February 19th, 2009 | 
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F-Secure and Fortinet are investigating a newly discovered mobile malware identified as SymbOS/Yxes.A!worm or ?Sexy View?. The malware is affecting S60 3rd Edition series devices, and has a valid certificate signed by Symbian tricking the mobile device user into thinking it?s a legitimate application. In terms of propagation, ?Sexy View? propagates by collecting all the phone numbers from the infected device, and then SMS-es itself to all of them including a link to a web site hosting a copy of it.
SymbOS/Yxes.A!worm is the second mobile malware detected in the wild for 2009, followed by last month?s discovery of Trojan-SMS.Python.Flocker by Kaspersky Labs. A trend, a fad, or opportunists experimenting for mobile malware?s prime time in 2009?…
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Intel Corp. is suing partner NVIDIA to stop it from developing compatible chipsets for future generation Intel processors, a sign that the world’s largest chipmaker isn’t taking favorably to NVIDIA’s encroachment on the market, which has recently resulted in a loss of business from Apple.
In the complaint filed Monday in Delaware Chancery Court, Intel alleges that NVIDIA’s plans to develop chipsets for Intel’s emerging Nehalem microarchitecture will violate a patent-licensing agreement the two Santa Clara, Calif.-based companies signed back in 2004.
That agreement paved the way for NVIDIA’s MCP79 platform, a chipset compatible with Intel’s current-generation of Core processors, to find its way into Apple’s entire notebook family last October at Intel’s expense. However, Intel maintains that the agreement does not extend to new processors that include integrated memory functionality…
Internet attack trackers and antivirus companies warn that a flaw in Internet Explorer 7 (but not earlier versions) that Microsoft just patched last week is under attack in the wild. The attacks appear to be targeted and small-scale right now, but will likely grow.
Trend Micro describes a somewhat roundabout attack that starts with an e-mailed .doc file that, when opened, exploits the MS09-002 vulnerability to download and install remote-control backdoor malware.
Trend writes that this approach is likely part of a targeted attack. Such assaults typically involve more legwork on the part of crooks to construct a realistic spam message that may appear to come from a co-worker, for instance, and have a poisoned .doc or other file attached…
A service launched this week unblocks Caller ID information that the caller thinks is blocked, causing concern among those who help abused women.
TrapCall.com lets people rig some AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA phones so that if a call comes in with blocked Caller ID and is rejected, it rings again, this time displaying the number of the caller.
The basic service if free. The Web site charges for plans with more advanced services, like call recording and Caller ID with name.
The Web site said the service can be useful for people who get harassing phone calls…
A federal judge has ruled against a US couple who accused Google of invading their privacy by publishing a Street View picture of their house in the Internet giant’s free online map service.
US magistrate judge Amy Reynolds Hay on Tuesday rejected the couple’s claims that Google owed them cash damages for using a picture of their Pennsylvania property snapped from a private road.
Google uses cars equipped with cameras to drive about taking 360-degree images it weaves into its mapping service in a Street View feature that provides online glimpses of selected locations.
In April of last year, Aaron and Christine Boring of Pennsylvania filed suit charging Google with trespass, negligence, invasion of privacy, and unjustly enriching itself by profiting from the photo of their property…
Google will use its software skills to help consumers track their home energy usage and thereby lower demand and the global warming emissions that come from producing electricity.
The move is part of Google’s effort to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into renewable energy, electricity-grid upgrades and other measures that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The company has already invested in several fledgling solar, wind and geothermal companies, as well as two “smart grid” companies.
Smart grid describes a more efficient, less costly method of moving electricity along long-distance transmission lines to local power lines and end-users in homes and businesses.
On its official company blog, Google said it is developing a smart grid tool called Google PowerMeter that will show home energy consumption almost in real time on a user’s computer…
More than 4,000 web users every day are being infected by the Pinch Trojan, even though its creators are now behind bars, says Prevx.
According to the security fim, a new version of the malware is penetrating existing antivirus software and then hides on a PC, stealing sensitive personal data such as bank account log-ins and passwords.
Prevx says that currently the Trojan is affecting web users in the US and South America with under 25 percent of those infected based in the UK…
Facebook is planning to exploit the vast amount of personal information it holds on its 150 million members by creating one of the world’s largest market research databases.
In an attempt to finally cash in on the social networking site, once valued at $US15 billion ($23.6 billion), it will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products. Companies will be able to pose questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight…
Global Internet usage reached over 1 billion unique visitors in the month of December, with 41.3 percent coming from the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report released Friday by comScore.
The study looked at Internet users over the age of 15, who accessed the net from their home or work computers in the month of December.
Europe grabbed the next largest slice, with 28 percent of the global Internet audience, followed by the U.S. with an 18.4 percent slice.
But Latin America, while holding a much smaller piece of 7.4 percent of the global Internet audience, is the one to watch, noted Jamie Gavin, a comScore senior analyst.
“The U.S. is slowing down in its growth and momentum, but Latin America, with social networking and the mobile Internet, is expected to gain momentum over the next few years,” Gavin said…
Yahoo has taken new steps to sharpen its Webmail service’s antispam capabilities, including the adoption of two commercial technologies and the testing of an open-source system, the company said Tuesday.
Abaca announced that Yahoo will use its e-mail security technology designed to detect malicious phishing and spam messages and filter them out of Yahoo Mail inboxes.
Meanwhile, Return Path said separately that Yahoo will implement its Complaint Feedback Loop, a service that notifies legitimate e-mail marketers whenever end users tag their messages as spam, so that they can investigate why, such as using an incorrect mailing list, and take corrective action…
