Computer Safety & News

Sunbelt security has issued a warning for the ChatSend application.  It installs toolbars for all popular browsers and changes the user’s home page.  It then generates spammed messages extensively within Facebook.  It is difficult to remove once installed and should be avoided if offered by any of your Facebook contacts. Facebook – Avoid ChatSend application http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/little-too-chatty.html […]

This SecuriTeam post debates some of the pros/cons of corporate security awareness.  Some firms rely solely on technology controls while others have a robust user awareness program.  Somewhere in the middle is a good balance as both technology and the user play an important role in safeguarding the company’s information resources.   I would personally vote […]

Securiteam blogs has published an excellent security guide for hardening Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtual environment Windows 2008 R2 Hyper-V security Hardening Guide http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1561 QUOTE: Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 3.0 helps to update offline virtual machines, templates, and virtual hard disks with the latest operating system and application patches. Authorization Manager provides a flexible framework for integrating role-based […]

Please be careful with email, weblinks and Facebook as malicious threats are circulating. Several security firms are warning of online dangers: Halloween 2011 – More online Tricks are circulating than treats http://blog.trendmicro.com/tricks-and-threats-infographic/ http://blog.eset.com/2011/10/27/scary-halloween-cyber-pranks http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/10/31/halloween-kill-some-zombies/ QUOTE: Halloween is fast approaching and it’s that time of the year when scaring people is the most popular form of […]

Below are key security resources for VMware found during recent research: VMware – Security Blog http://blogs.vmware.com/security/ VMware – Security Center http://www.vmware.com/technical-resources/security/index.html QUOTE: VMware offers secure and robust virtualization solutions for virtual data centers and cloud infrastructures, and has both the technology and the processes to ensure that this high standard is maintained in all current […]

A new mobile malware threat has surfaced and disguises itself as a legitimate software offering from Opera.  It is important to carefully check the authenticity of any software apps installed F-Secure Trojan:SymbOS/OpFake.A http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002261.html Here’s the technical analysis related to yesterday’s post on Trojan:SymbOS/OpFake.A.  OpFake.A arrives as a supposed Opera Mini updater using file names such as OperaUpdater.sisx and Update6.1.sisx. […]

Please always be careful of email message links or attachments that may be used to infect your system Trend Labs – Video of Gadhafi’s Death Being Used for Spam http://blog.trendmicro.com/video-of-gadhafis-death-being-used-for-spam/ QUOTE: We’ve been seeing a particular social engineering lure in spam runs in the past, where spammers leverage the death of a known celebrity or […]

Major news events are often crafted into spam or malicious attacks as noted below: Spam attack promotes false Charity Fund for Steve Jobs http://blog.trendmicro.com/spammers-promote-steve-jobs-bogus-charity-fund/ QUOTE: Even after a few weeks following Steve Jobs’ death, spammers are still taking advantage of his demise. We have previously reported about this in the following blog entries: Cybercriminals Remember […]

This recent discovery by researchers could benefit future operating systems and security protection products in future PC Magazine – New Technique Detects Hidden Exploits http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/malware/289607-new-technique-detects-hidden-exploits QUOTE: Modern operating systems don’t make life easy for malware coders. Features like Data Execution Prevention and non-executable memory pages ruin schemes that involve injecting malicious code disguised as data. […]

This article documents some of the key new features designed into Android version 4.0: Android 4.0 – Five Features for new mobile O/S http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/android-40s-five-best-new-features-for-users/9781 QUOTE:  Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), is perhaps the most important Android release to date. With this release, Google has brought its tablet Android fork, 3.x, back into sync with […]