Matthew Hines

Given that the results come from a provider whose services promise to replace signature-based AV, and that the largest anti-virus software makers employ all kinds of filtering and behavior-tracking mechanisms, but a new report issued by SaaS security vendor ScanSafe finds Web threats taking off and many traditional forms of AV programs unable to catch […]

What’s it going to be next, malware hidden in downloadable browser tool bar applications? As they are wont to do, cyber-attackers have retraced their own steps back to a once dominant form of malware delivery, the fake search engine, according to researchers at PandaLabs. Several years back, fake browsers designed specifically to steer unsuspecting users […]

It’s no surprise that the virus that-shall-not-be-named topped the charts in terms of the most commonly observed attacks during April 2009, but a list of other threats, mainly Trojans, blanketed the Web and infected users’ machines as the world’s most famous malware celeb stole the spotlight. It seems like it’s been hard to write nearly […]

A federal grand jury indicted four men charged with running a $4 million spam campaign that specifically targeted college network users yesterday. The indictment marks the federal law enforcement agency’s latest success in finding and pursuing mass-mailers who violate the CAP-SPAM Act in doing business online. With cooperation from FBI investigators, three Americans and a […]

A new report issued by researchers at IDC charts the continued proliferation of Web-based attacks and predicts that hosted security service providers may benefit from the activity. In a piece that specifically highlights the growth potential of Purewire, a provider of SaaS online malware filtering services, IDC analyst Brian Burke reports that Web attacks are […]

Just as we’re finally being allowed to stop saying the C word (no, don’t make me say it!) experts are warning of a powerful new Trojan attack that could make some waves of its own, based on its ability to spread like a traditional virus and embed itself deeply into end users’ machines. In a […]

To hack, or not to hack, that is the question. A funny thing happened when PandaLabs researchers were recently combing through some malware code to see what they could find. Whilst looking through some malicious downloaders, the experts began noticing bits of Shakespeare text mixed in among the garbled characters. PandaLabs researcher Jose Julio Ruiz […]

You have to hand it to Sophos, they were on top of this emerging social networking-security thing a good couple of years ago. And boy, doesn’t it seem like a relevant topic today. At the time, just as MySpace and Facebook were taking flight, researchers at the company created a phony account built around the […]

So, whatever happened to Conficker? Well, it’s still sitting there. And depending on whether you believe that it’s still rotting on 15 million endpoints or more, or as Kaspersky researchers recently estimated, only about 200,000, it’s there. Doing something, or things. Occasionally being used to generate spam-driven malware campaigns, occasionally updating itself. Some people think […]

The red lights are flashing, the gates are coming down, the train is approaching, but traffic still hasn’t moved out of the way. IT systems, and their many inherent IT security vulnerabilities, have encroached the United States grid infrastructure to the extent that our most critical electrical, water, transportation and communications systems are likely already […]

Based on what we’ve seen from our new President thus far, one of the Obama Administration’s top priorities is, and will be, taking advantage of ready opportunities to foster stronger relationships with important constituencies that can help the United States advance its interests across many different domains. No matter what side of the aisle you […]

If you’ve been watching this space at all the last few days (if anyone is still watching) you’ve noticed a serious lack of coverage of any kind, in particular a total absence of any writing about the RSA Conference. But not because I’m lazy! My excuse is that I’ve been busy working my day job […]