Archive for the ‘Hacking and Security’ category

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First Android Trojan for Mobile Phones is on the Loose

August 10th, 2010

Android TrojanAn SMS Trojan called Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a has infected Android mobile devices, according to security firm Kaspersky Lab.

The Trojan is camouflaged as  a harmless media player application. Users are prompted to install a file of just over 13 KB with the standard Android extension .APK. Once installed on the phone, the Trojan uses the system to begin sending SMSs to premium rate numbers without the owner’s knowledge or consent.

According to Kaspersky, the Trojan-SMS category is currently the most widespread class of malware for mobile phones, but Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a is the first to specifically target the Android platform. That said, there have already been isolated cases of devices running Android being infected with spyware. The first such program appeared in 2009.

Kaspersky Lab recommends that users pay close attention to the services that an application requests access to when it is being installed. That includes access to premium rate services that charge to send SMSs and make calls.

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Posted in Hacking and Security, Mobile Phones

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Massive Spyware Attack on Facebook

May 18th, 2010

A massive spyware attack on Facebook was launched during the past weekend.

AVG Technologies researchers indicated that from midnight to 9 a.m. EST on Saturday, May 15, 2010, AVG software detected and blocked more than three hundred thousand rogue applications.

Social networks are viral by nature – when a user installs a Facebook app, there’s usually an update on their feed. Then their friends install it, etc. This viral behavior makes it very easy for rogue and dangerous apps to spread.

“This latest issue really underscores how powerful, while at the same time vulnerable, social networking applications are. This attack was actually stunning in terms of scale,” said Roger Thompson, AVG’s Chief Research Officer.

This specific attack, which offered a picture of a girl in a bikini to entice the victim to install an adware-supported viewer, was not viral according to AVG researchers, and was first seen in different forms last week.

Last week’s rogue push peaked at about 80,000 for the day, and had dwindled to just a couple of hundred per day by Friday, May 14, 2010. At that point AVG researchers were hopeful that the adware attack would cease; however, all indications point to the fact that they were just gearing up for a fresh start… and a powerful one at that.

Remember to keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, and don’t install suspicious apps on Facebook or on your computer.

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Posted in Hacking and Security, Social Networks

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Remeber Conficker?

May 16th, 2010

Even if you have already forgotten all about the mysterious Conficker worm – it still remembers you. The fact of the matter is, that an unknown number of computers around the world (probably millions – no one knows) are infected with Conficker – and still no one knows why, what it wants and who is behind it.

A great article on Atlantic Magazine tells the story of Conficker and the battle against it – a losing battle, to be exact. The writer has a flare for the dramatic, mind you, but that doesn’t change the fact that the best computer security researchers are still baffled by Conficker.

“You know you’re dealing with someone who not only knows how botnets work, but who understands how the security community works,” Andre’ DiMino told me. “This is not just a bunch of organized criminals that, say, commission someone to write a botnet for them. They know the challenges that the security community faces internally, politically, and economically, and are exploiting them as well.”

As of today, Conficker has a very big botnet. No one knows for sure how many computer are infected, because Conficker now utilizes peer-to-peer communications, so it no longer needs to check in with an outside command center, which is how security experts kept count. The rough estimate is that 6.5 million computers are infected.

Conficker Removal Tools

If you are using Windows XP – there’s a chance you might be infected with Conficker – even if you are protected by a firewall and an anti-virus. There are quite a few Conficker removal tools out there – here are some of them:

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Posted in Hacking and Security, Internet

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Gmail is Slow; Delicious is Spammed

May 9th, 2010

If you are a Gmail user, you might have experienced the horrors of awful slowness in your inbox lately. Gmail problems include: extremely long load times (we are talking 10 minutes in some cases), messages that are late to arrive, problems downloading attachments and problems with sending messages.

These issues arise in all browsers and all operating systems.

This situation has been going on for a while. Users are complaining all over the so-called Google help forums – and to no avail. Google says nothing, and the only help these poor users get is a link to the unhelpful Gmail is Slow page. Trust me guys – you can’t blame Norton Anti-Virus for this one! Twitter, too, is full of complaints about Gmail, and still no official word from Google.

The rumors say that Google has been compromised by hackers and that their servers took a real hit – but they won’t admit it. Since Google has no customer service to speak of, it seems that we will just have to wait for this mysterious situation to resolve itself.

Delicious Spam Attack

No, this is not a funky name for an even funkier recipe – this ain’t no cooking blog, fellas. Anyway, on a more serious note – Delicious, the social bookmarking site (which I love deeply) has fallen victim to a vicious spam attack. If you take a peek at the Popular Bookmarks page, which is usually a great place to see what’s hot on the web, you’ll see that it’s filled with filthy spam articles in all languages.

At first, this also affected aggregators like Popurls and Oursignal, but they seem to be filtering out the crap right now.

There’s no official response from Delicious/Yahoo on this matter.

Something is rotten in the state of the interwebs, my friends. First it’s disgusting “Like” buttons – now a slow/hacked Gmail and a spammed Delicious. Thank God there are still funny cats around!

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Posted in Hacking and Security, Internet, Social Networks

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Twitter on an Apple ][e

April 25th, 2010

Now THAT is what I call a great use of technology! Did I mention I think Apple ][e is the best PC ever made?

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Posted in Computers, Fun Stuff, Hacking and Security, Internet, Social Networks

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