Back in September, when Google launched the Google Chrome Frame plug-in for Internet Explorer users, Microsoft immediately warned that the move would increase the attack surface and make IE users less secure.Now comes word that a security researcher in the Microsoft Vulnerability Research (MSVR) has discovered a “high risk” security vulnerability that could allow an attacker to bypass cross-origin protections.
Under Fedora 12, users are able to install software from repositories without being prompted for root password. The undocumented change in Fedora 12 has caused consternation amongst Fedora users. The change is part of PolicyKit’s policy for desktop users and was made to make the system easier for desktop users. Read the full article. [The H Security]
If the multibillion-dollar e-mail security industry has been built to
prevent information from seeping out through personal communication,
how is social networking in the workplace still going unchecked? After
all, consumer social apps such as Facebook and Twitter provide the same
information-leakage threat as unsecured, personal e-mail–possibly
more, thanks to the viral impact of broadcasting news tidbits to one’s
network of friends in real-time. Read the full article. [Forbes]
Hackers could one day turn
ordinary smart phones into “rogue” devices to attack major wireless
networks, Research In Motion’s security chief warned. Scott Totzke, RIM’s vice-president of BlackBerry security, said
hackers could use smart phones to target wireless carriers using a
technique similar to one used in assaults that slowed Internet traffic
in the United States and South Korea in July. Read the full article. [The Globe and Mail]
Security researcher Dino Dai Zovi discusses advanced techniques in exploitation, as well as exploit mitigation and shellcoding.
Authorities in the U.K. have arrested two people in connection with using a notorious Trojan in a scheme to steal online banking information. The man and the woman, both 20, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service in Manchester, according to police. The duo is accused of using the Zeus Trojan, also known as Zbot, in a plot to steal information. It is believed the Trojan was configured to record victim’s online bank account information and passwords, as well as credit card numbers and other information. Read the full article. [eWEEK]
An email which purports to
relate to a recent Apple retail transaction and asks for details of any
recent orders is out there. The email also carries a stuffed file.
This contains an ‘exe’ file which will only launch on a Windows machine. The email reads: “We recorded a payment request from ‘Apple Inc.’ to
enable the charge of $7,548.45 on your account.” Read the full article. [9to5Mac]
Mozilla will add a new lockdown feature to
Firefox 3.6 that will prevent developers from sneaking add-ons into the
program, the company said. The new feature, which Mozilla dubbed “component directory
lockdown,” will bar access to Firefox’s “components” directory, where
most of the browser’s own code is stored. The company has billed the
move as a way to boost the stability of its browser. Read the full article. [Computerworld]
Kaspersky Lab malware analyst Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky has written an in-depth article describing the scareware (fake anti-virus) epidemic. The article touches on the common distribution techniques, the tricks used to scare users into paying fraudsters for a removal tool and the way code generators are being used to create these malicious programs. It also provides some infection statistics and some practical protection advice. Read the full article [viruslist.com]
Security researchers have detected a massive blackhat SEO (search engine optimization) campaign consisting of over 200,000 compromised web sites, all redirecting to fake security software (Inst_58s6.exe), commonly referred to as scareware. The massive blackat SEO campaign has been launched by the same people who operate/or manage the campaigns for the Koobface botnet. Read the full article. [ZDNet]
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