"Surprisingly, teen stars Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus were at the bottom of the list and considered relatively safe choices.
Yes, Cameron Diaz is very pretty, but think before you push that download button."
http://technology.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978455267
The recent computer attacks on the mighty Google left every corporate network in the world looking a little less safe.
Google’s confrontation with China — over government censorship in general and specific attacks on its systems — is an exceptional case, of course, extending to human rights and international politics as well as high-tech spying. But the intrusion into Google’s computers and related attacks from within China on some 30 other companies point to the rising sophistication of such assaults and the vulnerability of even the best defenses, security experts say.
“The Google case shines a bright light on what can be done in terms of spying and getting into corporate networks,” said Edward M. Stroz, a former high-tech crime agent with the F.B.I.who now heads a computer security investigation firm in New York.
Computer security is an ever-escalating competition between so-called black-hat attackers and white-hat defenders. One of the attackers’ main tools is malicious software, known as malware, which has steadily evolved in recent years. Malware was once mainly viruses and worms, digital pests that gummed up and sometimes damaged personal computers and networks.
Malware today, however, is likely to be more subtle and selective, nesting inside corporate networks. And it can be a tool for industrial espionage, transmitting digital copies of trade secrets, customer lists, future plans and contracts.
Data taken from the days between May 4 and 8 showed that 84.6 percent of Websites blocked by the company for hosting malicious content were 'well-established' domains that have been around for a year or more.
During the same period, 10.2 percent of blocked domains were less than a year old and only 3.1 percent were less than a week old.
At first glance this, this runs counter to the assumption that malicious Websites more commonly exist for only days or hours in some cases, the better to avoid detection and filtering. This is termed "fast-fluxing," cycling websites through a maze of bogus sub-domains.
However, according to MessageLabs, the likely explanation is that a move to genuine domains means that the fast-fluxing has now migrated to use a different part of the domain tree.
"The bad guys will compromise the DNS and add sub-domains," said MessageLabs' Paul Wood. The recent figure represented a high mark, admitted Wood, but still represented a gathering storm.
"People need to be extra vigilant and understand that even sites they know and trust can be compromised through attacks such as SQL injection attacks, while businesses need to ensure they take the necessary precautions to block all the latest malicious sites," said Wood.
"With the ever advancing world of cybercrime, nothing can be taken at face value."
http://www.pcworld.com/article/165014/attacks_come_from_legit_hijacked_sites.html?tk=rss_news
Twelve million computers have been hijacked by cyber-criminals and detected by security vendor McAfree since January, the firm has said.
It reports there has been a 50% increase in the number of detected so-called "zombie" computers since 2008.
The true number of newly-hijacked PCs is likely to be higher than those detected by McAfee alone.
The figures come as a report from Deloitte said a global approach to cyber-security is needed.
"Doing nothing is not an option," said Deloitte's Greg Pellegrino.
More details are emerging about how the FBI engages in hacking and the planting of spyware.
This story goes back to at least 2001 when Bob Sullivan of MSNBC and Ted Birdis of AP broke the story of Magic Lantern. At the time the FBI did not want to say much, but now there is real information that clears up some things and reinforces real concerns over this approach.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/163590/is_fbi_behind_spyware.html?tk=rss_news
 MSNBC.com |
SAN FRANCISCO - The fast-moving Conficker computer worm, a scourge of the Internet that has infected at least 3 million PCs, is set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday — April Fools' Day.
Someone whose machine is infected might have to reinstall the operating system.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29956746/
The Supreme Court on Monday said it is refusing to consider reinstating the Commonwealth of Virginia's junk e-mail law.
The court's inaction upholds an earlier ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court that Virginia's Computer Crimes Act violates First Amendment rights. The broad law prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk e-mails, including those containing political, religious, or other speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Virginia State Attorney General Bill Mims, according to other reports, is planning to draft a new antispam law in the next General Assembly session to address constitutional concerns.
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Some people won't go online if they cannot brake the law there it seems.
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Piracy law cuts internet traffic
2 Apr 2009 14:10 BST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/mobile/bbc_news/technology/797/79788/story7978853.shtml
Internet traffic in Sweden fell by 33% as the country's new anti-piracy law came into effect, reports suggest.
Sweden's new policy - the Local IPRED law - allows copyright holders to force internet service providers (ISP) to reveal details of users sharing files.
Figures from Netnod, a Swedish firm that measures internet traffic in and out of the country, suggest traffic fell from an average of 120Gbps to 80Gbps on the day the new law came into effect.
"Copying: It's in our DNA!"
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