Category: blog
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Ham disguised as spam
Webshop makes mass-mailing look like phishing scam. An email addressed to ‘Dear customer’, in which a user is asked to check their account details, using a link that does not lead to the sender’s domain: one would hope that modern web users would not be taken in for a second by such an obvious phishing…
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Vulnerability test raises hackles
Secunia suite trial slates lack of PoC detection, but test methods called into question. Vulnerability specialist Secunia published the results of a trial of internet security suites this week, with stark findings showing very poor detection rates of the selection of exploits and proof-of-concept overruns used. However, the test has run into considerable criticism from…
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Researchers urge anti-phishing companies to share data
Estimate over $300 million lost annually because data is not shared. Researchers have revealed malicious websites are often active for longer than they ought to be due to a lack of communication and cooperation between security vendors. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have looked into data sharing among companies that are hired by banks…
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Four critical updates this Patch Tuesday
11 updates to be issued by Microsoft in October’s monthly patch release: 4 critical. Microsoft has prepared a total of 11 updates for the October round of its monthly patch release cycle, with four updates being rated ‘critical’. The four critical updates cover vulnerabilities in Active Directory , Internet Explorer , Microsoft HIS ( Host…
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VB2008 photos online
VB delegates at work, rest and play in Ottawa. A selection of photographs from the VB2008 conference in Ottawa is now available to browse online. The photographs can be searched by category, photographer or person and can be accessed here . VB2009, the 19th Virus Bulletin conference, takes place 23-25 September 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland.…
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McAfee to buy Secure Computing
Acquisition deal valued at $465m. McAfee has announced its official agreement to purchase network security firm Secure Computing Corp. in a deal worth a whopping $465 million. The announcement comes a little less than two months since McAfee announced its intention to acquire data loss firm Reconnex in a deal worth $46 million. The security…
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Last-minute papers announced for VB2008
Schedule for hot-topic technical ‘turbo’ talks announced. VB has unveiled the schedule for a series of up-to-the-minute technical presentations at the VB2008 conference which takes place 1-3 October in Ottawa, Canada. The eight ‘last-minute’ presentations include material on today’s hottest topics, with the papers being selected just days prior to the start of the conference,…
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Free speech argument overturns AOL spammer conviction
Virginia court upholds notorious Jaynes’ right to express himself in bulk. Infamous AOL spammer Jeremy Jaynes, convicted of a massive spamming campaign targeting AOL users in 2004, has had his conviction overturned in a Virginia Supreme Court judgement which essentially undermines the state’s local anti-spam laws in favour of free speech arguments. Jaynes was indicted…
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Four critical updates in Patch Tuesday release
Monthly security update small but vital. Microsoft has released its monthly ‘Patch Tuesday’ batch of security updates, with only four items on the list but all of them marked ‘critical’. The four updates affect Microsoft Office , Windows Media Player , Media Encoder , and GDI+ , a core component of Windows . All the…