Apple Phishing Scams on the Rise

Apple has one of the more gilded consumer brands and the company spends a lot of time and money to keep it that way. Consumers love Apple. Scammers and attackers do too, though, and security researchers in recent months have seen a major spike in the volume of phishing emails abusing Apple’s bran...

Q&A: TJ Campana

REDMOND, Wash.–The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit has been spearheading botnet takedowns and other anti-cybercrime operations for many years, and it has had remarkable success. But the cybercrime problem isn’t going away anytime soon, so the DCU is in the process of building a new cybercrime cente...

Scams Exploiting Boston Marathon Explosion

Malicious actors are exploiting the April 15 explosions at the Boston Marathon in attempts to collect money intended for charities and to spread malicious code. Fake websites and social networking accounts have been set up to take advantage of those interested in learning more details about the...

Facebook Apps Promise Change but In Reality Phish Your Information

Spammy Facebook apps are nothing new, the web giant has been dealing with suspicious behavior apps since the website launched the Facebook Platform for developers in 2007. As an open source app development tool, anyone can create an app, including people who really just want to steal your...

Recent Reports of DHS-Themed Ransomware (UPDATE)

US-CERT has received reports of increased activity concerning an apparently DHS-themed ransomware malware infection occurring in the wild. Users who are being targeted by the ransomware receive a message claiming that use of their computer has been suspended and that the user must pay a fine to...

Europol Takes Down Ransomware Gang in Spain, UAE

A ransomware ring was taken down Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates and Spain by Europol and Spanish law enforcement, smashing an operation that netted more than €1 million annually. The eleven individuals arrested included six Russians, two Ukrainians and two Georgians; the 27-year-old...

Predictive Security Analytics Tool Available Free to Researchers

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Dan Hubbard has lately been a regular face at a lot of big data meet-ups. He’s also often been the lone security face at these meet-ups, which are dominated by analytics, search, social media and advertising professionals. That may change soon for the CTO of DNS and securi...

Google Looking Into Hardware to Help Kill the Password

Google is looking at a number of hardware-based authentication mechanisms to bypass one of security’s biggest vulnerabilities: the written password. Wired Magazine got an advanced look at a report submitted by a Google security team for IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine that discusses alternatives...

Holiday Season Phishing Scams and Malware Campaigns

Since the winter holidays are quickly approaching, US-CERT is republishing this entry to increase awareness about phishing scams and malware campaigns. In the past, US-CERT has received reports of an increased number of phishing scams and malware campaigns that take advantage of the winter holida...

Cyber Criminals can make your Diwali unforgettable with Scams

Cyber criminals become hyper active during festivals. Diwali is no exception. Shantanu Ghosh, Vice-President and Managing Director India Product Operations of Internet security solutions company Symantec has observed that malware authors and spammers are using Diwali The festival of lights that's...

Ransomware Scams Netting Criminals Up To $33,000 a Day

Ransomware pays. A lot. These extortion scams, in which infected computers are essentially locked down by malware and electronic payment is demanded for a supposed cure, can net the criminal behind the scam as much as $33,000 per day. Symantec studied 16 variants of independently developed...

Android, Symbian Malware on the Rise

Yes. You read that headline correctly. F-Secure is talking about the beleaguered and nearly defunct Symbian operating system, upon which Nokia halted nearly all development in February before announcing that it had been put in maintenance mode in September. Despite a nearly 63 percent drop in...

Microsoft Report Exposes Malware Families Attacking Supply Chain

Less than a month after the Nitol botnet takedown, Microsoft has released data casting more scrutiny of supply chain security. In its latest Security Intelligence Report SIR for the first half of 2012, Microsoft has connected the most prevalent malware families involved in supply chain compromise...

How-To Video: Securing Facebook

Facebook’s active-user count is rapidly approaching one billion. The world’s largest social network, which has long been a popular target and platform for attackers, will only become a more relevant outlet for scams and other fraud as it continues to grow. While the target grows, so too does the...

Malicious Olympic 2012 Android Apps & Domains

Whenever an important event takes place, new opportunities for cyber criminals, especially for those who develop attacks based on social engineering, arise. Currently, the whole world has its eyes glued to TV screens watching the London 2012 Olympic Games. Anti-malware and anti-virus solutions...

Olympic Flavored 419 Scams Exploit London Games Fervor

Olympic themed fraud, email scams, and spam campaigns are so banal right now that the official website of the 2012 London Olympic Games contains not only a ‘stay safe online’ page but has also compiled a downloadable list of known scams. The “Stay safe online” page of the London Games’ website...

It's The Stupidity, Stupid: How Absurd Pitches Help Online Scammers Find Their Marks

Do you find e-mail pleas for help from the widow of Democratic Republic of the Congo strongman Mobutu Sese Seko unconvincing or downright silly? That may be the point, according to Microsoft researcher Cormac Herley. The outlandish claims of Nigerian Letter – or “419” – scams serve a critical...

Online game 'League of Legends' Compromised

Online game 'League of Legends' Compromised A recent slew of security failures have left countless accounts hacked at sites like Linkedin and eHarmoney. Now League of Legends is the latest database to suffer from hackers this week. Riot has sent out a mail to registered League of Legends players ...

UI Randomization, Statistical Analysis Could End Clickjacking

A PayPal researcher argues in a new paper that a combination of randomized user interfaces and back end screenshot comparison tools could effectively put an end to clickjacking attacks, one of the most prevalent online scams. Brad Hill of Paypal argues in a new paper for a method he calls “adapti...

DHS Warns of Potential Scams and Attack in Run-up to London Olympics

Hacktivists, malware, scams, data theft and DDoS attacks are among the Department of Homeland Security’s concerns regarding this summer’s Olympic Games set to take place in London, according to the DHS Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center’s Strategic Outlook. The document focuses...