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security + (6)
Windows + (4)
stuxnet + (4)
spyware + (4)


Users that often use this tag:
Chocolate Pickle (2)
gemmy (2)

Here are some free tools for rescuing infected Windows systems: Windows Defender Offline Beta - Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 - BitDefender Bootable CD - Avira Bootable CD - How To Geek provides instructions for scanning a system from an Ubuntu Live CD.  For more info, click through.... [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Dec 21, 2011 - 43 comments

Facebook has been criticized repeatedly for how it treats its users' privacy (this topic is not a stranger to MeFi), but with the introduction of OpenGraph (previously) earlier this year, some are arguing that Facebook has gone beyond general privacy concerns and has become Malware.

Now, we've shown that Facebook promotes captive content on its network ahead of content on the web, prohibits users from bringing open content into their network, warns users not to visit web content, and places obstacles in front of visits to web sites even if they've embraced Facebook's technologies and registered in Facebook's centralized database of sites on the web. [more inside]
posted by Kimberly on Nov 22, 2011 - 79 comments

A year after the infrastructure-attacking Stuxnet worm was discovered in Iran, a new piece of malware using some of the same techniques (but apparently with different goals) has been found infecting systems in Europe. The new malware, dubbed “Duqu” [dü-kyü], appears to have been written by someone with direct access to the Stuxnet source code.
posted by gemmy on Oct 18, 2011 - 49 comments

Sextortion /sekˈstɔː(r)ʃ(ə)n/ noun The extortion and/or blackmail of an individual, wherein the item or service requested/demanded is the performance of a sexual act.

He seeded P2P networks with popular-sounding song titles that were actually malware; when someone downloaded and executed the file, their machine was infected and would open itself to his control. He took over 129 different computers for a total of 230 victims. Forty-four of the victims were juveniles. How an omniscient Internet "sextortionist" ruined the lives of teen girls. [Sextortionism, previously discussed on Mefi (working link to Sextortion at Eisenhower High article and an update).]
posted by Jasper Friendly Bear on Sep 8, 2011 - 35 comments

Your Data depends on a game of JACKPOT and other classic vir(ii/uses). Brought to you by danooct1 and a Compaq Portable.
posted by griphus on Aug 22, 2011 - 5 comments

In-depth pieces in Vanity Fair and Wired detail the structure and impact of the Stuxnet worm, and what it means for the future of cybersecurity. (Previously)
posted by Horace Rumpole on Jul 11, 2011 - 43 comments

How Operation b107 decapitated the Rustock botnet (Previously)
posted by Artw on Mar 22, 2011 - 49 comments

Researchers at UCSD have modified an MP3 file so that when it is played on a car's stereo system it modifies the stereo's firmware and opens up a security back door into the car's operating system. Using it, they were then able to control the door locks, the car ignition, and change the speedometer reading. [more inside]
posted by Chocolate Pickle on Mar 13, 2011 - 148 comments

Wikileaks may have been the big news, but there were numerous other data breaches in 2010. [more inside]
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed on Dec 28, 2010 - 26 comments

In June 2010, a bit of malware of unprecedented ability was discovered by a Belarussian security firm. Stuxnet had remained undetected for over a year. Security researchers have gradually learned more about this worm, which has led to much speculation about its origins and purposes. Though questions remain, it is clear that it is extremely advanced, and that it was designed to find a very specific hardware/software system and disrupt the operation of centrifuges, causing some to assert that it was built to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities. Recently, Iran confirmed that its nuclear facilities had been seriously affected by Stuxnet. Some experts say that a worm of this level of sophistication could only have been designed by a nation-state. Previously.
posted by entropone on Nov 30, 2010 - 83 comments

The page served by Network Solutions for parked domains was serving malware until two weeks ago. Apparently it had been like that for months without anyone taking notice.
posted by Chocolate Pickle on Aug 28, 2010 - 20 comments

Scareware comprises several classes of scam software with malicious payloads, or of limited or no benefit, that are marketed to consumers by scaring them. One frequently seen version is rogue security software that deceives users into paying for the fake or simulated removal of malware. The N. Y. Times site inadvertently displayed a scareware message last September. [more inside]
posted by Obscure Reference on Apr 18, 2010 - 62 comments

Its reach is impossible to measure precisely, but more than 3 million vulnerable machines may ultimately have been infected. : The inside story on the Conficker Worm at New Scientist.
posted by The Whelk on Jun 15, 2009 - 84 comments

Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network. "A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded. In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved." [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Mar 28, 2009 - 31 comments

Conficker C is scary as hell. Conficker C represents a best-of-breed specimen of malware, with its swiss-army-knife-from-hell approach to digging in, staying hidden, and making your life generally miserable. Telltale symptoms: you can't view such web sites as Microsoft.com, symantec.com, avast.com, or any other computer security-related sites the worm authors have thought to include in the blacklist; you can't run any of the superb Sysinternals utilities, or many other utilities, because they get killed within a second of starting them up; your antiviral software is impotent. But none of that is the point of the worm. [more inside]
posted by e.e. coli on Mar 21, 2009 - 232 comments

"Payments processor Heartland Payment Systems has learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008. Heartland believes the intrusion is contained." [more inside]
posted by Class Goat on Jan 20, 2009 - 33 comments

