From the monthly archives:

April 2009

Conficker hype may have harmed security efforts

by Shanmuga

"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

by Shanmuga

"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

by Shanmuga

"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

by Shanmuga

"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

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Adware vendor Zango shuts its doors

by Shanmuga

"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

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Creating a Public Nuisance with Insecure Web Sites

by Shanmuga

"…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

by Shanmuga

"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

by Shanmuga

"..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

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False Security: Scareware Spreads

by Shanmuga

"…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,

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Security holes, malware spike in 2008

by Shanmuga

"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

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Security Software: Protection or Extortion?

by Shanmuga

"…We Don’t Need No Stinking Security Software. Security software is a scam. A rip-off. A waste of money, a pain in the neck, and a surefire way to bring even the speediest PC to a crawl. Half the time it seems to cause more problems than it solves. Oh, and one more thing: It’s unnecessary.

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Spyware Protect 2009 Analysis and Removal

by Shanmuga

Though Spyware Protect 2009, a rogue security software made its appearance early this year, recently it’s in the news due to the fact that the notorious Conficker botnet gang chose to push it to the infected systems. Spyware Protect 2009 is your typical scareware with slight variations. Incessant, hard-to-get-away popups warn about hundred’s of imaginary

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Fake security software distributor mimics Google attack site warning

by Shanmuga

I usually don’t check my site statistics log everyday, every week or even every month, I usually have a occasional glance to get a general idea about the browsers being used to access this site and from where the visitors are coming if I sense a spike in website traffic. Last night I was bored

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SpywareBlaster 4.2

by Shanmuga

SpywareBlaster, a free prevention software that protects against installation of various Malware and other potentially unwanted software is updated to version 4.2. This freeware works by protecting major web browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. According to the author, this release provides enhanced protection, performance, and bug fixes. The version 4.2 runs on Windows versions

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System Security 2009 Analysis and Removal

by Shanmuga

System Security 2009 is one of the newest entrants into the family of rogue antisecurity software. Once installed it surreptiously downloads and installs a malicious backdoor trojan that runs in the background and allows remote access to the compromised system.

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50 Free Temporary, Disposable and Forwarding Email Services

by Shanmuga

Every time you give out your email address on the web, you risk getting your email address abused by spammers. Instead of giving out your private email address, give out a temporary Disposable email address (DEA) which receives the messages and forwards to your private email address or displays it on the providers Website. The

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Tenuous trail leads from GhostNet to hacker

by Shanmuga

"A telltale e-mail address in the GhostNet report led two researchers to the online home of a seemingly low-level Chinese hacker, according to an analysis posted on Thursday, but an author of the original report stressed that the cyber criminal is likely only related to a lesser piece of malware.

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Public Search Engines Mine Private Facebook Details

by Shanmuga

"Researchers from the U.K.’s University of Cambridge recently published a paper detailing a project in which they developed a software tool to correlate and map Facebook profiles they found via public search engines, such as Google, to build detailed maps of relationships among Facebook members.

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Eyeballing Conficker with eye-charts and maps

by Shanmuga

"…Now that the crazy hype has died down (hopefully!), it’s important for end users to get reliable information on eyeballing the presence of Conficker on a machine and, if it’s found, disinfection instructions from a Web site that isn’t blocked by the malware.

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Did security companies hype Conficker?

by Shanmuga

"Conficker worm did nothing, or not very much, why did it turn into such a story? Was it hype? Is it still hype? Why was Conficker Different and was it really different? It’s fair to point out that elements of Conficker’s design inadvertently attracted attention, namely the fact that it activated at a set date

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