IT SECURITY NEWS
Microsoft wins court order crushing mighty spam botnet
A federal magistrate judge has recommended that Microsoft be given ownership of 276 internet addresses used to control “Waledac,” a massive botnet that the software company has been working to bring down.…
Adobe Reader 0day under active attack
Researchers have uncovered sophisticated attack code circulating on the net that exploits a critical vulnerability in the most recent version of Adobe Reader.…
Safari and Firefox updates plug critical holes
Tuesday marked a busy day for alternative browser security updates with patches from both Apple and Mozilla.…
UK hacker fined for personnel database mischief
A court has ordered a UK hacker to pay compensation after he used a purloined laptop to hack into his ex-employer's personnel database.…
Privacy watchdogs challenge laptop seizures at US borders
Privacy advocates have sued the Obama administration over its practice of seizing laptops, cell phones, and other devices at US borders and copying their contents even when the owner isn't suspected of wrongdoing.…
Twitter bug creates account hijacking peril
Twitter has been bitten by a hard-to-kill web-application bug that's being actively exploited to steal users' authentication credentials, a security expert said Tuesday.…
Scammers seize on tax rebates as phishing lure
Fraudsters have wasted no time jumping on news of a tax mix-up in the UK as a hook for scams.…
Spammers exploit another Facebook flaw
Spammers have taken advantage of a vulnerability in Facebook to spread auto-replicating links, a trick that makes it possible to spread crud without using social engineering.…
TechCrunch purges Zeus malware attack
TechCrunch Europe has cleaned up its website following the discovery of malicious code that left visiting surfers exposed to infection by a variant of the infamous Zeus banking Trojan.…
MS probes mystery IE bug
Microsoft is investigating reports of a new bug in Internet Explorer.…
Symantec finally secures HackIsWack
Symantec has belatedly secured its laughable HackIsWack competition website.…
iPad scammers hack Kirstie Allsopp's Twitter
iPad scammers managed to reach a huge potential audience last weekend after they took over a Twitter profile maintained by British TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp.…
Browser security warning lookalike pushes malware
Scareware peddlers have developed a new ruse that relies on mimicking browser warning pages.…
USB stick with anti-terror training found outside police station
A memory stick containing anti-terror training manuals and other sensitive material was reportedly found on a street outside a Manchester police station.…
Google pays $8.5m to settle Buzz privacy invasion suit
Google has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit claiming it violated the privacy of Gmail users when it released Google Buzz, a Gmail bolt-on that turned the email service into a Tweetbookish social networking tool.…
Nigerian man gets 12 years for $1.3m 419 scam
A Nigerian man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in US prison for orchestrating an advance payment scam that bilked victims out of more than $1.3m.…
Spammers latch onto Ping to pump iPhone survey scams
Spammers have been quick off the mark in exploiting Apple's new iTunes social network to punt survey scams.…
Symantec Snoop Dogg rap contest site rickrolled
Symantec's attempts to link up with Snoop Dogg to launch a cybercrime rap contest have descended into farce after it emerged that vulnerabilities with a dedicated site can be easily rickrolled.…
Phone bugging scandal reignited as <em>NotW</em> suspends reporter
New allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World have resulted in the suspension of one of the Sunday paper's reporters, pending legal and disciplinary action over allegations of tapping into the voicemail messages of an unnamed television personality.…
Microsoft freshens retro code lock-down tool
Microsoft has released a new version of a software tool that developers and administrators can use to harden older applications against common vulnerabilities.…