Viruses

The 404 1,065: Where it's all in our heads (podcast)

Today's episode of The 404 is a valuable resource for anyone obsessed with headphones -- classic audiophiles, young audiophiliacs, musicians, producers, and casual listeners will all benefit from Steve Guttenberg's knowledge, and he brought a friend! Tyll Hertsens is largely credited for creating the first portable headphone amp and currently the editor-in-chief of InnerFidelity.

With Tyll's help, we'll run through the differences between on-ear and in-ear headphones, give credit to two companies responsible for introducing high-quality headphones to the next generation of audiophiles, and we'll even spend a little time dissecting the criteria for what makes a headphone "sound good."… Read more

Meet the little box that could stop Flame and Stuxnet

Let me introduce you to Norm.

"Norm!"

No, not George Wendt. Norman is an IT security company based in Norway that's selling a box that just might save the world from the next nuclear disaster.

Perhaps you've heard of a beefy piece of malware dubbed "Flame" that's been getting some attention lately. This week it became the latest dark monarch to reign in the underworld kingdom of scary code. Norm -- sorry, Norman -- says its new box could douse Flame and stop destructive cousins like Stuxnet and Duqu in their tracks, too.… Read more

Israel: Don't blame the Flame cyberattack on us

The Flame worm has put the Middle East and neighboring regions on high alert and caused several security experts to look for the source. And although some media reports have linked Israel to the attack, the country has denied all involvement.

The trouble for Israel started recently when the country's vice prime minister, Moshe Ya'alon, said on Israel's military radio station, Army Radio, that "there are quite a few governments in the West that have rich high-tech [capabilities] that view Iran, and particularly the Iranian nuclear threat, as a meaningful threat -- and can possibly be … Read more

Flame virus could attack other nations

The Flame virus recently found in Iran could be used to infect other countries, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

As the United Nations agency charged with helping members protect their data networks, the ITU plans to issue a warning about the danger of Flame.

"This is the most serious (cyber) warning we have ever put out," Marco Obiso, cyber security coordinator for the ITU, told Reuters. The warning will paint the virus as a "dangerous espionage tool that could potentially be used to attack critical infrastructure," Reuters added.

Flame was recently identified as a culprit … Read more

A new polish for Chromebook and Chromebox

In today's show, we test Google's new operating system, chirp goodbye to Nextel, and pay our Russian bills with green pigs:

The reviews are out for Samsung's new Chromebook and Chromebox, running on the newly updated Chrome OS. And the bottom line is that it's better than the last version, but still not all that impressive. (Especially since the Chromebook has limited capabilities and costs more than a tablet.)

The Nextel network will officially be killed-off in June of 2013, and Sprint is pushing Nextel customers to use Sprint Direct Connect devices.

There's a new … Read more

Delete Doctor throws out those files that just won't leave

We've seen many file-deleting utilities. Most are freeware offering "secure" file deletion by overwriting files on your disk multiple times until the data is unrecoverable. Kevin Solway's Delete Doctor is a bit different. It's designed to delete those files that just don't want to leave your system, such as viruses and malware, files in shared folders, and files currently in use. To that end, it offers four different methods for removing files from your system. This simple freeware also has drag-and-drop capability.

Delete Doctor's interface is compact but efficient, beginning with an entry … Read more

Massive targeted cyber-attack in Middle East uncovered

A complex targeted virus has been discovered stealing data in the Middle East, security researchers announced today.

The malware -- dubbed Flame -- has been operation since 2010 and appears to be state-sponsored, Kaspersky Labs said today, but it was not sure of its origins. Flame is designed to steal information about targeted systems and stored files as well as computer display contents and audio conversations.

"The complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious program exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date," Kaspersky Labs said in statement announcing the malware's discovery.

The virus … Read more

Notorious Bredolab virus creator is sentenced to prison

The man who elaborated and then spread the Bredolab virus, which infected roughly 30 million computers worldwide, was sentenced to four years in prison by an Armenian district court yesterday, according to Wired.

Georgy Avanesov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen of Armenian descent, was first nabbed in 2010 after Dutch authorities took down a large Bredolab network made up of about 140 different infected computer servers. Shortly after this seizure, global spam levels fell by 12 percent.

Avanesov confessed that he developed the Bredolab malware in 2009 and made it available to others via computer servers in Holland and France, according … Read more

Malware increases on all platforms, McAfee says

Malware increased significantly across several platforms in the first quarter, with PC malware reaching the highest levels in four years, according to a McAfee report released today.

The first-quarter report (you can read the full PDF below) also noted a huge increase in malware -- short for malicious software -- targeting the Android platform and a rise in Mac malware. The findings indicate total malware could reach the 100 million mark within the year, with the U.S. being the primary source of cyberattacks, according to a press release from McAfee.

McAfee said 8,000 total mobile malware samples were … Read more