[virus] Forum Topics

[URL="http://www.intego.com"]Intego[/URL] [URL="http://www.intego.com/news/hellrts-backdoor-can-allow-malicious-remote-users-to-control-macs.asp"]announced[/URL] today that there is an actual virus threat to the invincible [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Mac[/URL]: HellRTS.D Backdoor. Yep, that's right, a Mac virus just waiting to take control of your iThis and iThat. It would have been funnier if the virus had a better name, but hey, virus writers aren't necessarily …

It's one of the more bizarre questions I have been asked during my twenty year involvement in the computer security business. Yet here I am, pondering whether something being called the Shrek virus could have enabled tens of thousands of butt ugly lonely people to bypass the attractiveness filtering of …

A study by a computer security lab has found that porn sites "harboured malware or used "shady" practices to squeeze money out of their visitors," according to an [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10289009.stm"]article [/URL]by the BBC on the study. (In other news, rocks are hard and water is wet.) Researchers from the [URL="http://iseclab.org/about.html"]International Secure …

Apparently, the besieged, [URL="http://www.mcafee.com"]McAfee[/URL] antivirus-protected world saw little relief in the past 24 hours with McAfee engineers still scrambling to come forth with an answer. I guess the Executive VP, Barry McPherson, doesn't use his own product because he was able to post to his [URL="http://siblog.mcafee.com/support/a-long-day-at-mcafee/"]blog[/URL] a couple of times …

There's no news yet on McAfee's [URL="http://www.mcafee.com"]website[/URL] about what happened today when their famed antivirus program went bonkers and froze computers by misidentifying a common Windows file as a virus. If it's an actual virus hack, it's a pretty darn clever one--to make the antivirus program think a system file …

On Thursday, notorious computer hacker [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Gonzalez"]Albert Gonzalez (aka SoupNazi)[/URL] was sentenced to 20 years in prison. That is the longest sentence ever to be slapped on someone for hacking. He was accused of targeting a bunch of retail stores in the U.S. including Barnes & Noble, BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, …

I've seen a collection of articles about computer security breaches originating from China and would like to give a report from the ITYS Foundation. ITYS, for the unaware, is "I Told You So." I've discussed the use of Linux on the desktop for years, touting its security, stability, thousands of …

An Apple iPhone virus is on the loose in Australia. According to reports it's an odd one; it replaces your wallpaper with a picture of singer Rick Astley and an inoffensive slogan. It affects only jailbroken phones, in other words phones whose owners have fiddled with the operating system to …

No, I'm not talking about a Linux vs. Microsoft or Apple vs Microsoft but rather a prediction by UN Telecommunications Agency Chief Hamadoun Toure'. Apparently, the U.S. Homeland Security and other U.S.-based paranoia groups agree since US Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that she received the green light …

Remember Conficker, the virulent worm which caused such havoc at the start of the year? No, well maybe news headlines such as '[URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/22716/53/"]Virus sinks Royal Navy fleet comms[/URL]' and '[URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story220128.html"]Windows worm infects millions[/URL]' might help jog your memory. Well hold onto your hats people, Conficker is back. And this time …

Facebook LLC has received a lot of publicity lately, understandably so. I unfortunately, have to say the publicity isn’t positive; in fact it is very negative. Rumors have been spreading throughout the internet about a virus called fan check supposedly infecting Facebook user’s computers with a virus. According to all …

The FBI has confirmed reports that it was forced to shut down it's external unclassified email network "as a precautionary measure" following the discovery of a virus infection. I am led to understand that the particular virus concerned has been identified by the FBI but this information has yet to …

It all sounds a little science fiction, but according to scientists at MIT it seems that a virus powered iPhone, laptop and even car are all possibilities stemming from research they have been doing. Although the potential for building batteries from viruses was discovered a few years ago, the MIT …

According to the [URL="http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/012909-Ex-Fannie_Mae_worker_charged_with_planting_computer_virus.html"]DC Examiner[/URL] a former contract worker with Fannie Mae has been indicted, and bailed, on charges of computer intrusion. It is alleged that Rajendrasinh Makwana dropped a virus into Fannie Mae software which had the potential to cause millions of dollars worth of damage if it had …

