certainly didn't take spammers long to capitalize on the death of the King of Pop. Appearing almost as quickly as the tasteless jokes, spam messages claiming to have information surrounding Michael Jackson's mysterious death have been sweeping the Net.

According to The New York Times, security firm Sophos originally discovered the first set of spam messages, which offer details of the gloved one's death if the reader replies to the message. A second form, identified by Websense, offers a phony link to a YouTube video supposedly containing news of the passing. Instead, clickers are directed to a site that installs information-stealing Trojan horse software.

Tags: expire-images:2010-6-26, malware, michaeljackson, scammers, top, virus

Computers, Web

Ads Used to Spread Malware on Reputable Sites

by Terrence O'Brien — Jun 22nd 2009 at 6:45AM

Advertisements Used to Spread Malware on Reputable Sites

Most Web sites don't sell ad space directly to marketers. Instead, major sites like FoxNews.com, IGN.com, and MLB.com sell their ad space to ad networks, which then independently sell to other companies. But if an ad network fails to find an advertiser, it will often resell the spot on the Web site to another ad network, which may then turn around and place the ad space for sale on an ad exchange site, where it will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

With so many links in the chain, it has become harder and harder for Web sites to police the advertisements being hosted. As a result, vulnerabilities are more and more likely. All it takes for hell to break loose is one careless party to let through an ad that leads to an infected site.

Tags: ads, advertising, malware, security, virus

Cell Phones, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 101

Major Security Flaw Found in BlackBerry Software

by Terrence O'Brien — Jun 5th 2009 at 2:38PM

Warning, BlackBerry owners: the popular smartphone's manufacturer, Research in Motion (RIM), has found a major security flaw that could let a hacker take over a BlackBerry server (like the one you use for your work e-mail account) by simply sending someone an e-mail. The vulnerability could allow attackers to hijack a server running BlackBerry software by simply sending e-mails with infected PDF files. If a customer were to open the file, the virus would install its payload of malicious software on the server side, from which hackers could send spam and collect personal data.

No hackers have yet taken advantage of the vulnerability, but RIM is urging all of its customers to install an issued security patch to avoid future exploitation. Of course, many businesses wait to thoroughly test patches like this before deploying them to employees. For those who insist on holding off, RIM is suggesting that e-mail attachments be temporarily disabled, just to be safe. They've posted details about the patch and the suggested work-around here.

Let's hope the White House gets on this patch soon. It'd be pretty embarrassing if the one person to fall victim to the flaw was our president. [From: Reuters]

Tags: blackberry, e-mail, mobileviruses, researchinmotion, rim, security, smartphone, smartphones, top, virus

Computers, Web

40,000 Hacked Web Sites Could Infect Your Computer

by Chad Mumm — Jun 3rd 2009 at 7:31PM

"Warning: Your Computer Is Infected With Malware." If you've seen this warning, you may have already been hit by a new wave of malicious attacks that's sweeping the Web. According to Websense, up to 40,000 sites have been hacked and loaded with software that invisibly try to infect your PC.

If you visit one of these hacked sites, it will redirect you to a site called Beladen that is, fittingly, laden with malicious software designed to target up to 20 different vulnerabilities your computer might have. If you don't have one of these vulnerabilities, the site will pop up a warning that says you have been infected and ask you to download a security suite. Let's just say that if you weren't vulnerable before, you definitely will be if you download the program.

The Beladen attack is notable, not just for its size and scope, but because Web sites that serve malicious code usually only attack one specific vulnerability. According to Websense's threat research manager Carl Leonard, the Beladen site is loaded with "almost every single exploit you can find publicly available right now."

Researchers have been unable to pinpoint the exact source of the attacks, but Websense seems to think they could be coming from the supposedly disbanded cybergang called Russian Business Network (RBN).

Tags: hack, security, top, virus

Computers, Web

Thought the Conficker Virus Was Bad? Gumblar Is Even Worse.

by Terrence O'Brien — Jun 2nd 2009 at 7:19AM

If you thought Conficker was bad, meet Gumblar. If malware programs were comic book villains, Conficker would be Kingpin -- evil for sure, but really just a big bully. Gumblar on the other hand would be Galactus -- massive, all-powerful, evil, and extremely difficult to defeat.

