TechBlog

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:

Symantec Security Response has repeatedly warned that looking for free movies and videos online often results in malware infection, and here we go again with yet another example. We recently became aware of a campaign, centered around the YouTube Web site, to trick users into following malicious links. YouTube is one of the most popular video sharing sites and therefore is often picked by online criminals hoping for an easy catch. Performing a search using a (generally female) celebrity’s name followed by “sex tape” or a recent movie name yields results such as the following: ...

This week we’ve seen a spam campaign aimed at separating unsuspecting users from their iPhone details. Messages have the subject “IMPORTANT: Your iPhone Warranty Extension for 1 Year!”, pretend to be sent from “[email protected]”, and look as follows (click to enlarge the image): Recipients who feel like they can’t let this limited-time too-good-to-be-true special offer pass them by will find themselves redirected to the following page: ...