Topic: Spyware and Adware

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Holiday shopping online: How to avoid the '12 cyber scams of Christmas'

With more Americans turning to the Internet for more of their holiday shopping needs, good cybersecurity is vital to avoid a raft of scams – from promises of "free iPads" to "holidays screensavers" that install malware on your computer. Here are the "12 cyber scams of Christmas."
Gmail breach: Eight tips to protect your e-mail account

What can you do to protect against an invasion of personal information? Read our list of tips from Google and other privacy experts to make a data breach less likely.
Tax day 2011: Four ways to protect your tax returns from data thieves

Tax-related identity theft is the fastest growing kind of identity theft. Between 2005 and 2009 complaints to the Federal Trade Commission tripled from 11,000 to nearly 34,000, according to a Scripps Howard News Service investigation. Thieves steal personal information to use for themselves or sell, or they take it to divert a tax refund into their own pockets. Identity theft, as a whole, is on the decline, but the abundance of personal information in circulation during tax season makes it a prime time for thieves to strike. Here are four tips for keeping your information safe:
Epsilon security breach: 5 signs it's only the tip of the iceberg

This week millions of e-mail addresses were reported stolen from Epsilon, a firm that supplies e-mail marketing to BestBuy, Disney, and many others. Here are five more emerging targets for precision attacks:
10 ways to prevent cyberconflict

From establishing cyberwar limitation treaties to banning the 'first use' of cyberweapons, experts offer ways to head off a future major conflict in cyberspace.

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Alert: Major cyber attack aimed at natural gas pipeline companies

A major cyber attack is currently under way aimed squarely at computer networks belonging to US natural gas pipeline companies, according to alerts issued by the US Department of Homeland Security.
Horizons
Google 'Bouncer' tasked with taking on Android malware

Android malware is on the rise. But Google says its new 'Bouncer' system has already been successful in repelling waves of spammers and phishers. 
Stuxnet cyberweapon looks to be one on a production line, researchers say

Evidence is rising that Stuxnet, a cyberweapon that attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in 2009, is part of a supersophisticated manufacturing process for malicious software, two antivirus companies tell the Monitor.
Horizons
Facebook worm compromises up to 45,000 accounts

Thousands of Facebook accounts may have been comprised by the Ramnit worm, a security firm has revealed. 
Horizons
Android activations hit 700K a day

Android activations have topped 700K daily, Google announced this week. 
Spam e-mail hits three-year low – but targeted attacks up

Spam e-mail still accounted for 70.5 percent of the 48 billion messages sent each day this year. One of every 255 e-mails in November contained some form of malicious software or 'malware.'
Holiday shopping online: How to avoid the '12 cyber scams of Christmas'

With more Americans turning to the Internet for more of their holiday shopping needs, good cybersecurity is vital to avoid a raft of scams – from promises of "free iPads" to "holidays screensavers" that install malware on your computer. Here are the "12 cyber scams of Christmas."
Horizons
Android remains top target for malware: report

The Android operating system is under assault. By comparison, Apple's iOS is in pretty good shape. 
Gmail breach: Eight tips to protect your e-mail account

What can you do to protect against an invasion of personal information? Read our list of tips from Google and other privacy experts to make a data breach less likely.
Horizons
How 'cookiejacking' could steal people's Facebook passwords

Cookiejacking could let hackers compromise Facebook profiles, says a computer security expert. But Microsoft argues cookiejacking isn't a high risk threat.
Horizons
Mac Guard: Apple users hit by second Mac malware scam

Mac users, accustomed to computer security through obscurity, have weathered a pair of malware attacks. This time, it's Mac Guard.
Fake Bin Laden links provide malware to unwitting readers

Fake Bin Laden links: In what's become common practice among the Internet's less savory citizens, these scammers are sending out emails and spreading Facebook posts that purport to be videos or photos of the dead Bin Laden.
Tax day 2011: Four ways to protect your tax returns from data thieves

Tax-related identity theft is the fastest growing kind of identity theft. Between 2005 and 2009 complaints to the Federal Trade Commission tripled from 11,000 to nearly 34,000, according to a Scripps Howard News Service investigation. Thieves steal personal information to use for themselves or sell, or they take it to divert a tax refund into their own pockets. Identity theft, as a whole, is on the decline, but the abundance of personal information in circulation during tax season makes it a prime time for thieves to strike. Here are four tips for keeping your information safe:
Debit-card scams: more frequent, more aggressive

Debit card fraud is on the rise as debt-wary Americans move away from credit cards to debit cards. Beware these five frequent scams.
Epsilon security breach: 5 signs it's only the tip of the iceberg

This week millions of e-mail addresses were reported stolen from Epsilon, a firm that supplies e-mail marketing to BestBuy, Disney, and many others. Here are five more emerging targets for precision attacks:
10 ways to prevent cyberconflict

From establishing cyberwar limitation treaties to banning the 'first use' of cyberweapons, experts offer ways to head off a future major conflict in cyberspace.
Stuxnet virus penetrates nuclear plant, may cause Chernobyl-like disaster

Experts say the Stuxnet virus has penetrated Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant and may cause a serious disaster if the plant becomes operational.
Stuxnet attack on Iran nuclear program came about a year ago, report says

The Stuxnet cyberweapon damaged about one-tenth of the centrifuges at the Iran nuclear facility near Natanz, says a report by a watchdog group. Problems arose in late 2009 or early 2010, it notes.
Stuxnet: Ahmadinejad admits cyberweapon hit Iran nuclear program

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that a computer worm incapacitated some centrifuges of the Iran nuclear program. The worm was surely Stuxnet, experts say.
Horizons
Facebook remains thick with malware: report

Facebook says it has malware under control. But the security firm BitDefender claims that up to 20 percent of Facebook news feeds carry some sort of infectious software.
Horizons
The return of Koobface

Koobface, a virus that first hit in 2008, has returned for a second round of mayhem. Can anyone slay the Koobface monster for good?
Was China behind cyber attack on Nobel Peace Prize website?

Tuesday's cyber attack on the Nobel Peace Prize website came less than three weeks after Norway awarded the prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobao.
Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant delayed: Stuxnet not to blame, official says

Iran officials said a leak at the Bushehr nuclear power plant will prevent it from beginning operation this year. The delay comes as experts suggest the facility might have been targeted by a foreign government using the Stuxnet computer worm.
Stuxnet malware is 'weapon' out to destroy ... Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant?

The Stuxnet malware has infiltrated industrial computer systems worldwide. Now, cyber security sleuths say it's a search-and-destroy weapon meant to hit a single target. One expert suggests it may be after Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
How Googling Cameron Diaz can mess up your computer

Searching for Cameron Diaz online carries a one-in-ten chance of landing on a website containing with malicious software, according to a report by the computer security firm McAfee.