Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

viruses

Gone in 30 minutes

William is philosophizing to his toothbrush one minute and contemplating practicing shot put with his computer the next. What burst his bubble?

William blames a virus, and in his tussle with the malignant malware, he learns a few lessons about the risks of sharing a computer with family and friends. But was it actually a virus that got him, and are the lessons he learned the right ones?

After the frustrations of dealing with damaged data, it's easy to generalize about past and future behavior. Set the record straight in a thrilling malware true-and-false in this week's Spyware … Read more

Malware can trash your data--and reputation

Pornographic pop-ups have plagued users since the early days of adware. While the serving methods may have changed since then, the damage these Trojans can do to a person's standing when porn shows up in the wrong place has not.

Users in past Spyware Horror Stories have been branded as smut lovers by family, classmates, and co-workers. In some cases, their jobs or grades were questioned.

In Tom's story, a misclicked link results in an academic toll that far outlasts the threat posed to his data. Find out how Tom saved his files even as his scholastic status … Read more

25th anniversary of the computer virus? Not so fast

The Internet has been abuzz lately claiming we are in the 25th year of the computer virus. And while many people believe a 15-year-old created the first virus in 1982, I'm not so quick to agree.

After digging through some Web sites offering insight into the history of the computer virus, only one thing is constant: Elk Cloner was not the first. Although some publications are claiming the poetic Elk Cloner virus was first, a host of viruses were ravaging computers in the 1970s.

The world's first generally accepted computer was created by Charles Babbage and while many … Read more

Yahoo releases critical security patch for IM

Yahoo has issued a critical security patch for Messenger to address zero-day exploits that take advantage of vulnerabilities in its Webcam ActiveX controls.

The exploits to instant messaging surfaced Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the vulnerabilities were first reported to Yahoo by eEye Digital Security.

People could find their systems at risk if they visit malicious Web sites or view other malicious HTML code. The attackers could then exploit security flaws in the Yahoo Webcam ActiveX control, a software package that is downloaded with Messenger.… Read more

Virus spreads across Google Earth, virtually

Biomedical researchers wanted to get a good look at the avian flu virus. And they did not turn to a super microscope. They used Google Earth instead. With Keyhole Markup Language on Google Earth scientists were able to trace the course of the disease over the past decade.

The Google Earth project animates the spread of avian flu virus. In addition the data contains information on all known strains of the evolving flu virus plus all its host organisms. So far avian flu has not proven highly contagious among humans with fewer than 300 known cases worldwide. However, medical research … Read more

Storm Worm strikes again

A new variant of the Storm Worm (aka Snow Worm) is slamming into e-mail inboxes worldwide as an apparent patch or fix for a recent worm attack. The latest variant appears to ride on the coattails of worm that Trend Micro calls Nuwar.AOP.The Trojan part of this worm is known as Small (Kaspersky and Trend Micro), Downloader (McAfee), Peacomm (Symantec), and officially by the designation CME (Common Malware Enumeration) 711.

According to Ken Dunham of iDefense, this new variant worm includes anti-security measures to hinder analysis, and sends out copies of itself inside of a password protected ZIP … Read more

Demystifying online virus scans

Nearly every security vendor offers a free virus scan on its Web site, but it's not always clear what they are, how they work, or why you might want to use them in addition to or instead of downloadable security software.

What are online virus scans?

The most common online virus scans are hosted on security companies' Web sites and use ActiveX technology to scan your computer, flagging any files that show up in the company's spyware or virus definitions.

Exact methodologies vary from vendor to vendor, as does coverage. Panda ActiveScan claims it detects rootkits. Kaspersky updates … Read more

USB purifier claims to clear the air

It's been a banner week for germaphobes. Just the other day we pointed to a device that purifies water with UV rays, and now we get word of a product that filters out airborne germs from the air within its immediate vicinity.

The "Ionic USB Air Purifier," according to Fareastgizmos, "discharges negative ions to absorb second-hand smoke, odors, clean airborne dust, and eliminate bacteria, germs, viruses." The device circulates air silently without a fan and needs no filters. All you need, apparently, is faith.

Yikes--a Windows virus on your iPod?

Beware: Your new iPod may have shipped carrying the RavMonE virus.

Apple has released info on its Web site that describes the discovery of a Windows-based virus, traced back to its contract manufacturer. Fewer than 1 percent of iPods with video (5.5G) sold after the September 12 launch could be carrying the worm, which can affect only Windows machines. Neither the new iPod Nano nor the iPod Shuffle (not yet released) are affected.

In addition to an apology, Apple has posted a tutorial on how to get rid of the virus. The statement adds: "Because this Windows virus … Read more