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NEWS ABOUT: malware

Chinese Cyberspying Targets Stanford Student's Gmail

Google can't find breach of Tibetan human rights activist's laptop

(Newser) - A Tibetan human rights proponent and Stanford undergrad is the first activist identified as a target of the recent Chinese cyberattack on Google. “That the long arm of Chinese security could reach all the way to my home here at Stanford is something I never would have suspected,”... More »

Smartphone Scammers Recycle Dial-Up Tricks

Trojan diallers call premium lines, racking up huge charges

(Newser) - Criminals have revived an old trick dating from the days of dial-up Internet access to target smartphone users. Trojans known as "diallers" that hijack a line to dial dozens of premium-rate numbers or send premium SMS messages are on the rise again, according to security experts. The diallers—generally... More »

Scammers Target 'Google Doodles'

Special-occasion logos lead to results poisoned with malware

(Newser) - The graphics Google adds to its logo on special occasions have become the latest target for search engine scam artists adept at manipulating results. Yesterday's Esperanto Day sketch took users to a list of search results for creator L.L. Zamenhof and 27 of the first 50 contained malware, including... More »

.Com the Second Riskiest Domain

McAfee roots out the world's sketchiest domains

(Newser) - It may be the most familiar domain, but .com is also the extension second most likely to screw with your computer—beaten only by Cameroon's .cm. A whopping 32.2% of .com addresses pose a security risk, according to McAfee’s third annual “Mapping the Mal Web” report, compared... More »

Twitter Overflows With Malware

One in 500 tweets links to malicious software, experts say

(Newser) - Twitter is the perfect malware delivery system, enabling cybercriminals to lure users with a quick tweet on a hot topic and a shortened URL that hides a shady website’s identity. One in 500 URLs posted on Twitter links to live malware, says Kaspersky international, which make a program that... More »

Hackers Are After Your Smartphone

Mobile devices, stuffed with personal data, become juicy targets

(Newser) - Cyber criminals are beginning to devise ways to break into smartphones, an increasingly juicy source of personal information. Until recently, phones weren’t seen as worth hacking because they contained so little data, but as more and more people carry pocket-size PCs like the iPhone, the likelihood increases that hackers... More »

Microsoft's Free Antivirus Software Actually Works!

Program performs well in stress test

(Newser) - Want a great, free antivirus program from a big software brand? OK, it’s from Microsoft, and … wait! Come back! Believe it or not, Microsoft’s new Security Essentials software is pretty darn good. AV-Test.org ran it through a bevy of tests and found the freebie performed admirably.... More »

The 10 Riskiest Web Searches

Hackers target popular search terms

(Newser) - Internet hackers are like pickpockets: They target crowds, and the best place to find them on the web is through search engines, ABC News reports, so thieves tie malware programs to popular word searches. After analyzing more than 2,600 terms, security firm McAfee found these to be the 10... More »

US Amps Up Planning for Cyber Arms Race

Obama set to announce big steps in digital defense program

(Newser) - With daily attacks on both public and private computer systems in the US mounting into the thousands, President Obama is expected to announce an overhaul of US strategy to defend against cyberwarfare—building on a $17 billion program Congress approved last year—and name a White House cyberwarfare boss, the... More »

Experts: Apple's First Worm Nothing to Fret About

'Groundbreaking' Mac virus only affects a few thousand users

(Newser) - Malware that hijacks Macs has shown up for the first time, but it shouldn't be cause for panic, an expert tells the Globe & Mail. The malware, nicknamed iBotNet, only affects a few thousand users who downloaded a pirated copy of iWork and it's not spreading from computer to computer,... More »

McCartney's Web Site Hacked

Malware allowed hacker access to fans' computer data

(Newser) - Paul McCartney's official web site was infected with malware that allowed hackers to access computer data of fans who logged on, reports the Telegraph. An internet security surveillance firm spotted the LuckySpoilt invasion early this week and purged the site. It's unclear how many users may have been affected. Hits... More »

Conficker Worm Springs Into Action

Mysterious update begins to spread; millions vulnerable

(Newser) - The Conficker worm is showing signs of life a week later than expected, but experts aren’t quite sure what it’s doing, the BBC reports. The program, believed to be on millions of PCs worldwide, began updating itself last night, downloading encrypted software, researchers at Trend Micro found. The... More »

Computer Virus Phobia Leads to ... Computer Viruses

(Newser) - Fear of computer viruses is now one of the major reasons people are getting them in the first place, Reuters reports. According to Microsoft, seven of the 25 top threats come in the form of fake security programs, which users terrified of malware like Conficker are installing indiscriminately. Losing market... More »

Conficker Worm Date Passes Quietly—So Far

Experts warn megavirus could still pose a serious threat

(Newser) - The Conficker worm came to life on its April 1 trigger date but failed to cause any major incidents—so far, Infoworld reports. Fears that the internet itself might be affected have yet to materialize, though experts warn that the malware—estimated to be lying in wait in 10 million... More »

Chinese Cyber Spies Hit Dalai Lama, Foreign Offices

Some blame China for attacks on 1,300 computers

(Newser) - A  massive cyber spying effort launched from China has infiltrated the computers of hundreds of government agencies and private offices around the globe, including four connected to the Dalai Lama, the New York Times reports. Asked by the spiritual leader's office to investigate evidence of a breach, Canadian researchers discovered... More »

Worm Set to Unleash Massive April Fool's Prank

Malware experts race against time to limit the program's damage

(Newser) - Malware experts are racing to find the authors of the Conficker C worm and limit the damage it seems poised to do beginning April Fool’s Day, CNN reports. Conficker C, the bug’s third iteration since late 2008, has infected between 5 and 10 million computers but so far... More »

Visa, Mastercard Warn of New Data Breach

Alerts issued after malware infects another payment processor

(Newser) - Mastercard and Visa have alerted financial institutions about another serious data breach at a payment processor, Wired reports. The breach, like the massive fraud unveiled at Heartland Payment Systems last month, is believed to have occurred through malicious software. The credit card issuers are refusing to name the processor involved... More »

Google Flags Entire Internet as Malware

Oops.

(Newser) - Anyone searching on Google for a short stretch early this morning got a rude awakening. Every result on the search giant turned up the warning, "This site may harm your computer,” ZDNet reports, and firewalls on personal PCs blocked them accordingly. Google blames the glitch—from 6:30am... More »

New Virus' Worst Punch May Be Yet to Come

(Newser) - The devious worm that has infected up to 9 million personal computers worldwide may be just the first stage of a malicious attack, the New York Times reports. The so-called Conficker or Downadup virus, which exploits a Microsoft Windows vulnerability, pulls infected computers into systems called botnets that can be... More »

Credit Card Processor Bares Massive Hacker Breach

Sophisticated hackers nab vast amounts credit card data

(Newser) - A credit card payment processor has disclosed a data breach that experts believe could be the biggest ever and may be putting millions of consumers at risk of ripoffs, the Washington Post reports. Heartland Payment Systems, which handles 100 million transactions from 250,000 businesses every month, believes malicious software... More »

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