Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Extortion gang sentenced for gambling site attacks. A team of three found guilty of computer crimes and extortion have been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by a Russian court. The men were convicted of blackmailing several UK and Irish online gambling firms, demanding cash and threatening to take down sites with DoS attacks if their…

UK supermarket giant enters software market. The UK’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco , has announced plans to sell and support its own-brand range of low-budget software products, including an office suite and ‘two security/anti-virus products’. The products will be offered at less than £20 (around $37 US), undercutting their rivals in many sectors, particularly the…

Mass-mailer evolving as botnets spread. The Stration mass-mailing worm, also called Warezov by some vendors, has been spreading steadily over the last few weeks, with the creators using advanced evolution techniques to avoid detection. The emails carrying the worm often masquerade as security alerts or email bounces. Numerous labs have alerted on another upswing of…

Vote-based anti-phish system launched. A new database of phishing sites has been launched, with an open-source, community focus. The system, labelled PhishTank , is run by web firm OpenDNS , who will be using data from it to help block its users from accessing dangerous sites. Registered users of the PhishTank system can enter details…

Newspaper ad attacks Microsoft plans. McAfee has joined Symantec on the warpath against Microsoft ‘s plans for its forthcoming Vista release of Windows . In a full-page advertisement taken out in the Financial Times , the security firm accused Microsoft of shutting it and other security vendors out of vital parts of the new OS.…

Hotmail lagging behind on mislabelled ham. ‘Email marketing’ firm Lyris has released a study of spam false positive filtering, showing a general downward trend in falsely blocked email. The survey was performed by subscribing to large numbers of valid, fully legal opt-in email newsletters and alert systems, then measuring how many failed to make it…

ActiveX and ePO flaws covered by patches. Trend Micro ‘s flagship OfficeScan Corporate Edition 7.3 has suffered a vulnerability, allowing code execution from the local network. The flaw, in an ActiveX control used by the client management system, was originally reported by Layered Defense , whose advisory is here . The problem was reported to…

ISP helps FBI track down spamming duo. Two men pleaded guilty to spamming in a Miami court last week. The pair were accused of sending over 25,000 emails over a period of a month and violating the CAN-SPAM Act. The two men, one a Californian and the other a Florida native, were tracked down by…

Newly patched browser vulnerable to more malware. Microsoft ‘s beleaguered Internet Explorer browser is once again the subject of security worries, as another fully functioning exploit is unveiled. The vulnerability, first publicised in July as part of H. D. Moore of Metasploit ‘s ‘Month of Browser Bugs’, was originally exploited only by a DoS attack…

Watchdog kicks off awareness offensive. US online safety organisation the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) has launched its latest public information campaign, labelling October a ‘National Cyber Security Awareness Month’. The not-for-profit NCSA, backed by bodies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Trade Commission as well as private companies, is offering educational…