malware

Avira 2013 expands features to cover social networking, tracker blocking, and Web site verification

Review: Avira returns to the security field with a second major revamp in as many years of its flagship free antivirus and paid upgrades. Whereas last year's overhaul focused on a breezy new installation and modernizing its interface, the 2013 version is all about offering competitive and forward-thinking security features.

All that sounds well and good, and Avira has even killed off its obnoxious, interrupting pop-up in the free version. However, some aggressive components of those features gave us pause when using the suite.

Installation Last year's improved, zippy install has been changed slightly, and that may cause … Read more

Microsoft settles with second Kelihos botnet suspect

Microsoft has settled a lawsuit with a Russian software programming who admits he wrote the code used for malware that infected 41,000 computers worldwide, according to today's blog post from Richard Domingues Boscovich, an assistant general council for Microsoft.

The case centered around the Kelihos botnet, a series of infected computers that Microsoft said was able to send 3.8 billion spam e-mails per day before the company stopped it last September. While programmer Andrey N. Sabelnikov admits to writing the code, he was not the operator of the botnet and was not involved in those activities, according … Read more

India is world leader in spam output

India has surpassed the U.S. and taken the lead as the greatest spam-sending country in the world. One out of every six junk messages that litter users' e-mail inboxes are coming from India, according to a new report from SophosLabs.

The security vendor's third-quarter "Dirty Dozen" report of spam-relaying countries found that India upped its percentage of global spam for the third quarter in a row and now accounts for more than 16 percent of all junk e-mails.

What is important to note, however, is that this spam doesn't necessarily come directly from India's … Read more

Kaspersky builds its own antimalware OS -- but not for you

The folks at Kaspersky Lab are aiming to create their own secure operating system, but this one would run on industrial systems rather than your average home PC.

In blog posted today, company CEO Eugene Kaspersky confirmed the rumors of a new OS, describing the background behind the effort and hinting at the development process.

Cyberattacks present a growing and challenging problem for industries maintaining systems that must be powered on all the time. If a virus affects a computer at most companies, that computer can be unplugged from the network so as not to infect other devices, Kaspersky said. … Read more

FBI warns users of mobile malware

As mobile malware increases at break-neck speed, the U.S. government wants to be sure users are aware of its dangers. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which is a government task force that includes the FBI, issued a mobile malware warning on Friday.

"The IC3 has been made aware of various malware attacking Android operating systems for mobile devices," the warning said. "Some of the latest known versions of this type of malware are Loozfon and FinFisher."

The IC3 said that Loozfon lures its victims by sending them e-mails with links promising "a profitable … Read more

Newly IDed 'MiniFlame' malware targets individuals for attack

A new form of state-sponsored malware is making the rounds, this one apparently designed specifically to spy on its victims.

Dubbed "MiniFlame" by Kapersky Lab, but also known as SPE, the new malware variant is similar to the Flame virus that targeted computers in the Middle East this past summer. But MiniFlame is a cyber espionage program that can take over where Flame leaves off.

As described by Kaspersky:

First, Flame or Gauss are used to infect as many victims as possible to collect large quantities of information. After data is collected and reviewed, a potentially interesting victim … Read more

Worm spreading on Skype IM installs ransomware

A malicious worm spreading through Skype instant messages threatens to take control of a victim's machine and hold its contents for ransom.

The issue, which was first brought to light Friday by GFI, tricks users into downloading a ZIP file by displaying the socially-engineered message, "lol is this your new profile pic?" along with a link that also spreads the message to other Skype users. The ZIP filed contains an executable file that installs a variant of the Dorkbot worm and creating a backdoor via "Blackhole," an exploit kit used by criminals to infect computers … Read more

Symantec: Russian criminals sell Web 'proxy' with backdoors

A black hat Russian operation has served malware to hundreds of thousands of users a year who thought they were signing up for a paid proxy service, Symantec said today.

The security company said in a blog post that it has linked the malware to a cluster of Russian Web sites -- including one called Proxybox.name -- that claim to provide proxy access, VPN services, and antivirus scanning. Proxybox.name requires users to download what it calls "functional, simple, and convenient" proxy software.

Vikram Thakur, principal manager at Symantec Security Response, told CNET this afternoon that:

What … Read more

Microsoft settles botnet case against Chinese site

Microsoft reached a settlement in its legal case against a Web site that has been linked to malicious activity, with the Chinese company agreeing to block malware tied to its domain.

The software giant, which originally filed the suit about two weeks ago, said today that the operator of 3322.org, Peng Yong, has agreed to work with Microsoft and the Chinese Computer Emergency Response Team to block all malicious connections to the 3322.org domain and prevent malware infections associated with the site.

The 3322.org owner will direct all subdomains identified in a "block-list" to a … Read more