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News

• Scammers targeting Japan tsunami, earthquake disaster

  Scammers have wasted no time in capitalising on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan with security firm Sophos reporting a rise in phishing and search engine poisoning attacks.

• Twitter, Facebook turn on session encryption

  Extra security for social networking sites have kicked in this week to combat the rise of attacks targeting user profiles.

• Five big security threats for 2011

  Online malicious activity was a major headache in 2010, and so far, 2011 is no different: We've seen scams and malware on Twitter, Facebook, and the Android Market, as well as a rise in politically motivated online attacks. But that's no surprise to security experts such as Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for security firm Sophos. Cluley says that Sophos analyzes about 95,000 pieces of malware every day that is either brand-new or a variant of an older attack.

• China cleans up spam problem

  It's been a few years coming, but it looks like China may finally be getting a handle on its spam problem.

• Android Market's instant app download a security threat, Sophos says

  Android Market's instant-download feature for applications that customers buy has a flaw: It could open up Android devices to malicious downloads from attackers, according to security firm Sophos.

• Android Market's Web Store: Convenient, risk of malware

  For Android phone users, the newfound convenience of installing apps remotely from the Android Market Website also opens up a security hole for malware.

• Reader X spoils new PDF attack

  Adobe's Reader X, last year's upgrade that features a "sandbox" designed to protect users from PDF exploits, stymied a recent attack campaign, researchers said Thursday.

• Five new online security threats to avoid

  I don't spend a lot of time on Facebook, so when I got an e-mail from the social networking site telling me "you haven't been back to Facebook recently" and here are some messages you missed, it didn't seem odd. I clicked on the link, wondering what one of my friends was doing.

• World now in 'third era' of cybercrime, says report

  The year 2010 was a hugely significant one for computing criminality and could turn out to mark the beginning of a 'third era' of cybercrime, security expert Graham Cluley of Sophos has said in advance of the company's latest threat review of the year.

• Kama Sutra malware threatens to put Windows users in awkward position

  A Sophos IT security consultant has issued a warning not to fall prey to malware that uses a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating sexual positions from the Kama Sutra as its lure.

• U.S. still top spammer, report says

  At the end of 2010, the United States remained on top of the "Dirty Dozen" list of spam relaying nations compiled by IT security firm Sophos.

• Pro-WikiLeaks cyber army gains strength; thousands join DDoS attacks

  The retaliatory attacks by pro-WikiLeaks activists are growing in strength as hackers add botnets and thousands of people download an open-source attack tool, security researchers said today.

• 'Nightmare' kernel bug lets attackers evade Windows UAC security

  Microsoft is investigating reports of an unpatched vulnerability in the Windows kernel that could be used by attackers to sidestep an important operating system security measure.

• Hackers, spammers will target Facebook Messages, say experts

  Facebook's revamped Messages will be a very attractive target for spammers, scammers and malware makers, security experts said today.

• Sophos delights Mac users with free antivirus

  Security software company Sophos has finally broken ranks and decided to offer Mac users a free antivirus product without hidden strings.