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MS announces no security patches this month. With several known vulnerabilities still affecting Windows and other products, Microsoft has announced that there will be no security fixes released next week, with the monthly Patch Tuesday release limited to some non-security-related updates and additions to the Malicious Software Removal Tool . It has been speculated that…

Share trading in 35 pumped and dumped companies suspended. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday that it had suspended trading in the stocks of 35 companies, all of which had been used in ‘pump-and-dump’ spam campaigns. The aim of a pump-and-dump campaign is to push the value of a small, low share-value…

Link bombing pushes blended spyware attack to top of popular search results. The gang behind the sophisticated Gromozon blended threat, also known as LinkOptimizer , is thought to have successfully subverted the Windows Live Search system to place links to their malware in prominent positions in result listings for several popular Italian-language search terms. A…

Microsoft product found not up to scratch in AV-Comparatives review. Respected testing organisation AV-Comparatives has released the results of its latest in-depth test of anti-virus products, with a large batch of products tried out over a wide range of malware. Only one product, Microsoft ‘s Windows Live OneCare , failed to detect enough of the…

Consumer group Which? urges banks to protect customers scammed online. Major UK consumer protection organisation Which? has issued a call for a change to rules regarding compensation paid out by banks when their customers are robbed as a result of phishing scams. At present, most incidents of phishing are covered by the bank involved, but…

Sorin Mustaca documents common and emerging phishing techniques. Despite the fact that phishing is receiving increasing amounts of media coverage, and people are more aware than ever of the threat, the phishing ‘business’ seems still to be very attractive for fraudsters, and new phishing tricks appear on a regular basis. From this month, the VB…

Illegal Japanese file-sharers warned off by anime character malware. A series of trojans have been spotted targeting users of popular Japanese file-sharing system Winny . The trojans replace files with a series of image files, which contain pictures of Japanese anime characters and text instructing users to cease illegal file-sharing, threatening them with police involvement…

Second vulnerability unveiled this month only affects server products. Less than two weeks after details of a UPX vulnerability affecting many of Trend Micro ‘s products were released, along with fixes for the flaw, another problem and potential security hole has been discovered in the security company’s products. This time only server-based products, Trend ‘s…

Latest DirectRevenue case nets mere $1.5 million penalty. Serial adware user DirectRevenue , along with several advertising clients, has agreed to settle a case brought by the US Federal Trade Commission, with total financial penalties amounting to $1.5 million. The case accused the advertising purveyor of using deceptive and aggressive tactics in the distribution of…

Eight seized for writing and selling cuddly panda malware. Eight men have been arrested in the central Chinese province of Hubei, on suspicion of involvement in the creation and spreading of the W32/Fujacks virus, also known as the ‘Panda burning joss-sticks’ virus thanks to the rather cute icons used by infected files. In what is…