Conficker Worm Still In The News
So it seems something big was brewing with Conficker, they just didn’t want to do what everyone expected and unleash it on April 1st when all eyes were on them. It seems like they are going for the old ransom tactic and duping users into buying dodgy anti-virus software.
- New Conficker Action - F-Secure has an update on the latest actions the Conficker worm has taken. It appears the Conficker worm will be mainly used to scare people into buying rogue products to remove the virus. To protect yourself, make sure your computer has the latest patches, has anti-virus software installed and it’s up-to-date.
US Power Grid Gets Hacked – Is It True & Does It Matter?
There was quite a bit of coverage in the blogosphere about stories that ran in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post this week about Chinese hackers and terrorist groups infiltrating the US power grid. This seems like old news though.
The stories each are a fascinating read, but both have been told before. Hackers motivated by financial gain have been both infiltrating power networks and using our Internet infrastructure against us for years. The main differences these stories highlight are in attribution — that is, who’s responsible — and intent, or their implied goals.
Read the whole story; there aren’t really any facts in it. I don’t know what’s going on; maybe it’s just budget season and someone is jockeying for a bigger slice. Honestly, I am much more worried about random errors and undirected worms in the computers running our infrastructure than I am about the Chinese military.
Miscellaneous Security News
- Microsoft: Dramatic Rise in ‘Scareware’ Infections - I’ve written several times about the problem with “scareware.” Now Microsoft has released a report confirming that scareware has emerged as one of the fastest growing threats facing PC users.
Microsoft found that in the second half of last year, seven of the top 25 malicious software families removed from Windows computers were scareware titles such as Antivirus2008, XPAntivirus, SpywareSecure, and Winfixer.
- The Most Dangerous Person in the World? – While we all get wound up worrying about computer viruses and terrorism, this is a good reminder of the real risks we face in our lives to put it in perspective for us.
A significant majority of Americans, polls repeatedly tell us, list terrorism as one of their greatest fears. Like most of our media-inspired interests and worries, however, this one has little basis in reality.
In actual fact, unless you’re serving in a war zone, the most dangerous person you’re ever likely to encounter – by several orders of magnitude – is the one you see in the mirror every morning.
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Zero-Day PowerPoint Attacks Under Way - Microsoft released a security alert confirming a new vulnerability in PowerPoint that is being actively exploited. Microsoft is working on a fix and has provided suggestions for mitigating the risk. Remember to practice safe computing – don’t open files from people you don’t know or that look suspicious.
When exploited, the vulnerability can give an attacker local rights to a user’s machine if he opens the malicious PowerPoint file, which is currently being delivered via targeted email messages, but can also be pushed via a Website or instant messaging link.
For now, Microsoft has provided a few workarounds for users to protect against the new PowerPoint attack:
- Do not open or save Office files received unexpectedly from a trusted or untrusted source;
- Use the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment to open those files; or
- Use Microsoft Office File Block policy to ban Office 2003 and earlier files from being opened.
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Discount On Mozy Backup - Mozy is offering 10% off their annual and biennial MozyHome Unlimited and MozyPro backup plans during the month of April. Just enter the referral code APRIL when enrolling to get the discount.
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