Brian Prince

Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Hit by Cross-Platform Malware Attack

Windows, Linux and Mac OS X are being targeted in a cross-platform malware attack, according to security experts. Researchers at F-Secure spotted the attack on a Colombian transport site. The attack begins with a signed Java applet and a social engineering ploy in the form of a dialog box prompting the user to run an […]

Google May Pay $22.5 Million in FTC Privacy Settlement

Google and the Federal Trade Commission are reportedly close to a settlement regarding charges Google circumvented privacy settings in the Apple Safari Web browser. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Google may be forced to pay $22.5 million to settle the charges. The amount would be the largest fine ever levied by […]

Microsoft Fixes XML Flaw as Attackers Circle in Patch Tuesday Update

Microsoft released patches for 16 security vulnerabilities today, including a bug affecting Microsoft XML Core Services that is being exploited in the wild. The patches are spread out across nine bulletins, three of which are rated €œcritical.€ Among those critical vulnerabilities is a remote-code-execution issue impacting XML Core Services 3.0, 4.0 and 6.0 on all […]

Android Trojan Infects 100,000 Users, Security Researchers Claim

Researchers at mobile security firm TrustGo said they have uncovered a piece of Android malware in multiple app stores that has spread to more than 100,000 devices. It’s yet another example of malware challenges facing Google€™s mobile operating system. The MMarketPay.A Trojan is being hidden in several seemingly legitimate applications, including travel and weather apps. […]

Microsoft Readies Patches for 16 Security Vulnerabilities

Microsoft plans to release nine security bulletins July 10 to cover 16 vulnerabilities as part of the monthly Patch Tuesday software fixes. According to Microsoft, three of the bulletins are rated “critical,” and deal with issues affecting Windows and Internet Explorer. The remaining six bulletins are classified by Microsoft as “important,” and involve issues affecting […]

Google, Apple Pull Trojan-Like ‘Find and Call’ Mobile App From Stores

Google and Apple have pulled an app from their mobile app stores after it was revealed it was sending user contact lists to a remote server and spamming the contacts with messages. The app, named “Find and Call,” claimed to be an app that helps users organize their address book. However, the app actually takes […]

WikiLeaks Starts Releasing 2.4 Million Emails Linked to Syrian Government

WikiLeaks today began releasing a database of more than 2.4 million emails to and from Syrian political figures and others from a period stretching from August 2006 to March 2012. According to WikiLeaks, the data set was gathered from €œ680 Syria-related entities or domain names,€ including the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. At a news conference, […]

Twitter: U.S. Tops List of Governments Requesting User Information

Taking a page from Google, Twitter released a report Monday, July 2 detailing the government requests for user information. As was the case with Google, U.S. government agencies led the way in demanding user information. Between Jan. 1 and June 30 2012, Twitter received 679 requests from the U.S. government pertaining to 948 users. Twitter […]

Citadel Developers Restrict Malware’s Availability on Underground Markets

The cyber-criminals behind the Citadel Trojan may be pulling the malware off the cyber-world€™s public black markets, security researchers said. According to RSA€™s FraudAction Research Labs, a spokesperson for the creators of the Citadel Trojan declared on an underground forum after the recent release of the Trojan€™s latest version (v1.3.4.5) that the software would no […]

Mac, Windows Malware Campaign Targets Uyghur Activists

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab say Mac malware is being used in an advanced persistent attack targeting people supporting human rights for the Uyghur people in China. According to Kaspersky, victims are being hit with an email laced with a new, mostly undetected version of the MaControl backdoor Trojan, which supports both i386 and PowerPC Macs. […]