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Meta
Top Web Scams of the Decade
Exploits involving Russian women, Nigerian scams and fake job offers top list of creative ploys used by cybercriminals
With 2010 drawing to a close, PandaLabs, Panda Security’s anti-malware laboratory, has released a ranking of the most widespread scams on the Web from the past 10 years. These include the infamous Nigerian scam, ploys involving beautiful foreign women and money mule schemes based on too-good-to-be-true job offers.
According to Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs, “As with all the classic scams that predate the Internet, many of the numerous users that fall for these tricks and lose their money are reticent to report the crime. If recovering the stolen money was difficult in the old days, it is even harder now because criminals’ tracks are often lost across the Web. The best defense is to learn how to identify these scams and avoid taking the bait.”
Typically, these scams follow a similar pattern: Cybercriminals make initial contact with their victim through e-mail or on a social network. The intended victim is then asked to respond by e-mail, telephone, fax or some other channel. Once the user takes the bait, the criminals will attempt to gain their victim’s trust, finding an excuse to ask for money.
The most frequent scams identified by PandaLabs over the last 10 years, based on their distribution and the frequency, are as follows: Read more
25 Percent of New Worms in 2010 Are Designed to Spread Through USB Devices
48 percent of SMBs worldwide are infected every year; one third of these infections are caused by worms that spread on USB devices
PandaLabs has discovered that in 2010, 25 percent of new worms have been specifically designed to spread through USB storage devices connected to computers. These types of threats can copy themselves to any device capable of storing information such as cell phones, external hard drives, DVDs, flash memories and MP3/4 players.
The data from Panda Security’s Second International SMB Security Barometer suggests that this distribution technique is highly effective. With survey responses from more than 10,470 companies across 20 countries, it was revealed that approximately 48 percent of SMBs (with up to 1,000 computers) admit to having been infected by some type of malware over the last year. As further proof, 27 percent confirmed that the source of the infection was a USB device connected to a computer.
According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, “At present, much of the malware in circulation has been designed to distribute through these devices. Not only does it copy itself to these gadgets, but it also runs automatically when a USB device is connected to a computer, infecting the system practically transparently to the user. This has been the case with many infections we have seen this year, such as the distribution of the Mariposa and Vodafone botnets.”
So far, these types of infections are still outnumbered by those that spread via email, but it is a growing trend. “There are now so many devices on the market that can be connected via USB to a computer: digital cameras, cell phones, MP3 or MP4 players,” adds Corrons. “This is clearly very convenient for users, but since all these devices have memory cards or internal memory, it is feasible that your cell phone could be carrying a virus without your knowledge.” Read more
IBM Delivers New Software to Help Clients Adopt Smarter Security and Compliance Management
The BigFix platform now displays all virtual and physical assets — PCs, laptops, servers, point-of-sale and virtualized devices — in a single place
IBM announced new software to deliver greater security and compliance to thousands of laptops, PCs and servers globally — automating some of the most time-intensive IT tasks.
The new software, delivered through IBM’s recently closed BigFix acquisition, provides built-in intelligence that identifies all of a company’s PCs, laptops, servers, point-of-sale and virtualized devices–wherever they are–then flags when devices are not in compliance with corporate IT standards. Its single dashboard makes the proper fixes across 500,000 machines in minutes. Organizations can see, change, enforce and report on security policies and system configurations of all endpoint devices in real time – including those not continuously connected to the corporate network.
Securing the enterprise is a top priority to clients. Worldwide security software revenue is forecast to surpass $16.5 billion in 2010, an 11.3 percent increase from 2009 revenue of $14.8 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.
The general availability of new BigFix Unified Management Software Platform includes more than 200 customer- and partner-specific enhancements, most notably: Read more
DEF CON Survey Reveals Vast Scale of Cloud Hacking
An in-depth survey carried out amongst 100 of the elite IT professionals attending this year’s DEF CON 2010 Hacker conference in Las Vegas recently has revealed that hackers view the cloud as having a silver lining for them.
And a gold, platinum and diamond one, it seems, as an overwhelming 96 percent of the respondents to the Fortify Software-sponsored poll said they believed the cloud would open up more hacking opportunities for them.
This is being driven, says Barmak Meftah, chief products officer with the software assurance specialist, by the belief from the hackers, that cloud vendors are not doing enough to address the security issues of their services.
“89 percent of respondents said they believed this was the case and, when you analyze this overwhelming response in the light of the fact that 45 percent of hackers said they had already tried to exploit vulnerabilities in the cloud, you begin to see the scale of the problem,” he said.
“While ‘only’ 12 percent said they hacked cloud systems for financial gain, that still means a sizeable headache for any IT manager planning to migrate their IT resources into the cloud,” he added.
According to Meftah, when you factor in the prediction from numerous analysts that at the start of 2010 20 percent of businesses would have their IT resources in the cloud within four years (http://bit.ly/7dvygF), you begin to appreciate the potential scale and complexity of the security issues involved. Read more
Open Source Community Paves Way for Developers to Improve Internet Access for the Aging, Disabled
New technologies from OpenAjax Alliance greatly simplify, speed Web 2.0 application development
Aiming to greatly ease the barriers that the aging or people with disabilities experience in participating in Internet activities, the OpenAjax Alliance (OAA) announced it has created new open source tooling technology to help software developers make it dramatically easier for them to access and use Web 2.0-enabled business, government and consumer web sites. The new tooling technology simplifies the way Web applications are tested for compliance with current accessibility standards and guidelines, helping to speed up delivery of new accessible Internet applications.
Previously, developers had to complete their code and run various reports to determine if their application was compliant with accessibility standards. Using the new tooling technology, applications are tested dynamically, as developers build the code, providing real-time feedback on compliance.
A recent survey suggests that a full 69 percent of companies have realized measurable business benefits from Web 2.0 in their dealings with employees, customers, suppliers and industry experts. Unfortunately, millions of people with sensory, age-related, and other disabilities worldwide have been unable to fully participate in this evolution because of barriers to access and use.
OAA maintains the new tooling technology will help narrow the Web 2.0 digital divide for many segments of the global population by facilitating consistent, industry-wide interpretation of standards such as the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). Read more