by Richard Koman

Phishing, spyware and viruses cost consumers $7.1 billion in 2007, $5 billion in 2006. The Federal Trade Commission received 226,000 complaints of Internet-related fraud. But who cares?

Not state attorney generals, apparently. As part of a survey of Internet-related crime, the Center for American Progress reports that only 14 cases - 8.3 percent of all Internet-related cases brought - were for spyware, malware or phishing.

Posted by Greg Hewitt-Long in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 20:57

SAN DIEGO - August 11, 2008 - ESET, the leader in proactive threat protection, today announced that the Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) has again selected ESET NOD32 Antivirus software to protect more than 400,000 networked computers.

Posted by Greg Hewitt-Long in NOD32 News at 15:56

More than 1,000 hacked sites serving up phony update; Adobe issues warning

By Gregg Keizer

More than a thousand hacked Web sites are serving up fake Flash Player software to users duped into clicking on links in mail that's part of a massive spam attack masquerading as CNN.com news notifications, security researchers said today.

The bogus messages, which claim to be from the CNN.com news Web site, include links to what are supposedly the day's Top 10 news stories and Top 10 news video clips from the cable network. Clicking on any of those links, however, brings up a dialog that says an incorrect version of Flash Player has been detected and that tells users they needed to update to a newer edition, said Sam Masiello, vice president of information security at Denver-based security company MX Logic Inc.

One distinguishing feature of the attack, Masiello added, is the endless loop it uses to frustrate victims. If user clicks "Cancel" in the dialog that prompts for an update, another pop-up appears, said Masiello, that tells the victim that they have to download it to view the video. Clicking "Cancel" there returns the user to the first dialog.

Posted by Greg Hewitt-Long in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 09:06

One of Google's latest features can be manipulated to spread malware, a pair of researchers said Wednesday at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

Google gadgets are small applications, such as a currency converter, calendar or weather forecast, that can be added to iGoogle on a user's homepage or the computer's desktop.

The problem lies in the fact that the mini-modules are created by third-party developers, who can embed malicious JavaScript to redirect users to hacker websites, security researcher Robert “RSnake” Hansen told several hundred people in attendance.

Posted by Greg Hewitt-Long in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 08:58