Conficker hype may have harmed security efforts

"Media hype leading up to the Conficker worm’s April 1 update may have distracted computer users from other dangerous security threats, the FBI’s cybersecurity chief said here Thursday.
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Botnets: 4 Reasons It’s Getting Harder to Find and Fight Them

"The perpetual proliferation of botnets is hardly surprising when one considers just how easy it is for the bad guys to hijack computers without tipping off the users. Botnets have long used a variety of configurations, in part to disguise their control mechanisms.
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Celebrity Viruses Improve Security

"Every so often, a computer virus becomes more than just a novelty for anti-virus researchers and moves into the consciousness of the mass media, even if it’s not a grave threat. The recent Conficker outbreak is a fantastic example of this.
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5 Security Flubs Users Make When Browsing the Web

"You can install the best firewalls, patch religiously, and make sure your anti-virus software is always up-to-date, but there is one online risk factor you can never control: the user. Whether they are downloading dangerous content or falling prey to phishing scams, the end user continues to be the toughest security risk to mitigate in most organizations.
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Adware vendor Zango shuts its doors

"Zango, the adware distributor that was fined $3 million by the Federal Trade Commission in 2006 for sneaking software on people’s PCs, has closed its doors. Zango’s former chief technology officer blamed the company’s demise on several factors, but at the top of the list were the very practices that got it in hot water with the FTC — and with security analysts who had labeled the company’s software spyware.
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Creating a Public Nuisance with Insecure Web Sites

"…At issue are sites that harbor so-called cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, which occur when Web sites accept input from a user — usually from something like a search box or e-mail form — but do not prevent users from entering malicious code or other instructions.
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Tim Berners-Lee admits to falling for online scam

"Berners-Lee, who is widely credited with inventing the web when working at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) in the 1980s and early 1990s, told The Daily Telegraph that a site he visited to buy a Christmas present turned out to be a fake.
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Drive-by Downloads. The Web Under Siege

"..it is important to note that most modern Web browsers – including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera – have added anti-malware blockers that provide early-warning systems when users attempt to surf to a rigged Web site. These blockers provide good value but, because they are blacklist-based, they do not provide 100 percent protection to Web surfers.
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False Security: Scareware Spreads

"…What started out as a small-scale racket to defraud computer users is becoming big business. Rogue antivirus programs — also known as "scareware" — had a banner year in 2008. A recent report published by Microsoft Corp. found that scareware infections increased 48% in the second half of 2008 compared with the previous six months, hitting nearly 8 million. One program turned up on 4.4 million unique computers, a 66.6% increase over the first half of the year, according to the report.
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Security holes, malware spike in 2008

"If you worry that the Internet is a scary place full of digital pickpockets and online identity thieves, your fears will be bolstered by the latest Symantec Internet Security Threat Report released Tuesday. The report finds huge increases in the number of security holes in software and the number of Internet threats, particularly attacks in which browsers are hijacked and forced to download malicious programs as people surf the Web.
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