Monday, March 1, 2010
Microsoft's Whitelist Helps Hackers
Microsoft was trying to help consumers save time while fighting off spam, viruses and hackers. However, it looks like their tips are also helping hackers - far from what Microsoft hoped to be doing.
A Microsoft support article, Virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows, recommends that users exclude certain files and folders from antivirus software to avoid situations where "serious performance problem" could occur as a result of file locking.
Many security experts and software manufacturers, like Trend Micro, have taken exception to this advice noting that "we are concerned by the fact that this was released publicly." David Sancho, a malware researcher with Trend Micro argued that the list will be a boon to hackers, as they can know strategically drop or download a malicious file into one of the folders mentioned in the exclusion list. Sancho admitted that the risk is not immediate, but it is on the way - "Following the recommendations does not pose a significant threat as of now, but it has a very big potential of being one."
It is important to note that Trend Micro has a history of butting heads with Microsoft. Like many other third-party security vendors, Trend has mocked Microsoft's moves in the antivirus market, However, other security experts that don't directly compete with Microsoft have also reaised concerns. Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, backed Sancho on that. "I would agree with Trend that making any sort of whitelisting with your security software is not for the average user or the faint at heart," Storms said in an interview conducted via instant message.
This scenario only highlights the challenges of security. Microsoft wanted to help consumers avoid issues - but any attempt to increase convenience can unfortunately also decrease security.
Source: Google
A Microsoft support article, Virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows, recommends that users exclude certain files and folders from antivirus software to avoid situations where "serious performance problem" could occur as a result of file locking.
Many security experts and software manufacturers, like Trend Micro, have taken exception to this advice noting that "we are concerned by the fact that this was released publicly." David Sancho, a malware researcher with Trend Micro argued that the list will be a boon to hackers, as they can know strategically drop or download a malicious file into one of the folders mentioned in the exclusion list. Sancho admitted that the risk is not immediate, but it is on the way - "Following the recommendations does not pose a significant threat as of now, but it has a very big potential of being one."
It is important to note that Trend Micro has a history of butting heads with Microsoft. Like many other third-party security vendors, Trend has mocked Microsoft's moves in the antivirus market, However, other security experts that don't directly compete with Microsoft have also reaised concerns. Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, backed Sancho on that. "I would agree with Trend that making any sort of whitelisting with your security software is not for the average user or the faint at heart," Storms said in an interview conducted via instant message.
This scenario only highlights the challenges of security. Microsoft wanted to help consumers avoid issues - but any attempt to increase convenience can unfortunately also decrease security.
Source: Google
Posted on 10:46 PM
Boeing 787 searches hijacked by rogue anti-virus
Today, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet completed its much awaited first flight. As users searched to find videos and news articles related to the story, blackhats quickly moved in for yet another attack against Google search results.
Source: Google
Source: Google
Posted on 10:45 PM
Ten Top Anti-Virus Software Reviews on Topsofts.com
Topsofts.com has reviewed ten top Anti-virus Software and the champion is Kaspersky Anti-Virus.
Anti-virus Software Reviews
Online PR News – 23-December-2009 – Kaspersky Anti-Virus is a complete antivirus solution with automated real-time protection from a range of threats, including viruses, Trojans, bots, worms, and even spyware. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 is the backbone of your PC’s security system. it provides you with automated real-time protection from a range of IT threats:
Kaspersky Anti-Virus has many features such as:
Real-time scan for files including compressed files, web pages, instant messages, emails, webmails and e-messages and so on.
Basic identity theft protection (IMPROVED!)
Color-code the links to unsafe websites (NEW!)
Disable the links to malicious websites
Block suspicious programs based on their behavior (IMPROVED!)
Protect your PC from hijacking
Self-protection from malware
Regular and emergency updates for always-on protection
Wanna more information about ten top anti-virus software reviews, please feel free to visit the page below.
Source: Google
Anti-virus Software Reviews
Online PR News – 23-December-2009 – Kaspersky Anti-Virus is a complete antivirus solution with automated real-time protection from a range of threats, including viruses, Trojans, bots, worms, and even spyware. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 is the backbone of your PC’s security system. it provides you with automated real-time protection from a range of IT threats:
Kaspersky Anti-Virus has many features such as:
Real-time scan for files including compressed files, web pages, instant messages, emails, webmails and e-messages and so on.
Basic identity theft protection (IMPROVED!)
Color-code the links to unsafe websites (NEW!)
