The cybercrooks are keying on popular issues to grab your identity … Osama’s death, Mothers’ day and others — beware and just don’t click
— this week’s notes:
[] Osama’s death nets jackpot for cyber criminals!
[] Massachusetts bankers warn about cell phone robocalls
[] Cyber bandits exploit breaking news to spread scams
[] Hackers use Google Image Search for malware
[] BreakingPoint Adds 27000 Pieces of Live Malware
[] Boons or Banes on Mother’s Day: Malware Threat
[] FBI set to kill secret-stealing Russian ‘botnet.’
[] Hey Gruber, You Might Want to Reconsider Crying Wolf
[] Sony emails PlayStation & Qriocity users, warns of phishing scams
. . . and more
Boons or Banes on Mother’s Day: Malware Threat
According to BitDefender, cyber crooks are now taking the advantage of this event in spreading cyber malware in the form of Storm Worm. Storm Worms are malicious software that hailed the networld in January 2007 through the videos of violent storm prevailing in Europe during that period.
As per Catalin Cosoi, Head of the BitDefender Online Threats Lab, shopping online provides unlimited advantages for shoppers though they are required to be aware of the potential dangers from cybercriminals, reports HELP NET SECURITY on May 04, 2011.
Full story : www.spamfighter.com
Sony emails PlayStation & Qriocity users, warns of phishing scams
Sony customers are being warned that Credit Card numbers, home addresses, birth dates and personal passwords have all been compromised in the global hack on the PlayStation and Qriocity networks in April.
These specific details of the hack were released by Sony in an email to customers today. Full story : The Sociable
FBI set to kill secret-stealing Russian ‘botnet.’
The FBI has seized control of a Russian cybercrime enterprise, but to kill it completely, officials may ask to rip some malware out of your computer. US diplomatic secrets could be at stake.
In a first for US law enforcement efforts to make the Internet more secure, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized control of a Russian cybercrime enterprise that has enslaved millions of personal computers and may have gained access to US diplomatic, military, and law enforcement computer systems. …. As if WikiLeaks wasn’t bad enough. Full story : Christian Science Monitor
Osama’s death nets jackpot for cyber criminals!
With the world turning to the internet for more details of Osama Bin Laden’s death, cyber criminals are looking to make a killing by leveraging the big news through spam, phishing and malware.
The first spam using news of the dreaded terrorist’s death was out in the open within three hours of the event, and the scam quickly spread around the world, often through email and Facebook accounts. Full story : DailyIndia.com
Massachusetts bankers warn about cell phone robocalls
If it wasn’t bad enough that we have to endure telemarketers on our cell phones these days, we’ve now got the equivalent of email ‘phishers’ trying to trick us out of our life savings.
The Massachusetts Bankers Association reported this week that it has seen a spike in robocalls that try to lure consumers into confirming their bank account information over the phone. In many cases, these robocalls are tailored to sound like they are coming from a specific community bank here in Massachusetts (although oftentimes they’re received by people who aren’t customers of those banks). Mass. Bankers spokesman Bruce Spitzer tells me some of the scammers even go as far as to mask the caller ID so it looks like the call is coming from a local telephone exchange (although he says these calls are most likely coming from someplace overseas). Full story : Wicked Local (blog)
Cyber bandits exploit breaking news to spread scams
Nikki Yancey knew that no pictures had been released of Osama bin Laden after the terrorist leader was killed this week in a lightning raid by U.S. commandos in Pakistan.
So she was surprised when a friend reported that Yancey’s Facebook account had tried to entice her 600-plus friends to click on a link that allegedly would bring up photographs of the dead al-Qaida leader…. In reality, no such images were available. Full story : TMC Net – The Baltimore Sun
Hackers use Google Image Search for malware
Search giant Google’s Image Search is now being used to distribute malware, with attackers using code injection to accomplish the job.
Internet Storm Center researcher Bojan Zdrnja said that most of the attacks lead to sites offering fake antivirus programs. Full story : www.gmanews.tv
BreakingPoint Adds 27000 Pieces of Live Malware
BreakingPoint, today unveiled new capabilities, including the addition of 27,000 pieces of live malware to its comprehensive, all-in-one product for IT resiliency testing. BreakingPoint’s compact and easy-to-use products provide a single way to test, validate, and harden the resiliency of the full range of enterprise IT infrastructure components, from devices and networks, to applications and data centers.
BreakingPoint’s Application and Threat Intelligence (ATI) team has added the new live malware to a library of thousands of other security attacks including the very latest vulnerabilities, DDoS attacks, evasions, and more. The new capabilities, including the additional malware, are available within all BreakingPoint products and services and automatically for current customers. Full story : pr-usa.net
Hey Gruber, You Might Want to Reconsider Crying Wolf
The other day John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame and unofficial spokesman for Apple wrote a post full of quotes from other dated posts where the writers were brazen enough to suggest that Mac’s long safe harbor against malware, trojans, and viruses would come to an end one day.
In a post by Chester Wisniewski on the Sophos blog he warns that they have come across a JavaScript fake scanner meant to convince Mac users that their computers are infected. Full story : www.inquisitr.com
KnowBe4, GFI help clients put up ‘no phishing’ signs
Nearly one in five of the fastest-growing Florida businesses could be ‘phish-prone’ and subject to a potential cyber attack. That’s the finding of a research project by KnowBe4.com, a Clearwater firm launched last year by tech industry entrepreneur Stu Sjouwerman.
The company sent bogus emails — so-called ‘phishing’ e-mails — to several Florida companies on the Inc. 5000 list, and 18 percent of the recipients clicked on links that could have infected their companies’ computers with malicious software. Full story : Tampa Bay Business Journal
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Thanks for reading…
You can also keep up with the efforts to curb spam and cybercrime by reading the news at Knujon and HostExploit.com. And, you should switch to SpamCop and take a stand against spam.
