Security firms issue warning over email worm

Computer security firms have issued warnings over a computer virus that arrives by email offering downloads of "free sex movies" or documents.

McAfee Labs said the "Here you have" virus, which attacks users of computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system, takes its name from the subject line in the emails sent to unsuspecting recipients.

Facebook facing increased phishing attacks

Network world - True to the dictum that popularity extracts its own price, Facebook has left eBay behind, becoming the second most popular target for phishers using spam e-mails.

According to security solutions company Kaspersky Lab's July 2010 report on worldwide spam activity, Facebook accounted for 12.81 per cent of phishing messages--more than three times as much as in the month of June.

The e-commerce business PayPal remained in first place after being targeted by more than half (53.48 per cent) of all phishing attacks.

Despite hacks, Philippine cyberspace still ’safe’ but for how long?

The Philippines has been slowly sliding from the list of most vulnerable countries against cybercriminals, according to at least two separate reports from Internet security companies.

A report by Kaspersky Labs for the second quarter of 2010 indicated that the Philippines was knocked off the 19th place for being the most attacked country in the world by cybercriminals, replaced by Bangladesh.

Cybercriminals have somewhat lost some interest in using the Philippines as a host for their Internet attacks lately. Kaspersky ranked the Philippines in 18th place in the second quarter this year for hosting malicious applications, up from eighth place in the first quarter.

Alleged Ransomware Gang Investigated by Moscow Police

Russian police are reportedly investigating a criminal gang that installed malicious "ransomware" programs on thousands of PCs and then forced victims to send SMS messages in order to unlock their PCs.

The scam has been ongoing and may have made Russian criminals millions of dollars, according to reports by Russian news agencies. Russian police seized computer equipment and detained a Russian "crime family" in connection with the crime, the ITAR-TASS News Agency reported Tuesday.

Russian-language reports say that 10 people are expected to be charged and that tens of thousands of Russian-language victims were hit by the scam, which also affected users in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

Web threats to continue - security vendors

Thailand - Vendors of security software have warned that Web threats will continue to plague Internet users.

Increasingly, their concerns focus on the theft of confidential information. This arises from the increasing number of people using the Internet and the likelihood these days that they will share confidential information by instant messenger, e-mail or social-media applications.

Hackers accidentally give Microsoft their code

When hackers crash their systems while developing viruses, the code is often sent directly to Microsoft, according to one of its senior security architects, Rocky Heckman.

When the hacker's system crashes in Windows, as with all typical Windows crashes, Heckman said the user would be prompted to send the error details — including the malicious code — to Microsoft. The funny thing is that many say yes, according to Heckman.

"People have sent us their virus code when they're trying to develop their virus and they keep crashing their systems," Heckman said. "It's amazing how much stuff we get."

Oman: Antivirus solution for 35,000 PCs

The Ministry of Education has implemented a new online virus detection solution for 35,000 PC terminal users in response to rapidly increasing malware volumes. The ministry has adopted the antivirus for Windows Workstation of Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, to beef up its network security and reduce vulnerability and exposure to hackers, spam and virus.

"The detection rates of the previous vendor's solution could not keep up with the rate of infections and the Ministry of Education took the decision to identify a new solution to resolve the issue at endpoint level," said the ministry's spokesperson Ali bin Suleiman al Hinai. "We chose Kaspersky Lab because of its high detection rates of viruses and the solution's ability to perform with the minimum resources possible. Our tests of Kaspersky Lab's product on one of our live servers showed that it detected and removed more malware than any other solutions we tried.

Smartphone could prove a dumb move

That new smartphone you've just bought may be useful, but it could also be a homing beacon for criminals without you even knowing it.

Stefan Tanase, a senior researcher at online security company Kaspersky, has warned that disclosing your location through social networking sites and GPS applications on your smartphone could lead to cyber and real-life crime.

Scammers Hit Twitter, Facebook, Send Free IPad Spam

Facebook and Twitter users are complaining about their accounts being compromised and then being used to spam friends with suspicious "free iPad offers."

Twitter warned users of the scam, Wednesday, saying that it was resetting passwords of affected users. "If you've received a message promising you a new iPad, not only is there no iPad, but also your friends have been hacked," Twitter said

The scam is also hitting Facebook users to, according to company spokesman Simon Axten. "It's affecting an extremely small percentage of people on Facebook, but we take all threats seriously," he said via e-mail.

Gerome Stevens discovered that his Twitter account had been used to direct message contacts late Wednesday. He's not sure how the scammers got into his account, but they sent direct messages to his friends, that said, "u have to check out this website its glitchin right now and sending out ipads to everyone for free!"