ScanSafe, a computer security firm, has been tracking the progress of the worm since its arrival on the scene in March, according to CNET. Originally, the attack spread through infectious code that was planted in hacked Web sites and then downloaded malware from the gumblar.cn domain on to victims' computers. But that was just the opening salvo. As Web site operators cleaned their pages of the code, Gumblar replaced the original material with dynamically generated Javascript (Web site code that is created on the spot instead of being completely determined beforehand -- a key element of Web apps like Gmail) that is much harder for security software to detect and remove.

The evolved version also went about adding new domains to the list of sources for downloading its malware payload, including liteautotop.cn and autobestwestern.cn, and began exploiting security holes in Flash and Adobe Reader. The worm also searches out credentials for FTP servers (a method for uploading files to a Web site) on a victim's computer, using them to infect additional Web sites.

Tags: conficker, gumblar, malware, scansafe, security, top, virus, worms

Cell Phones

When It Comes to Viruses, Smartphones Can Be Dumb

by Kendra Cunningham — May 30th 2009 at 11:27AM

According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), computers could cease being the only technology susceptible to viruses. Researchers at Northeastern University suggest that, as mobile networks continue to develop, cell phones could become the next mass-market to be targeted. Marta Gonzalez, one of the study's authors, told the NSF, "We haven't had a problem so far because only phones with operating systems, so-called 'smart phones', are susceptible to viral infection." That being said, such a problem could be just beyond the horizon as the NSF points out that smartphone usage is experiencing a 150-percent annual growth rate.

Tags: Bluetooth, cellphone, danger, security, smartphone, studies, study, top, virus, viruses

Computers, Web

Online Search Words to Watch Out For

by Leila Brillson — May 28th 2009 at 2:51PM

We've said it before, but we can't drive it home enough. If it's free, it's going to hurt you. And McAfee agrees. The Internet security bigwig today released its 2009 report on search terms most commonly used by cybercriminals to infect unsuspecting computers. The search term to most carefully avoid? Apparently, "screensavers" has a 59.1-percent chance of sending you to a malicious site. "Free games" and "work from home" are second and third most likely to mess you up, with 24.7-percent and 15.6-percent chances, respectively.

Hackers tune in to trends, like free additional income or the celebrity du jour, and use well-searched keywords to trick users into downloading files or applications that carry viruses or phishing programs. McAfee searched over 2,600 popular terms on several different engines, then hit the top five pages for each term (over 413,000 unique Web sites in total) in order to rank the major dangers. The least threatening terms are apparently related to personal health and financial crisis inquiries.

Besides sticking to our rule of avoiding untrusted sites that promise free goodies, you'd also do well to steer clear of random links to "Webkinz", "Jonas Brothers" and "Viagra." Though, if those are your most popular search terms, you have more than Internet scams to worry about. [From: McAfee, via ZDNet]

Tags: mcafee, phishing, search engines, SearchEngines, security, virus

Computers

Computer Hijackings Increase by 50% in 2008

by Tim Stevens — May 6th 2009 at 10:09AM

Computer Hijackings Increase by 50 Percent in 2008

There are plenty of malicious programs that can do plenty of nasty things to plenty of computers, but, far and away, the most common type of attack results in what is known as a zombie. A zombie is a hijacked computer that can be remote-controlled by the attacker and made to do his or her bidding. According to a recent study by security firm McAffee, there were 50-percent more zombie computers on the Internet in 2008 than there were the year previous.

The report goes on to state that a frightening 18-percent of all computers in the U.S. are infected, meaning that, almost certainly, one of the computers you use (or one of the computers your friends use) is infected. Largely responsible are malicious programs like Conficker that trick users into installing or running them and then run in the background, responding to signals sent out by zombie ringleaders. Some can exploit flaws in an application's security, injecting themselves into your computer without your ever having prompted them.

