Items tagged with 'virus'
MIcrosoft's Free Anti-Malware Tool Goes Live
Microsoft's new Security Essentials anti-malware product has just gone live. The site has been updated in the past hour or so, since we last checked it, and users can now download Microsoft Security Essentials for 32-bit Windows XP, and 32- and 64-bit Windows Vista/7. That's correct, in case you're wondering. There is no... Read More
Many Computer Viruses Become Inert After 24 Hours
More than half of computer viruses last a mere 24 hours.Panda Security's malware detection laboratory, PandaLabs, has been analyzing the nearly 37,000 samples of new viruses, worms, Trojans and other security threats that it receives each day and found that 52 percent of them work for just 24 hours. "After that timeframe,... Read More
Macs Less Secure From Hackers And Viruses
Mac users who've been smug for years over how secure their OS is, could be in for a rude awakening if news out of the Black Hat Security Conference is true.As Macs have slowly gained market share on PCs — 9 percent of the market in the second quarter of 2009 and growing — the interest in hacking them has increased. The... Read More
Spyware Infects Etisalat BlackBerry Users
There's hardly anything that gets us at HotHardware more steamed than spyware, and we can only imagine how infuriated over 100,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE are after being fooled with a spyware-infused update. In a story that's sounds too bizarre to be true (but is, in fact, true), Etisalat--a major cellular operator... Read More
Many Computer Users Skip Routine Maintenance
It probably comes as no surprise, but it seems most people ignore routine computer maintenance and only think about it when disaster strikes. You know, like falling victim to more than 3,000 viruses. At once. A survey done of Staples "EasyTechs," indicated that more than 80 percent of the chain's customers don't bother... Read More
Microsoft To Enter PC Security Market With Morro
Symantec, McAfee and Norton. What do all three of those have in common? A little something with Microsoft, now. For years upon years, the first three companies have been ruling the PC security roost, all while Microsoft scrambles to patch its own operating systems when new exploits are discovered and reported. At long last,... Read More
Virus Invades U.S. Marshals And FBI Systems
No wonder the Pentagon is bracing for all manners of cyber warfare. Late last week, officials reported that the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service saw some of their computers "shut down" after a virus attack overwhelmed them. Reportedly, the virus stemmed from an invasion at the Marshals Service, with an FBI spokesperson... Read More
Conficker Virus Resurfaces
Weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, the Conficker virus is slowly being activated. Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into email spam servers and installing spyware. It does this by installing a second virus known as Waledac that can send out email spam... Read More
Apple Gets Hit By Trojan Virus
For years, many people have believed that Macs are immune to malware, viruses, and worms that have wrought havoc on PCs. In reality, however, OS X is potentially just as vulnerable to harmful programs. The difference lies in the fact that hackers generally go after what will give them the biggest bang for their buck. Traditionally,... Read More
Conficker's Big Day Passes Quietly
The Conficker worm has generated a fair amount of buzz in the media recently. Today, April 1, was suppose to be the worm’s day of attack. As of this evening eastern standard time, the doomsday some were predicting as a result of the Conficker worm did not materialize. That doesn’t mean Conficker is a bust, however. The... Read More
"The Internet is Infected" - 60 Minutes
60 Minutes is a great show, for the most part (and let's not forget it has Andy Rooney!), but a report Sunday night on the Conficker worm titled "The Internet is Infected" is probably the definition of hyperbole. The report, a full transcript of which is here, and a video below, was designed to alarm, and I'm sure it did.... Read More
Samsung digital frame ships with virus
Digital photo frames are a hot gift item these days, but anyone buying a Samsung SPF-85H 8-inch digital photo frame through Amazon.com this year may have given their loved ones a little something extra: A computer virus.Amazon reached out to its purchasers with a note just before the holiday.Here's a snippet of their warning... Read More
Oops! AVG Virus Scanner Crashes Computers
Many techs will agree: antivirus programs can be a hassle. Mostly, the issues tend to stem from slower performance and similar issues that result from using an antivirus program. Still, it’s a bit of a lesser of two evils deal: you can risk getting a virus, or you can deal with lags in performance. Usually, you can count... Read More
Houston, We Have Virus Lift-Off
Surprisingly, this apparently isn't the first time this has happened to NASA. They haven't, to this point, been using antivirus software on the laptops astronauts take into space with them. A lesson for us all? Yep. However, the virus wasn't something that would bring the ISS crashing to Earth. The W32.Gammima.AG worm is... Read More
Hacked Antivirus Site Delivers a Virus
Besides ironic, what other words might come to mind over this, eh?The download section of AvSoft's S-cop Web site hosts the malicious code, according to Roger Thompson, chief research officer with security vendor AVG. "They let one of their pages get hit by an iFrame injection," he said. "It shows that anyone can be a victim....... Read More
Floppy Boot Disk Viruses- Electric Boogaloo
What's new is old again, it seems. Security researchers are warning consumers to be cautious about using items like freebie flash drives that are given out as souvenirs at trade shows and similar events. There are recent reports of malware being loaded onto removable storage devices like USB flash drives, and even... Read More
Malware Outpacing Anti-Virus Development
In the long battle between malware creators and companies developing and distributing anti-virus software, there seems to be a clear leader at the moment: the malware creators.This isn't entirely unexpected as one would assume that the anti-virus companies can't possibly guess all the different ways which somebody might... Read More
Windows Explorer Labeled a Virus
Linux users might actually agree with this "false positive". On the other hand Microsoft breathes a sigh of relief, as for once the antivirus software in question is not Windows Live OneCare.The security company's systems had decided that a virus called Huhk-C was present in the explorer.exe file, leading to its confinement... Read More
Symantec Screwup Is 'Worse Than Any Virus'
In mid-November, Symantec released its "Top 5 Security-Menace Predictions for 2008." Perhaps it should have included itself.A routine update from Symantec Security Response wreaked havoc on a California company's clientele this week when it inadvertently tagged a program produced by Solid Oak Software as a virus and cut... Read More
Trend Micro: Game Consoles Need Anti-virus Too!
As consoles once again start looking a lot more like PCs in terms of functionality and capabilities, they are going to need anti-virus protection. At least, that's what Tokyo-based Trend Micro wants PS3 owners to think just about 5 seconds before said PS3 owners buy their new anti-virus software for the PS3.“The company... Read More
What Do You Think Of The iPad?
