Infosecurity News
Federal agencies get until March 31 to implement secure ID card program
Federal agencies will have until March 31 to have in place a standard secure ID that can be used across agencies, as required by the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, according to a draft Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo.
Australia's defense agency plans to beef up cybersecurity training
The Australian Department of Defence plans to conduct a department-wide review of its personnel’s cybersecurity knowledge and offer targeted training modules to fill in identified knowledge gaps.
Government misses deadline for first round of IT reform plans
The government has missed the deadline on nearly all its commitments to IT reform due to be implemented last month.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday update excludes fix for MHTML flaw
Microsoft is to address 12 security issues in its February Patch Tuesday.
Say hello to the dark side of Google Android
A senior malware analyst has warned that the new version of Android Market – an online hub that allows developers to sell Google Android apps to users of Android devices – offers users the ability to install apps directly from a desktop PC browser.
Zeus source code for sale for $100,000
Reports are coming in that Slavik, the author of the infamous Zeus trojan, is now offering to sell the complete source code of the malware for $100,000.
Hotmail debuts alias feature to foil spammers
Hotmail has introduced an alias feature which Microsoft said would enable users to manage their online identities.
Drug cartels supplying malware-infected pirated software, Microsoft warns
Criminal syndicates and drug cartels are building large-scale software pirating operations and selling that software – which is likely to contain malware – to fund their operations, warned David Finn, associate general counsel at Microsoft.
Hackers jack up their exploits of vulnerabilities in January
Hackers exploited close to twice as many vulnerabilities as usual in January, half of those being “critical”, according to Fortinet’s monthly threat landscape report.
FTC requires credit report resellers to beef up data security after breaches
The Federal Trade Commission is requiring three credit report resellers to strengthen their data security procedures and submit independent audits every other year for 20 years as part of a settlement with the agency.
Microsoft patch will lead to 900 million reboots
Next week's patch Tuesday will, says Lumension, lead to 900 million reboots of Windows machines around the world. Sadly, whilst this sounds a rather large power-draining volume of unnecessary PC actions, the reality is that it's not that abnormal.
Adobe Reader X stops malicious PDF spam, says Sophos
It looks as though Adobe's new Reader X incorporates a number of security features that block exploits that cybercriminals have tapped in previous Reader viewer applications. Sophos is reporting that its research team has tested the viewer and found that it locks down malicious PDF spam in is tracks.
FBI to roll out its super-Google search engine
The N-DEx search engine, which the FBI revealed back in 2008 as a means for US law enforcement agencies to carry out Google-style searches on multi-agency databases, is about to go live in the US.
Egyptian government taps emergency network for mass pro-Mubarak texts
Reports are coming in that the Egyptian government is using elements of the emergency national broadcast network to pipe tens of thousands of pro-Mubarak text messages on the network of Vodafone Egypt.
NIST provides advice on securing full virtualization technologies
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued the final version of its recommendations for securely configuring and using full virtualization technologies, which allow multiple operating systems to run on a single platform.
Corsaire claims multiple authenticators are not secure enough
A white paper just published by Corsaire claims to show that multiple authenticators - such as PIN codes with security questions – are still not enough to protect private data.
Trusteer reports US and Russia now primary sources of Zeus servers
Trusteer says that its research into the Zeus malware and botnet command and control (C&C) servers that control the swarms of infected internet users shows Russian and US top level domains are now the main home of C&C infestations.
BoxSentry rebrands itself as TrustSphere
New name, and new vision – that was the crux of the explanation delivered by the chief executive of the security firm formerly known as BoxSentry.
Apple faces second lawsuit over UDID disclosure to third parties
Apple is being sued again over alleged disclosure of its mobile devices’ unique device identifiers (UDIDs) to third parties without users’ consent.
Twitter flood heralds Egypt’s return to the internet
A flood of celebratory and congratulatory tweets on Twitter has greeted the news that internet services have been restored in Egypt.
