Archive for the ‘PC Security’ Category
August 30th, 2008 | 
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Microsoft has released a second test version of Internet Explorer 8, delivering a feature-complete upgrade to the world’s most widely used web browser.
The world’s largest software maker said the latest version – beta 2 – of Internet Explorer, which has a market share of about 75 per cent, comes with new features to enhance privacy, ease-of-use, and security.
Microsoft first released a test – or beta 1 – version of IE 8 in March, but that was aimed at letting web developers take a first look at the new browser. This latest version is aimed at a broader consumer audience…
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About all those fancy security measures Microsoft put into Windows Vista… well, they’re now pretty much useless, according to security experts from IBM and VMware presenting a new attack methodology at this week’s Black Hat security conference.
The details of the latest attack are complicated to explain, but they essentially outline ways to use .NET, Java, and Microsoft’s ActiveX system to bypass Vista’s security via a web browser. Any browser can be used, but Internet Explorer makes the security bypass even easier, letting an attacker insert data into a running machine at any place he chooses. The researchers note that the attack doesn’t exploit any new vulnerability in Vista but rather takes advantage of the architecture of the OS and the way Windows tends to trust code fragments. In broad terms, if one component of Windows trusts a piece of code, for example, and passes it on to another component, then that second component will often automatically trust the code too, and so on. Browsers are increasingly being seen as the easiest “way in” for malware.
Just because a “friend” sends you something on Facebook or MySpace doesn’t mean you should trust it.
A new worm is spreading via Facebook and MySpace, turning victims’ computers into zombies on a botnet, Kaspersky Lab said on Friday.
Basically, infected machines are propagating the worm by sending messages via the social networks to friends in the network.
The messages look like they contain links to video clips. When clicked on they prompt the recipient to download an executable file that purports to be the latest version of Flash Player. Instead, it is the worm itself, infecting yet another victim.
When infected machines log onto the social networks the next time their computers automatically send the malicious messages out to new victims grabbed from the friend list, said Ryan Naraine, security evangelist at Kaspersky…
At the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas next week, researchers will demonstrate software they’ve developed that could steal online credentials from users of popular Web sites such as Facebook, eBay and Google.
The attack relies on a new type of hybrid file that looks like different things to different programs. By placing these files on Web sites that allow users to upload their own images, the researchers can circumvent security systems and take over the accounts of Web surfers who use these sites.
“We’ve been able to come up with a Java applet that for all intents and purposes is an image,” said John Heasman, vice president of research at Next Generation Security Software Ltd…
Only hours after it fixed nine vulnerabilities in several of its programs, Microsoft Corp. late Tuesday confirmed that attackers are exploiting an unpatched bug in Word.
In a security advisory it issued shortly before 10 p.m. EST, the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) said attackers were exploiting a flaw in Word 2002. However, MSRC spokesman Bill Sisk downplayed the threat. “At this time, Microsoft is aware only of limited, targeted attacks that attempt to use this vulnerability,” Sisk said in an e-mail.
As is its practice, Microsoft provided few details of the vulnerability other than to say that it could be triggered by rigged Word documents if the user opened them. The company did not say how the in-the-wild attacks were delivering the malicious .doc files, but if the past is any indicator, criminals are sending malformed files as e-mail attachments…
Internet security researchers warned that hackers have caught on to a “critical” flaw that lets them control traffic on the internet.
An elite squad of computer industry engineers that labored in secret to solve the problem released a software “patch” two weeks ago and sought to keep details of the vulnerability hidden for at least a month to give people time to protect computers from attacks.
“We are in a lot of trouble,” said IOActive security specialist Dan Kaminsky, who stumbled upon the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability about six months ago and reached out to industry giants to collaborate on a solution.
“This attack is very good. This attack is being weaponised out in the field. Everyone needs to patch, please. This is a big deal.”…
Apple Inc. yesterday patched 40 security vulnerabilities in more than 25 different components and applications bundled with Mac OS X, including Flash Player, iCal and Apache.
The year’s third update fixed fewer than half as many flaws as the previous collection, which Apple issued two months ago to plug nearly 90 holes.
Apple tagged 16 of the 40 patches in Wednesday’s update with its “arbitrary code execution” phrasing, putting them into the category most other vendors would label “critical.”
According to the Security Update 2008-003 advisory, the most-patched components by vulnerability count were Apple’s version of the Apache open-source Web server (eight bugs fixed) and the version of Adobe’s Flash Player that Apple tucks into Mac OS X (seven flaws patched)…
Adware pushers have found a new way to trick you into downloading their annoying products: fake MP3 files.
On Tuesday, security vendor McAfee reported that it’s seen a huge spike in fake MP3 files spreading on peer-to-peer networks. Although the files have names that make them look like audio recordings, they’re really Trojan horse programs that try to install a shoddy media player and adware on your computer, said Craig Schmugar, a researcher with McAfee.
“Once you run it, there is no content. You’re taken to this site to install this player which you don’t really need,” he said…
Huge spikes in automated password guessing attacks against Australian computer servers show geographical isolation offers no protection against internet-borne threats.
Data compiled for Next by security vendor Arbor Networks also shows the US remains the largest single source of malicious internet background noise targeting Australian computers.
China ranks as the second-largest source of the noise, generated by virus-infected PCs pseudo-randomly scanning for other systems to attack.
“Some countries have better infrastructure than others or are better able to patch their systems,” says Robert Malan, the founder and chief technology officer of Arbor Networks.
Often networks of thousands of compromised computers are controlled centrally by virus writers. These so-called “bot networks” can send spam, infect other systems and launch denial-of-service attacks against legitimate and grey-market businesses such as online casinos.
Hackers are paying top dollar on international blackmarkets for computers from Australia that have been unknowingly hijacked and infected with spyware.
A Russian malware distribution site offers $US100 for a haul of 1000 spyware-infected Australian machines, double the price offered for US machines and 30 times more than those from Asia.
Philip Routley, product marketing manager at internet security firm MessageLabs, said he believed the high price tag on Australian machines was due to the fact that Australians were more ignorant about computer security threats than people from other parts of the world…
