Items tagged with virus
The coronavirus has taken the world by storm in the past month, and is actively disrupting travel, trade, and unfortunately taking lives in the process. For those that are concerned about the coronavirus, or simply would like to see a detailed graphical representation of reported cases around the globe, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering has constructed an informative live dashboard to track it. The coronavirus live dashboard gives us an incredibly detailed look at the coronavirus thanks to it pulling data from multiple sources including the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control...
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Typically when we talk about malware, we are talking about malicious code that is hidden inside software to try and take advantage of end users. An example is a malware that was hiding aboard a fake Adobe Flash update that was designed to install cryptocurrency mining software or other nefarious payloads. Earlier this month, another malware making the rounds was able to steal PayPal account balances despite users having two-factor authentication enabled. Today, a new malware has been identified and this one isn't attacking end users, it's attacking major newspapers around the U.S., underscoring new areas of concern with respect to IT security. The Los Angles Times has confirmed a malware attack...
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Whoever oversees IT for TSMC's factories is probably in hot water right now. The company suffered from a major virus attack recently that forced it to shut down some of its factories. TSMC has now stepped up and admitted that while the cause of the shutdowns was a virus infection, the ultimate cause of that infection was unpatched Windows systems. Initially, TSMC was vague about the exact cause only admitting that the issue was an unspecified computer virus. TSMC has stated that the specific virus that infected its systems leading to the shutdown was WannaCry, which has previously been linked to North Korea. The WannaCry outbreak that caused the factories to shut down affected unpatched Windows...
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Tawian Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is recovering from a major internal computer virus outbreak that ravaged its systems, forcing the chipmaker to shut down several factories. A full recovery is expected by Monday, August 6, however the fallout from the virus will result in shipment delays and additional costs, the company said. The virus affected TSMC's computer systems and fabrication tools in Taiwan. TSMC attributed the outbreak to a some sort of misoperation when installing software for a new tool, though the company did not go into specifics. Once the virus tool went online, it spread throughout TSMC's computer network, affecting other systems. "Data integrity and confidential...
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The Internet of Things (IoT) sounded like a great idea at first glance when it first began picking up steam. However, the problem with giving every single gadget that we come in contact with access to the internet is that no one really thought much about security, leaving many these things vulnerable to viruses and malware. The Mirai DDoS attack taught us a valuable lesson about IoT devices with poor security practices: they can be a huge threat to networks, with attacks involving nearly a million bots. The big rub here is that many of those devices are still a threat, leaving security researchers looking for a way to prevent a Mirai-like attack from happening again. Some researchers have posed...
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Linux users have long been able to claim that their platform of choice is about as safe as an OS can get, but that sentiment is getting a little harder to side with thanks to the recent discovery of the 'Hand of Thief' trojan - it's a bad one, so listen up. Hand of Thief's goal is to lead you to financial ruin by stealing sensitive information that you input into forms on supported Web browsers (Firefox and Chrome lead the pack here), such as those that you will use on banking websites. Hand of Thief's developers aren't going to be the ones milking your bank account dry, however. Instead, they're going to be selling licenses of the trojan to those who will. Current pricing is $2,000 with free...
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Forget the school bully who wants your kid’s lunch money: today’s 11-year-old wants your kid’s digital gold, and he’s writing malicious code to steal it. Feeling out of your league, yet? AVG recently took to the airwaves and the Internet to warn parents that kids are learning to code at an early age – and that some of them are getting into serious trouble with those skills. It points to a recent Trojan for stealing data from gamers who play RuneScape. Cheating doesn't pay, especially if the tool you're using to cheat is actually stealling from you. Image credit: AVG. “We have now seen a number of examples of very young individuals writing malware, including...
