Articles about Security

Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday is not until January 10, but the company is not waiting to patch a critical flaw in computers with the ASP.NET framework installed. The issue affects all currently supported versions of Windows, according to a security bulletin from the company.

According to Microsoft's description of the flaw, an issue exists in how the framework handles certain web request. If an attacker sends a request in a certain way, it could allow for elevation of privilege that may result in the execution of arbitrary code. The flaw is not easy to exploit, however, as the attacker needs to know some information about the victim.

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Care2.com, a site dedicated to environmental awareness, petitioning, and charitible donation with more than 17 million members has been hacked, according to a message from the company Friday morning.

The message to users on Friday was from Care2's Founder & President Randy Paynter. It said:

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Since so many blogs and news outlets today reported the Grey Lady's email system had been infiltrated by hackers, a story correcting the record is appropriate (since you won't likely read it as a headline at many of the sites misreporting the incident).

The reported hacking also is another sign that news gathering has gone all to hell in this era of posting first and checking facts later on. What people will remember is the headline about the New York Times being hacked. Hence, I decided to go with opposite headline for that reason. What I find funny: Many of the headlines I originally saw that read something like or exactly "The New York Times was hacked" now have question marks. Another is "[Updated]" and adds "possibly". Unless the Times is lying, which I doubt, there was no hack.

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Malwarebytes Corporation has squeezed out a major update to its popular, and effective, malware scan-and-remove tool before the New Year chimes in. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.60, which is designed to add additional protection to computers already running security software, debuts Chameleon technology, which the developer claims will allow the program to run even when a malware infection attempts to block it.

Version 1.60 also adds incremental updates and password-protected program settings for the paid-for Pro version as well as a number of additional improvements and bug fixes.

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Late December is traditionally the time of year to snap up a bargain in the post-Christmas sales, and there is no shortage of special deals to be found in the Downloadcrew Software Store. Take a browse through the store and you will find everything from security software to video editing tools -- there really is something for everyone. With huge savings of up to 83 percent off some of the best software available, you’d better hurry because these offers expire on December 31, 2011.

For anyone looking to watch videos on their computer, CyberLink PowerDVD 11 Ultra is a versatile media player with support for a huge range of video formats and discs, including 3D formats. You can save 45 percent off the MSRP when you buy the software for just $45. Also from CyberLink is CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Ultra which you can buy for just $69.95, saving 30 percent off the MSRP. This powerful program can be used to edit video, including 3D formats, and it comes bundled with a free copy of CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 worth $39.95.

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There were quite a few new iPods and iPhones under the Christmas tree this year, so that makes a new phishing scam making the rounds this week all the more dangerous. Security firm Intego says that it is receiving reports of faked Apple emails asking users to update their billing information. They started around Christmas Day.

The message comes with the grammatically incorrect title "Apple update your Billing Information". The email itself though looks almost identical to a genuine message from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company, complete with a grey page-like background with the Apple logo in the upper right hand corner. The email warns that the user's billing information is out of date and needs to be updated, also with uncharacteristic bad grammar.

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It’s no secret that using passwords like “1234″, “qwerty”, “password” and any similar easily-guessable variants is a very bad idea, and one that could see your web account hacked before you can say “I guess that was my fault, really”.

Okay, so you know this, but do all the other users on your PC? What kind of password choices are they making? If you’re curious, then NirSoft’s latest release, Password Security Scanner, can help you find out.

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Today we are excited to bring you a free copy of IObit Malware Fighter PRO worth $19.95 to help keep your computer protected against malware in the New Year. But you’ll need to be quick -- this free gift to you is only available for 24 hours, so make sure you head over to the Downloadcrew Giveaway site before 23:59, Central European Time, December 26th.

Malware is a serious problem for anyone that uses the Internet, and as it is not a problem that shows any signs of abating, the best thing you can do is to ensure that you are adequately protected. IObit Malware Fighter PRO is an advanced malware protection tool that weeds out spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, Trojan, spyware and all manner of other nasties that may have found their way onto your system. As well as ben able to hunt down and remove known malware, an advanced heuristics engine means that the program is able to detect new malware by looking out for signs of suspicious activity.

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Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, is churning up increasing debate as the holidays approach. There's irony here. The very public response about SOPA is freedom the bill, or its Senate sibling PROTECT IP, could take away. Dan Bull's "SOPA Cabana" YouTube music video is example of the grassroots response to the proposed legislation. YouTube is one of the services SOPA would target, likely diminishing freedom of expression like Bull's. The headline to this post comes from his video.

