Version 3.6.2, which so far is only available as a beta, fixes a critical security hole in Firefox 3.6 for Windows that was discovered some time ago
Source: The H Security
Archive for March, 2010
20 security holes in Apple software are about to be disclosed: Charlie Miller intends to present details of the vulnerabilities at the CanSecWest conference next week. The expert talked with heise Security about the security of Mac OS X beforehand
Source: The H Security
Good times for online fraudsters says FBI.
According to the FBI the losses for victims of Internet fraud in the US was estimated to 560 Million US dollars last year. This is almost the double amount compared to 2008.
I don’t know if ironic is the right word to use, but one of the most common tricks was to use FBIs name to trick victims to pay money or to give out sensitive information.
Internet Complaint Crime Center received 336,655 complaints about net fraud, an increase of 22%.
NW3C Director Donald Brackman said the report’s findings underscore the threat posed by cyber criminals. “The figures contained in this report indicate that criminals are continuing to take full advantage of the anonymity afforded them by the Internet. They are also developing increasingly sophisticated means of defrauding unsuspecting consumers. Internet crime is evolving in ways we couldn’t have imagined just five years ago.” But Brackman sounded an optimistic tone about the future. “With the public’s continued support, law enforcement will be better able to track down these perpetrators and bring them to justice.”
Sources:
Read the full 2009 Crime report (PDF)
FBI Pressrelease
Until next time 
Peter – Your Online Security Guide
Barracuda Networks Inc., a leading provider of security, storage and networking solutions, today released its Barracuda Labs 2009 Annual Report, revealing data from three areas: Twitter trends and tracking, Web threats and trends, and email spam and viruses.
One in eight accounts created was deemed to be malicious
“As more users joined Twitter in 2009, the Twitter Crime Rate continued to escalate reaching 12 percent in October 2009. This means that one in eight accounts created was deemed to be malicious, suspicious or otherwise misused and was subsequently suspended – clearly showing that the criminals do, in fact, follow the users online.”
The report is available at the company’s newly launched security research portal at barracudalabs.com.
The report drills down into 2009’s fastest growing social networking application Twitter, and reviews growth drivers, usage trends and the overall Twitter crime rate.
Barracuda Labs analyzed more than 19 million Twitter accounts, both legitimate and malicious, for frequency and content of tweets, user-to-user interactions, and each account’s overall activity level.
Key highlights from Twitter’s Red Carpet Era – Celebrities and Criminals include:
Only 21 percent of Twitter users are actual True Twitter Users[1].
Overall, users are becoming more active on Twitter.
49 percent of Twitter users, and 48 of the top 100 most followed Twitter users, joined during the Twitter Red Carpet Era[2], indicating the significant impact celebrities have on the social networking landscape as they bring their real-world fans over to Twitter.
The Twitter growth rate spiked at 21.17 percent in April 2009 due to the Twitter Red Carpet Era.
During the Twitter Red Carpet Era, the Twitter Crime Rate[3] increased 66 percent, and continued to escalate reaching 12 percent in October 2009, indicating one in eight accounts created was deemed to be malicious, suspicious or otherwise misused and subsequently suspended.
Microsoft plans to release just two security updates to fix eight vulnerabilities in Windows and Office on its forthcoming patch day. Vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer will, however, remain unpatched
Source: The H Security
NewsFactor – Evidence from the recent Aurora hack attacks on major American corporations suggest that many may have tightly locked virtual front doors, but no cybersecurity inside their systems, a McAfee expert warned on Wednesday.
In a Security Insights blog post, Paul Kurtz, McAfee’s chief technology officer, discussed his study of the December-through-February attacks on Google, Intel, Adobe Systems, and other large firms.
Source: Yahoo! News: Software News
Three Spaniards have reportedly been arrested in connection with “Mariposa”, one of the largest botnets worldwide. The arrests took place over the past few weeks and the suspects stand accused of having taken control of more than 13 million computers and of operating the botnet since the end of 2008
Source: The H Security
Ad-Aware is an absolute favorite of mine. I have used it for ever and always install it as one of the first software titles when I get a new computer. I love the Pro version, but the free version is also excellent.
PC World recently published its list of the greatest free downloads and services, and named Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware as one of its top 10 products of all-time, alongside the likes of OpenOffice, Gimp and other user favorites.
Here’s what PC World had to say about Lavasoft anti-malware software:
“Ad-Aware Free: This utility is simple to use and does an excellent job of detecting and killing spyware.”
If you agree with PC World and think Ad-Aware Free is ‘superstar’ security software, remember that a Plus and Pro version of Ad-Aware ,with bonus features and protection is available . Want to try these versions out for yourself? Check out Ad-Aware Plus and Ad-Aware Pro here.
Until Next time
Peter – Your Online Security Guide
Source: Lavasoft Partner Blog
One of the absolutely fastest Antivirus software titles available has just been upgraded. Vipre Antivirus version 4.
VIPRE Antivirus 4.0 is high-performance antivirus software that doesn’t slow down your PC like older, traditional security products. VIPRE is the end of antivirus as you know it.
Tired of that old antivirus program that makes your PC slow down to a crawl? Interrupting what you are doing with slow scan times, causing problems and nagging you? Time for a change to next-generation antispyware that IS NOT a resource hog!
Check out Vipre Antivirus.
Until next time
Peter – Your Online Security Guide
