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SPARTA Inc. to become the lucky new owner McAfee Inc. has announced that it is selling its McAfee Research assets to systems engineering firm SPARTA, Inc. McAfee Research conducts advanced computer and network security research focusing on host, network and wireless intrusion prevention; malicious code defence; security policy and management; high performance assurance and forensics;…

‘Sexually explicit’ labelling rule violated The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been granted a temporary restraining order against six companies that it says have violated CAN SPAM regulations. The FTC says that the companies have violated regulations which state that emails with content of a sexual or pornographic nature must carry the label ‘sexually explicit’.…

FBI warns donors of tsunami disaster relief fraud The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert warning those who wish to donate to tsunami disaster relief funds that they may be targeted by Trojan exploits and 419 scams. The FBI has reported that bogus websites have already been set up that masquerade as…

Anti-virus imminent? Microsoft has released the beta version of its new anti-spyware tool, Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, along with indications that the release of an anti-virus product may be imminent. The beta version of Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware comes three weeks after the company’s acquisition of anti-spyware firm GIANT Company Software Inc. and is now available as…

For the time being at least… Prolific spammer Sanford Wallace has agreed to put a hold on his activity until his court case with the FTC has been resolved. Wallace, whose past activities have earned him the titles ‘Spam King’ and ‘Spamford Wallace’, has agreed that he and his companies Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc. and…

Virus Bulletin would like to wish all its readers a very happy and prosperous new year. Virus Bulletin would like to wish all its readers a very happy and prosperous new year. We hope to see many of you at the Virus Bulletin conference in Dublin this October and there’s still plenty of time to…

VB sets the record straight regarding the collection of files referenced in Peter Morley’s letter ‘Generic detection – a specific case’ published in last months main magazine. Andreas Clementi, of the University of Innsbruck, has asked VB to set the record straight regarding the collection of files referenced in Peter Morley’s letter ‘Generic detection –…

Causing a stir in the anti-virus community last month was the announcement of a new US-led initiative whose aim is to achieve threat synchronization. The US Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team, US-CERT, is set to coordinate a Common Malware Enumeration (CME) initiative, according to a letter sent to the SANS Institute and…

The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way. It’s that time of the month again… If you are a subscriber to Virus Bulletin, you should be receiving your January issue shortly – it’s on its way. As always, a selection of articles from this months issue have been posted up to the website…

Judge refuses to accept guilty plea. A federal judge has refused to accept the guilty plea of a former AOL employee charged with selling the company’s customer email list to spammers. Jason Smathers, who was offered a deal if he entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property, faced…