For the first time ever, Microsoft is not a Kaspersky top-10 security vulnerability
Security researcher and software vendor Kaspersky Lab on Friday released its quarterly malware report for the third quarter of 2012, and for the first time in the history of the report, not a single Microsoft product had a vulnerability in the top ten vulnerabilities list.
Kaspersky says the automatic updates mechanism in recent versions of Windows has prevented exploits from getting out of hand by patching vulnerabilities quickly and quietly.
Symantec completes VeriSign Japan acquisition, expands presence in strong Asian market
Computer security company Symantec announced on Thursday that its acquisition of VeriSign Japan KK was complete, and as of November first, the Japanese company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Symantec.
Two years ago, Symantec spent an estimated $1.28 billion in cash to acquire Verisign's identity and authentication businesses, including its Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Services, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Services, the VeriSign Trust Services and the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service.
Use Emsisoft Emergency Kit 3.0 to heal your PC
Emsisoft has updated its freeware portable anti-malware scan-and-remove tool, Emsisoft Emergency Kit 3.0. The new build, which is designed to be run directly from USB stick, has been updated to include two of the latest anti-malware engines from Emsisoft and BitDefender.
The new build also promises significantly less false alerts, new performance settings for advanced users and optimized malware cleaning.
The Pirate Bay embraces the cloud
Who said that pirates don't embrace the future? In a blog post, Swedish BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced that it's moving the entire operation to the cloud. How's that for a change?
The trackers, torrents and servers are "ditched" and the controversial BitTorrent tracker has moved its data, in "deeply" encrypted forms, in "thousands of clouds," according to the announcement made yesterday. There is also a fail-safe system used to reboot the nodes that "transform" the data into a deadlock. So what's the point of all this? Surely it is not to embrace modern data storage solutions. The Pirate Bay has had problems with the law in the not so distant past, and moving sensitive data to the cloud looks like a move designed to protect the men behind it from various allegations.
VirusTotal Scanner offers near-instant malware scans
If you’re worried about the safety of a file on your PC then uploading it to VirusTotal.com is a great way to get some piece of mind. The site will run it through more than 40 of the top antivirus tools -- GData, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, they’re all here -- and let you know if any of them have raised a red flag.
There could be a lengthy delay while the file is uploaded, of course. But you don’t have to put up with that, because VirusTotal Scanner delivers the same results without having to upload the file at all.
Kaspersky Lab is building 'unhackable' OS for industrial control systems
Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder of Russian security company Kaspersky Lab announced on Tuesday that his company is building its own operating system specifically for industrial control systems for critical infrastructure such as nuclear power and other energy supply companies, transportation control facilities, and financial and telecommunications systems.
With this work, Kaspersky is addressing deep-seated fears that a state-sponsored cyber weapon could take down a country's energy grid through its supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA) networks. The subject has been a concern for more than a decade, and five years ago, a team of whitehat security experts made waves when they claimed to have taken down an industrial power grid in just one day through the old standard social engineering method.
Save big on these October software treats
September was crazy month for new software. Whether this was the rush to get new products on-sale before the Windows 8 launch or the traditional Q3 pre-Christmas release schedule, or a combination of both, you may have missed one of these important releases.
Creating PDF files used to be an incredibly expensive operation but this is no longer the case. Nitro Pro 8 is an advanced PDF creation and editing tool which is available at a 20-percent discount -- just $95.99. For a limited period of time, you can get the previous Nitro Pro 7 for only $59.99, saving 50 percent from MSRP. There are also multi-user versions of Nitro Pro 8, so you can buy for your business and save further.
Comodo Internet Security Premium 2013 Beta is touch friendly
Comodo Group has announced the first public beta of Internet Security Premium 2013, an early look at their next generation of products. And the first change you’re sure to notice is the bright, colouful and touch-friendly interface, which has been completely redesigned to make sure that even novice users can navigate the package without feeling intimidated.
In general it works well, too, with core features like Scan or Update available directly from the main display, while more complex functionality is kept at arm’s length (mostly behind the “Tasks” button, so start there if you can’t find something). Elsewhere, greatly improved and more reliable sandboxing has delivered the Virtual Kiosk. Essentially this works as a sandboxed desktop with its own apps, ready to help you securely access all kinds of popular websites and services (Google Maps, YouTube, EverNote, Hotmail, Picasa, TweetDesk and more).
Mozilla warns: stop using Firefox 16
Only two days after announcing Firefox 16, Mozilla removed the browser in response to a security vulnerability affecting all early installations.
Mozilla warns that the flaw allows a malicious website to "potentially" determine where Firefox 16 users have been and to gain access to the URL or URL parameters. The open-source group says it had no knowledge of the exploit and as a safety measure recommends that anyone who installed Firefox 16 should "downgrade" to Firefox 15.0.1 and wait for the browser to be upgraded to the new, fixed, version.
Malware targets bargain hunters
They say the best things in life are free. There's another saying about when stealing, you get what you deserve. When it comes to software, that's more than what you bargained for. Or so claims Microsoft, which warns malware writers increasingly exploit people's desire to get for free something they should pay for.
Yesterday, the Redmond, Wash.-based company released its first-half 2012 "Security Intelligence Report" -- 134 pages for your reading pleasure. Today, Microsoft's Joe Blackbird highlights one of this volume's findings: bargain-hunting exploits for movies, music and software.
Beware of fake Bad Piggies apps on Chrome Web Store
"Bad Piggies", a mobile game that was quietly launched by software company Rovio Mobile, is one of the most popular games to be launched in the late period. Unfortunately, it's also a security risk if installed via third-party, free, extensions from the Chrome Web Store that claim to be the original app.
Security experts from Barracuda Networks have analyzed the number of free apps that turn up after searching for the popular game title in the Chrome Web Store. The company has found that these extensions, while obviously being a far cry from the actual Bad Piggies game, require elevated permissions. To profit from misleading the user, they also install a plug-in that delivers advertisements on popular websites. The severity of this security risk might be overlooked by users seeking to play the popular title.
Dropbox for Teams admins can help users enable security features
Following the introduction of two-step verification, the popular cloud storage service Dropbox has updated Dropbox for Teams to help team admins enable security features.
The service is updated starting today, and will allow admins to verify which team members have turned on two-step verification and to email those that have yet to enable the feature, all through the "Team" tab. The feature is implemented to aid admins instead of offering them the possibility to remotely enable an extra layer of security through two-step verification, and according to the blog post new features will be developed over time.
Emsisoft’s Online Armor 6 supports Windows 8
Emsisoft has announced the availability of Online Armor 6.0, the latest release of its versatile firewall.
And while there’s no revolutionary additions to this build, the program does benefit from several worthwhile tweaks and enhancements.
Avira Internet Security 2013 review
If you’re looking for a leading edge security suite, something packed with the very latest features and functionality, then Avira probably isn’t the very first name that comes to mind. The company’s recent suites have been capable, competent, but not exactly exciting.
Avira Internet Security 2013, however, looks like it wants to be a package that changes all that.
MRU-Blaster helps protect your privacy
"Most Recently Used" lists are generally a good feature in applications, as they allow you to reload recent documents without having to remember exactly where they’re stored.
But, of course, there are also privacy implications with doing this. And so if you don’t want other users of your PC to see exactly which documents you’ve been accessing recently, you may want to use a third-party tool, like MRU-Blaster, to wipe them all away.
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