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A 3D real-time network monitoring and alert system named DAEDALUS (Direct Alert Environment for Darknet And Livenet Unified Security) was created to scan malicious packets sent by viruses inside a local network, rather than monitoring outbound traffic.The multitude of unused IP address within local networks is called “darknet.” A self-propagating virus first looks for viable computers to infest by scanning the entire range of local IP addresses. As not all addresses are allocated, DAEDALUS can monitor when suspicious packets are broadcast through the darknet , indicating a possible malware could be scanning for victims.
Intel CPUs are prone to hacker attacks after a vulnerability in the way they implement the SYSRET instruction was discovered in their x86-64 extension.The vulnerability could allow hackers to execute code with kernel privileges while in a non-administrator account, or to gain control of a host operating system after escaping a virtual machine. The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) issued a security advisory in which it thoroughly details the vulnerability. Several x64-based operating systems like Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, 64-bit FreeBSD, 64-bit NetBSD, as well as systems that include the Xen hypervisor, are exposed to this vulnerability.“AMD processors’ SYSRET behavior is such that a non-canonical address in RCX does not generate a #GP while in CPL0. We have verified this with our architecture team, with our design team, and have performed tests that verified this on silicon,” said AMD. “Therefore, this privilege escalation exposure is not applicable to any AMD processor“.
New malware continues to arrive on the scene every day, marking an ongoing test of wills and test of technologies that pits the good guys against the bad guys ...... Some of these threats are notable because of the scale of the attack. Others, such as in the case of Stuxnet and Flame, are notorious because of the types of technologies involved ......Here is a list of current threats to keep tabs on.
A new Dimensional Research and ZoneAlarm report found that 18 – 25s are more confident in their security knowledge than 56 – 65s, but have experienced more security issues in the past two years compared to older users.78% of 18 – 25s respondents do not follow security best practices, while cybercriminals are launching new and more sophisticated attacks on consumers. In comparison, 56 – 65s are more concerned about security and privacy and are twice as likely to protect their computers with additional security software. Also, 67% of UK users reported security problems in the past two years – more than any other country in the study. 57% of users in Australia reported security problems, and 50% of users in the USA, Canada and Germany reported issues.“Growing up in the digital age, 18 – 25s may appear to be a more tech-savvy generation, but that does not translate into safer computing and online practices,” said Tomer Teller, security evangelist and researcher at Check Point Software Technologies.“Younger users tend to prioritize entertainment and community over security, perhaps due to overconfidence in their security knowledge. For example, they’re more concerned about gaming or other social activities than their online security. They also have less sophisticated security software, and hence, have reported more security problems than other groups.”
In the wake of the Flashback botnet which targeted Mac computers, Apple has removed a statement from its messages on its website that Mac operating system X (OS X) isn't susceptible to viruses.Apple removed the previous statement "It doesn't get PC viruses" and replaced it with "It's built to be safe," and "Safeguard your data. By doing nothing" with "Safety. Built in."
Facebook’s decision to replace users’ chosen email addresses with their Facebook email address as the default on profile pages likely will make those @facebook.com addresses even more attractive to spammers and other cyber-criminals, according to one security expert.Facebook has been quietly shifting the default addresses of its almost 900 million users from the email addresses they chose when signing up on the site—such as those from Yahoo or Google’s Gmail—to their Facebook addresses, which are the username@facebook.com. Facebook officials in April said they were giving all their users a Facebook email address using their public usernames, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that some journalists and blog sites noticed that Facebook was making these addresses the default addresses on public profiles.The social network, which is notorious for making blanket changes to its Website operations without sufficiently notifying its users, has come under heavy criticism from users and outside observers alike since the move was publicized. The common theme is that it’s yet another attempt by Facebook to gain greater control over its users’ lives.
A purported botnet is targeting Android-based smartphones as a means of delivering spam. The exploit leverages the Yahoo (NSDQ:YHOO) mail accounts of the phones’ owners, and it is believed by some to be the first time that malware authors have managed to assemble an army of Android phones for the delivery of spam. This development was first reported on Tuesday by security blogger Terry Zink who wrote that the botnet is producing “the typical pump and dump variety that we’ve seen for years.” In each case, the messages are reported to contain the message ID, "1341147286.19774.androidMobile@web140302.mail.bf1.yahoo.com," and acknowledge being sent from Yahoo Mail on Android, at the bottom of the dispatch.
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