SHORT BYTES FOR FRIDAY

SHORT NEWS FOR YOUR FRIDAY SNOOZE

MICROSOFT THROWS IN THE TOWEL

Microsoft will soon offer a dual-boot phone in their attempt to claw themselves into a major cellphone maker by allowing users to choose to boot to either the Windows phone OS or Android's OS. Considering both operating systems and their tendency to attract hackers IMHO by purchasing one of these phones a person has just increased the possibility of being infected with malware by 2.

MICROSOFT AND CRITICAL IE PATCH

That zero-day exploit affecting IE9 and IE10 is reportedly to be officially patched next week

IDC ANALYST FIRM FORECASTS COMPUTER GROWTH

A recent press release from IDC reports that worldwide PC shipments fell by -9.8% in 2013 and continue to fall this year by -6%, not recovering until 2018.

Cisco Small Business Router Password Disclosure Vulnerability

On march 5th, CISCO released advisory cisco-sa-20140305-rpd addressing a security flaw which could allow an attacker to gain admin rights to the devices listed in the advisory. They have released free firmware updates to correct it.

 

Android RATs Branch out with Dendroid

Symantec's Blog post on March 5th pointed out the evolution of Android malware with the latest and greatest threat that can be purchased off underground websites. This program can turn good APPS into bad ones. In part, they wrote on the post that:

According to postings on underground forums, the official seller of Dendroid is known as “Soccer.” The seller markets Dendroid as offering many features that have never been seen before and comes with 24/7 support, all for a once off payment of $300 to be paid through BTC, LTC, BTC-e, or other services. Some of the many features on offer include the following:

• Delete call logs
• Call a phone number
• Open Web pages
• Record calls and audio
• Intercept text messages
• Take and upload photos and videos
• Open an application
• Initiate a HTTP flood (DoS) for a period of time
• Change the command-and-control (C&C) server

As always, click on the link for full details.

 

ComiXology Hacked! Change Your Password Now 

ComiXology, a digital comic book seller says they were hacked and are telling subscribers to change their passwords immediately. This was reported on PC Magazines website. You can read the full story HERE. 

Have a safe weekend -

'Nuff Said,
Brian