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5 Essential Tips to Keep Your PC Safe
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Man Builds Biological Virus Sculptures From Salvaged PCs
Judging by the pictures McCluer posts alongside his models, these sculptures are pretty accurate. There's the 'Transformer 'Virus,' which looks like the common cold and uses yellow PC transformers. Then, there's the 'Capacitor Virus,' which represents the rhinovirus and uses, of course, assorted PC capacitors. With all the talk about swine flu lately, it's nice to know that these viruses can't harm you. [From: The 30 Computers Project, via Neatorama]
Clampi Virus Targets Users at Banks and Credit Card Sites
Keeping up with the latest Web security threats is a daunting task, because viruses and trojans emerge, evolve, and spread at an alarming rate. While some infections like Nine Ball, Conficker, and Gumblar have hit the scene and immediately become the scourge of the cyber security world, others take their time -- quietly infiltrating more and more computers before revealing the true depth of the danger they pose.One such slow grower is Clampi, a trojan that made its debut as early as 2007 (depending on who you ask) but is only now raising hairs outside professional security circles. Clampi primarily spreads via malicious sites designed to dispense malware, but it's also been spotted on legitimate sites that have been hacked to host malicious links and ads. Using these methods, Clampi has infected as many as half a million computers, Joe Stewart, of SecureWorks, told a crowd at the Black Hat Security Conference in July, USA Today reports.
Searching for 'Jessica Biel' Is Bad for Your Computer
Reuters reports that Jessica Biel topped a list of the riskiest A-list celebrity names to search on the Web. The list, compiled by Internet security company McAfee Inc., found that users have a one-in-five chance of being directed to a malicious site when searching for Biel's name. It should come as no surprise that hackers use popular trends to infect computers and steal personal information. Last year, Brad Pitt topped McAfee's list, and he ranked only tenth in 2009.
Don't Panic Over Cell Phone Viruses, Says N.Y. Times
Cell phones, long considered to be immune from malicious viruses due to the variety of different operating systems and the strict policies of providers, have recently demonstrated a vulnerability to viral infection (specifically smartphones with downloading capabilities). Despite the growing risk of handset botnets, the New York Times assures us there is no immediate need for panic or concern.
Verizon is currently the only cell manufacturer promoting anti-virus software for mobiles, even though (so far), the only smartphones affected by hackers and botnets have been Symbian-based Nokia phones and the iPhone. The so-called 'Sexy Space' botnet involves a text message containing a malicious link, which, once opened by a Nokia smart phone, could disseminate spam and even spread to, and attack, computer networks.
'CoooooL Video' Facebook Spam Message Totally UncoooooL
If your profile is already sending the messages, Mashable suggests you do the following: clear all cookies from your browser's settings, change your Facebook password, and -- as always -- update your anti-virus software and run a full scan. Follow those steps, and you should be safe from 'CoooooL Video.' We, ourselves, aren't worried about it. If one of our Facebook friends spelled 'cool' that way, they'd be de-friended immediately, anyway. [From: Mashable]
Links to Nude Erin Andrews Video Lead to Virus Instead
According to ABC News, hackers have begun embedding viruses into links that supposedly lead to the video. Hundreds of computers have already been infected by the malware, which can allow hackers to steal personal information or render a hard drive useless. Gary Warner, the head of computer forensics at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, told ABC News that Twitter is spreading the links like wildfire, largely via shortened URLs. Many places took down the video after Andrews's lawyers stepped in and promised to take civil and criminal action against those involved. However, there still are some cached versions out there.
'Sexy Space' Botnet Could Make Your Phone a Zombie
Botnets, networks of infected devices that work together to send spam and steal data, are already quite commonplace on PCs. But now, security firm Symantec reports that it has discovered the world's first cell phone botnet.It was only a couple of months ago that we got our first warning that botnets might be making their way to handsets, but now the first one, called 'Sexy Space,' has been spotted in the wild. The virus is passed along via a text message that includes a link and text about "A very sexy girl. Try it now!" Classy.
It may be difficult for the virus to spread, however. Users need to click the link (and download software) to become infected, and, due to the number of different cell phone operating systems, the botnet is contained to one type of handset. (In this case, it appears to be Symbian-based Nokia phones.) So, even in a worst case scenario, a mobile botnet would never be as widespread as a Windows PC-based infection.
'Smooth Criminal' Spammers Capitalizing on Michael Jackson's Death
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.
Ads Used to Spread Malware on Reputable Sites
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.
Cell Phones, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 101
Major Security Flaw Found in BlackBerry Software
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]
40,000 Hacked Web Sites Could Infect Your Computer
"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).
Thought the Conficker Virus Was Bad? Gumblar Is Even Worse.
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.
When It Comes to Viruses, Smartphones Can Be Dumb
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. Online Search Words to Watch Out For
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]
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