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Trojans

Trojans are fastest-growing data-stealing malware

Chuck Miller June 29, 2009

Most of the rise in cybercrime can be linked to data-stealing malware, and trojans are the fastest growing category.

FTP login credentials at major corporations breached

Greg Masters June 26, 2009

A trojan has reportedly been uncovered that is harvesting FTP login data of major corporations, including the Bank of America, BBC, Amazon, Cisco, Monster.com, Symantec and McAfee.

TJX settles over breach with 41 states for $9.75 million

Dan Kaplan June 23, 2009

The settlement is just one in a long line of payoffs that followed one of the largest reported data-loss incidents on record.

Fake Microsoft "critical update" spam propagating trojan

Angela Moscaritolo June 22, 2009

A new outbreak of spam claims to be a critical update for Microsoft Outlook, but the message really aims to infect users with the information-stealing trojan ZBot, security firm Trend Micro warned Monday.

Mac trojan targets game sites to infect users

Dan Kaplan June 19, 2009

Researchers have spotted a new variant of the RSPlug Mac trojan in the wild.

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.

Worm in Twitter invites

Chuck Miller June 18, 2009

A wave of fake email Twitter invitations carry a mass-mailing worm, Symantec researchers said Thursday. The invitations look like they've come from a Twitter account, except the URL that would ordinarily be part of the standard text is missing. What is included is an attachment named "Invitation Card.zip." Clicking it installs a mass-mailing worm that gathers email addresses from the compromised computer and spreads via removable drives. — CAM

Criminal network to trade botnets and malware uncovered

Dan Kaplan June 17, 2009

Researchers at a web security firm have discovered what they term the latest milestone in the evolving cybercriminal underground: a one-stop-shop for hackers.

"Nine-Ball" mass injection attack compromised 40,000 sites

Angela Moscaritolo June 17, 2009

A new threat dubbed "Nine-Ball" has compromised up to 40,000 legitimate websites that are now infecting users with an information-stealing trojan, according to security vendor Websense.

Defendant pleads guilty in brokerage keylogger case

Chuck Miller June 08, 2009

One of three conspirators in a computer-fraud scheme that used trojans to steal funds from brokerage accounts has pleaded guilty to federal charges in New York..

Google rates Gumblar distribution URL as top malware site

Angela Moscaritolo June 04, 2009

The URL hosting the Gumblar attack, which has compromised thousands of legitimate websites with code that silently redirects users to a single Chinese domain, heads its list of Top 10 malware sites, according to Google.

The many morphs of a phishing/malware scam

Angela Moscaritolo June 03, 2009

A new attack targeting Outlook users has morphed from trying to retrieve login credentials to attempting to infect users with fake anti-virus products.

Bank of America certificate scam propagating Waledac, Virut

Angela Moscaritolo June 02, 2009

A new spam campaign disguised as a Bank of America email telling users they need to update their digital certificate is attempting to lure users into installing the Waledac worm.

"Beladen" website compromises cropping up

Angela Moscaritolo June 01, 2009

A mass injection attack similar but unrelated to Gumblar has infected more than 40,000 websites, according to new research from Websense.

Experts offer tips to deal with Gumblar malware

Chuck Miller May 21, 2009

A number of security organizations are offering tips to deal with the Gumblar drive-by exploit, which is growing ever more pervasive.

Conficker attempting to infect 50,000 per day

Angela Moscaritolo May 21, 2009

Publicity around the Conficker worm has been relatively quiet for the past month, but security researchers say it hasn't gone dormant.

Study: Majority of adolescents online have tried hacking

Greg Masters May 15, 2009

A new study from Panda Security found that 67 percent of teenagers surveyed admitted to having tried to hack into friends' instant messaging or social network accounts.

Bogus versions of Microsoft Windows 7 infected with malware

Chuck Miller May 08, 2009

The final release candidate for Microsoft's newest version of Windows was made available Tuesday, and already infected pirated versions of the software are making the rounds.

Mac worm poses little risk, represents cross-platform innovation

Angela Moscaritolo May 05, 2009

A recently discovered Macintosh worm, known as OSX/Tored.A, remains a low-risk threat but is an indication that malware authors are not turning a blind eye to the Apple platform, researchers said Tuesday.

Researchers hijack control of Torpig botnet

Chuck Miller May 05, 2009

A group of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have infiltrated the Torpig botnet, which was found to be in control of hundreds of thousands of computers that were volunteering gigabytes of sensitive information.

Federal Reserve malware ruse

Dan Kaplan April 29, 2009

IT administrators should be on the lookout for a new round of spam claiming to come from the Federal Reserve Bank. It tries to redirect users to a malware-serving website, the Shadowserver Foundation warned Wednesday. The volunteer watchdog said the emails contain a link to a website that attempts to load a number of exploits, including some for PDF and Flash, in the background with hopes of infecting machines with a trojan. Shadowserver listed a number of offending domains being used in the ploy. — DK

Mac attack: Bot herders going after Apple computers

Greg Masters April 17, 2009

Bot herders have found a way to infest Mac computers: via pirated software.

Marshal8e6 acquires Avinti

Angela Moscaritolo April 13, 2009

Web and email security vendor Marshal8e6 announced on Tuesday its acquisition of behavioral malware detection vendor Avinti for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will better equip Marshal8e6 to stop blended email threats -- email that contains active malware content or links to websites where malware is downloaded, according to a statement from Marshal8e6. The acquisition follows the merger of Marshal and 8e6 Technologies last November. — AM

Conficker worm updated to send spam, hawk fake AV

Dan Kaplan April 09, 2009

One week after Conficker's supposed activation date, the worm awoke from its slumber.

Microsoft report shows scareware, file-fomat bugs on rise

Dan Kaplan April 08, 2009

So-called scareware programs top the list of internet threats, according to Microsoft's sixth Security Intelligence Report.

Conficker variant in the wild

Chuck Miller April 08, 2009

Researchers at anti-virus firm BitDefender said this week they have identified a new variant of the Conficker worm. The new variant, which is similar to previous versions, can evade detection and disinfection by tools that have been created to deter the threat. It also can block access to websites of anti-virus vendors, as well as third parties offering online scanning services or removal tools. In addition, the primary obfuscation layer has been rewritten to prevent detection. — CAM

Spyware rise caused by new Virtumundo infections

Angela Moscaritolo April 07, 2009

A pesky adware trojan is continuing to leave its mark on susceptible users.

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.

Spam back up to pre-McColo levels

Angela Moscaritolo March 31, 2009

Following the highly publicized takedown of the McColo web-hosting company last November, worldwide spam levels dropped by around 70 percent. But four months later, spam is now back up to pre-McColo levels, according to the latest figures from Google's Postini.