botnets

6 Stories

Microsoft Goes After One of World's Biggest Botnets

Trickbot seen as a threat to the November election

(Newser) - Microsoft announced legal action Monday seeking to disrupt the cybercrime digital network known as Trickbot, which is seen as a major threat to the US presidential election, per the AP . The Washington Post calls it one of the world's biggest botnets, one with the potential to gum up state...

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...

Phony Ad Clicks at Record High
 Phony Ad Clicks at Record High 
Jan 28, 2009 4:07 PM CST

Phony Ad Clicks at Record High

Click fraud rate climbs to 17.1% in fourth quarter of 2008

(Newser) - Fraudulent attempts to deceive web advertisers into paying for phony clicks reached an all-time high in the last quarter of 2008, CNET reports. The rate of phony to genuine clicks climbed to 17.1% in the fourth quarter, increasing 1.1% from the third quarter and 0.5% from the...

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...

Personalized Security Protects Laptops

New software adjusts to individuals' behavior

(Newser) - A new laptop security system in development at Intel learns to adjust to you—that is, the user—getting to know your pattern of Internet use in order to provide more personalized protection. The software, called Proteus, is meant for companies that provide laptops to many employees, normally equipping all...

Teen Pleads Guilty in Botnet Adware Scheme

Used IRCBots to profit off of online advertising contracts

(Newser) - A teenager referred to by the FBI as BDH and known online as “Sobe” pleaded guilty to two counts of juvenile fraud conspiracy for a scheme that used botnets to install adware on hundreds of thousands of American computers, including some military systems. He will be sentenced May 5,...

6 Stories