Apple tells its computer customers not to worry about viruses, but in reality, is the Mac operating system less secure than Windows? One security expert thinks so.
Marc Maiffret says that Microsoft has exerted tremendous effort to lock down its system in the last few years, while Apple has done very little. Because Windows is by far the dominant operating system worldwide, hackers tend to target it over the Mac, a niche system.
AVG (AU/NZ) Pty Ltd (the distributor for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific of the award-winning AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security software), thought you might find it interesting to see how one of the most successful pieces of malware out there, codenamed Zeus, has managed to stay alive for such a long time.
“Zeus is probably the malware most used by cyber criminals specialising in financial fraud,” said Lloyd Borrett, Marketing Manager at AVG (AU/NZ). “It’s a do-it-yourself crimeware kit responsible for millions of dollars in losses by consumers and businesses.
Intego, the computer anti-malware company, has spotted HellRTS.D, a fresh malware variant that infects Mac OS X. While installed, this malware creates a backdoor on the system that allows hackers to acquire full control of the PC without attracting the user's notice, reported arstechnica on April 19, 2010.
Several security companies today warned of a major malware campaign that tries to dupe users into opening rigged PDFs that exploit an unpatched design flaw in the PDF format.
Users who open the attack PDFs are infected with a variant of a Windows worm known as "Auraax" or "Emold," researchers said.
Back in the good old days—defined in this case as circa 2006—hackers actually had to be fairly bright and possess decent programming skills to wreak any kind of meaningful havoc online.
Now, thanks to the proliferation of cheap and easy-to-use Web-based malware kits, just about anyone can hang a Black Hat shingle and try to steal users' online passwords and banking information.
A rise in fake antivirus offerings on Web sites around the globe shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to get malware on computers rather than exploiting holes in software, a Google study to be released on Tuesday indicates.
Fake antivirus--false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users--represents 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on Web sites, according to 13-month analysis the company conducted between January 2009 and February 2010.
As restaurants continue to be primary targets for hackers, the value of full anti-virus protection is unmistakable. Required for compliance with the PCI DSS, managed anti-virus is also mandatory in today's Internet environment. Broadly referred to as malware, viruses that penetrate your system including spyware, adware, and worms threaten an organization's ability to perform at its highest level.
Last week we reported that hackers were going after Google Chrome users by disguising trojans as browser extensions. Now they're going after owners of that fancy new iPad, basically using the same email scheme as before but with a slight alteration. This time users are directed to download a software update by clicking on a link embedded in an email.
Malaysia is listed in the Asia Pacific and Japan top 10 countries for phishing and bot-infected computers, according to security solutions firm Symantec’s latest Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR).
"Malaysia ranked fourth in Southeast Asia (SEA), behind Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia for hosting phishing websites in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ)," said Symantec Malaysia, principal consultant, enterprise security, Paul Woo, who added that the study was in its eighth year.
It was simply a matter of time before Linux became my primary operating system. My most recent malware incident was the final straw that sent me into welcoming and safe haven of Ubuntu.
Suffice it to say that last week was a pretty crappy one for me. My FaceBook account was somehow compromised, causing untold amounts of my friends to receive a spammed invite to some sort of diet seminar scam event and then having to endure the embarrassment that accompanied it.