A new trojan is on the loose. It doesn't install any harmful adware/spyware, but does block both mininova and the Pirate Bay.
posted by azarbayejani on Jan 6, 2009 - 26 comments

The recent cyber attacks on pro-Tibet groups in the U.S. (attack details, technical data) and on the Save Darfur Coalition, among others, have managed to catch the attention of some in the mainstream media. Such super-targeted spear phishing attacks have been on the rise for several years, and have become an important tool for corporate espionage and military infiltration attempts. Teaching users to recognize such attack emails is probably the most effective deterrence, as technology solutions have shown to not be particularly effective. Some companies and government agencies even conduct sting operations to ferret out which internal users fail the test, targeting them for additional training. [more inside]
posted by gemmy on Mar 27, 2008 - 21 comments

Gee. I think I'll uninstall my firewall and ditch the anti-virus. Malwares is pretty. via bbc.
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on Mar 5, 2008 - 15 comments

Online communities to become more 'all-encompassing.' If you join the SHC community on Sears.com, all web traffic to and from your computer thereafter will be copied and sent to a third party marketing research firm - including, for example, your secure sessions with your bank! The Sears.com proxy will send your logins and passwords along with a cleartext copy of all the supposedly secure data. But wait, it gets better: you can only view the true TOS once the proxy has already been installed. [more inside]
posted by ikkyu2 on Jan 3, 2008 - 70 comments

50 million computers are after your passwords, your money, and your processor time (single PDF link). No wonder William Gibson's new novel is set in the present: the world is fully caught up with any future we could make up. The business of spamming, carding and phishing supports and runs off a peculiar distributed platform: a market-allocated collection of ad-hoc peer-to-peer content delivery networks running on hijacked browsing appliances' stolen processor cycles. [via BoingBoing comment, previously on Metafilter].
posted by kandinski on Sep 9, 2007 - 41 comments

New Trial in pop-up porn case for Julie Amero (Previously and also)
posted by puddleglum on Jun 7, 2007 - 29 comments

Should a Connecticut substitute teacher go to jail for 40 years because a classroom computer was infected with malware that allowed students to see porn?
posted by Sixtieslibber on Jan 24, 2007 - 65 comments

"In some cases, there really is no way to recover without nuking the systems from orbit." -- Mike Danseglio, program manager in the Security Solutions group at Microsoft
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on Apr 4, 2006 - 43 comments

Thought-provoking interview with former employee of hated spyware-maker 180 Solutions.
via /.
posted by Afroblanco on Apr 2, 2006 - 21 comments

Sony BMG won't be held accountable for its dangerous DRM if music fans don't have an easy way to learn about the flawed software, the settlement, and how to submit claims. By posting a banner on your website or blog, you can help music fans protect themselves and get what they deserve. _{[via A Copyfighter's Musings]}
posted by signal on Mar 14, 2006 - 16 comments

Scientific American looks at the Rise of Crimeware Crimeware, or malware with criminal intentions is increasing exponentially. "My company scans 13 million emails a day, and of that email we stop between 3 million and 10 million messages a day because they contain some kind of malware [malicious software]. Of the malware we're seeing, 99.9% is crimeware--something where the bad guys are trying to steal money from the end user. We're detecting one to five new species of virus a day and seeing 100 to 200 new phishing sites appearing every day." Take a look at who's getting attacked. What can we do about it? (PDF report by DHS on crimeware)
posted by clockworkjoe on Mar 1, 2006 - 21 comments

So if you run the CD in your personal computer, by the end of it, the Minnesota GOP will not only know what you think on particular issues, but also who you are. --a cd being sent out to home by the Minnesota GOP is polling people who use the cd, sending their personal info, including name, address, and phone, among other info, back to party headquarters. No privacy policy or statement identifying what the cd does is visible anywhere: ...As far as I could tell, nothing tells you that the answers are about to be e-mailed or otherwise transmitted to the Minnesota GOP. So you finish, and then the phone rings. "Hello, Mr/Mrs. Voters, it's Joe and I notice you support gun control and the marriage amendment, would you like to donate some money to us?" That might startle the person who may have thought he/she was viewing the presentation in the privacy of the computer room. ...
posted by amberglow on Feb 28, 2006 - 80 comments

Malware (Radlight) will silently remove (vi fark ) Ad-aware when installed. The forums on both sides have already sparked some heated discussions.
posted by ambirex on Apr 24, 2002 - 8 comments

Microsoft's newest version of Windows.... billed as the most secure ever, contains several serious flaws that allow hackers to steal or destroy a victim's data files across the Internet or implant rogue computer software. The company released a free fix Thursday.

A Microsoft official acknowledged that the risk to consumers was unprecedented because the glitches allow hackers to seize control of all Windows XP operating system software without requiring a computer user to do anything except connect to the Internet.
posted by bkdelong on Dec 20, 2001 - 60 comments

Fight back against sneaky scumware like TopText and Surf+, with this Javascript code by Gary Rosenzweig of CleverMedia. The code detects the scumware's presence, pops up a message letting the user know they're carrying a parasite, and then surveys the user to find out if they knew about it. In the first day of operation on his site, he discovered that 3.67% of his visitors had either TopText or Surf+ installed, and more than 90% of these visitors did not know until they were told. (Link to the Javascript code is at the bottom of the article.)
posted by cfj on Aug 31, 2001 - 7 comments