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‘virus’ Stories

Symantec changes their mind on Android malware

Chris Burns, Feb 1st 2012 Discuss [0]

Not one week after the security group known as Symantec announced that they'd discovered the largest malware attack in the history of Android planted firmly in the guts of the official market, they've announced that there is no such infection. In fact, the malware the group said it'd found, Android.Counterclank, is actually just an overly-aggressive adware code. This is in accordance with a report put out by rival security group Lookout whom has essentially "told them so" late last month - always double check! Read The Full Story

Android Trojans highlight basic problem with a non-curated Market

Chris Burns, Jan 30th 2012 Discuss [0]

There's a whole lot of malware going down right now in the Android Marketplace, and aside from scaring the bajeesus out of new Android users everywhere, the situation has highlighted a basic mis-step on the part of both consumers and Google. What Google has fallen under fire for many more times than here and now is that their Android Market has next to no curation process for apps, this allowing the possibility for malicious apps to be dropped and run rampant as they are today. As far as consumers go, there's a fantastically large amount of people out there who have no idea what they're doing. Read The Full Story

Microsoft tells story of Antivirus programmer turned Kelihos botnet hacker

Chris Burns, Jan 24th 2012 Discuss [0]

Several months ago there was a massive spam operation by the name of Kelihos botnet that both Microsoft and partners took offline, this menace having already sent 3.8 billion spam emails a day for some time. What you should know, and perhaps much more importantly, is the following fact: the controller and creator of that spam factory was no less than a former employee of several Antivirus firms. What does this mean for you? It means you should think twice before firing Johnny No-Virus from your Antivirus group, folks, because he'll probably be spamming you soon. Read The Full Story

USPS Promotes physical mail, warns against evil Internet

Chris Burns, Oct 31st 2011 Discuss [12]

This week the United States Postal Office has decided to go with a commercial made to warn against the many dangers of using the Internet for daily communication. In a move that's sure to have the masses seeing this commercial on the Internet saying "this can't be real," the USPS brings a message that clearly states that they're trying to win back customers who've moved to much more environmentally friendly means of sending letters. But hey, who are we to put such a move down, there's nothing more classic in this country than the pony express! Read The Full Story

Japanese House of Representatives and other diplomatic offices hit by virus attack

Shane McGlaun, Oct 26th 2011 Discuss [2]

Japanese government officials have announced that over the last several months, viruses have hit its House of Representatives and Ministry of Foreign affairs during cyber attacks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offices along with its overseas embassies and consulates were targeted by emails in a focused attack with the goal of stealing information. Read The Full Story

New Mac Trojan virus disables OS X anti-malware

Rue Liu, Oct 19th 2011 Discuss [6]

According to internet and computer security research firm F-Secure, there's a new Mac Trojan virus making the rounds. The virus has been labeled as OSX/Flashback.C and attacks by disabling the updater component of XProtect, which is OS X's built-in anti-malware protection. Read The Full Story

US Predator and Reaper drone fleet hit with virus

Shane McGlaun, Oct 10th 2011 Discuss [6]

If anyone I know gets a virus on their computer and wants me to fix it, I don’t bother with anything past antivirus protection. If that doesn't remove the virus, I reformat and reinstall the OS. The US military doesn't always have that option when it comes to drone flights. The Predator and Reaper drone sin the US military arsenal are used for missions ranging from attack to covert surveillance. Read The Full Story

Security researcher shines spotlight on Sophos anti-malware flaws

Chris Davies, Aug 5th 2011 Discuss [1]

A Google engineer has slated the anti-virus industry, accusing it of obfuscating its own effectiveness with buzzwords and branding, and singling out Sophos for offering software with flaws that could easily be gamed by malware authors. Presenting his findings at the Black Hat conference this week, Forbes reports, Tavis Ormandy described his actions as "publishing the missing technical specifications for Sophos" having criticized the company - and its peers - as guilty of "high level double speak. They make up Hollywood-sounding names, but there's little technical substance." Read The Full Story

Android Trojan Malware Records Your Phone Conversations

Rue Liu, Aug 2nd 2011 Discuss [14]

A new Android malware has hit the scene that will surely cause some paranoia the next time you have a private---or at least you thought was private---phone conversation. According to researchers at CA Security Advisor, a new Android Trojan has been discovered that lodges itself in your phone when you download an infected app and then proceeds to record your phone calls. Read The Full Story

Apple warns AppleCare team off fixing Mac malware

Chris Davies, May 19th 2011 Discuss [9]

Apple has reportedly advised its AppleCare staff not to assist Mac users in removing malware, while the company conducts an investigation into the "Mac Defender" and "Mac Security" trojans. According to a leaked internal memo, acquired by ZDNet, support staff should only advise Mac owners not to install the malicious apps, and - if they discover that their warning comes too late - direct them to an Apple Support document on malware rather than "make recommendations for specific software to assist." Read The Full Story

Documentary Examines First PC Virus In History Called “Brain”

Rue Liu, Mar 8th 2011 Discuss [4]

The first PC virus in history was created back in 1986 and called “Brain.” Since this was before common use of computer networks and the world wide web, the virus was transmitted through a floppy disk, the original kind that was actually floppy and about the size of a dinner plate. F-Secure researcher Mikko Hypponen and his company have made a small documentary tracing Brain back to its roots and delivering it back home to the original writers of the virus, Basit and Amjad Farooq. Read The Full Story