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Hackers invade iTunes accounts, buy gift card codes

Cybercriminals are stepping up the hijacking of Apple iTunes accounts, often leaving consumers distraught.

Hijackers buy iTunes logons from e-mail phishers expert at tricking you into typing your credentials at spoofed websites. ITunes logons also get stolen and sold off by hackers who spread computer infections containing keystroke loggers that capture logons as you type them.

Hijackers often begin by testing a few $1 purchases before moving on to larger transactions. They typically buy iTunes gift card codes, usually in $50 to $200 amounts. They then sell the codes — which can be used like cash to buy music and videos — at a steep discount, openly on the Internet. "Any online account that allows the transfer of funds can be a cash cow," says Randy Eset, education director for anti-virus firm ESET.

Apple says there is little it can do about iTunes account hijacking. The company advises victims to change their passwords and contact their financial institution about being made whole.

ITunes hijacking has been happening for at least a year. It heated up after CEO Steve Jobs boasted at a June conference that Apple supports 150 million iTunes users, says Kurt Baumgartner, senior researcher at Kaspersky Lab. continue reading

Kaspersky Lab Americas Named Overall Winner of Everything Channel's Annual Report Card for Third Consecutive Year

Kaspersky Lab Recognized for the Quality of Its Reseller Partner Program and Superior Partner Support.

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of Internet threat protection solutions that defend against computer viruses, spyware and all forms of malicious software, today announced that it has been named the Overall Winner of the Client Security Software category in Everything Channel's prestigious 2010 CRN Annual Report Card (ARC). For 25 years, the Annual Report Card has served as the definitive benchmark of vendor/partner relationships, and an industry standard for measuring excellence in the channel community.

In addition to being recognized as the Overall Winner in the Client Security Software category, Kaspersky Lab also won the top spot for the Support in Client Security Software category and the Partnership in Client Security Software category. The Kaspersky Lab Green Team Partner Program offers scalable security solutions to maximize partners' competitive edge and market reach. After being updated in May 2010, Kaspersky Lab's Green Team Partner Program offers the value-added channel a variety of services that are focused on creating maximum profitability and excellent support for every business partner.

Quotes:
Nancy Reynolds, Senior Vice President Channel Sales and Support, Americas
Kaspersky Lab Americas
"On behalf of everyone at Kaspersky Lab, we extend a large thank you to all of our partners for placing your trust in us and for making Kaspersky Lab the great company that it has become. This honor demonstrates our consistent commitment to our partners. We look forward to continuing our business partnerships."

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Top 10 Countries Sending Spam (Aug 16-Aug 22)

Just when it looked like Brazil was on track to dislodge India from the top position among the top 10 nations sending spam, they instead fell 2 positions to 4th according to spam data collected by ICSA Labs. India retained the top spot and Russia climbed back into second as a result of Brazil's fall. Also of interest is that for the past several weeks the United States has accounted for an increasing percentage of spam compared to being relatively flat earlier in the year. In addition to checking out last week's top 10, also see the graph comparing spam percentages over the last several months for many of the top spam sending nations.

Via; ICSA lab

PayPal Charges Result in Renewed Publicity Surrounding iTunes Account Phishing Attacks

A report in the San Jose Mercury News yesterday and a follow-up post by TechCrunch this morning are again bringing publicity to users who have experienced unauthorized charges via their iTunes Store accounts. According to the reports, the majority of complaints are coming from PayPal users who have linked their payment accounts to their iTunes Store accounts.

At least one group of scammers has found a way to charge thousands of dollars to iTunes accounts through PayPal. One targeted customer told us, "My account was charged over $4700. I called security at PayPal and was told a large number of iTunes store accounts were compromised." His email was filled with nearly 50 receipts from PayPall for $99.99 each. He was able to catch it before his bank disbursed funds to PayPal.
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TDSS: Rootkit technologies at the heart of cybercrime

Kaspersky Lab publicize that TDSS is the most powerful and complex rootkit to date.

This universal malware can hide its own presence and that of other malware on an infected system while offering enhanced opportunities. In order to penetrate computers, TDSS infects drivers; this ensures that it will be launched almost immediately the operating system is started. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to detect and remove this rootkit.

Kaspersky Lab has invested significant time and effort into solving the issues raised by TDSS. This article looks at the technologies implemented in TDSS, the way in which the rootkit spreads, and how cybercriminals profit from this malware. TDSS is spread via an affiliate program which uses all methods possible to deliver malware to victim machines. The rootkit attacks computers around the world. Kaspersky Lab estimates that 3 million computers have been infected by the rootkit. Affiliates earn money according to the number of computers they infect; the highest payment is made for machines located in the USA.

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