By John Leyden → More by this author
Published Tuesday 18th December 2007 12:59 GMT

The more paranoid among us have long been wary of the possibility that networked fridges might spontaneously turn off, perhaps after becoming infected with a computer virus, ruining milk in the process. Other networked appliances might also pose a danger of sorts, security boffins have shown.

Posted by Johnathan Kastner in Virus & AntiVirus News at 11:44

Posted: December 26, 2007, 12:01 PM by David George-Cosh

Computer experts are warning users to be cautious when opening e-mails that promise holiday cheer after witnessing the resurgence of an old virus that litters your contact list with a glut of spam e-mails, tech blog Ars Technica says.

Earlier this year, the Storm Worm gave IT departments around the world countless headaches after millions of computers were infected after users clicked a link inside their e-mails that redirects them to a website that downloads malicious software. While anti-virus programs such as Norton Anti-Virus and Symantec have corralled the virus, the upcoming holiday season has given computer hackers a prime opportunity to capitalize on users already used to opening e-mails filled with holiday messages.

Posted by Johnathan Kastner at 11:12

The Storm Worm loves the holidays. Security researchers have found that the Storm virus is ringing in the New Year with a fresh wave of attacks. This time, the notorious botnet is recruiting new members with a greeting spam. Subject lines include: "A fresh New Year" "As the New Year..." "As you embrace another New Year" "Blasting New Year" "Happy 2008" "It's the new year" "Joyous new year" "New Hope and New Beginnings" "New Year Ecard" "New Year Postcard" "Opportunities for the New Year" "Happy New Year to You" "Happy New Year to (email address)" "Lots of greetings on the New Year" "New Year Wishes for You."

Posted by Johnathan Kastner in Virus & AntiVirus News at 10:58

"Bright spots in the c't report: Eset's NOD32 detected 68 per cent of the completely unfamiliar attacks."

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco

Antivirus software is getting worse at protecting users from new threats, according to two reports which found malware authors are getting better at disguising their creations.

German computer magazine c't studied 17 antivirus programs and exposed them to completely new samples of malware. What they found wasn't encouraging. Detection rates sank to 20-30 per cent, from 40-50 per cent in a similar test last year.

Posted by Johnathan Kastner in Buying NOD32 at 08:49