To avoid being a sad statistic, always keep your computer up to date, and always, always, run a virus scanner. [From: BBC News]

Tags: bot, botnet, mcaffee, security, top, virus, virus scanner, VirusScanner, worm, zombie

Computers

New Botnet Threatens Mac Computers

by Tim Stevens — Apr 23rd 2009 at 11:16AM

For years now, Mac users have flaunted their seeming immunity to computer viruses, malware, and other noxious applications that plague the hearts, minds, and hard drives of PC users. However, there have been exceptions to the Mac's invincible reputation, like the one app from last summer that stole photos and all sorts of other information. According to security software firm Symantec, there's another one on the loose, turning Apple computers into zombies.

The app is (somewhat humorously) called iBotnet, and it runs quietly in the background after its taken control of your Mac computer. It then allows the crooks who distributed the software to use the infected machines for their nefarious means, doing whatever they like. That's the essence of the botnet. Only a few thousand Macs are infected, but, given the general lack of virus protection on most Apple computers, that's a number that could quickly balloon.

What can you do? Well, if you're on a Mac, it's time to start watching what you click and download, just as your PC brethren have been doing for years. And perhaps it's time to be a little less self-sure, too. [From: CNN]

Tags: apple, botnet, botnets, ibotnet, mac, mac virus, MacVirus, online threats, OnlineThreats, os x, OsX, security, top, virus

Computers

Computer Users' Fears of Viruses Helping Viruses to Spread

by Tim Stevens — Apr 10th 2009 at 1:35PM

Computer Users' Fears of Viruses Helping Them to Spread

If stories with twisted logic make your head hurt, you might want to just scroll on down the page and read the next story. Or, go pop an aspirin, because this one's a bit of a doozy. According to Reuters' account of Microsoft's annual Security Intelligence Report, published on Wednesday, people's fears of being infected by viruses and other malicious software is actually helping those viruses to spread. Users are so intent on cleaning their computers, they'll install anything that they think will help -- even if what they're installing is, itself, a virus.

Microsoft says that publicity surrounding viruses and worms like Conficker has resulted in more people fearing them. This has led many users to go searching for programs that say they'll clean your computer -- when, in actuality, many of them contain malicious software and maybe even viruses. That's the case with Anti-Virus-1, a piece of "scareware" that tries to trick you into handing over your credit card number. In fact, of the 25 "top security threats" that the report mentions, seven of them are bogus security programs. What can you do? For starters, stick with virus scanners you can trust, like these. Secondly, ignore those "registry cleaner" programs and others that, at best, don't do a thing, and, at worst, could be packing some malicious payloads. [From: Reuters]

Related Links:

Tags: conficker, malware, microsoft, scareware, security, security intelligence report, SecurityIntelligenceReport, virus

Computers

Dreaded Conficker Virus Activates a Week Later Than Expected

by Tim Stevens — Apr 10th 2009 at 11:01AM

Conficker Activates One Week Later than Expected

If you were watching or reading the news last week, chances are you got an ear (or eye) full about Conficker. Everyone was atwitter about how, on April 1st, the virus would awaken and do... something. That day came and went and, ultimately, nothing happened. But, according to CNN, something is finally happening. It seems that the virus is starting to stir, waking up on some machines and reaching out to the Internet.

However, there's still one big problem -- nobody knows what the exploit is planning to do. On Wednesday, the virus awoke and downloaded a package of encrypted instructions that left security experts at anti-virus firm Trend Micro guessing about the future of the virus. Apparently, it is reaching out to various Web sites to ensure it has connectivity and will stop replicating itself on May 3.

That's all we know right now. This means that, before long, it will stop spreading, but just what it'll do to the machines it has already infected remains to be seen. [From: CNN]

Related Links:

Tags: conficker, security, virus

Web

Conficker D-Day Quiet So Far

by Terrence O'Brien — Apr 1st 2009 at 1:43PM

Well, the day is here. April 1st. By now, Conficker was supposed to have reduced us to quivering, crying messes as it destroyed our computers, poured sugar in our gas tanks, and had sex with our mothers.

