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Anti Virus

Appellate court affirms that Zango can't sue Kaspersky

Dan Kaplan June 30, 2009

An appeals court has upheld a ruling that Kaspersky Lab did nothing wrong when it blocked users' access to Zango programs.

It's official: Microsoft to offer free anti-malware service

Greg Masters June 19, 2009

Next week, Microsoft will make available to consumers a new, free anti-malware service to replace its subscription model.

Google responds to call for more security

Chuck Miller June 17, 2009

In reaction to a letter from 37 respected names in the computer security field, Google is considering tighter security of its web applications.

Air France crash prompts spam, malware outbreak

Dan Kaplan June 12, 2009

As expected, spammers and malware writers are trying to cash in on the Air France disaster.

Symantec, McAfee settle with New York state

Dan Kaplan June 11, 2009

Symantec and McAfee agreed to pay a combined $750,000 to settle charges that their subscription renewal process was deceptive to home users.

Apple references security in Snow Leopard announcement

Dan Kaplan June 10, 2009

Apple appears to now be addressing security threats that could impact its Mac OS X.

Microsoft tool kills rogue AV

Dan Kaplan June 10, 2009

The latest Malicious Software Removal Tool, released Tuesday by Microsoft as part of its monthly security update, includes detection and elimination of the Internet Antivirus Pro family of rogue security programs. Like other scareware, Antivirus Pro tries to trick users into believing their computers are infested with malware, according to a post on the Microsoft Malware Protection Center blog. When users run the purported cleanup feature, the program instead infects their machines with a trojan that steals FTP usernames and passwords. — DK

Father's Day phishing plug

Angela Moscaritolo June 08, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday that it has created a Father's Day e-card to offer tips on how to avoid becoming a phishing victim. The animated fish-themed card gives examples of typical phishing emails and warns fathers against giving up personal or financial information and to be wary of opening suspicious attachments. The card is available at: http://www.ftc.gov/dad. — AM

Twitter hit with rogue anti-virus scams

Greg Masters June 02, 2009

Users of popular blogging platform Twitter fell victim this past week to a scareware scam.

Another round of phishing hits Twitter

Chuck Miller May 27, 2009

After last week's phishing attacks on social networking sites, yet another round has struck Twitter.

Office of U.S. Marshals infected by Neeris virus

Angela Moscaritolo May 22, 2009

The office of U.S. Marshals was infected with a computer virus on Thursday that was able to infiltrate their computer network because the federal law enforcement agency was running an out-of-date anti-malware solution.

Accused adware purveyor Zango shuttered by bank foreclosure

Greg Masters April 27, 2009

A principal player in the spreading of adware -- software that silently loads advertising onto web users' computers -- has been forced to close down after a decade in business.

Rogue product ads on F-Secure, McAfee, Trend Micro searches

Angela Moscaritolo April 17, 2009

Google searches for a number of security products and vendors -- including F-Secure, Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro -- have yielded advertisements with links to rogue products.

Waledac kicks off new spam campaign

Chuck Miller April 16, 2009

A new campaign to lure users into downloading malware is running on the Waledac botnet, according to security researchers.

Hackers prey on Ford Motor Co. searches to boost rankings

Angela Moscaritolo April 14, 2009

Attackers are using the Ford Motor Co. name to poison search engine results with some 1.2 million malicious links that lead to rogue security software, according to PandaLabs.

Twitter worm underscores social-networking vulnerabilities

Chuck Miller April 13, 2009

Twitter was struck by a particularly nasty cross-site scripting worm over the weekend, again bringing to light the threat of client-side attacks across social networking sites.

Conficker expectedly chaos-free as it activates across world

Dan Kaplan April 01, 2009

Right on schedule, the latest variant of the Conficker worm awoke Wednesday, querying hundreds of new URLs for instructions on what to do next. But, as most experts predicted, there were no orders to be had, and the estimated millions of machines infected by the malware remain in standby mode.

On the eve of Conficker, anticlimactic predictions abound

Dan Kaplan March 31, 2009

It's already April 1 in some parts of the world and there have yet to be any reports of internet meltdowns due to the activation date of the Conficker worm.

Conficker detection tool released as D-Day nears

Dan Kaplan March 30, 2009

Whether the Conficker worm will disrupt internet operations on Wednesday remains guesswork, but a nonprofit research group has unveiled a tool that can enable administrators to positively identify infected nodes.

Fatal attraction: Latest "delivery notice" trojan spews forth

Greg Masters March 27, 2009

A new torrent of spam, disguised as a message from package carrier DHL, is making its way into inboxes.

Poisoned search results capitalize on Conficker's popularity

Dan Kaplan March 26, 2009

Noticing increased media interest in the Conficker worm, purveyors of "scareware" programs have learned that the worm is now part of pop culture.

Rogueware adopts SEO, nets more money for cybercriminals

Greg Masters March 23, 2009

Cybercriminal gangs spreading rogueware via affiliate networks are netting as much as $10,800 a day, but one such major distribution network has shuttered.

Death of actress Natasha Richardson exploited by scareware

Greg Masters March 20, 2009

A day after news broke of the death of British actress Natasha Richardson, malicious websites sprung up to lure victims looking for information on the tragedy.

IE 8 coming today

Chuck Miller March 19, 2009

The official release of Internet Explorer 8 is scheduled to be available at noon EST on Thursday. The new browser "offers leading-edge security features," including a cross-site scripting filter, clickjacking prevention, and per-site ActiveX, which enables users and administrators to manage where an ActiveX Control can run, Microsoft said. The download, in 25 languages, is at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8. — CAM

ATM malware appears, Diebold issues security update

Dan Kaplan March 18, 2009

Diebold, which has fielded recent criticism over the reported insecurity of its voting machines, is now fighting off news that its ATMs also can be compromised.

No joke -- Conficker worm set to explode on April Fool's Day

Angela Moscaritolo March 13, 2009

Security researchers have warned that Conficker worm's newest variant, which kills protective security processes, is set to activate on April 1.

Crooks use "trendy" tactic to poison Google search results

Angela Moscaritolo February 26, 2009

Many of the 100 most popular Google search terms now yield a malicious site serving fake anti-virus software in the highest search results, Craig Schmugar, threat research manager for McAfee Avert Labs told SCMagazineUS.com Thursday.

New Sality variant contains moneymaking twist

Angela Moscaritolo February 19, 2009

The newest variant of the Sality virus combines a little bit of old and a little bit of new to infect users.

Microsoft leads collaboration to subdue Conficker botnet

Dan Kaplan February 13, 2009

Microsoft is leading an unprecedented industry charge to disarm the pernicious Conficker worm, in addition to offering a $250,000 reward to bring down its masterminds.