Get ready to hear some Apple fanboy rage. CEO and founder of security vendor Kaspersky Labs, Eugene Kaspersky, has said that Apple’s security for its Mac OS X operating system is ten years behind Microsoft’s Windows.
Topic: Malware
New Windows zero-day exploit bypasses UAC
Microsoft has today confirmed that it has begun investigating a new zero-day exploit that allows a malicious attacker to bypass the User Account Control (UAC) on limited access accounts and execute code that could cause damage to the system.
According to Prevx, the exploit is a weakness in the win32k.sys file, an important system file that connects the kernel of various Windows subsystems.
Ever wondered where computer viruses get their names from?
This article is part of Security Month, a month-long TECHGEEK.com.au initiative to have a look at the security industry and the entire subject as a whole.
This guest post was written by Catalin Cosoi, BitDefender senior antispam researcher.
Anyone who has ever created something new is granted the right to name it. However, given that computer viruses are born with the purpose of underhand destruction and disruption, they are perhaps an exception to the norm. Why would any virus creator in their right mind want to drop any hints via their virus’s name that may incriminate them? Further, why would we want to give them the glory or the limelight?
Which begs the question, how do computer viruses get their names? The short answer: there is no unanimous way to classify viruses and their names but in order to raise the general awareness of viruses, more familiar terms are often chosen.
Big W photo kisoks infect customers with virus
If you have ever used a Big W photo kiosk, then we really suggest you scan your computers right now.
Why? Well, the store has confirmed that some of its kiosks have been infected with malware, after a posting by an IT profesional claimed that his USB was infected with Trojan.Poison-36.
Vietnam rejects Google claims of hacking
Google’s claims that Vietnamese computer users were spied on and blogs critical of the government were hacked into were rejected by Vietnamese authorities talking to the AFP, telling the news agency that these were “groundless opinions”.
A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vietnam has “specific regulations against computer viruses, harmful software and for ensuring information security and secrecy.”
Snow Leopard’s malware protection scans only for two trojan infections
Remember when Apple confirmed the much-hyped malware protection in Snow Leopard; well, it turns out that its nothing more than a XProtect.plist file that contains five file signatures for only two, and the most popular, trojans out there infecting Macs – OSX.RSPlug and OSX.Iservice.
Apple confirms Snow Leopard malware protection feature
Apple has now confirmed the rumours of the existence of some malware protection software in the new operating system. According to The Loop, it scans and checks all files downloaded via Safari, iChat and Mail. As seen in the above image, it will indicate which file contains what type of malware and will note the time and date when you downloaded the file, which application downloaded it, and where from.
Conficker brings up fake antivirus software
Researchers from both Trend Micro and Kaspersky Lab have found another feature in the Conficker worm that could, finally, give us another clue on what the hell are they’re planning – the worm installs malware that is disguised to look like antivirus software.
Google thinks all sites are potential malware sites?
UPDATE: Google response has been added.
Google seems to have a problem – a very, very big problem. For some unknown reason, type in anything into Google and you would be greeted with a list of sites. However, they all have been marked with “This site may harm your computer”.
For whatever reason, TECHGEEK.com.au is not a security risk, nor has it ever been, and this can be verified with the help of AVG’s SafeSearch icon that appears on the search page. But if you think we are alone – think again. Below are some of other popular sites with it.
Another Mac trojan found in pirated version of Photoshop CS4
Another pirated copy of another popular software for the Mac has been found to contain a variant of a trojan horse that was found a few days ago on a pirated version of Apple’s productivity suite, iWork ‘09, by the same company who found the first one.
Pirated iWork ‘09 found to contain Trojan
Internet security firm Intego has found a new Trojan horse in pirated copies of Apple’s latest version of its productivity suite, iWork ‘09, that could allow an attacker to have control over the infected computer. Distributed the BitTorrent trackers, the Trojan has been listed as “serious” by the firm.
Windows malicious program hits three million computers
A worm that spreads between PCs, memory sticks and low security networks, is posing as a brand new threat to computer users, even though Microsoft released a patch fixing it. Discovered in 2008, it is known as Conficker, Downadup or Kido; and that it has gone and affecs 3.5 million machines.
New trojan blocks access to Pirate Bay, Mininova
A new trojan, identified by Sophos as Troj/Qhost-AC, has been found in the wild after popping up on several torrent sites a few weeks ago, according to Torrent Freak. However, it is a very unusual trojan as it does not install spyware, like others, but rather blocks access to The Pirate Bay and Mininova, the two most popular torrent sites.
New worm targets social network sites
Just because a "friend" sends you a picture of a hot girl on Facebook or MySpace does not mean you should open it, because that "friend" may be part of a botnet, according to Kaspersky Lab.
Malware authors declare its World War III
Anyone received an email saying that it was World War II? Well, you might want to recheck that email, or even scan your computer with your anti-virus program because it is now a new trick by Malware authors to spread a brand new trojan.