None of these things have come to pass, however. Instead, Conficker has been relatively quiet all morning. Several outlets have been tracking the worm and all have spotted minimal activity. McAffee has reported that Conficker is reaching out to its "master," but has so far failed to get through.

What does this all mean? No one knows for sure. It could be a deliberate postponing of a major move by the Conficker criminals, who are just waiting until the attention dies down a little bit, or it could all be an elaborate April Fool's hoax. Either way, you can check back with CNET throughout the day for updates. If anything major goes down, we'll certainly be on top of it, unless, of course, Conficker manages to kill the Internet by plugging the "tubes" with more LOLcats than it can handle. [From: CNET]

Next >> 'What Is Conficker and Should You Be Worried?'

Computers, Web

Spam Recovers, Now 94% of All E-Mail Once Again

by Evan Shamoon — Apr 1st 2009 at 10:12AM

While always-improving filters from the likes of Google and Microsoft have certainly slowed the rate at which spam invades our lives, those pesky, malicious e-mails aren't going away any time soon.

In November of 2008, spam took a hit when Internet providers severed connections with McColo Corporation, a California-based Web hosting service that many spammers were using for their spammy ways. Adam Swidler, who is the product marketing manager for Postini Services, an anti-spam company owned by search giant Google, told the New York Times: "By far, it was the most dramatic event we have ever seen." Reports had spam levels down as much as 70-percent after the incident.

Now, just months later, spam is back to making up around 94-percent of all e-mail, having increased at an estimated rate of 1.2-percent each day. "What the spammers have been using to rebuild is more technically advanced than what got taken out and is itself a more resilient technology," Mr. Swidler told the paper. "It's unlikely we are going to see another event like McColo where taking out an ISP has that kind of dramatic impact on global spam volumes."

Tags: e-mail, security, spam, virus, web

Computers, Web

Conficker Flaw Found, Detection Tool Released

by Terrence O'Brien — Mar 31st 2009 at 1:54PM

In the list of the nastiest viruses out there, Conficker would certainly find itself near, if not at, the top. One of the things that makes Conficker such a pest is the difficulty in detecting and removing the malware. Conficker covers its tracks; after infecting a vulnerable PC, it tricks security software into thinking that the Microsoft patch that protects against Conficker has been installed.

Thankfully, a group of researchers have found a bug in the way Conficker applies this false patch, allowing them to easily identify an infected PC remotely. They found that a Conficker-infected PC actually appears slightly different on a network than an uninfected computer.

Dan Kaminsky, who has investigated the worm with the Honeynet Project's Tillmann Werner and Felix Leder, described the new detection method thusly: "You can literally ask a server if it's infected with Conficker, and it will tell you." The group has released a proof-of-concept detection tool, and Kaminsky says that the technology "should already be" integrated into security products from Nessus, McAfee, nmap, ncircle, and Qualys.

We certainly hope so. After all, the April Fool's Conficker d-day is imminent, and we don't want to give the worm a chance to update and fix its own bugs. [From: CNET and Ars Technica]

Tags: conficker, malware, security, top, virus

Computers

Conficker Virus to Hijack Computers on April Fool's Day?

by Terrence O'Brien — Mar 27th 2009 at 6:10AM

Conficker Set to Hijack Infected Machines April Fool's Day

It's been a while since we last reported on developments in the Conficker virus saga -- primarily because there hasn't been much progress. The dangerous virus is still out there infecting PCs and scaring the hell out of security experts.

According to CNN, the Conficker Cabal (a self-named group of computer scientists and security companies) dug through the code of the virus and discovered that it's programmed to download an update on April 1st. Yes, on April Fool's Day, a master computer could take control of the millions of infected PCs and turn them into a massive network of criminal-controlled computers. The countdown has begun, but experts in the Conficker Cabal aren't sure exactly what to expect; Conficker could easily erase data on infected PCs, take down Web sites, or (more likely) inundate users with prompts to buy fake security software.

Tags: april fools, april fools day, AprilFools, AprilFoolsDay, conficker, security, top, virus

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Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."

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Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?

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