This section covers security and privacy related topics, along with a comprehensive collection of articles ranging from the
latest security vulnerabilities, spyware detection, spyware removal, spyware alerts to online fraud, phishing scams, and
spyware legislation. Feel free to share your ideas and concerns with our research team and other Internet users by leaving a comment on any post. Take advantage of the tutorials, advice, and
other helpful anti-spyware information.
Tracking Cookies have a questionable reputation and use throughout the Internet, and with their tip-toeing around the issue of privacy management, it’s no wonder Flash cookies are a great mystery to many computer users.
Currently it would seem new light has dawned on the matter of cookies in Adobe’s Flash, according to a paper by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
The trouble seems to have started with a large number of users deleting their browser HTTP cookies periodically, which makes it difficult for mostly commerce sites to track the number of unique visitors accurately. Flash cookies have been a solution that fills in the missing link for sites suffering from this loss of data.
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Posted August 19th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Internet Security | No Response »
A rogue Facebook application was recently discovered to be part of a phishing scam
With all the trouble being caused for social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook, one might start to feel just a little anxious, and not without good reason. The latest problem seems to be one targeting Facebook users.
A rogue Facebook application , as shown in figure 1. below, appears to be sending notifications that lead users to a site that harvests login information. Typically you will receive a message that another user has commented on one of your posts, and this message seems to derive from an application called “sex sex sex and more sex!!!”. Even though this application may seem to be suspicious to the majority of Facebook users who may encounter it, more than 287,000 users have become fans of it.
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Posted August 17th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Phishing | No Response »
Security experts warn computer users of the dangers they face when using many free public Wi-Fi hotspots.
It may sound like something out of a James Bond movie, but it would seem that hackers are now taking advantage of wireless hotspots in order to clean unsuspecting users out of their hard-earned cash.
Security experts warn that cybercriminals may be masking themselves as free public Wi-Fi providers to gain access to the laptops of travelers sitting in airports or at the train station. It seems that all it takes, according to these experts, is a computer program downloaded from the Internet, an open access point, and users ignoring some of the basic rules of system security.
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Posted August 13th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Wi-Fi Security | 1 Response »
A horribly written spam e-mail was discovered by Sophos, a developer and vendor of security software and hardware, early Sunday morning.
With a newly discovered spam messages including a dangerous malware infection, identified as Mal/Dropper-PQ, came the following proposition:
Dear Sir
I am able to complete the funds transfer late night
$1,850 was sent via western union with MTCN VALUE 754 061 9934
Copies of the payment is being attached and sent to the attorney
I anticipate further correspondent as regards
Peter
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Posted August 11th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Spam Alert | No Response »
On Thursday morning, the popular social networking site Twitter was a target of an ongoing denial of service attack, causing the website to suffer various intermittent problems along with a major outage that lasted several hours.
The ever-so-popular social networks, Twitter and Facebook, encountered network issues that resulted in degraded service for some Facebook users and a total outage for Twitter users.
Now while we know you are not personally responsible for bringing down these two powerhouses of the social networking realm, you may still hold some responsibility depending on how well-equipped your computer is with up-to-date anti-malware software and the latest version of your operating system.
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Posted August 7th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Internet Security | No Response »
Many of the tasks that can be performed on a personal computer these days require you to close all currently running programs.
Almost every installer asks you to close all other applications to minimize conflicts and to avoid replacing in-use files. Other high-end tasks, such as burning CD’s and defragmenting or scanning hard drives can slow down or even fail when other processes suddenly begin running, like background programs, screensavers or a scheduled task.
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Posted August 5th, 2009 & Last Updated Aug 7, 2009
in the Category(ies) Tips | 3 Responses »
Those crafty rogue spyware removers appear to be increasing in both volume and the speed in which they are spreading from computer to computer.
According to a report released on Wednesday from PandaLabs, it appears to be tens of millions of systems that are infected with rogue anti-virus programs.
PandaLabs, the software security company responsible for many legitimate anti-virus applications, have released a report stating that over the course of just one year, the number of illegal anti-virus programs has increased from 1,000 to 111,000, and for the second quarter of 2009, that number had tripled.
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Posted July 29th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Internet Security | 1 Response »
Recently a critical vulnerability was discovered in Adobe Flash Player versions 9.0.159.0 and 10.0.22.87.
A new vulnerability within Adobe Flash, was found to be a zero-day vulnerability that has yet to be patched. This same vulnerability appears to extend to Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat version 9.1.2, as well as earlier version 9 variants.
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Posted July 28th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Internet Security | No Response »
Troj/AdClick-FR is known to be a Trojan horse that promotes an explicit media file that is actually designed to cause destruction.
Yet another addition to the recent influx of dangerous malware, Troj/AdClick-FR is a trojan virus that manifests itself on your computer in the form of a rather innocent-looking file called EroticPamela.mpg. There should be no surprise as to who this file might be referring to.
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Posted July 27th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Internet Security | No Response »
Deleting remembered network passwords will help ensure others are not able to access confidential or personal information at home and at work.
Recently we have gone over several tips for cleaning up your computer and how important it is to practice safe password procedures. When using a password it is best to construct a strong, easy to remember password by using a combination of numbers, letters and symbols. In addition, it is recommended that you use different passwords for different web sites. It’s also a safe bet to delete any e-mails you might receive regarding usernames and passwords, just in case the unfortunate happens and your e-mail account is hacked into giving hackers unadulterated access to online accounts.
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Posted July 24th, 2009 in the Category(ies) Tips | 1 Response »
