It’s been several weeks since a phishing update, and a lot has happened. Here’s a rundown of the more significant developments that may be affecting your online experience … This week:
*Say NO to Facebook Apps * New phishing scam hits Twitter * State of Twitter Spam * Amazon Password Phishing Scam * China Leads In Malware Attacks * Google China redirecting search service to Hong Kong * More bad news from the Chinese * China RAR threat * Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities * Phishing Sexter Catches Two Cops … and more!
Say NO to Facebook Apps
After warnings were made of malware that claimed to be a Skype toolbar, further caution has been advised about rogue browser toolbars that direct to a fake Facebook login page.
Chris Boyd, malware researcher at Sunbelt Software, claimed that two toolbars have been seen so far, and they often are promoted to allow the user to cheat at popular Zynga games such as Mafia Wars
continue reading :: www.scmagazineuk.com
New phishing scam hits Twitter
Another phishing scam is reportedly hitting Twitter, the social networking site and service. This latest one involves private messages being exchanged between members of the microblogging service, which then attempt to extract users’ IDs and passwords.
Because the link uses Twitter’s brand new http://twt.tl URL shortening service, many users are likely to be unfamiliar with the facility, and click through to the third-party site. continue reading :: www.infosecurity-us.com
State of Twitter Spam
At Twitter, they see spamming as a variety of different behaviors that range from insidious to annoying.
Posting harmful links to phishing or malware sites, repeatedly posting duplicate tweets, and aggressively following and un-following accounts to attract attention are just a few examples of spam on Twitter. continue reading :: The Twitter Blog
Don’t Fall For The Amazon Password Phishing Scam
We’ve seen dozens of these over the past month
Never, ever follow any email or link that claims to have reset your password. Only you can reset your password. If you are in doubt, then make sure you are at the site (look for an “s” after http:// … https: ) log in using your usual and trusted account — and see if it’s been tampered with. Notify the admin of the host and report the email. continue reading :: Phil Villarreal –consumerist.com
China Leads In Targeted Malware Attacks
Analysis of the origins of the targeted attacks revealed the majority of malware sent this month, originated in the United States (36.6%) based on mail server location, but when analyzed by sender location, more targeted attacks actually originated in China (28.2%), Romania (21.1%) and United States (13.8%).
continue reading :: Security Pro News
Google China redirecting search service to Hong Kong
Numerous reports over the last few weeks pointed toward a complete withdrawal of Google�s search business in China, but the search giant has confounded expectations by simply redirecting its Google.cn site to a server in Hong Kong.
continue reading :: www.infosecurity-us.com
Cyber-attack on U.S. firms traced to Chinese
Company networks may be compromised
The cyber-attack on Google and other U.S. companies was part of a suspected Chinese government operation launched last year that used human intelligence techniques and high-technology to steal corporate secrets, according to U.S. government and private-sector cybersecurity specialists. continue reading :: The Washington Times
China and RAR files are a rising threat
Research just released by Symantec claims to show that targeted attacks are on the rise, with email originating from China and RAR attachments being a major source of security problems.
However, when the malware was analyzed by sender location, it was found that more targeted attacks actually originated in China (28.2%) Romania (21.1%) and then the US (13.8%) continue reading :: www.infosecurity-us.com
IRS Alerts Taxpayers about Phishing E-mails
With the last date of tax-submission coming near, IRS (Internal Revenue Service) reminded taxpayers on March 16, 2010 about the extremely prevalent e-mail scams during the tax season, particularly phishing e-mails.
continue reading :: www.spamfighter.com
Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities
Are some cities in the U.S. worse in terms of cybercrime than others?
Seattle, it turns out, sees more cyberattacks, phishing and malware infections per capita on computers in use there, based on its population size among other factors, than any other U.S. city, according to Symantec’s Norton consumer division, which teamed with research firm Sperling’s BestPlaces, to rank the “Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities” in the nation. continue reading :: Ellen Messmer, Network World
America’s 10 most wanted botnets
Ranked by size and strength, these are the 10 most damaging botnets in the U.S.
Botnet attacks are increasing, as cybercrime gangs use compromised computers to send spam, steal personal data, perpetrate click fraud and clobber Web sites in denial-of-service attacks. Here’s a list of America’s 10 most wanted botnets, based on an estimate by security firm Damballa of botnet size and activity in the United States. (This article is fairly old, and probably no longer accurate.) continue reading :: Ellen Messmer, Network World
Phishing Sexter Catches Two Cops
Nobody said that phishers and sexters are intelligent.
A 19-year-old Tennessee creep learned the hard way that it’s best to know who you’re dialing when using a cell phone to troll for under age “sexting” buddies. continue reading :: www.theSmokingGun.com
I guess the best news I can report is that the load of spam has diminished by about 50% in the past two weeks due to several major rogue registrar take-downs — and the fact that much of the criminal element on the web is switching to social networking methods. Be careful. All this will be having an effect on everyone’s use of the web.
Thanks for reading…
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I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time… however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.
This paper outlines the major factors of this change, who is affected, and who the winners and losers will be.