Disable the links to malicious websites
Block suspicious programs based on their behavior (IMPROVED!)
Protect your PC from hijacking
Self-protection from malware
Regular and emergency updates for always-on protection
Wanna more information about ten top anti-virus software reviews, please feel free to visit the page below.
Source: Google
Posted on 10:44 PM
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 named 'Best Buy' by Computer Shopper
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 received a five-star rating and Best Buy status following the comparative testing of 11 popular security solutions that included freeware, shareware and commercial versions
Mumbai, Maharashtra, December 23, 2009 /India PRwire/ -- Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, announces that the UK magazine Computer Shopper has awarded Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 its 'Best Buy' rating for an antivirus solution.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 received a five-star rating and Best Buy status following the comparative testing of 11 popular security solutions that included freeware, shareware and commercial versions.
The products were rigorously tested against real threats that are currently live on the Internet - malicious programs that use drive-by downloads to infect users' machines without their knowledge. The protection solutions were installed on identical PCs running the Windows XP SP2 operating system.The products were rated on detection level, quality of system recovery, use of system resources as well as the number of false positives generated by a collection of clean files which, just to make things more difficult, included potentially unwanted programs such as password crackers. How easy the product interfaces were to navigate, the variety of useful functions and the retail price were also taken into consideration.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 passed the test with flying colors, demonstrating the best overall score and deservedly earning the top five-star rating and Best Buy status. The experts at Computer Shopper praised the product for its "outstanding malware protection", "easy-to-use interface" and affordable price.
"We are delighted to receive such high marks from a renowned British magazine. This reflects the popularity of our product in the UK," commented Stephane Le Hir, Vice President of Kaspersky Lab's Consumer Division. "It's particularly important that our products continue to fare so well in proactive protection tests because this is an area that is vital for the end user. It's also good to see that more and more IT publications and test labs are choosing this approach to assess the performance of antivirus solutions."
Kaspersky Lab's range of personal products, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, are at the cutting-edge of information security. Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 combines advanced application control technology that assigns a risk rating to previously unknown malware with the innovative Kaspersky Security Network distribution system and unique sandbox virtualization technology that provides a safe environment in which to run suspect applications.
Source: Kaspersky
Mumbai, Maharashtra, December 23, 2009 /India PRwire/ -- Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, announces that the UK magazine Computer Shopper has awarded Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 its 'Best Buy' rating for an antivirus solution.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 received a five-star rating and Best Buy status following the comparative testing of 11 popular security solutions that included freeware, shareware and commercial versions.
The products were rigorously tested against real threats that are currently live on the Internet - malicious programs that use drive-by downloads to infect users' machines without their knowledge. The protection solutions were installed on identical PCs running the Windows XP SP2 operating system.The products were rated on detection level, quality of system recovery, use of system resources as well as the number of false positives generated by a collection of clean files which, just to make things more difficult, included potentially unwanted programs such as password crackers. How easy the product interfaces were to navigate, the variety of useful functions and the retail price were also taken into consideration.
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 passed the test with flying colors, demonstrating the best overall score and deservedly earning the top five-star rating and Best Buy status. The experts at Computer Shopper praised the product for its "outstanding malware protection", "easy-to-use interface" and affordable price.
"We are delighted to receive such high marks from a renowned British magazine. This reflects the popularity of our product in the UK," commented Stephane Le Hir, Vice President of Kaspersky Lab's Consumer Division. "It's particularly important that our products continue to fare so well in proactive protection tests because this is an area that is vital for the end user. It's also good to see that more and more IT publications and test labs are choosing this approach to assess the performance of antivirus solutions."
Kaspersky Lab's range of personal products, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, are at the cutting-edge of information security. Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 combines advanced application control technology that assigns a risk rating to previously unknown malware with the innovative Kaspersky Security Network distribution system and unique sandbox virtualization technology that provides a safe environment in which to run suspect applications.
Source: Kaspersky
Posted on 10:43 PM
Using Facebook and Twitter safely
You and just about everyone else, it seems, are spending more and more time on Facebook and Twitter, updating statuses and checking friends' tweets. That's all well and good, of course, but the amount of personal information that all of you share in real time, and the level of trust implicit with the social networking sites, do pose particular security and privacy problems.
A recent study from Sophos found that Facebook users reveal a lot of personal information to new friends, including ones they really don't even know or have never met. Using fake profiles, Sophos sent out friend requests to 100 random Facebook users, and more than 40 percent blindly accepted, giving the company access to birth dates, e-mail addresses, phone number and addresses--private information strangers shouldn't have.
