2010

With the latest release of their browser, v.4.0, Google has published a long expected feature: Browser Extensions. Now Chrome features what other browsers like Firefox, IE, Opera and so on offer for a long time already. But, being able to compete with the others better doesn’t mean that they have solved all problems. Actually, their problems just start to appear – because adding extensions in the browser is just the same as opening Pandora’s box. ...

Information leakage is a real problem. It’s especially bad for high-security organizations, like military agencies. And it’s now harder than ever, thanks to services such as Flickr, Photobucket, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. So, we worked together with Lewis Communications to submit a Freedom Of Information Act request to Ministry of Defence in UK, asking if they’ve had problems with this. After waiting some weeks, we got a reply back, detailing that UK military personnel and Ministry of Defence staff have leaked secret information 16 times on social networking websites and Internet forums. ...

The most popular micro blogging network ‘Twitter’ has now added local trends support. This new feature allows users to track Trending topics on twitter related to their region. Though, currently very less number of countries and cities added to it. In twitter words: Local Trends will allow you to learn more about the nuances in our world and discover even more relevant topics that might matter to you. We’ll be improving this feature over time to provide more locations, languages, and data through our API. ...

Microsoft Corporation has almost started assembling the final build of Office 2010 aka (MS office 14) RTM version. As per the news leaked on Wzor, Development of OFFICE 2010 software package has come to its last stage.The build is codenamed as Escrow with build number 14.0.4734.1000 According to Wzor, This RTM Escrow Build 14.0.4734.1000 has already been circulated within Corporation and is available to company employees and partners. Few days before, when Build 14.0.4730.1007 was leaked on Torrent network, its EULA (License Agreement) read that its a RTM version but apparently it was just a Pre RTM build. Testers are still working on it and if there no problems, it will move to RTM version. ...

It has been a month since Sophos added detection for Troj/JSRedir-AK and figures generated today show that over 40% of all web-based detections have been from this malicious code. [Graph shows Malware hosted on websites from 2009-12-22 11:00:00 to 2010-01-21 11:00:00 (GMT-8)] Translating the numbers into a more human comprehensible form: 1 site every 15 secs was being detected as Troj/JSRedir-AK. The affected sites include well-known names, including: ...

APcSafe is another rogue anti-spyware clone of the WiniGuard family. if your computer is infected with this malware you should remove it soon.

PcsSecure is the latest cloned rogue antispyware from the WiniGuard family. if your computer is infected with this malware you should remove it soon.

The stable channel has been updated to 4.0.249.78 for Windows, and includes the following features and security fixes (since 3.0): Extensions Bookmark sync Enhanced developer tools HTML5: Notifications, Web Database, Local Storage, WebSockets, Ruby support v8 performance improvements Skia performance improvements Full ACID3 pass, due to re-enabled remote font support (with added defense against bugs in operating system font libraries) HTTP byte range support New security feature: “Strict Transport Security” support Experimental new anti-reflected-XSS feature called “XSS Auditor” Security Fixes: ...

Ben Edelman, Harvard privacy researcher and guru has revisited the features of Google Toolbar and was appalled to discover that disabling it doesn’t really disable it. He is recommending that all users uninstall it. In a long, thorough and well-written piece on his blog Edelman discusses how he monitored the Toolbar’s behavior with a network sniffer and documented the transmission of data back to Google (to toolbarqueries.google.com). Not only does it track a user’s Google searches, but it also phones home information about searches done in other search engines. ...

Disguised IQ test combines virus, rootkit and worm — malicious code for one fatal formula BitDefender today identified a new e-threat that combines the destructive behavior of a virus with the spreading mechanisms of a worm. There are two known variants of this virus, which enters the computer as a harmless IQ test. Once executed, the worm creates between seven and eleven copies of itself (depending on the variant) in critical areas of the Windows system. ...

Desktop Security 2010 is a rogue antispyware program, designed to trick people into thinking it is a legitimate program. Desktop Security 2010 uses fake security warnings and system scans to frighten people into buying the software. If Desktop Security 2010 is installed on your PC, you should remove it immediately as it is a potentially dangerous computer infection. Computers that have been infected with Desktop Security 2010 may show the following symptoms: ...

I am a very lucky guy. In fact, I must be the luckiest person in the world since spammers like to send all kinds of lucky spam to me. These days, I get inundated with lucky spam. The last spam I had, I got offered a free gift card if I purchased some Viagra from them. Wow. On other days, asking me to lose my weight results in instant chances of winning a lottery at the same time and all of this is due to my lucky email address. ...

Adobe Flash is a well well known plugin used today by most of the internet users. Its next upgrade i.e version 10.1 will get private browsing support. Flash player will now automatically clean all flash history of your computer once you end the session. It will use the same technique as used in browsers supporting private browsing. As you end the session the browsers in private mode automatically clears cookies, history and data, similarly flash will also remove any user password, login information or data stored that were associated while working in flash environment. ...

False images from Cosmopolitan infect computers with fake antivirus product BitDefender today warned of a new threat following the flood of interest in the result of the January 19th Massachusetts elections. The day after his winning Senate campaign, nude pictures of Cosmopolitan’s Sexiest Man of 1982 Scott Brown not only stirred women’s imaginations, but also got the interest of malware creators. The latter exploited the news to spread a fake antivirus: Trojan.FakeAV.XP. Instead of spicy pictures, the targeted user received messages of false infections on their computer and prompts to buy a fake antivirus product. ...

Some questionable sites associated with the Winigard family of rogue security products pulls it from this location, which appears to belong to a graphic designer in Canada. It’s funny and here’s waaaay too much truth there: