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Plugin Spotlight: Mac OS X FileVault Plaintext Password Logging

Paul Asadoorian — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Encryption is Only as Strong as the Key In this case, encryption breaks down because the OS X user's password (used to unlock an encrypted volume) is logged in clear-text via debugging function to a system-wide readable log file. In...

Mac Malware Underscores Why You Can’t Ignore Web Security Threats

Acunetix — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:09:29 +0000

Looks like the Mac is finally getting what’s been coming: malware. And lots of it just recently with the Flashback infection that apparently impacted up to 700,000 Macs. We’ve all heard it from the Mac ...

Call of Duty Trojan horse creator ends up in jail, after drunken college raid

Sophos — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:42:22 +0000

A British man who spread a spyware Trojan horse posing as a patch for the popular video game "Call of Duty", has ended up with an 18 month jail sentence.

British hacker jailed for one year for breaking into Facebook account

Sophos — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:40:46 +0000

Southwark Crown Court has sentenced a 21-year-old British man to a year in prison after he admitted hacking into the Facebook account of a US citizen, and accessing private messages.

SSCC 90 – A walk around Interop 2012 with John Shier

Sophos — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:01:53 +0000

This week's Chet Chat comes to you live from the show floor at Interop 2012. John Shier and Chet Wisniewski have some fun and share highlights from the expo hall.

Securing the Panama Canal

McAfee Security Insights — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:48:48 +0000

I just finished up a trip to Panama City, Panama. I’ve been to several countries in Central America like Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, but this was my first trip to Panama. In countries like Panama, the general rule of thumb is that business is focused across three primary verticals: financial services, telecommunications, and Read more...

New Nessus Feature Added: CSV Export

Paul Asadoorian — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:25:00 +0000

Exporting To CSV Nessus now supports the ability to export your reports into a comma-delimited file format (CSV). Using this export format, you can import the results into your favorite spreadsheet program. Tenable recommends using the following software: Microsoft Excel...

The Missing Manual: CVRF 1.1 Part 1 of 2

Cisco — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:56:43 +0000

In this post you will learn about some of the design decisions behind the 1.1 release of the Common Vulnerability Reporting Framework (CVRF). Particular attention is paid to explaining some of the required elements and the Product Tree. After those tas...

Analyzing Trends in Cybercrime: 2011 to 2020

Francois Paget — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:05:02 +0000

Those who attempt to predict the future run the risk of being wrong. But those who overlook the importance of conducting a prospective analysis adopt a passive attitude that weakens them against the dictatorship of events. Anticipating societal changes prepares us to weather the storm. That quote comes from the recently published Prospective Analysis on Read more...

OSX.Flashback – How to Turn Your Botnet into $$$

Symantec Security Response — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:58:38 +0000

Further analysis of the OSX.Flashback botnet has shed more light on how profitable such a botnet can be. Previously, we wrote that OSX.Flashback was generating money for its authors by displaying advertisements on compromised computers. We now have a m...

Thieves in the Temple: Android.Opfake Makes Another Run

Irfan Asrar — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:35:36 +0000

The Opfake gang can be called many things but “lazy” isn't one of them. In the digital age we live in, they are taking the analog art of social engineering to new heights. Several dummy sites have been established, acting as a front for...

Technical paper – Fake anti-virus: The journey from Trojan to a persistent threat

Sophos — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:44:17 +0000

Fake anti-virus is one of the largest families of malware in recent history. In this technical paper, Jagadeesh Chandraiah takes a look at how scareware has evolved over the last three and a half years into what it is today.

Big Security Data – Hawkeyed Snake Abatement (Part 3)

Kim Singletary — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:38 +0000

In my two previous entries, I discussed the security concerns around implementing Big Data for companies and how Big Data is used to provide Security Intelligence that recognizes bad behavior and reputation for files and connections. But what can companies do today to get ahead and implement Big Security Data? With more and more connections, Read more...

Closing the Antivirus Protection Gap

Lumension — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:59:29 +0000

With 50% of IT endpoint operating costs now attributable to malware, is reliance on antivirus as the keystone endpoint security measure the best approach? Instinct tells us no but to be sure, Lumension recently did a comparative analysis on the effectiveness of standalone AV and O/S resident patching solution versus newer technologies, including application whitelisting, [...]

Free Sophos Anti-Virus app for your Android

Sophos — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:45:22 +0000

To help you better safeguard your Android phone and tablet, Sophos just published Sophos Mobile Security for Android in Google Play. Oh, and it's free!

M-Trends #2: Everything Old is New Again – Targeted Attackers Using Passive Backdoors to Evade Networks

Mandiant — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:54:26 +0000

Earlier this week, I talked about malware threats. Today, we’ll address a new trend. Turns out the perpetrators of targeted attacks are pragmatic, and are happy to borrow techniques that are even a decade old.

Trend #2 in M-Trends: An Evolving Threat is titled “Everything Old Is New Again,” and talks about how we saw a real uptick in the use of web shells and miniport drivers for persistence in 2011. Read the rest

Fake anti-virus disguises used by Android malware

Sophos — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:52:15 +0000

The Android malware threat is growing. And it's no surprise to see similar social engineering tricks that have worked on other operating systems in the past also being used on the Android platform.

Malware Poses as Rainmeter Skins on deviantART

Sunbelt Software Blog — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:42:29 +0000

Recently I decided to improve my desktop with a little interactivity, and started dabbling with something called Rainmeter which displays customisable and functional skins in a variety of designs. There are entire websites where people can show off their design …

What Does It Take To Be Digitally Secure?

Robert Siciliano — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:20:55 +0000

Let’s get one thing straight: it’s no longer possible to deny that your life in the physical world and your digital life are one and the same. Meaning, while you are present here on the ground, you also exist online, whether you know it or like it or not. Coming to terms with this reality Read more...

Magic mirror on the wall, what’s the best smartphone of all?

Sophos — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:13:13 +0000

Until last week, iPhone's Siri would respond to "What is the best smartphone?" with - gulp - iPhone's competitor Nokia Lumia 900. This "bug" has now been fixed by Apple, but Nokia are making sure everyone is aware that Apple is overriding the software.