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By: Robert Lemos A software project funded by the U.S. government and developed by a small security startup will put wireless carriers’ patching practices under the microscope. Smartphone security firm Duo Security plans to release an app for Android phones on July 23 that will check the operating system on consumer devices for known, but […]

By: Robert Lemos A simple information-stealing program infiltrated about 800 computers in several Middle Eastern countries, but appears to have focused on Iran, according to analyses released July 17. The malware, dubbed Mahdi, appears to be unrelated to Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame-three other well-known attacks targeted Iran, among other countries. While those attacks relied on […]

By: Robert Lemos Online criminals are increasingly choosing to protect their botnets rather than using more effective denial-of-service attacks that potentially could reveal information about the makeup of their network of compromised computers, according to a report released by Internet security firm Prolexic. Instead, these cyber-crooks are going back to basics and flooding users with […]

By: Robert Lemos The underground developers behind the Blackhole exploit kit updated the framework the week of July 9 with a module that can easily compromise computer systems using a month-old flaw in Java. Because most PC users and companies can take months to update third-party software, the exploit will like remain effective for some […]

By: Robert Lemos The leak of nearly half a million passwords from Yahoo Voices underscores that many online providers have a ways to go before they can properly secure their users. The breach also highlighted the fact that many people continue to put their information in danger by using the same password on multiple accounts, […]

By: Robert Lemos Targeted attacks are on the rise, and while small businesses are increasingly victims, it is the largest companies that continue to be in the cross hairs of online criminals and cyber-spies, according to security firm Symantec. In its intelligence report covering the month of June and released July 10, the company found […]

By: Robert Lemos Online criminals continue to improve their tactics for stealing money from banks and their customers. The evolving attacks now include more sophisticated Android malware that aims to capture the secret codes sent by banks to their customers to validate money transfers, according to a July 10 blog post by secure Web provider […]

By: Robert Lemos On July 9, nearly 300,000 PCs will find themselves dazed and confused when the DNSChanger botnet is shut down for good. These systems will no longer be able to look up common Web destinations, such as Facebook and Google. Compromised by the DNSChanger bot software, the infected computers reroute all their domain-name […]

By: Robert Lemos In March, a judge agreed to extend the U.S. Department of Justice’s control over the domain-name infrastructure that allowed a widespread piece of malware, DNSChanger, to serve up ads that profited the criminal group behind the program. On July 9, the company that runs the DNS service on behalf of the U.S. […]

By: Robert Lemos Microsoft counted two minor successes in its war on botnets on July 2, putting names to two of the defendants in its lawsuit against a Zeus crime ring and noting that Zeus infections had dropped by almost half in the last three months. As part of the Microsoft Active Response for Security […]

By: Robert Lemos A group of sophisticated online thieves have modified two popular attack toolkits to help them succeed in a global crime spree, stealing at least 60 million Euros-about $74 million U.S. dollars-from European and South American banks, security firms McAfee and Guardian Analytics stated in a June 26 report. The widespread crime network […]

By: Robert Lemos Two-dozen people were arrested in 13 countries on June 26, following a two-year undercover FBI investigation into an international credit card fraud ring affecting hundreds of thousands of victims, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Dubbed “Operation Card Shop,” the undercover operation targeted all aspects of the credit card fraud, or […]