Desktop security - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Cybercriminals use sophisticated PowerShell-based malware

  Cybercriminals have been developing increasingly sophisticated malware that make use of Windows PowerShell scripts in an attempt to fly under the radar.

• Microsoft to start blocking adware that lacks easy uninstall

  Microsoft has toughened its criteria for classifying programs as adware and gave developers three months to conform with the new principles or risk having their programs blocked by the company's security products.

• Worried about the government? Internet giants also dip their hands in the cookie jar

  Security protections have been tightened at many of the major online services, as firms like Google and Microsoft pledge to protect their users against unwanted prying eyes. But while many people fret about unwarranted government access to their data, the Internet firms themselves play by their own set of rules.

• For Facebook, delivering the strongest security would be a challenge

  If you're a Facebook user and you want the best form of encryption to keep hackers and spies out of your posts and chats, you don't have a ton of options now.

• Snowden advocates at SXSW for improved data security

  Encryption technologies can be a powerful tool against government surveillance, but the most effective techniques are still largely out of reach to the average Internet user, Edward Snowden said Monday.

• Need your Mt. Gox bitcoins back? Steer clear of this website

  Empty-handed customers of bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox are being targeted in a ploy likely intended to distributed malware.

• Researchers bypass protections in Microsoft's EMET anti-exploitation tool

  Security researchers managed to bypass the protections offered by Microsoft's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET), a utility designed to detect and block software exploits, and concluded that the tool would not be effective against determined attackers.

• Prominent cryptographer victim of malware attack related to Belgacom breach

  Belgian cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater had his personal computer infected with malware as the result of a targeted attack that's believed to be related to a security breach discovered last year at Belgian telecommunications group Belgacom. According to him, other cryptographers have also been targeted by the same attackers.

• Hackers use a trick to deliver Zeus banking malware

  Hackers found a new way to slip past security software and deliver Zeus, a long-known malicious software program that steals online banking details.

• Target-related malware was a side job for man living in Russia

  In a surprising TV interview, a 23-year-old living in Russia said he helped code a software program that experts believe was eventually modified to steal tens of millions of payment card details from Target.

• Palo Alto Networks acquires security startup Morta to outsmart hackers

  Palo Alto Networks, an enterprise security company, has acquired Silicon Valley startup Morta Security in a deal that the companies say will better help their clients defend themselves against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

• Cybercrooks developing dangerous new file-encrypting ransomware, researchers warn

  A team of malware developers is preparing to sell a new ransomware program that encrypts files on infected computers and asks victims for money to recover them, according to a volunteer group of security researchers who tracked the development of the threat on underground forums in recent weeks.

• Russian-speaking group offers bulletproof hosting in Syria, Lebanon

  A Russian-speaking group is advertising "bulletproof" hosting for cybercriminals from data centers in Syria and Lebanon, an apparent effort to place new services in locales where Western law enforcement has little influence.

• Passwords reset after 'Pony' botnet stole 2 million credentials

  Facebook, LinkedIn and other online services have been resetting accounts after 2 million login credentials, apparently stolen from users' computers, were discovered on a server in the Netherlands.

• Flash Player now sandboxed under Safari on Mac OS X

  Adobe has worked with Apple to sandbox Flash Player under Safari in Mac OS X, restricting the ability of attackers to exploit any vulnerabilities they might find in the browser plug-in.