Security researchers say they have discovered a new Trojan horse program that targets mobile phones running Google’s Android operating system that may be the first to attempt to create a so-called ‘botnet’ of infected mobile devices.
2010 ended with dire predictions about a new age of Internet enabled hacker-activism, but the big story in 2011 will be the explosion in IP enabled, loosely secured, Internet connected stuff.
Microsoft on Wednesday issued a security advisory to users of its Internet Explorer Web browser about a newly disclosed vulnerability that could be exploited and used to run malicious code on vulnerable Windows systems.
A french IT security firm is warning of a previously unknown (“zero day”) vulnerability that affects most versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser. The hole, if exploited, could allow remote attackers to circumvent defensive features in fully patched WIndows 7 and Windows Vista and run malicious code on vulnerable systems.
UPDATE: The Massachusetts Attorney General has been notified that financial data on 1,800 residents were exposed in a database breach linked to CitySights NY, a sightseeing firm. The case could set the stage for enforcement of the State’s nine month-old data privacy law.
Microsoft says a recent patch for Outlook 2007 after it caused slow performance and problems with third party e-mail services.
CitySights owner Twin America says the credit card details of 110,000 customers were stolen in a Web based attack and suggests it wasn’t following Payment Card Industry guidelines for storing card data.
HED: New Intel Chips Support SMS Kill SwitchDEK: Anti Theft 3 Chips Can be disabled via 3G NetworksNew computer processors from Intel Corp, due out in 2011, can be disabled using an SMS “poison pill” message sent over any 3G cellular network, according to Intel documentation.The new anti-theft feature, which Intel has dubbed “Anti Theft 3.0” will only be available for devices using Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge microprocessors. The new feature will enable organizations to remotely disable lost or stolen laptops even if those devices are not connected to the Internet. Instead Any device within range of a 3G cell tower could be disabled using what Intel describes as an “encrypted SMS” text message. The new feature comes as organizations are looking for ways to guard against data breaches that stem from lost or stolen mobile devices, one of the biggest sources of such breaches. Intel is planning to unveil the new chips at teh Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. The addition of a 3G “kill switch” for Intel is just the latest evolution in its hardware-based anti theft technology and has been in the works for months. Intel already offers customers the ability to disable lost or stolen devices via LAN, wirless LAN and VPN connection. However, those methods require a lost or stolen device to be connected directly to the Internet first. The 3G poison pill feature would allow technicians to trigger one or more security features so long as the stolen or lost device checked in with a 3G tower. Options include disabling access to encrypted data by deliting an encryption key stored in the chipset, disabling the laptop by blocking the boot process or both, Intel said. The term “poison pill” may be misleading, however, as Intel’s Anti Theft features also allow users to re-enable the device after the anti-theft features have been enabled. Intel has made security a key investment area, as the company prepares for a post-PC world in which “pro-sumer” mobile devices running its processors increasingly operate outside of corporate firewall, carry a mixture of personal and corporate data and leverage both WiFi and 3G connections for Internet connectivity, voice, video and more. In August, Intel purchased anti malware firm McAfee for $7.68b in a surprise move. Intel said that it was interested in baking security deeper into its hardware and avoid the traditional performance slow downs that security software produces. The Sandy Bridge chip is the successor to the Nehalem architecture and is already being distributed to Intel OEMs. The anti theft features are just one improvement on the latest generation processors, along with improved performance, a boost in the capabilities of integrated graphics features. New computer processors from Intel Corp, due out in 2011, can be disabled using an SMS “poison pill” message sent over any 3G cellular network, according to published reports.
As government agencies and the military bar access to the WIkileaks documents, a poll of Web filtering providers finds most label the leak site more “newsy” than “naughty.”
Authorities in Romania have disrupted a large hacking ring accused of stealing Voice over IP (VoIP) data from hacked servers and using it to place bogus calls to premium rate numbers. Agence France Presse reported on Tuesday that 42 people were arrested in the sting, breaking up a network that was headed by two Romanians and that had caused more than $13.5m in losses to firms in the U.S., Britain, South Africa, Italy and Romania.
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