Infosecurity News
USB trojan tops BitDefender March e-threats report
The March report on electronic threats from BitDefender claims to show that trojans continue to get top billing – topping the IT security vendor's list with 13% of total global malware is Trojan.AutorunInf.Gen, a generic mechanism designed to spread through removable devices.
Mobile social networking needs much better policing says report
Government psychologist Tanya Byron has called for a fresh review into regular and mobile internet usage by minors, suggesting that the social networking industry should have an accepted code of conduct in order to protect under-age users.
Coalition calls for reform of electronic privacy law
Tech vendors, interest groups, and academics have formed a coalition advocating for modification of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which they claim is severely out-of-date.
Microsoft uses computing grid to weed out Office bugs
Microsoft has discovered a slew of bugs in Office 2010 by building what amounts to a legitimate botnet for software testing. Engineers within Microsoft have created a grid-style system that employs unused computing time on internal PCs to run fuzz tests against its software.
eBay comes under attack, says Red Condor
eBay is the victim of a phishing attack that uses its own compromised server, according to email filtering company Red Condor.
IBM and FAA working together on security project
IBM is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration on research to secure the US civilian aviation system from electronic attack.
Botnet targets Vietnamese speakers
Vietnamese speakers have been targeted in an attack that researchers are describing as politically motivated.
Social gamers are ideal spammer targets, says BitDefender
Social gaming networks are becoming a fruitful space for spammers thanks to socially promiscuous users, according to research published by anti-malware company BitDefender.
Malware lifespan continues to shorten, says Blue Coat
Malware adaptation rates are getting faster, according to a report from Blue Coat Systems. The average lifespan of malware dropped to two hours last year, from up to seven hours in 2007, it said, adding that this has had a significant effect on the effectiveness of software patches.
European Union launches the PRESCIENT project
The European Union (EU) has launched an ambitious project that seeks to deal with all aspects of technology privacy for citizens of its member countries.
Codenomicon releases network analysis tool
Security software company Codenomicon has released a network analysis tool that lets administrators visualize network traffic.
Confidential social services data found on USB stick in Stoke-on-Trent
Records from the city council's social services department have been found on an unencrypted USB stick in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. The stick was handed in by an IT consultant to the local newspaper, the Sentinel, on Friday, after he apparently found it lying on the pavement.
Govt moves to protect electricity grid from hacker and terrorist attacks
Legislation that seeks to protect the nation's electricity grid from any form of attack has been passed by the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
Symantec reveals China and RAR files are a rising threat
Research just released by Symantec claims to show that targeted attacks are on the rise, with email originating from China and RAR attachments being a major source of security problems.
TJX card fraud mastermind jailed for 20 years
A self-confessed computer hacker who pleaded guilty to some of the most serious card account hacking and ID frauds in US history, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
TJX/Heartland card hacker mastermind jailed for 20 years
Convicted criminal mastermind Albert Gonzalez – the man behind the infamous hack of TJX's computer systems and more than 130 million payment cards – has been jailed for 20 years.
Trend Micro: We are witnessing the decline of the operating system
In an interesting analysis of the migration of local systems to the cloud, and the transition from desktop to laptops, netbooks and mobiles, Justin Foster, a software architect with Trend Micro, says that an unexpected transformation is taking place at the heart of server workloads and mobile devices.
Digital Economy Bill protests spread across the UK
Protests against the UK's Digital Economy Bill are increasing, with organised protests taking place in London, Manchester and Sheffield, Infosecurity can report.
Symantec intros web security monitoring service
California's Symantec has taken the wraps off Web Security Monitoring (WSM), a new service for companies to check on their websites and ensure they are not being hacked, or perhaps worse, infecting their internet users.
Hash tags foul up Conservative Party 'Cash Gordon' website
The Conservative Party may well be an odds-on bet to win the general election later in the spring, but their reputation on the IT front took a battering this weekend after a website designed to highlight the Labour party's links to the Unite trade union seriously backfired.
