The Storm botnet, which at its height commanded around two million compromised computers, has dwindled to just around 100,000 machines during April, according to a report from Message Labs. They credit the use of malware removal tools for the change, and point to a 57% reduction in spam mail distributed by the botnet during the month as evidence. However, it’s not all good news. Message Labs discovered more than 1,200 new sites each containing malware or spyware and adware, virtually twice the number found in March. "April was a month of unpredictability with the mighty Storm botnet losing all but five per cent of its anonymous army, and web-based malware reaching new levels," said Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs. "This month we find ourselves fighting the cyber-crime battle on many fronts, with the bad guys using an arsenal of weapons in order to detonate spam, viruses, phishing attacks and targeted Trojans. This makes it more important than ever to have a strong security shield in place." One quite problematic discovery by Message Labs is a new technique that allows authenticated spam mail to be sent via Yahoo’s SMTP servers – in other words, it’s been authenticated as fine, but it’s not.
Tag Archive: Mark Sunner
What The iPhone Hackers Have Found
If you want to know what makes the iPhone tick, thank the hackers who’ve been working tirelessly to discover its secrets. DVD Jon has already posted a workaround to the AT&T activation, which means the device can work – just not as a phone. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Far more important are two more discoveries by others, the root password for the phone and the password for the mobile user account. The iPhone root password is “Alpine,” and the mobile user account is “Dottie.” And, in dissecting the phone, hackers have laid bare the CPU, which is an ARM architecture, unlike previous systems used by Apple. As hackers of all stripes discover more about the iPhone, and the handset becomes more commonplace, it’s very likely that the number of viruses written to affect it will grow. And as phone become more sophisticated and like mini computers – like the iPhone – they’re more likely to be hit, rather than the relatively crude older cell phones. In other words, the phone’s popularity could become its problem. “It is why there are so many more viruses targeting Windows, after all, than the Mac,” Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs, told E-Commerce Times. “It is quite telling that now that the iPod generation has come into the workforce, the number of threats against Mac OS X is increasing.” Still, for now analysts seem to agree the the iPhone is more secure than most smartphones on the market. However, if you own one, expect the malware to appear, and probably sooner, rather than later.
EU Spam Legislation Won’t Stop Spam From US
The legislation, introduced into the UK in December 2003, seeks to ban emails sent from a business to an individual without their permission. However this rule does not apply to any unsolicited emails sent from outside the EU.
MessageLabs’ research shows that, in January 2004, 76.4% of spam emails to UK addresses originated from computers in the USA. This figure is likely to rise to 79.3% by March this year. This means the vast majority of spam found in UK inboxes is not covered by the EU Directive legislation. Indeed all anti-spam legislation enacted worldwide only covers email originating from within its regulated area, which greatly weakens its potential effectiveness.
