Watch out for an IE update coming your way

MS is are preparing to issue an out of band update for Internet Explorer (IE). MS normally issue one set of security updates per month and this happens on the second Tuesday of the month and is normally referred to as ‘Patch Tuesday’. This is now the second time this year, according to my reckoning, that MS have issued an out of band update. The update should be issued later today, Tuesday, March 30th.

The update will fix a number of critical vulnerabilities for all versions of IE. Watch out for the patch being pushed to your PC in the normal way. It would appear that you will have to reboot, but install it as soon as you receive it.

March 30, 2010 | Filed Under Announcements, Security | Leave a Comment 

Passwords – you got to love them!

When was the last time you changed a password? What is the most complicated password that you use? How many different passwords do you have? Why do I ask? Well, to make you think about passwords and maybe to make you feel guilty that you need to change some of the ones that you use regularly.

Password ‘hygiene’ is important – You should not go too long without changing them and you should not share them. They form a vital layer of online defence for you and your family. Our security response guys have posted an interesting blog on passwords. Furthermore, they have setup a quick one minute survey to establish just how your password hygiene compares to that of others. Go on and take the survey, the results from all of us I am sure will be interesting. Let’s hope that we are saved from the odour of an online community that does not take password hygiene seriously!

March 26, 2010 | Filed Under Announcements, Security | Leave a Comment 

Watch out for this one: fake Skype toolbar

We have seen reports and evidence of a fake email, purporting to come from Skype, offering a free but fake email toolbar. The spam email contains an attachment named ‘SkypeToolbarForOutlook.zip’, which in turn includes a malicious .exe. The malware is a Backdoor Trojan. The email looks very legitimate and convincing – see below.

If  you receive this email – just delete it immediately and do not click on the attachment.

March 24, 2010 | Filed Under Security | Leave a Comment 

‘Just the ticket!’

I was driving home yesterday and listening to the news on the radio. The news item that caught my attention and interest was that ballot for tickets for London 2012 was now open and you can apply for it a online. I said to myself: ‘here we go again’. High profile sporting events, like this, provide an opportunity to the cybercriminals. Now, the London games are still some two years away and the official website is at pains to point out that no tickets are actually for sale at this point in time. However, a piece in ‘The Times Online’ today outlines some of the online shenanigans that are ongoing with respect to another high profile and imminent sporting event: the World Cup.

With only 79 days to go, we can see a wave of spam email and fake offers filling the internet. Major events such as the World Cup see an increase in online attacks. We here at Symantec found that attacks increased by 40 per cent before the 2006 World Cup and 66 per cent during the 2008 Olympics. Sadly, it looks like this is set to be repeated if not surpassed in the run through to this year’s World Cup.

The advice has to be for you to be very suspicious of emails that you receive offering you amazing bargains or exclusive access to tickets, flights or accommodation. Do not click on any attachments to these emails or links. If you have signed up with an official and recognised ticketing organisation, then you should expect emails. If you have not, then delete emails that you get offering you this stuff. If you are interested in attending the World Cup, tickets so far have been sold exclusively through the Fifa website and the game’s world governing body has warned fans to be sure they are buying only from authorised companies selling official tour packages or tickets.

Being a Scotsman, I can only hope that I will be looking to buy a ticket to the next UEFA European football championships, in Poland/Ukraine, in 2012!

March 23, 2010 | Filed Under Announcements, Security | Leave a Comment 

Symantec guide to scary internet threats

Scary internet threatsThe countdown to the World Cup is well underway. It is clearly going to be the event of the Summer – even if Scotland did not qualify and are not going to be there. As such, the cybercriminals are turning their attention to it. Whilst none of them will be an official FIFA partner, that will not deter them from leveraging and piggy-backing off the pack of this truly global event. We thought it both timely and relevant to produce another one of our Symantec guides to scary internet stuff. The subject this time is ‘internet threats’. We hope you enjoy it and you act on the message. You can find the link to the video here. Read more

March 16, 2010 | Filed Under Announcements, Security, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

When Butterflies and Worms come to Smartphones

Pda phoneThe story that an HTC Andriod phone has been found to be hosting malware has caught the attention of many people in the past day or so. The story is big in its own right. However, when the malware found was then identified as being related to the Mariposa botnet, then it took on an even bigger dimension. The bust of the guys behind the Mariposa was the big security news of last week.

That this was found, on a new Andriod based smartphone, is being offered up as a proof-point that these new devices could be the next battlefield against the cybercriminals. This time last year Conficker was the big security topic. I noticed with interest, that one year on, it even managed to get in on the act. The smartphone was found to also be hosting malware that related to Conficker.

The malware was identified, when the user connected the smartphone, via USB, to the PC. The PC had a security package installed and it detected the malware as it tried to infect the PC. This is proof positive of the need and effectiveness of having an up-to-date security product installed on the PC, as it helped protect it in the first instance. Secondly, in doing so, it also stopped the further transmission and spread of the Mariposa and Conficker malware onto other users. The vendor of the smartphone is looking into how the malware found its way onto the device. As with the PC some years back, infections could happen in the factory, wherein, the software loaded onto the PC was found to have been compromised. PC manufacturers were quick to learn from this and security procedures and processed put in place to mitigate against this. By and large it was successful, albeit there were and still are rare instances when it is found that the point of distribution for a piece of malware was in the factory pre-loaded software.

What this incident also suggests is that the smartphone itself needs to take some responsibility for its own security. It needs to play its part in the chain of security or confidence. Yes, procedures and processed need to re-evaluated to ensure that malware is not inadvertently  loaded onto the device at point of manufacture. Yes – we need to ensure that any PC that these devices are connected to have security software running on them, as an additional layer of security. However, the device itself needs to be secured and be seen to be secured.

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Security | Leave a Comment