Subscribe in a readerHaute Secure
Haute Secure is a security service developed by 3 former Microsoft security specialists. It’s designed to filter the web pages you browse and it blocks any websites known to contain malware.
It’s free for people to download and install on their computers. If you run a website they charge money so they can scan your website and alert you if it gets hacked and infected with malware.
Most of the good antivirus packages have had this feature for a long time, and it’s a good idea to invest in one of these.
If you really believe it’s not worth spending money to keep your computer secure and you insist on using free antivirus programs, then this will make a good addition since free antivirus programs don’t usually filter web sites.
MonaRonaDona
There’s a malware program called MonaRonaDona, if you end up installing it (by being tricked into downloading something you don’t really need) it causes a bit of havoc with your computer.
It then suggests you try an antivirus program called Unigray. This is one of those fake antivirus programs that have been appearing lately. All it does is mess up your computer, and you’re asked to pay $39.90 for it.
So stay away from MonaRonaDona and Unigray. Use one of the popular antivirus packages (such as those you can buy in a computer shop).
Funny Postcard
If you receive an email taking you to a web site called “FunnyPostCard” delete it, it’s a trick to get you to download a malicious bit of code that takes over your computer.
The website also says www.funnypostcard.com , or FunnyPostCard.Com . The files it asks you to download is called e-card.exe and postcard.exe .
Fraudulent eBay Bid
Imagine someone steals your eBay password and bids $3,002,500 on an item on eBay? That’s what happened last week to someone only identified as jopsoup.
His password was stolen while he was at an internet cafe and it was used to make a bid on a record collection.
The matter’s been cleared up by eBay because it was of such a large amount. For smaller items it might not end so well. Always be cautious when using other people’s computers, especially public computers at internet cafes or at hotels.
(Full article here)
Statistics on Malware
Some new statistics on how widespread malware has become. This research comes from Google’s Anti-Malware team (full document is here)
- The majority of malware sites are hosted in China
- 1.3% of Google searches return a link to a malicious site
- They found more than 3 million unique URLs on over 180,000 web sites that automatically install malware
That’s 3 million web pages that will attempt to install some form of malicious code on your computer.
With things this bad you’d be crazy to use the internet without some kind of web filtering. This is different to virus scanning. Web filtering scans each web page before your web browser loads it, looking for things like phishing and malicious code.
All of the big antivirus products include web filtering these days, it’s a good investment if you haven’t purchased one already.
“Be More Careful” Scam
There are some scam emails going around asking for large amounts of money from readers, such as $30,000.
The emails contain the following in the subject and in the first line of the email:
BE MORE CAREFUL
The rest of it has a long story saying they’ve been asked to kill you and in exchange for money they won’t. It’s a scam hoping to lure worried people with plenty of cash, and if you’re worried you can mention it to your local police.
Note: this is also classified as a hoax though it’s more like a scam. A hoax is doesn’t involve asking for money whereas a scam does.
Windows Mobile PocketPC Trojan
There’s a new trojan going around for Windows Mobile PocketPC devices. Once installed on a device it sends some details to the person who wrote it, and it leaves a back door to allow the author to install programs on your device without your permission.
It’s being called WinCE/InfoJack by antivirus companies. It gets installed when you download a legitimate program from a “hacked” site. For example, it’s been detected in Google Maps (a hacked version of Google Maps, not the original one).
To safeguard against these type of malware only download applications from the vendor who created it. In the case of Google Maps, you should download it from Google’s own website and not a more generic download site.
You should also invest in antivirus software for these devices.
Adobe AIR 1.0
Adobe has been making news today for releasing version 1.0 of their AIR framework. AIR is a new way to develop and run programs, it’s a combination of a web page but runs without a web browser.
It has a long list of security features to make programs seem safe. And because of how internet applications work experts agree it won’t be long until this new technology is exploited.
One thing to be careful of is when AIR warns you about “self signed” applications. This means that no reputable company has verified the person who wrote the program. So if you download an AIR application and you get warned about it being self signed, the safe bet is to deny it.
If you’re tempted to play with AIR applications just be conscious of where you’re downloading programs from. They won’t remain safe for long.
GSM Encryption
Most mobile phones in the world (also called cell phones, or hand phones) use the GSM network, and GSM generally uses an encryption protocol called A5.
A5 encryption was always a weak design but the equipment to decode it used to cost between US$70,000 and US$500,000 so it wasn’t very common.
Now some new research shows it can be cracked with around US$1000 of equipment. This makes it accessible to most businesses and individuals. It’s still theoretical though it won’t be long until anyone can download the software required to do it.
What does this mean to phone users?
Conversations carried out over mobile phones should not be considered secure. If the technology exists for competitors to sit outside an office and listen in on calls then you should change how you carry out business.
Apart from this new research on cracking the encryption there’s another method that has existed since phone networks began operation. All mobile phone carriers have the ability to record conversations for law enforcement purposes. They just have to press some buttons on their computer and your conversations get recorded. So you shouldn’t be sharing trade secrets on the phone anyway.
And now’s a good time to mention that SMS messages have never been secure. Most GSM networks keep a log of all SMS messages and this information is available to law enforcement agencies (or to anyone corrupt at the phone companies or to anyone that hacks into a phone company’s network).
Some articles to read if you need more information: here, here and here.
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