SECURITY NEWS

Did you know that there was a U.S. "Computer Emergency Readiness Team"? I didn't. What I do know is that I've read an article here and there where CERT was mentioned, so now we all know what that is, which leads me into a story about CERT finding a hard-coded "Backdoor" in Samsung printers that could be open to attack from some nefarious [ed. - you gotta love that word] people. Printers made after October 31, 2012 do not have this - according to Samsung. Read all about it HERE.

Hey! Those Romanians' are on their collective toes [and why I always want to type "Romulans" is beyond me] - Authorities have rounded up a cyber-gang that were responsible for a huge amount of world-wide theft. How huge?

"The criminal operation resulted in fraudulent transactions totaling more than $25 million that were performed with 500,000 credit cards, the agency said Tuesday."

Read about that, HERE.

Last, but not least - Stay on your toes! Update Malwarebytes and run a quick or full scan, keep Adobe Reader and Flash updated [ed. - where? Directly from their respective websites], and don't forget Java. Or, forget Java and just un-install it. Make sure your Anti-Virus is doing it's job as well, and if you haven't already, ditch the free AV products and actually buy a good one, and if you bought anti-virus software but let it expire, it's not doing you any good.

SHAMELESS PLUG TIME: Are you befuddled or intimidated about editing your digital pictures? Read the beginning of an ongoing series related to that on one of my other Blogs, HERE.

'Nuff Said,
Brian

DON'T BE THE TURKEY THIS WEEKEND

As "Black" Thursday/Friday loom above our heads, don't lose yours to fake emails which will lead you down the path of Malware infections, stolen credit card information, or worse.

Yes, this is probably one of the biggest holidays for the bad guys. They know you'll order something that has to be shipped and you may get one of many subject lines, like - "Order Cancelled Pending Credit Card Verification", or they could spoof (i.e. - fake) an email address, for example Amazon, and you'll see an email from Amazon with a subject line similar to the one above, or possibly - "Problem processing your order".

UPS is also a popular one to spoof, with subject lines like "We could not deliver your package, Tracking number DE469I0001FX" (and almost everyone should know by now that UPS tracking numbers start off with a 1Zxxxxxxxxx).

So now you've got my point, which was: "BE CAREFUL", Tis the season to fake emails....

AND SPEAKING OF TURKEYS...



The IRS was blamed for a massive data breach that exposed Social Security numbers of 3.8 million taxpayers plus credit card and bank account data, due to an outdated system. Apparently, social security numbers were never encrypted.

Read all about it, HERE.




And, speaking of Turkeys (again), have a safe but Happy Thanksgiving -

'Nuff Said
Brian

Oh... My last shopping for your Geek post is up on my other Blog now.

BRIEFLY....

FACEBOOK

Facebook is moving from http:// to https:// - "What's the difference?" you ask,  well http is your every day webpage, for instance I'm typing this on my http://www.securitynnnnnn page. When you browse Amazon and go to purchase something it takes you to a page that starts with https:// [your bank would do the same], the "s" stands for secure/security and once you are on an https page your data becomes encrypted, thus more secure.

It's a good move considering how many people around the world use Facebook, and it will especially help those who use Facebook over a wireless network. I wasn't sure if it was already in place, but I just took a few seconds to login and check - yep, already https.

GOOGLE DOCS

I read on Symantec's blog that they found malware that uses Google Docs to actually take over and control a server. Slick piece of work. I also read about this on several other sites I visit, and here's one with the details on PC World

'Nuff Said
Brian

BACK FROM MY ANNIVERSARY TRIP WITH,

SECURITY NEWS

Microsoft will release security patches for Windows 8 on Tuesday (or thereabouts). Many of you probably received them today (the 16th) as did I. Story HERE.

STOLEN OR LOST, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE WHEN IT HAS DATA ON 10,000 USERS?

A laptop was stolen from NASA which, according to Richard Keegan Jr. (associate deputy administrator at NASA) has some form of personal data on at LEAST 10,000 employees and/or contractors. I thought it was just the wind, but I guess it really was a giant "Oops" I heard when it took place.

FIRST CAME "RAT", NOW COMES - "SUPER RAT"

At some point this year I mentioned an article I had just read about a "RAT", known as "Remote Access Trojan", and according to the Security firm Trend Micro there is now a "Super RAT" romping across the Internet. While Super RAT tends to gnaw on Government and other Institution websites, it wouldn't be a stretch in the future to find out the big rodent is feeding on the little folk.  You can read more about him/it right HERE.

WHO IS SLOWER THAN DSL, BUT PAYS FOR CABLE INTERNET SPEED? It could be YOU...

As I mentioned (either here or on the Everythingandthebathwater Blog) Verizon will slow down your Internet speed if you are downloading or uploading things like music, games, or movies for others to then download them for free. If you're one of those who do, I would tend not to ignore a warning letter. More about this HERE.

'Nuff Said,
Brian

SECURITY POSTINGS WILL RESUME THIS WEEK AFTER WE RETURN FROM OUR ANNIVERSARY GETAWAY -

Brian

&

Robin

NOPE, YOU'RE CORRECT, IT'S "MALWAREBYTES". I LEFT OUT THE "E" DUE TO SPACE ISSUES

ATTACK OF

"THE INVISIBLES"

The invisibles are upon us, and have been for many years. They are silent, crafty, and sneak through your anti-virus program in front of your very eyes. One researcher has even named them "Zombie Browsers", and they don't come cheap.

Zoltan Balazs, spoke to a crowd at the "Hacker Halted" conference in Miami, as was astounded by what he found. According to Zoltan only 10 of these infected browser extensions had been known to exist, but this year they have found 49 new ones! "It's skyrocketing," Balazs noted, and he faulted the antivirus vendors for allegedly not addressing the issue at all, claiming that even after two years Anti-Virus companies had yet to act.

While Internet Explorer wasn't mentioned, he did name Safari, Firefox, and Chrome in regard to these extensions the mis-direct the user to a website which will add to their woes. Read the article by Ellen Messmer HERE.

'Nuff Said,
Brian

INVASION OF THE COMPUTER SNATCHERS

In an article on PC World's website, John Mello Jr. wrote about the findings from Kindsight Security Labs in their 3rd quarter report, available in PDF form [PDF]. The short of it says that at least 13% of all networked homes in North America are infected, some of them with very critical infestations that could take over your computer or your online bank account.

MAP OF ZERO ACCESS BOTNET SPREADING ACROSS NORTH AMERICA

If you didn't download the PDF you can read the article by John HERE.