We got an email after last week’s InfoManager requesting we halt the phishing, cybercrime reports referring to SOPA and PIPA. Hmmmm, it was a surprise, but not really surprising. We know that most of our readers already know about cybercrime and all that. What we hope, however, is that some of our user group newsletter editors will run the Safenetting Infomanager and reach people in their memberships who may not be quite as computer savvy as our main Infomanager subscribers. Anyway, here are just a few from this week’s cache
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Who’s to blame for Twitter spam? Obama, Gaga and you
* Flashback flaw re-used by new Mac malware campaign
* Conficker Infections Put Flashback In Perspective
* India overtakes US to become biggest spammer
* Banks may not have to pay for phished users
* Windows Foolproof Protector Bombs
* Fighting ACH Fraud – Four Steps
* Malware LinkedIn Notifications
and more . . .
Malware LinkedIn Notifications
Nice to know other medias are now picking up on this story we first reported a month ago…
Cyber crooks are once again on their expedition of victimizing fake invitations and messages to the users of social websites Linkedin, as per internet security firm, Commtouch. Several variables including names, relationships, and the number of messages awaiting response are often prompted through LinkedIn reminders. The spoofed messages resembles to be sent from legitimate sources portraying authentic logo and format, thus creating hazards in identifying them at first sight.
Full story : SPAMfighter News
Who’s to blame for Twitter spam? Obama, Gaga and you
You know Twitter spammers, don’t you? The “egg” people. The sexbots that keep following you. The auto-responders that prick their ears up if you mention words like “iPad” or “mobile” and start sending you links.
These pests are the biggest problem with Twitter spam, right? Not quite. Full story : Bobbie Johnson – gigaom.com
Flashback flaw re-used by new Mac malware campaign
Malware criminals are on the hunt for Mac victims again, repurposing the Java-based vulnerability used by the Flashback bot to push a new drive-by web attack, security firm Sophos has reported.
It’s a malware tactic that is taken for granted in the Windows world. A vulnerability in a common software interface – in this case Java – is hit multiple times by different malware campaigns, usually in quick succession. The difference this time is that the attack is cunningly cross-platform, hitting Mac and Windows users. Full story : John E Dunn for Techworld
New Windows Conficker Infections Put Flashback In Perspective
News, information, and commentary of the Flashback malware threat has ricocheted around the web over the past few weeks. The news of dangerous Mac malware has spread from the Apple and tech media into the mainstream. While not downplaying the seriousness of the threat, a Microsoft announcement yesterday does offer some perspective.
Microsoft made it clear that the Conficker worm is still infecting millions of PCs worldwide – three years after fears about Conficker’s potential damage and the estimated level of infections (estimates ran as high 12 million PCs at the time) created a media frenzy. Full story : Cult of Mac
Banks may not have to pay for phished users
If you are dumb enough to fall for a phishing scam, you have only yourself to blame and your bank does not have to bail you out, a top German court has decided.
The German Federal Court of Justice in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe has ruled that clients, and not banks, are responsible for money lost in online phishing scams. Full story : TechEye
Fighting ACH Fraud – Four Steps
In Texas, increasing incidents of corporate account takeover, often perpetrated by phishing schemes used to commit ACH and wire fraud, have raised concern.
Now SWACHA, a non-profit payments association that serves financial institutions throughout the Southwest United States, has joined forces with local and regional law enforcement to more closely address payments fraud trends. Full story : BankInfoSecurity.com
Windows Foolproof Protector Bombs
Windows Foolproof Protector is among a steadily growing list of malicious applications designed to uses scam tactics to misleading computer users. This deception usually begins with bogus pop-up warnings and even fake system scans populated with preposterous results.
The scam rendered by Windows Foolproof Protector ends up convincing PC users to buy a full version of the Windows Foolproof Protector program. Full story : PR Leap
India overtakes US to become biggest spammer
India has claimed the premiere position as the top spam-relaying country, stealing the US’s top spot, for the three months to March this year.
The latest Dirty Dozen list of the top 12 junk message-contributing countries, which attributes the south-Asian nation with relaying one in ten or 9.2 percent of all spam emails. Sophos cited the rapidly increasing number of internet users in India, coupled with a lack of quality protection against hackers, as the reason behind the country’s rise to the top spot. Full story : Dynamic Business
What did you miss in the last Safenetting post Send in your items for Safenetting readers
Facebook Safe Netting Join / Like / contribute : UGNN FaceBook Group, (ug.netnews)
If you think you’re a victim, file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center : IC3.
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.
