Fake Microsoft updates
Yesterday, ZDNet reported a phishing scam:
During the last couple of hours, a fake Microsoft patch themed malware campaign was restarted by its botnet masters, once again spamming a non-existent Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721) as officexp-KB910721-FullFile-ENU.exe detected as VirTool:Win32/Obfuscator.FO.
Some of the subjects used in the campaign include Microsoft has released an [...]
Big botnet stealing financial data
According to a report at Computerworld, a large number of PCs have been infected with a Trojan by means of an email attachment or Windows security holes:
A ferocious piece of malware that’s infected up to a million PCs is stealing a “tremendous” amount of financial information from consumers and businesses that log on to their [...]
Don’t expect privacy on the Internet
It can’t be said too often; there is no privacy on the Internet. Anything you put up on the Web might as well be on a public bulletin board- a permanent and searchable bulletin board. And that includes email and social site posts.
In a post about online privacy, security expert Bruce Schneier writes:
If your data [...]
Responding to spam
I am not sure how accurate the numbers are but if you believe a recent study, an astonishing number of people try to buy stuff from spammers. Ars Technica reports:
Good luck trying to find an Internet user who admits to responding to spam. Still, they’re out there, and in pretty good numbers. According to a [...]
Scamming the scammers
Just about everybody with an email account has received those ubiquitous messages from supposed widows of African dictators or bank directors with lost accounts that go under the general name of the Nigerian scam. Some people have decided to turn the tables on the scammers by pretending to be a gullible sucker and leading them [...]
Image spam returns
At Computerworld, Gregg Keizer writes:
Spammers have turned back the clock and are recycling a years-old tactic by planting their messages in images, a security researcher warned today.
Image spam, which hit a peak in late 2006 and early 2007, has made a comeback, said Holly Stewart, the threat response manager of IBM Internet Security System’s X-Force [...]
Zombie PCs
If you believe the latest McAfee statistics reported at ZDNet, over one-third of spam comes from the US. And the US has 18% of the IPs found in botnets with a similar percentage in China. Interestingly, only 4% of spam is said to come from China.
Swine flu brings out spammers
Phony email for swine flu medications is starting to circulate. Gregg Keizer at Computerworld reports:
Spammers have seized on the growing interest in news of a possible swine flu epidemic to hawk fake pharmaceuticals, security experts warned today.
The number of spam messages with subject headings such as “First US swine flu victims!” and “Madonna caught swine [...]
Gmail hack?
Windows Secrets is reporting that an unpatched security hole is allowing Gmail accounts to be hacked:
Exploits allowing hackers to break into Gmail accounts are likely to occur, if they’re not already circulating, after security researchers released details of a hole that Google has reportedly declined to patch.
The article goes on to describe methods for protecting [...]
Spam loads mail boxes, harms environment
Microsoft reports that 97% of email is spam. Ars Technica looks at some other spam figures and observes:
According to Microsoft, 97 percent of all e-mail sent on the Internet is spam. This number is higher than data collected by other firms, but everyone’s in agreement that spam-wielding botnets are growing.
Not only is spam a terrible [...]
Gmail tools
A lot of people are using Google’s Web email called Gmail. Personally, I am still using Yahoo but I notice that many of my friends now have Gmail accounts. So I thought I’d point out a compilation of Gmail tools that Webware has put together at this link.
