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Category Archives: Warnings
Web Security Snapshot Has Some Surprises
Symantec, a major Net security company, has published a report on Internet security threats of 2011. It’s an interesting snapshot of trends and statistics that makes sobering reading, along with a few eyebrow-raising surprises. Here are some of its highlights: A dangerous new trend among criminals is using shortened URLs to distribute and disguise spam and phishing attacks. These links are conveniently provided by numerous websites to handily replace lengthy strings in addresses, but where they actually point to may be hard to guess. Users are advised to use preview tools to check them out before clicking. Social media sites, especially Facebook, have been cleverly used to spread links to infected sites by crooks taking advantage of people’s expectations and profiles. People using social networking sites are cautioned to be careful about what personal information they post, and when clicking on URLs in email or posted on social media sites even when they come from friends or trusted sources. Macs are not immune: the first Mac-based botnet occurred in 2009. New threats emerged in 2011, including Mac Defender, a fake antivirus program that installs itself without permission. Symantec claims to have identified 4,989 new computer vulnerabilities in just 2011. However, the number of new problems with popular browsers has decreased slightly, Google Chrome having the most dramatic reduction. The amount of spam is actually decreasing, from over 88% of all email in 2010 down to 68% by the end of … Continue reading
Flashback Trojan is a Warning to Mac Owners
It finally happened: for the first time, Macintosh computers have been attacked by a trojan virus in a big way. Few viruses have ever targeted them before, and for decades Apple owners were told simply not to worry, that viruses were a Microsoft problem. Now the owners of over a half-million Mac OS X computers share the pain – and some of the vulnerability – that Windows users have long been familiar with. The malware is called Flashback, and was discovered not long ago by Kaspersky Labs, a leading Moscow-based software security firm. Flashback can hijack a Mac without even an administrative password, due to its exploit of a flaw in Java. Though discovered last September, Oracle, the company that makes Java, patched the hole back in February, but that didn’t solve the problem. It turns out Apple ships its own version of Java, and their patches weren’t issued until early April. (Obviously, the company has a learning curve about prompt and effective security responses in front of them.) By now there are a lot of infected Macintoshes – not really all that many by Windows standards, but it can still spoil your day if you have one. The virus masquerades as an installer for Adobe’s Flash, and it can install itself. All you have to do is visit an infected website with an unprotected computer. As of the latest reports, the trojan has created a botnet – a network … Continue reading
IRS helps enable online tax fraud
Your friends at the Internal Revenue Service are eager to get everyone to do their federal taxes online. But in their efforts to make everything quick and easy, they’ve wound up helping Internet tax scammers, too. And it’s not a phishing scheme or involves hacking, but is based on filing false online returns and collecting the refund. So this tax season, the government is warning people of the dangers. Identity thieves are very busy – last year, the IRS identified nearly a million fraudulent returns to the tune of $6.5 billion. Over half of these were related to identify theft, which is three times the amount of just three years before. And those are just the ones caught before any refunds had been issued. The IRS can’t, or won’t, even estimate how much money they’ve actually sent to scammers. Tax fraud has become an epidemic especially in areas like South Florida, with some gangs replacing drug sales and robberies with online crimes committed with iPads. Gangs even hold work parties to teach each other and commit hundreds of crimes in a single session. So many local officials are complaining about the lack of governmental concern and effective action. Working the fraud, authorities claim, is quite simple, and there are even written tutorials for thieves. The criminals first acquire victims’ Social Security numbers and other personal information. Perhaps they buy the data from insiders with access to medical or financial records or … Continue reading