Tag archive: worm

A new worm has invaded Twitter accounts, spreading links to malicious websites that are designed to look an antivirus service. The threat was first reported in a blog post yesterday by Graham Culey of the the Internet security firm Sophos and Kaspersky. The worm uses Google's URL-shortener goog.le to post generic links on unsuspecting users' Twitter accounts. When users click the link, they're taken to a phony antivirus website… Read More

For years security firms have been predicting that Apple operating systems' run of luck avoiding almost all malware and spyware would be coming to an abrupt end…and, although it hasn't happened yet, network security firm Stonesoft is joining McAfee in forecasting 2011 will bring serious threats to Apple's iOS mobile operating system. But, like all security firms, Stonesoft doesn't think iOS will be the only security story… Read More

The future of warfare may have just begun, but rather than being heralded by an explosion, it began without a sound or a single casualty. It is the first of its kind, and could be a signal of the ways all wars are fought from now on. It is a cyber weapon so precise that it can destroy a target more effectively than a conventional explosive, and then simply delete itself, leaving the victims left to blame themselves. It is a weapon that is so… Read More

Despite a larger than usual Patch Tuesday addressing 13 vulnerabilities yesterday, Microsoft appears to have left out a few vulnerabilities that the Stuxnet worm exploits. First publicized in July attacking vulnerable systems via a Windows shortcut bug, Stuxnet apparently uses four additional zero-day bugs and two stolen digital certificates to game the OS’s escalation of privileges system, according to security researchers at Kaspersky Labs.… Read More

A new malicious worm is being spread through e-mails with the subject line, “Here you have,” said security giant Symantec on its Security Response blog. The Security Response team is actively monitoring the threat. The e-mail asks the recipient to click on a link embedded in the message. Disguised as a PDF file, this link points to a malicious program file online. When the user clicks on this link, the program file is downloaded and executed,… Read More

Yet another worm has appeared that targets jailbroken iPhones and iPod touch devices, using the same default password vulnerability in SSH remote login software to crawl its way into the devices. However, unlike the two previous worms exploiting the vulnerability, this worm protets itself by replacing the vulnerable SSH software, has the capability to steal sensitive data, and can update itself via a botnet-like command-and-control architecture… Read More

iPhone fans may remember some of Apple's doom-and-gloom warnings about using jailbroken iPhones in order to install unapproved applications or use the devices on operators who were not Apple-approved iPhone partners. Something about security? Maybe personal details and data being at risk? Well, now it's happened: the first worm for the iPhone has apparently emerged in Australia, and it does something potentially much more damaging… Read More

April 1 may have come and gone without hordes of Conficker-infected zombie computers rising up from the Internet to take over the world, but that doesn't mean the worm has gone away. On April 7, Conficker's authors began seeding a new version of the worm, and—as with previous versions—the update packs in new features designed to get around security patches and techniques employed to stop the worm. The new variant… Read More

Microsoft has partnered with a broad range of computer several security and Internet governance organizations to offer a $250,000 bounty for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the creator(s) of the Conficker/Downadup worm. The reward is available to residents of any country—at least so far as countries laws permit; Microsoft's partners in the effort include ICANN, DNS developers, and leading computer security… Read More

With some nine million computers infected, the Kido worm (or Conflicker, or Downadup) has hit hard. However, although it’s spread widely, so far it hasn’t actually done anything. According to AP, that’s led some researchers to think it might be a dud. F-Secure thinks it might simply offer alerts to fake infections then try to sell users antivirus software. However, F-Secure's chief research officer, Nikko Hypponen… Read More

The Conficker worm, also known as Downadup, or Kido, was discovered back in October. Microsoft released a patch for it, but it’s still gone on to infect millions computers, possibly  as many as eight or nine million, the BBC reports. It spreads via low security networks, PCs that haven’t been updated, and even memory sticks. Microsoft says the worm searches for a Windows executable file called "services.exe" and… Read More

The people behind the resurgence of the Storm worm are hoping you can feel the lurve. Yes, after some time away, the Storm worm, which first surfaced in January 2007, is back, according to security group the Sans Institute. They say researcher DavidF has detected spam containing links to the Storm worm site. The mail entices people by the header “Crazy in love with you” and contains the message “Who is loving you? Do you want to know?… Read More

It becomes less and less safe to dip a toe in the waters. Panda Security has said that hackers are now using a new generation of worm/Trojan hybrids thatare designed not only to spread from one computer to another like a worm, but also steal data like a Trojan.   Luis Carrons, technical director of PandaLabs, told Vnunet,   "The wormboom is caused by an increase in their capabilities. Until recently, most worms were solely… Read More

VoIP operator Skype is warning its Windows-based users of a new worm which spreads by sending links to users via the Skype application's integrated chat feature. Users receive a message which appears to be from someone on their contact list, asking them to click a link. The messages are "cleverly written" to appear like typical chat messages, and appear to contain a link to a JPEG image. The link actually points to an… Read More

The Storm Worm bot appears to be threatening to become a major problem.   It’s grown larger than anything similar in the last two years, and has built of botnet of around two millioncomputers.   According to computer security company Secureworks, the last two months has seen a massive jump in the number of zombie computers on thebotnet. During the first five months of this year, they tracked 2,815 bots that launched attacks of… Read More