Apple Admits To Security Issues

Apple has finally acknowledge and has promised an update for Mac OS X that will find and remove the MacDefender fake security software, and warn uninfected users when they download the infectious program.

The announcement — part of a new support document that the company posted late Tuesday — was the company’s first public recognition of the threat posed by what security experts call “scareware” or “rogueware.”

Apple has taken criticism for not publicly responding to the MacDefender threat.

“In the coming days, Apple will deliver a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants,” Apple said in the document. “The update will also help protect users by providing an explicit warning if they download this malware.”

Apple also outlined steps that users with infected Macs can take to remove the scareware.

Andrew Storms, director of security operations with nCircle Security, was surprised that Apple said it would embed a malware cleaning tool in Mac OS X.

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Google SEARCH Goes SSL

Google is finally taking privacy seriously to a degree by offering its users a secure form of searching while using Google Search. Moving forward users will have the opportunity to enable SSL (Secure Socket Layer) for added security.  Be advised, the service will only cover the Google search and clicks made through Google to other non-secured sites will be visible.

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Adobe Flash Exploited

Hackers have found a way to exploit  Adobe Flash Player by using a zero-day vulnerability by using Microsoft Excel documents that was confirmed by Adobe yesterday. Adobe representatives that they will not be able to patch Flash until next week. Therefore, if you use Flash you are on your own until next week.  Read More….

New Exploit Exposed In Microsoft Windows

The exploit deals with the Windows protocol handler in Windows for MHTML.  Be advised the exploit can only be done if the user is running Internet Explorer. Apparently, hackers are using cross-site scripting attacks are intercepting and collecting peoples information, spoofing the content that is displayed to the browser, or interfering with the user’s browsing activities.  Read More….

Hackers Go After WordPress

Goo.gl Link Spreading Malware via Twitter

As if we don’t have enough to worry about when it comes to potential attacks of all kinds. First there were reports about the social media site Facebook and its highly infected news feeds now there appears to be yet another mischief seeking internet fiend sending out infected Goo.gl links via Twitter. Users are being warned not to click these suspicious links as they might direct you to malicious sites.

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‘Ransomware’ Malware Threats Increasing

A particularly nasty type of attack named”ransomware” is on the rise, with antivirus vendor Symantec seeing at least three new variants appearing in recent months. Such attacks often use viruses to not only steal a person’s sensitive or financial information, but also to disable hard drives and demand money to restore them.

“Threats that use extortion can be some of the most aggressive and, in some cases, offensive viruses encountered,” said Symantec security researcher Gavin O Gorman in a blog post.

Unfortunately for computer owners, attackers continue increase the sophistication levels of their ransomware. For example, GPCoder.G, which first appeared in November 2010, is a small (only 11 kilobytes ) piece of malware which, if executed, searches a hard drive for files with specific extensions, relating to everything from videos and Microsoft Office files to images and music. It then encrypts the first half of all files found, using a symmetric RSA encryption algorithm and a random key. The random, private key is then encrypted using a public key. “Without the private key from this key pair, it is not possible to obtain the symmetric key in order to decrypt the files,” said O Gorman.

To get the private key, the ransomware victim must forward the encrypted symmetric key to attackers, who decrypt and return it. Unfortunately, aside from restoring the encrypted files from a backup, “there is no way to bypass this technique,” he said.   Read More….

Conflicker Worm Still Wreaking Havoc

Security firm fighting the dreadful Conflicker worm claim that they have it on the ropes. The team of computer-security researchers said they managed to neutralize the worm’s impact by blocking its ability to communicate with its developer, who is still anonymous.

Unfortunately after years of trying fighting the Conflicker, security experts estimate the worm infects between five million to fifteen million computers.  The Conficker worm, showed up in 2008. The worms intent is to disable a computer’s security measures, including Windows software updates and antivirus protection, leaving machines vulnerable to more malicious software.  Read more….

Mobile Phone Security Threats On The Rise

Mobile phone security threats rose sharply last year as the growing popularity of Internet-enabled mobile devices like smartphones and tablets provided new opportunities for cybercriminals, security software maker McAfee said.

In its fourth-quarter threat report, released on today, McAfee said the number of pieces of new cellphone malware it found in 2010 rose 46 percent over 2009’s level.

“As more users access the Internet from an ever-expanding pool of devices -computer, tablet, smartphone or Internet TV- web-based threats will continue to grow in size and sophistication,” it said.

McAfee, which is being acquired by Intel for $7.68 billion, said it expected PDF and Flash maker Adobe to remain a favorite of cybercriminals this year, after it surpassed Microsoft  in popularity as a target in 2010.

It attributed the trend to Adobe’s greater popularity in mobile devices and non-Microsoft environments, coupled with the ongoing widespread use of PDF document files to transfer malware.  Read More….

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Coming February 22nd

The service pack is said to be a hefty 1.2GB download will feature all prior updates and fixes and Microsoft stated the update will improve networking, security and mobility.   Read More….

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