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Jan 12, 2010
Microsoft Outlook Alert Phishing Attack
We appear to be in the middle of a massive phishing attack, this time using Microsoft Outlook alert messages to lure unsuspecting users into clicking on a link — which ends up stealing banking info (and, assumably, draining users’ accounts). The new bogus Microsoft Outlook email attack follows similar ... more  
   
Jan 08, 2010
Social Networking Sites’ Top 10 Security Breaches Of 2009
Network World has a good wrapup of the top 10 security-related stories of 2009 involving social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Such stories illustrate the need for good web fraud prevention in the new world of social networking. Because social networks, while user-friendly and generally open to ... more  
   
Jan 07, 2010
Zeus Responsible For One Out Of Ten Botnets
The do-it-yourself build-a-botnet kit called Zeus is, according to Damballa, responsible for one out of every ten botnets which exist today. This is likely due to two factors — ease of use/configuration, and price. The Zeus botnet kit sells for between $400 and $700, putting it at the ... more  
   
Jan 06, 2010
Waledac Botnet Bigger Than Previously Thought
The Waledac botnet, the “son of” the infamous Storm botnet, is now reportedly a lot bigger than anyone had thought. German researchers who infiltrated the botnet itself report back that the size and scope of the Waledac botnet is a lot bigger than anyone had previously estimated. Earlier ... more  
   
Dec 31, 2009
PC World’s “Top 10 Security Nightmares of the Decade”
Short post today, since New Year’s is upon us. PC World magazine has the best “end of the decade” list out that I’ve seen yet, which lists their “top 10 security nightmares,” and is well worth reading for those who want a look back. Remember, 10 years ago at ... more  
   
Dec 30, 2009
This Just In: Spam Actually Works
A shocking — shocking! — story is making the rounds of the media currently, to the tune of: “spam actually works.” What a surprise! The notion that email scammers are actually making money at what they do, instead of clogging the pipeline of the world’s email just for ... more  
   
Dec 29, 2009
The Story Behind The Mega-D Takedown
The Mega-D botnet, at one point, was responsible for almost 12% of all spam, and infected over 250,000 computers worldwide. When it was taken down at the beginning of last month, MessageLabs reported it had shrunk to “less than 0.1 percent” of spam. This amazing feat was pulled ... more  
   
Dec 24, 2009
Was Citigroup Hacked Or Not?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Citigroup was the victim of a botnet attack this year which resulted in the theft of “tens of millions of dollars,” but SCMagazine is already refuting this with a vigorous denial by the bank. Of course, banks rarely wish to draw attention to ... more  
   
Dec 22, 2009
New Cyber-Czar Announced
The Obama Administration has just announced the appointment of a “cyber-czar” to oversee federal cybersecurity across the entire national government, and his name is Howard A. Schmidt — who previously worked for the Bush Administration in a similar capacity. This is not entirely surprising, since combatting cyber-criminals is not ... more  
   
Dec 21, 2009
Upcoming Botnet Trends
As 2009 draws to a close, network security specialists are taking a look at what can be expected in the never-ending battle against botnets. On the rise next year, PC World predicts, will be attacks on file-sharing networks and partner programs. That last one is insidious, because the ... more  
   

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