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The antivirus market is enormous, responsible for billions in revenue each year. That being the case, it'd be easy to believe that current offerings are quite good, but not so claims a report (PDF) by security company iMPERVA. This report states a couple of alarming facts, including one that shows that less than 5% of newly-crafted viruses are picked up by scanners right away. For most antivirus solutions, it could take upwards of 4 weeks before a virus is even added to a detection file. For software that promises to keep you safe, this is a disappointing statistic. It's all the more disappointing when you realize that $4.5 billion is spent by consumers each year on virus protection, whereas...
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According to the latest McAfee Threats Report, the threat of malware is stronger than it has been in the last four years. The McAfee Threats Report for the Second Quarter 2012 found an increase in malware compared to the first quarter of this year (which was previously rated as the busiest period in recent history). This increase is significant: There were 1.5 million more unique malware samples in McAfee's "zoo" collection than the previous quarter. Overall, McAfee found growth in established rootkits as well as an increase among password-stealing Trojans. Mac users aren't immune, either: McAfee found a continued growth in malware that targets the Mac. Another key finding in the report...
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There seems to be a recurring phenomenon in the technology press, where any trojan that affects Linux or Macs becomes front page news. On the other hand, trojans that affect Windows are mostly ignored, perhaps because this is considered to be the normal state of affairs. There are two common statements made in the discussions of these rare events: 1, No operating system will ever be secure from Trojans and 2, Linux/Mac only have fewer viruses because no one uses them. The first statement is almost correct, whereas the second one is a flat out myth in my opinion. Let me explain, and I’ll listen if you still disagree after reading the following in its entirety. ...
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There seems to be a recurring phenomenon in the technology press, where any trojan that affects Linux or Macs becomes front page news. On the other hand, trojans that affect Windows are mostly ignored, perhaps because this is considered to be the normal state of affairs. There are two common statements made in the discussions of these rare events: No operating system will ever be secure from Trojans. Linux/Mac only have fewer viruses because no one uses them. The first statement is almost correct, whereas the second one is a flat out myth in my opinion. Let me explain, and I’ll listen if you still disagree after reading the following in its entirety. 1. ...
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, or until someone uses a the same programming language behind one of the most popular mobile games of all time to construct one of the largest cyberweapons the world has ever seen. The folks at Fox News spoke with a number of cyber security experts who said that the sophisticated 'Flame' malware currently wreaking havoc in the Middle East was written in the LUA computer language, which happens to be the same language Rovio used to build Angry Birds. Small world, eh? Roel Schouwenberg, a senior security researcher with Kaspersky Labs, told Fox News that Flame is twenty times larger than previous cyberbombs, and immensely more powerful. So large, in...
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A well-known German hacker group has accused the German government of releasing a Trojan horse program into the wild. According to the Chaos Computer Club, the program is the stuff of political fiction: it was designed to allow the government to spy on its citizens. The CCC released its findings on its website, in the form of a 20-page PDF file (in German), along with an accompanying post in English. In part, the CCC said the following, "The malware can not only siphon away intimate data but also offers a remote control or backdoor functionality for uploading and executing arbitrary other programs. Significant design and implementation flaws make all of the functionality available to anyone...
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Apparently, another one of the somewhat all-too-common malware-related problems in the U.S. military has resulted in the systems used by pilots who control U.S. Air Force drones being infected by a "keylogger." Although detected by the military's security systems, they've been unable to wipe it off their systems, at least permanently. A source familiar with the infection said, "We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back. We think it’s benign. But we just don’t know." It's hard to see how a keylogger could be benign. Keyloggers infesting computers are often attempting to gain access to passcodes and pins, hardly a benign operation. Military security specialists still haven't determined...
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The Mac Security Blog from Intego, a Mac security software developer, has posted a security memo warning users of a new Trojan, dubbed Flashback, that is infecting OSX based systems. The Flashback Trojan masquerades as an Adobe Flash Player installer, and if an unsuspecting user downloads the file package and ultimately installs the Trojan, it will deactivate some security software, delete the installation package itself, install auto-launch code, and place a library in the /Library/Preferences/ folder that’s used to inject code into applications launched by the user. The Trojan then connects to a remote server and sends information about the infected Mac, including the machine’s...