The openness of Twitter--anyone can follow anyone else, and posts are indexed in search engines--makes it a nirvana for spammers. Kaspersky says there are nearly 500,000 new unique URLs that appear in Twitter posts daily, and of those, anywhere between 100 and 1,000 are malware attacks.
Here's a look at some of the specific threats users of the sites face and what they can do about it.
Source: Google
A recent study from Sophos found that Facebook users reveal a lot of personal information to new friends, including ones they really don't even know or have never met. Using fake profiles, Sophos sent out friend requests to 100 random Facebook users, and more than 40 percent blindly accepted, giving the company access to birth dates, e-mail addresses, phone number and addresses--private information strangers shouldn't have.
The openness of Twitter--anyone can follow anyone else, and posts are indexed in search engines--makes it a nirvana for spammers. Kaspersky says there are nearly 500,000 new unique URLs that appear in Twitter posts daily, and of those, anywhere between 100 and 1,000 are malware attacks.
Here's a look at some of the specific threats users of the sites face and what they can do about it.
Source: Google
Posted on 10:42 PM
Microsoft's Whitelist Helps Hackers
Microsoft was trying to help consumers save time while fighting off spam, viruses and hackers. However, it looks like their tips are also helping hackers - far from what Microsoft hoped to be doing.
A Microsoft support article, Virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows, recommends that users exclude certain files and folders from antivirus software to avoid situations where "serious performance problem" could occur as a result of file locking.
Many security experts and software manufacturers, like Trend Micro, have taken exception to this advice noting that "we are concerned by the fact that this was released publicly." David Sancho, a malware researcher with Trend Micro argued that the list will be a boon to hackers, as they can know strategically drop or download a malicious file into one of the folders mentioned in the exclusion list. Sancho admitted that the risk is not immediate, but it is on the way - "Following the recommendations does not pose a significant threat as of now, but it has a very big potential of being one."
It is important to note that Trend Micro has a history of butting heads with Microsoft. Like many other third-party security vendors, Trend has mocked Microsoft's moves in the antivirus market, However, other security experts that don't directly compete with Microsoft have also reaised concerns. Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, backed Sancho on that. "I would agree with Trend that making any sort of whitelisting with your security software is not for the average user or the faint at heart," Storms said in an interview conducted via instant message.
This scenario only highlights the challenges of security. Microsoft wanted to help consumers avoid issues - but any attempt to increase convenience can unfortunately also decrease security.
Source: Google
A Microsoft support article, Virus scanning recommendations for computers that are running Windows, recommends that users exclude certain files and folders from antivirus software to avoid situations where "serious performance problem" could occur as a result of file locking.
Many security experts and software manufacturers, like Trend Micro, have taken exception to this advice noting that "we are concerned by the fact that this was released publicly." David Sancho, a malware researcher with Trend Micro argued that the list will be a boon to hackers, as they can know strategically drop or download a malicious file into one of the folders mentioned in the exclusion list. Sancho admitted that the risk is not immediate, but it is on the way - "Following the recommendations does not pose a significant threat as of now, but it has a very big potential of being one."
It is important to note that Trend Micro has a history of butting heads with Microsoft. Like many other third-party security vendors, Trend has mocked Microsoft's moves in the antivirus market, However, other security experts that don't directly compete with Microsoft have also reaised concerns. Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, backed Sancho on that. "I would agree with Trend that making any sort of whitelisting with your security software is not for the average user or the faint at heart," Storms said in an interview conducted via instant message.
This scenario only highlights the challenges of security. Microsoft wanted to help consumers avoid issues - but any attempt to increase convenience can unfortunately also decrease security.
Source: Google
Posted on 10:41 PM
Lookout keeps an eye on mobile-device security (photos)
Francisco start-up Lookout is launching this week. Shown here is co-founder and CEO John Hering at the company's offices in downtown San Francisco.
The Lookout software runs on mobile phones, offering antivirus and firewall protection, as well real-time cloud-based backup, the ability to locate missing devices, and manage many devices. The service is currently in private beta in more than 170 countries across 400 mobile networks, says Hering.
Source: Google
The Lookout software runs on mobile phones, offering antivirus and firewall protection, as well real-time cloud-based backup, the ability to locate missing devices, and manage many devices. The service is currently in private beta in more than 170 countries across 400 mobile networks, says Hering.
Source: Google
Posted on 10:40 PM
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