Security
Adobe Shockwave patch
Another security update is out for Adobe Shockwave player. The download is at this link.
Via Ryan Naraine.
Microsoft re-patching
Gregg Keizer reports at ComputerWorld:
Microsoft yesterday re-patched Internet Explorer, the third time it’s been forced to repair one of the updates from its largest-ever bug fix, which was delivered on Oct. 13.
Monday’s fix targeted MS09-054, the update that patched four vulnerabilities, all “critical,” in Internet Explorer (IE). According to Christopher Budd, a spokesman for the [...]
Microsoft patches patched
Some of the Microsoft security patches from the October patch Tuesday were buggy. Microsoft issued some fixes yesterday. So you may need to check Microsoft Update. Details at InfoWorld.
Malware bot attacking Facebook
Gregg Keizer at Computerworld reports:
A massive bot-based attack has been hitting Facebook users, with nearly three-quarters of a million users receiving fake password reset messages, according to security researchers.
The attack, which began Monday afternoon, according to e-mail security vendor Cloudmark, targets Facebook users with a spoofed message that claims recipients’ Facebook passwords have been reset [...]
More bad news on infected sites
The number of Web sites hosting dangerous links and scripts keeps growing. ZDNet reports:
More than 640,000 websites and about 5.8 million pages are infected with malware, according to Dasient, which was founded by former Googlers to offer services to help websites stay malware-free and off blacklists.
Firefox updated
Mozilla has updated the Firefox browser to version 3.5.4. The update patches a number of potential security holes. If you are still using the old 3.0 series, it has been updated also. More detail about the updates is at Computerworld.
Popular tech blog hit with scareware
Another example of the severity of the Internet malware problem is the infection of the popular tech blog Gizmodo. BBC reports:
Visitors to technology blog Gizmodo are being warned that they could have picked up more than tips about the latest must-have gadget.
According to security firm Sophos, the website was delivering advertisements “laced with malware” last [...]
Adjust your mindset for social networks
Most of us are pretty decent folk; we don’t go around trying to be malicious or looking for ways to cheat our neighbors. In our day-to-day life we encounter a fairly limited number of people and we tend to assume they are straightforward until proven otherwise. Human society as we know it would be unworkable [...]
Nigeria starts arresting scammers
It’s just a beginning but it’s a hopeful one. Nigeria has begun to take action against scammers that are giving the country a bad name. Ars Technica reports:
It turns out Nigeria is taking measures to fight Internet scams—law enforcement there has shut down close to a thousand websites and made 18 arrests as part of [...]
Recognizing and removing scareware
The infestation of millions of computers by fake anti-malware (AKA scareware) has been a running theme in these posts because of its severity. Here’s some more information that will help you recognize and deal with this insidious and dangerous problem.
One of the most notorious Trojans called itself “Antivirus 2008″. A later version is “Antivirus [...]
Keeping software patched
One of the biggest security problems with a PC is keeping current with all the software patches. Ordinary home PC users simply cannot keep up with the never-ending flow of updates without help. You can use Microsoft update for Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products but what about all that other software that we all [...]