Microsoft has issued an update to its core malware protection engine that fixes a bug that could allow an attacker to gain LocalSystem privileges on a vulnerable machine if a specific set of odd conditions exist.
SAN FRANCISCO–It’s often said that after decades of work and technological advances, the security industry hasn’t actually solved any problems or made things any better. But that’s not entirely true. The industry has in fact perfected the art of exploiting the scare ’em and snare ’em, threat-of-the-moment mentality that’s turned security into a perpetual cash-generation machine. And it’s all for naught.
There was lots of noise and distraction on the crowded Expo floor of the RSA Security Conference this year. After a grueling couple of years, vendors were back in force with big booths, big news and plenty of entertainment designed to attract visitor traffic. Wandering the floor, I saw – variously – magic tricks, a man walking on stilts, a whack-a-mole game, a man dressed in a full suit of armor and a 15 foot long racetrack that I would have killed for when I was 10.
With Microsoft set to release the first Service Pack for its Windows 7 Operating System to the general public on Tuesday, businesses and consumers are preparing for an update that fixes hundreds of security and functional problems, but this Service Pack is more housekeeping than a radical home makeover when it comes to security. Microsoft released SP1 to its MSDN members and TechNet Subscribers on February 16. The company said at that time that general availability of SP1 would come on February 22. The release is the first major update for the Windows 7 operating system and for the Windows Server 2008 R2 platform, comprising more than 750 so-called “hot fixes” and 39 security fixes. However, unlike high stakes updates for earlier Windows versions, such as XP and Vista, Microsoft’s Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, Microsoft has avoided wholesale changes to Windows 7 in the name of security.Among the changes that customers get with Service Pack 1 are 32 security updates of varying degrees of severity and stretching back to 2009. They include high profile fixes like MS10-061, which closed a hole in the Windows Print Spooler Service that was used by the Stuxnet worm. In recent years, the Redmond, Washington software maker had fallen into a pattern of using service pack releases – especially its first service pack – to address major security issues and shortcomings. Perhaps the best example of that was the WIndows XP Service Pack 2, released in August 2004, which added a host of new security features including a desktop firewall, an early version of the company’s Data Execution Prevention (DEP) technology and the Windows Security Center, a GUI feature that allowed users to manage their security software from a central location. Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are scheduled to be made available from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update on Tuesday.
There are two new versions of the Zeus malware making the rounds right now, both of which target popular mobile phone platforms. One of the variants targets Windows Mobile devices, while the other is going after the Symbian platform, and both are intent on silently stealing data from infected devices.
Researchers have identified a new remotely exploitable vulnerability in all current versions of Windows that could be used by attackers to run arbitrary code on vulnerable machines. There is already a proof-of-concept exploit in circulation for the bug.
SAN FRANCISCO–There’s the old joke about two hunters running from a lion, and the one runner says to the other: we can’t outrun the lion. And his buddy replied, “I don’t have to outrun the lion, I only have to outrun you.” Many, over the years, have applied the same logic to application security: If their software is ‘secure enough’ attackers will move on to easier targets.
SAN FRANCISCO–Many carriers and mobile providers are touting
smartphones as the future of secure mobile payment systems, enabling
users to pay for purchases with an app on their phones, and this already
reality in many parts of Asia and Europe. However, researchers have
discovered that some of the more popular smartphone platforms leak
sensitive data during these transactions that could allow criminals to
spoof a victim’s phone and make purchases with the victim’s account.
The websites of the BBC’s 6 music and 1Xtra radio stations
have been injected with a malicious iframe and are redirecting users to a site
serving up malware according to a Websense report Tuesday.
SAN FRANCISCO–The Obama administration’s top information security officials hit the stage at the RSA Conference Tuesday, looking to drum up support for several of the president’s key security and privacy initiatives, including a still-nebulous plan for protecting users’ freedom and privacy on the Web.
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