The Internet Threat Landscape

Not One but Two New OS X Malware

Two new malware for Mac OS X were recently discovered. Even though there are indeed relatively fewer Mac malware compared with Windows, many Mac users who still believe they are somehow magically immune from attacks may run the risk of encountering any of these two.

Treat your password like your toothbrush?

Treat your password like your toothbrush, don’t let anyone else use it and change it every six months. (Clifford Stoll)

Password security has been one of the longstanding IT security issue to date. While many IT administrators enforce periodic password change by the employees, many of them do not, turning a blind eye to on their vulnerability. It is advised that even home users choose three complex; easy to remember but difficult to guess passwords. Use the first password as a general one for the majority of sites that require passwords to login. The second password, use for your email account and only your email account. Finally use the third password for any websites that could have financial consequences such as online banking or payment sites.

Here's an article on SQL injection vulnerability : http://countermeasures.trendmicro.eu/orangefr-compromised-245000-clear-text-passwords-exposed/

Tattletale Spam Reveals Malicious File Instead of Gossip

Spam mail disguised as Youtube message with malicious contents are on the loose. It may potentially affect you and everyone else in your address book. Currently the email message is written in Portuguese, but users are warned as nothing is stopping cybercriminals from sending out an English version of this malicious spam.

Read more: http://blog.trendmicro.com/tattletale-spam-reveals-malicious-file-instead-of-gossip/

Cybercriminals Launch Tainted Windows 7 RC

Always download your OS updates and freeware from official and reputable sites. Dubious website and torrent downloads should be avoided. In addition, protect yourself with Antivirus to prevent malware downloads from scam sites.

 

Read more at

http://blog.trendmicro.com/cybercriminals-launch-tainted-windows-7-rc/#ixzz0HHLELk32&B

Koobface Tries CAPTCHA Breaking

Most of us has probably encountered and used CAPTCHA but did not know it actually has a name to it.

A CAPTCHA or Captcha is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. The process usually involves one computer (a server) asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human.

Eg:

 As CAPTCHA works against spammers and botnets, cybercriminals find ways to farm and overcome these distorted characters to break the code. Below is an interesting method by worm Koobface.

Spammers Celebrate with Father’s Day Early

Spammers waste no time in exploiting every means to achieve their aim. Even before Father’s Day arrives, spammers already spring into action. Spam mail leading to a spoof website is used to harvest victims’ emails. Users are advised to be extra careful when receiving emails from unknown sources.

From IM to Twitter: Weight-Loss Spam Gains Ground

Spamming has progressed from email to instant messages to micro-blogs like Twitter. There has been increasing reports of Twitter getting hacked and compromised. In this particular case, a weight loss product spam got better of Twitter and posts various messages promoting the weight loss drugs.

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Spammers Ride on H1N1 Global Pandemic

by Det Caraig (Technical Communications)

The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the H1N1 global pandemic alert level to phase 6 on June 11. More than 70 countries have now reported cases of human infection. Many of the cases reportedly had links to travel or were localized outbreaks. The WHO designation of a phase 6 pandemic alert reflects the fact that there are now ongoing community-level outbreaks in multiple parts of world. It should be noted, however, that the WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus and not of the severity of illness caused by the virus.

Air France Flight 447 Search Results Lead to Rogue Antivirus

Cybercriminals are always quick to exploit on the latest news headlines to gain an edge in their social engineering technique. Examples extensively used are Obama’s election and the spread of H1N1. However it is disappointing to see that they are already making use of the tragedy of Air France 447’s mishap through SEO poisoning to their advantage.

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Beware of Repackaged HijackThis Downloads

HijackThis™ is one of the well-known free utilities of Trend Micro that quickly scans a user’s Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware, or other unwanted programs. By itself, it does not determine what is good or bad but it lists registry keys and files system of the scanned system where unwanted programs potentially could reside.

Only experienced users and IT experts with outstanding practice in HijackThis could use the initial text information without the community help. Almost all users of this tool rely on the online evaluation and analysis of the report, provided by several HijackThis communities. A list of some of these communities can be found here.