To recap, Senators introduced PROTECT IP in May and House representatives did likewise with SOPA in October. Either bill would give the government broad powers to take down websites, seize domains and compel search engines from indexing these properties. Little more than a request from copyright holders is necessary. It's essentially guilty-until-proven-innocent legislation that would punish the many for the sins of the few, while disrupting the fundamental attributes that made the Internet so successful and empowered so many individuals or businesses to accomplish so much. (Review the bills: PROTECT IP. SOPA.)

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"Why did you lose it?" is the first question to ask.

Last week AVG sent a tickler email about its newest "Lost in Transit" survey looking at what people were doing when they lost their mobiles. I waited until closer to Christmas -- time when likelihood of loss increases -- to post some of the results. AVG provided additional data not disclosed in its blog post or infographic (below).

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This week’s high-profile hack of the US Chamber of Commerce underscores the inadequacy of today’s security policies and technologies. With the holidays quickly approaching and IT staffs stepping away from offices to spend time with family and friends, we face increased vulnerabilities and security threats. We should be more vigilant than ever, reflecting on national security policies and how we can better protect our sensitive data.

Stories like this continue to point to the fact that we need a broad, across-the-board approach. We need to collaborate and inform when breaches take place. We need diplomatic support to reduce the desire or economic benefit to steal. It is time to have a Y2K approach to cyber protection. That means investment and support from the top down.

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The New Year is almost upon us and for many people this means it’s time to think about making New Year’s resolutions. Whether you subscribe to the idea of setting yourself such goals or not, the arrival of a new year is as good a time as any to consider the security of your computer. And with Christmas only just around the corner, you could head on over to the BetaNews Downloadcrew Software Store to buy a present for yourself and your computer -- you’ll find all manner of essential security tools available at heavily discounted prices.

If there is one piece of security software that everyone should have installed it is an antivirus tool. It is possible that you already have the free version of AVG’s virus protection tool installed, but for a mere $6.95 you could upgrade to the full commercial edition of AVG Anti-Virus 2012 -- a huge saving of 83 percent off the MSRP. Offering protection not only against viruses and malware, the program can also check links for malicious downloads, scan incoming emails and protect against identity theft. In addition to this, you can benefit from instant messaging protection, priority support and more frequent program updates.

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Comodo Internet Security has been upgraded to version 5.9, in what the company unexcitingly calls a “minor maintenance release”. Don’t fall asleep just yet, though. It may not be packed with new features, but this build does have a few very interesting additions.

Top of  list is the new Smart Scan, which the company claims is “one of the smartest quick scans in the world”. And it proved very speedy on our test system, scanning more than 41,000 objects in a mere 83 seconds. Time will tell how useful this really is -- not scanning things is easy, making sure you can still identify all malware is the real problem -- but the new technology is off to a good start.

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User names, passwords, credit card numbers, personal details: your PC may contain all kinds of personal data, easily accessible to malware or anyone with physical access to the system. You know this already, of course, which is why you probably protect your system with a firewall, antivirus package, maybe an encryption tool and more.

But what you maybe don’t know for sure is exactly how much data might be exposed on your system, should an attacker actually be able to penetrate your defences. And that’s where Identity Finder comes in. Tell the free version of the program to scan your system and it will immediately identify any passwords that might be stored by your browsers, for instance. You can then selectively delete all or just the most sensitive of these, and perhaps turn off password storage entirely if it seems too risky.

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I offer a hat tip to Gizmodo, which has put together a list of smartphones that have Carrier IQ. The company disclosed the information as part of a US Senate inquiry. Sprint subscribers are the most likely to have the spyware installed -- 26 million, or nearly half of them. Verizon: None. The information is also available in a statement from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), just not as quickly scannable.

But not all phones where Carrier IQ is installed have it active. Android developer Trevor Eckhart uncovered Carrier IQ last month, offering detailed explanation how the rootkit-like software works. I followed his instructions to see if the software was active on my Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, and it appeared not to be. Days later I installed Carrier IQ detectors from BitDefender and LookOut Labs, which found the software but didn't indicate its status. Apparently, Skyrocket is one of the phones where Carrier IQ is installed but not active. Same is true of HTC Vivid, AT&T's other LTE phone.

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