Lookout Mobile Security, a security research firm, has discovered a new Android-based malware family dubbed — in what must be considered one of the more apt names for more malware — “BadNews.” And it is, truly, bad news: the affected applications, according to Lookout, have been downloaded 2,000,000 to 9,000,000 times from the Google Play store.
Usually when two people or companies get into a spat, very few bystanders get affected. This time a spat between Spamhaus and Cyberbunker is slowing down the global web. Everyone seems to have been affected in some way shape or form. It seems that Cyberbunker has unleashed a nuclear denial of service (DDOS) attack in the ongoing grudge match.
The New York Times claims that it suffered a major hacking operation, and was infiltrated by what appears to be Chinese hackers over the last four months, according to a report published by the Times on Wednesday, January 30th. The hackers were apparently retaliating against the international news organization for its critical story of new Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao’s wealth, and gained access to the passwords of every Times employee. Especially targeted were the journalists who wrote the story on Wen and his family.
Most virus creators rely on exploiting human behavior such as tricking people into clicking bogus links. Now it appears scammers in China find it simpler to just put the virus on the computer before the customer even gets it.
On Monday July 9 many of the computers still infected by the DNSChanger trojan horse malware will be disconnected from the Internet. Be warned, online blackouts are never fun.
Apple is facing a serious problem, that of malware targeted specifically at Mac computers. So says Eugene Kaspersky, the founder and CEO of security software company Kaspersky.
For years one of the many selling points of buying an Apple computer was the fact that they rarely got a virus or a trojan. Unfortunately for at least 550,000 Mac owners worldwide, they have computers that are infected with the Flashback Trojan. Apple already knows about it and has already sent out a fix but that doesn’t mean that the infected computers are fixed. It’s a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse has gotten out.
The office responsible for overseeing NASA’s activities has reported some spectacular security breaches. Not only did Chinese-based hackers briefly gain control of a lab’s network, but a stolen laptop contained unencrypted codes for controlling the International Space Station.
Google’s mobile operating system gets a lot of grief for fragmentation. For better, worse and whatever comes after that, the platform is actually standardizing and rapidly so. In fact, a 55 percent and increasing share of active devices are running a version of Android that Google released two Christmases ago.
The big black hole of personal computer security can usually be found right between the user’s ears. From phishing (miracle weight loss, cheap Viagra, anyone?) to the subject of this wake up call, passwords, it’s people like you and me making bad, bad and easily avoidable choices.
Any computer can be hacked, it’s simply a matter of time, motivation and, increasingly less, skill. If you want to exploit Adobe Flash, the source of much hacker inspiration, there are ready made exploit kits available for download. With Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and, yes, even Adobe turning to HTML5, the question of security comes to mind.
Malware distributors who try to trick people using topical subjects are, of course, the scum of the earth. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t acknowledge that some of them are more skilful than others.
Too often the words “open and free” can be summarized with a single word, “infection,” thus presenting an increasingly dire situation that Google and its Android partners ignore at their peril.
If you’re considering coding a website using Adobe’s malodorous multimedia middleware, unless you want to do it again very soon, think again. When Microsoft ships Windows 8 in 2012, about 365 days from now, one of the two browsers on offer won’t support plugins of any kind and that includes Adobe’s Flash.
What do you want in a smartphone? For many people, “is a phone, does that touch thing and can play Angry Birds” pretty much covers it. If the salesperson adds “free” or “buy one, get one free” to the pitch and the customer’s walking out the door with a bag.
What a difference a year makes. In 2010, Apple’s CEO was vilified by the haters for saying what everyone knew was true — Adobe’s bloated multimedia middleware would never run well on mobile, is woefully insecure and uses resources like a Hummer driving Republican. The haters still hate, but most everything else has changed.
No matter who you are and what devices you use, the sky is indeed falling — pain is coming. However, the rate at which the heavens are crashing down depends greatly on which widgets you use and Android folks will be screwed faster and more often.
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