The fact that Apple is now encouraging people to use antivirus software on its systems is to be welcomed. I use a Mac myself but I'm regularly disturbed by the number of fellow users who refuse utterly to use AV because 'there aren't any viruses, they're all on the PC' …

This is just what we needed to make us comfortable as the recession (I think we can stop calling it the credit crunch as we've been doing in the UK) starts to bite uncomfortably. Mobile devices are becoming vulnerable to malware attacks. It must be true, I've read it on …

[URL="ttp://www.kaspersky.com"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] is warning the public at large to be on the lookout for a new version of the blackmail virus Gpcode which has started to appear in the wild. This particularly nasty twist on the virus format encrypts your files using an RSA encryption algorithm, this time with a …

It has been a long time coming, but a virus writer has finally been arrested by the Japanese authorities. According to security specialists [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos[/URL] law enforcement agencies in Kyoto, Japan, have arrested three men who stand accused of plotting to infect users of a popular P2P file-sharing network with a …

Kaspersky Lab has [URL="http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791980"]published its list[/URL] of the most prevalent viruses for the end of 2007, and although an email worm retains the top spot the more interesting stuff is happening immediately below it in the rankings of shame. Specifically, the second, fourth and seventh places which are all occupied …

Mention mobile phone viruses and the chances are you will get one of two responses:[LIST=1] [*]It is a money making exercise for security vendors who have created the mobile phone virus myth so they can sell protection nobody needs. [*]Hahahahahahahahahahaha.[/LIST]However, the arrest of a 28 year old man in Valencia, …

Leading security vendor [URL="http://www.kaspersky.com"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] has uncovered the first ever proof of concept virus designed with the sole intention of infecting the iPod media player. Like all proof of concept viruses though, Podloso poses no real world threat to users. For a start it requires a Linux installation, not on …

My [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1276.html"]original news story[/URL] here at DaniWeb has certainly caused something of a media frenzy. Everyone from specialist GPS and gadget websites through to national newspapers have been covering how TomTom let an unspecified number of its GO 910 satnav devices escape from the factory with not one but two …

It started with an email from a worried satnav user, Lloyd Reid of [URL="http://www.trichromic.co.uk/"]Trichromic LLP[/URL] an IT consultant who knows his way around a computer and knows a virus when his AV software flags one up. The cause for his concern being a newly purchased [B]TomTom GO 910[/B] satnav unit …

According to my Finnish friends, [URL="http://www.f-secure.com"]F-Secure[/URL], Bagle looks like it might be back in business. Not that it has ever really gone away of course, as it is one of the most prevalent of worm families. F-Secure have noticed new activity during the last couple of days, which sees a …

[URL="http://www.kaspersky.com/"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] has released its latest Malware Evolution [URL="http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791907"]report[/URL], covering the period between June and September 2006 and, as usual, it makes for interesting reading. Alexander Gostev, Senior Virus Analyst, Kaspersky Lab comments that the first six months of 2006 was “notable for the complexity of the technologies which antivirus …

If you think of a virus as being something that replicates itself, spreading from computer to computer, until seemingly everyone has it installed, then maybe you could classify Google’s [URL="http://www gmail.com"]Gmail[/URL] service as being one. If you happened to be using Microsoft [URL="http://www.windowsonecare.com"]Windows Live OneCare[/URL] security over the weekend then …

A number of owners of new iPods could be getting more than they bargained for, as Apple has [URL="http://www.apple.com/support/windowsvirus/"]admitted[/URL] that a ‘small number’ of iPod video products sold after 12th September are infected with the RavMonE.exe virus. Mistakes happen, and while Apple has been forthright about owning up to the …

The 2006 Virus Bulletin Conference is currently taking place in Montreal, and some interesting trends are emerging from the various security vendors speaking at the event. Trends such as the way that the widely distributed attack using worms, viruses and Trojans are increasingly becoming a decreasing concern. At least once …

I was in a pub in Manchester recently for my friend Chris's leaving do (he's got a job in Spain :p ). Somehow a brief discussion about Mac OS X got started (yes, OK I started it). Most people I've met who've used it seem to think it's great because: …