Cybercrime never lets up. With this week’s news about Apple, it’s no longer a one-pony show! This week:
* Study Sees Way to Win Spam Fight
* How to stop unwelcome SMS marketing
* Canada is the new global phishing hotspot
* Cyber fraud: How to avoid falling prey to online scams
* Hacker Mind Tricks Increasing Malware Downloads
* Is Android the new Windows?
* Six rising threats from cybercriminals
* New malware tricks users into thinking hard drive failure is imminent
. . . and more
Study Sees Way to Win Spam Fight
For years, a team of computer scientists at two University of California campuses has been looking deeply into the nature of spam, the billions of unwanted e-mail messages generated by networks of zombie computers controlled by the rogue programs called botnets. They even coined a term, “spamalytics,” to describe their work.
Now they have concluded an experiment that is not for the faint of heart: for three months they set out to receive all the spam they could (no quarantines or filters need apply), then systematically made purchases from the Web sites advertised in the messages. 
Full story : New York Times
How to stop unwelcome SMS marketing
People who receive an unwanted SMS marketing messages should report them to the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association of SA (WASPA), it said
“Consumers receiving unwanted SMS marketing messages from companies that they have not directly supplied with their cellphone numbers should report the spammer to WASPA,” said the head of its code of conduct committee, Russel Stromin. Full story : Independent Online
Canada is the new global phishing hotspot
Canadian Internet users beware: according to research from global security vendor Websense, our home and native land is now the number two country in the world to host phishing sites.
Research conducted by Websense between January and May of this year found that Canada climbed up to second, up from 13th last year, on the list of countries hosting malicious content. The number one spot went to the U.S., with Egypt coming in third, Germany in fourth, the U.K. in fifth, the Netherlands in sixth, Russia in seventh, South Korea in eighth, France in ninth and Brazil in 10th. Full story : ITBusiness.ca
Cyber fraud: How to avoid falling prey to online scams
The biggest concern for online customers is the possible theft of their online credentials, especially those relating to net banking. This often happens without the customers’ knowledge, enabling fraudsters to steal money from their accounts in a recurring manner.
Changing passwords often helps in protecting your account, especially after you may have inadvertently disclosed it to someone. Moreover, avoid passwords that could be obvious, like your spouse’s or your pet’s names. Alpha-numeric passwords, along with some special character like * or #, are the safest bet. Full story : Economic Times
Hacker Mind Tricks Increasing Malware Downloads
Microsoft has found that gdownloads of malicious software are increasing due to psychological trickery, not hacking skill.
Through research revolving around customer use of Internet Explorer, Microsoft has determined that 1 in 14 downloads today are of a malicious nature. In other words: trojans, spyware, malware, and any other term used to describe programs that screw with your computer. In the past, one might have blamed these downloads on vulnerabilities in web browsers, but according to Microsoft most of it ends up being approved by users themselves through hacker mind tricks. Full story : Escapist Magazine
Is Android the new Windows?
Confirming views made by CEO Eugene Kaspersky at the Infosecurity Europe show last month, Kaspersky Lab is reporting that mobile malware is heading to double during 2011, something that it has done since 2007.
In its Q1 threats report, the Moscow-headquartered IT security vendor says that the world of mobile malware is starting to resemble the Windows marketplace more and more. And, the report adds, Google Android is dominating the mobile arena in terms of a hacker’s target of choice when it comes to malware. Full story : www.securelist.com
Six rising threats from cybercriminals
Watch out for these cyberattacks that can turn smartphones into texting botnets, shut off electricity, jam GPS signals and more
Criminal hackers never sleep, it seems. Just when you think you’ve battened down the hatches and fully protected yourself or your business from electronic security risks, along comes a new exploit to keep you up at night. Full story : www.computerworld.com
New malware tricks users into thinking hard drive failure is imminent
Scareware came by its name honestly (or perhaps dishonestly). The particular strain of malware we are looking at here (distributed as UltraDefragger and SystemRecovery) attempts to ensnare unwary users by displaying sensational and frightening alerts
As Symantec recently discovered, the bad guys have added a new twist to their fake disk defragmentation tools: falsely notifying users that a hard drive is about to fail. Like so many other rogue applications, this ‘recovery tool’ is designed to trick users into purchasing a paid application which can fix the problems that were detected. In truth, of course, there were no problems and there is no fix. Full story : www.geek.com
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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.
