Fahmida Y. Rashid

Cyber-criminals are launching more of their attacks from legitimate Websites and services, according to a report from Blue Coat Systems. In the 2010 Blue Coat Annual Web Security Report, security researchers examined Web behavior, types of malware users most often saw and top 10 attack vectors in the past year. Researchers also examined some of […]

Microsoft pushed out an update to the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine on Feb. 23. It was discovered by Cesar Cerrudo, CEO of security research firm Argeniss, who publicly disclosed his Token Kidnapping research at the Black Hat security conference in July 2010. The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine is used in various Microsoft security products, including […]

In the search for a new CEO, virtualization software maker Parallels stayed close to home and named one of its own senior executives to the post. Birger Steen, the current president of Parallels, has been promoted to CEO, effective Feb. 23, the company said. Company founder and outgoing CEO Sergeui Beloussov announced Steen’s appointment during […]

As expected, a British judge has ruled WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges. This opens the door to a possible extradition to the United States to face charges relating to the posting of allegedly stolen confidential U.S. diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks Website. Howard Riddle, the judge […]

Businesses can defend against botnets by improving their detection skills, training employees to identify infections, and minimizing attack vectors, according to security experts. Businesses have to improve their detection skills and not rely on preventive techniques to defend against botnets, Andrew Jaquith, the CTO of Perimeter E-security, said in a Web presentation Feb. 24. Businesses […]

President Barack Obama-who during his January State of Union speech highlighted supercomputing as a way for the United States to maintain its economic edge-has requested additional funding for the development of exascale supercomputers in the federal government’s 2012 budget. The proposed 2012 budget included a request for $126 million for exascale computing for the Department […]

Two variants of the latest Android malware have been spotted in two alternative Android application markets that primarily target Chinese customers, according to security researchers. Dubbed “BD.HongTouTou.A” and “BD.HongTouTou.B,” the latest Trojan variants are repackaged inside popular Android apps and distributed through alternative app markets and forums, NetQin, a Chinese mobile security service provider said […]

An Iranian group operating under the name the Iranian Cyber Army hacked the Websites of the Voice of America and several of its affiliates to display a banner that said, “We have proven that we can.” The attack was first noticed on Twitter by @PiratesWeek on Feb. 21 and confirmed by Voice of America a […]

Cisco Systems pulled the plug on Cisco Mail, the hosted e-mail service it launched a mere 13 months ago. While Cisco Mail was “well received,” Cisco found that customers were not interested in hosted e-mail as much as they cared about “social software and video,” Cisco said in a Feb. 22 blog post announcing the […]

Kaspersky Lab expanded its mobile security platform to include Android and BlackBerry devices, the company said on Feb. 22. Kaspersky already supported Windows Mobile and Symbian, the company said. The security features in Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 are not currently available for all four mobile platforms, however. While anti-theft features such as using the phone’s […]

As the violence escalated in Libya, following the mass wave of demonstrations that has swept the Middle East region in the past few weeks, the government took the all-predictable step of restricting access to the Internet. As protesters called for an end to dictatorial rule, Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government seems to be issuing an “Internet […]

Malware authors are already a step ahead with new tricks as more banks and organizations move towards two-factor authentication to secure their Web sites. A mobile variant of the Zeus banking Trojan is targeting ING customers in Poland by intercepting one-time passcodes sent to customer phones via SMS, according to F-Secure on Feb. 21. It […]