Security News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Computer security experts were divided Thursday on whether North Korea was behind the ongoing attacks on US and South Korean websites, an assault that highlighted the vulnerabilities of the Web.

Google says that its forthcoming Chrome operating system will be so secure that "users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates." But Google's claim is being met with skepticism within the Internet security world.

SEOUL, South Korea - A state official says seven South Korean Web sites are under renewed cyber attack.

Google, while announcing its new Chrome operating system late Tuesday, said users would no longer have to worry about viruses, malware and security updates, but security experts disagreed on whether Google can deliver on those promises.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House, State Department and Pentagon websites were among those targeted in a coordinated cyberattack that also crippled sites in South Korea, computer security experts said Wednesday.

Spammers are always looking for new ways to infiltrate your e-mail inbox, and it appears that many are now seizing on tiny URLs, or shorter versions of long Web site addresses, according to a report from MessageLabs.

An updated version of the MyDoom virus is responsible for a large DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack that took down major U.S. Web sites over the weekend and South Korean Web sites on Wednesday, according to Korean computer security company AhnLab.

A Virginia software developer has pleaded guilty to charges related to creating and marketing software designed to send bulk commercial e-mail messages, in violation of the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

MANILA (AFP) - Telecommunication regulators in the Philippines said Tuesday they would crack down on spam sent to mobile phones, and that service providers risked losing their licences for violations of a new ban.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Microsoft Corp. has taken the rare step of warning about a serious computer security vulnerability it hasn't fixed yet.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Microsoft has warned of a flawed software in Internet Explorer that hackers can exploit to take over some computers.

Opera Software's CEO defended the Unite feature of the forthcoming Opera 10 browser against charges that it will increase the risk that hackers can break into people's PCs.

San Francisco - You win some; you lose some. This week China decided its Web censorship filtering software was not quite ready for prime time, while U.S. courts sentenced phone hackers and file swappers to some crime time.

The public beta-test editions of Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton AntiVirus 2010 will focus on reputation-based malware detection—a technology that can detect zero-day malware that's never been seen before.

Conficker may not dominate the headlines any longer, but it's still going strong, according to Trend Micro's Malware Blog and stats from the Conficker Working Group.

A U.S. district court has ordered members of an alleged international spam ring to give up US$3.7 million that they made while sending out illegal e-mail messages pitching bogus weight-loss products and human growth hormone pills.

With recent celebrity deaths, spammers are shifting strategies in hopes of cashing in on the misfortunes of others. Although several celebrities have passed away in the last few weeks, pop star Michael Jackson's death is driving the greatest spam volume.

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Computer security firm Sophos issued a warning about an Internet virus transmitted from a mass email claiming to contain secret songs and photos of Michael Jackson.