Infosecurity News
Employees unaware of massive hike in ICO penalties
This week sees the introduction of new penalties for breaches of the Data Protection Act. Regulated and enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the maximum fine for an organisation found to be in breach of the act rises from just £5000 to a hefty £500 000.
Unencrypted removable storage devices pose company risk
Research just released in the US claims to show that three quarters of workers are now saving corporate data on unencrypted USB sticks and, says Origin Storage, if this data is extrapolated to the UK, it suggests there is a high risk of data leaks occurring on this side of the Atlantic.
Visa warns retailers of rising keylogger trojan problem
Visa International has taken the unusual step on advising its member financial institutions – who process card transactions for their retailer customers – that the incidence of trojans carrying keylogger malware is rising, and that retailers need to take care their EPOS (electronic point of sale) terminals do not become infected.
Korea reigns as king of malware threats
The US has lost its place atop the leader board as the chief source of malware in March, as research from Network Box indicates Korea – mainly South Korea – can now claim the top spot when phishing attempts are included in the statistics.
Weekly brief, April 6, 2010
Infosecurity rounds up the week's news
Researcher makes PDF files worm-able
A security researcher has come up with a proof-of-concept attack that enables malicious executables to be remotely injected into clean PDF files.
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a coalition advocating for modification of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which they claim is severely out-of-date.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.
