Signed, Sealed, Delivered (You're pwned)

Bad sorts have created a malware targeted at Symbian mobile phones that comes signed with an apparently valid Symbian Certificate.

Because it is signed the application can potentially gain privileged access, net security firm F-secure warns. The malware is also unusual because it is targeted at S60 3rd Edition phones, instead of the more common target of 2nd edition phones.

The Yxe-A Trojan originates in China and is packaged up with names such as "Sexy View" and "Play Boy", providing an indication that social engineering trickery plays a part in pushing the code. F-Secure describes the malware as a Trojan but other vendors describe it as a worm, in recognition of the discovery of what might be described as auto-spreading capabilities.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 15:30

A handful of Canadian women were scammed out of almost $300,000 in a Nigerian romance hoax, the Edmonton, Alberta, Sun reported.

For one woman, the online dating scheme started when the unidentified middle-aged divorcee received text messages last year from a man about 10 years younger than her.

"They said, 'You know, you're a very pretty lady, I like your profile,'" the victim told the Edmonton Sun. "You feel very flattered."

After several more e-mails, instant messages and phone calls, the man promised to come to Canada and marry her.

Then came the requests for money, including one that claimed the man's son was hospitalized and needed three surgeries, the Sun reported.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 09:47

MOUNDA VIEW, Minn. - A nasty virus has been going around the Mounds View public schools, but the only thing it's infecting is computers.

This particular virus effectively shuts a computer down and renders it useless. Officials say about 3,500 computers in the Mounds View school district have been infected.

While no data, such as grades, has been lost, the district finds itself without computers to handle everything from grade record keeping to figuring attendance.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 10:24

Valentine’s day passed by peacefully for young lovers. However, the online world was far from peaceful. The day was used by spammers to launch a spam attack on gullible users. Valentine’s day mails with erotic subject lines did the rounds.

Representatives of Symantec, an internet security firm, said that the adult spam for February stood at 7 per cent. “This year, however, the subject lines were more erotic and geared towards men. Till last year, Valentine spam concentrated on shopping-related subject lines. Now the spammers are focussing on young people as they tend to take more risks,” said Shantanu Ghosh, vice-president, product operations, Symantec India.

Posted by Justin Payton in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 12:19