Computer industry heavyweights are hustling to fix a flaw in the foundation of the Internet that would let hackers control traffic on the World Wide Web.

Major software and hardware makers worked in secret for months to create a software "patch" released on Tuesday to repair the problem, which is in the way computers are routed to web page addresses.

"It's a very fundamental issue with how the entire addressing scheme of the Internet works," Securosis analyst Rich Mogul said in a media conference call.

"You'd have the Internet, but it wouldn't be the Internet you expect. (Hackers) would control everything."

The flaw would be a boon for "phishing" cons that involve leading people to imitation web pages of businesses such as bank or credit card companies to trick them into disclosing account numbers, passwords and other information.

Attackers could use the vulnerability to route Internet users wherever they wanted no matter what website address is typed into a web browser.

Security researcher Dan Kaminsky of IOActive stumbled upon the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability about six months ago and reached out to industry giants including Microsoft, Sun and Cisco to collaborate on a solution.

Posted by Annette King at 13:46

New List Provides Practical Tips and Tricks for Getting More Mileage from your PC Investment

Now more than ever, consumers are trying to make their dollar go further. The generally accepted practice of replacing PCs every 2-3 years is no longer the norm. Avoiding viruses, spyware and popups are one of many ways consumers can extend the life of their PC into a fourth, fifth and even a sixth year.

PCLive.com, a provider of instant online computer support services for consumers, has released its top ten practical tips users can employ now to extend the life of their PC. The list was provided by Dan Gookin, author of the PCs for Dummies book series. Gookin regularly posts tips and topics surrounding consumers’ common, everyday PC hassles on PCLive’s blog For PC’s Sake. Gookin’s top ten list features the following tips:

Posted by Annette King in Virus & AntiVirus News at 16:27

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Posted by Annette King at 15:33

‘Name and Fame’ were once the driving factors for writing viruses, but that’s not what drives virus authors of today. Now, it’s all about money and the present generations of malware authors are finding new ways to indulge in cyber crime.

From installing adware and spyware programmes, to spam and phishing or extortion of internet websites with “denial of service” attacks, cyber criminals are now targeting home consumers with “Ransomware”.

Just like criminals who kidnap your loved ones and then demand a ransom to return them unharmed , ransomware is an extortion scheme whereby cyber criminals hijack data files on a victim’s computer and then demand a ransom to get back the files in their original condition.

Important documents and image files on the victim’s computer are encrypted and held to ransom until the victim agrees to the attacker’s demands.

Ransomware programmes may also try to embarrass or scare their victims to get them to comply quickly, using dirty tactics like displaying pornographic images and threatening to expose them for possession of such material on their computer.

Posted by Annette King in Adware, Spyware and Trojans at 14:30