Malware writers behind the Waledac botnet have set preparations in motion for a spam campaign with an Independence Day theme, security vendor ESET warned Thursday in a blog post. At least 18 domain names, expected to be used in the attacks, have been registered. They relate to fireworks or Independence Day. The spam is expected to include links to supposed videos of Fourth of July fireworks shows. — AM

Owing to public outcry, the Beijing government has delayed its July 1 deadline that censorship software be present on all computers sold in China, according to a statement Tuesday from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The government has said the so-called Green Dam web filtering is intended to censor pornography, but critics worry the software also enables political censorship and may enable monitoring of users' systems. Researchers also have determined that Green Dam contains security vulnerabilities. The government said it still will offer the software as a free download for schools and other entities that want it. - GM