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A story on the FoxNews website reports that in a matter of days, PC gamers have been able to decipher the structure of a retrovirus protein that has stymied scientists for years. The protein is a critical component in how some viruses multiply, including HIV. It is hoped that the findings will help open the door to the creation of new drugs that can inhibit the virus’s ability to multiply and ultimately stop the spread of the virus. To pull of the feat, the researchers at the University of Washington used a game called FoldIt, which is available for PC, Mac, and Linux, that tasks gamers with creating 3D models. According to the FoldIt website, the games are “meant to generate...
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A newly discovered Android Trojan can record not just the times and numbers for incoming and outgoing calls like its predecessors did, but the actual calls themselves. The malware, which was uncovered by a CA Technologies researcher, records calls in AMR format, and then stores the recorded call in a directory listed as shangzhou/callrecord on the SD Card. The malware also drops a configuration file that contains key information about a remote server and the parameters necessary to communicate with it. It's possible, therefore, that the malware can upload the recorded calls to a server maintained by the attacker. The Trojan was tested in "a controlled environment with two mobile emulators running...
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Apple has finally responded to the Mac Defender malware that has infected a number of Mac users, but while Apple took considerable time before it took any action, the malware writer did not: he already has a new variant available that is more dangerous than the original. The new malware has a new name for its fake antivirus component: MacGuard. Previously, two variants of Mac Defender were dubbed Mac Security and Mac Protector. Intego, which identified the first version of the malware, discovered the new variant via a poisoned Google search early Wednesday morning. The new variant is split into two parts. The first part is a downloader program which is installed into the user’s Applications...
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While much attention is focused on Facebook scams and trojans involving Osama bin Laden's death, Facebook users should be aware of another new way scammers are spreading links to rogue sites. They have begun to circulate convincing links claiming to be stories from Wired News about the iPhone 5. This scam takes advantage of Facebook’s new social plugin for websites that allow for comments, M86 Security Labs reports. If a Facebook user clicks on the link, the user is instead sent to a random .info site. M86 says it has documented over 10 of these sites for this particular scam. Once there, the user is asked to answer a CAPTCHA-like verification form, such as "what is 3 + 2?",...
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Samsung is taking it on the chin after revelations that a keylogger was found by a Network World writer, on not one but two Samsung computers. Because of the placement of the files in the same location, the writer, security consultant Mohammed Hassan, says in fact that this may be something intentional that Samsung is doing. According to Hassan, he spoke to a Samsung supervisor. That supervisor: [...] confirmed that yes, Samsung did knowingly put this software on the laptop to, as he put it, "monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used." This whole incident makes little sense, however. For one, the keylogger, StarLogger, is pretty old (2004). It is therefore readily...
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If there's one thing none of us want, it's a computer virus. There are plenty of antivirus options available; one of the newest options is Avast Pro Antivirus 6.0 which was recently announced by Globalshareware.com. This new version comes with an improved antivirus and anti-spyware engine. With version 6.0, you'll get real time anti-root kit protection, a mail shield, and a safe zone designed specifically for times where you'll be conducting sensitive transactions such as secure online banking. To help protect you, Avast Pro Antivirus 6.0 uses a sandbox to run potentially dangerous programs in a safe virtual environment. There's also a boot-time scanner that scans your system before the OS is...
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Ever the crafty (and malicious) bunch, malware writers added a new trick to an old scam, and it appears to be working. According to the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3), a recent FBI analysis reveals that cyber crooks are targeting employers with fake job applications capable of wreaking havoc. "Recently, more than $150,000 was stolen from a U.S. business via unauthorized wire transfer as a result of an email the business received that contained malware," IC3 warns. "The malware was embedded in an email response to a job posting the business placed on an employment website and allowed the attacker to obtain the online banking credentials of the person who was authorized to conduct financial...
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