Malware and Vulnerabilities

News

• Microsoft kicks off $250,000 security contest

  Microsoft today launched a $250,000 contest for researchers who develop defensive security technologies that deal with entire classes of exploits.

• Google patches 30 Chrome bugs, adds Instant Pages

  Google patched 30 vulnerabilities in Chrome today, paying out the third-highest bounty total ever for the bugs that outsiders filed with its security team.

• Researchers praise Facebook for paying bug bounties

  Facebook's move today to follow Google, Mozilla and Hewlett-Packard in offering bounties for bugs got a unanimous thumbs up from security researchers.

• Sniffer hijacks secure traffic from unpatched iPhones

  Almost anyone can snoop the secure data traffic of unpatched iPhones and iPads using a recently-revised tool, a researcher said today as he urged owners to apply Apple's latest iOS fix.

• French security firm bashes Microsoft for talking up Mac malware

  A Mac security firm today criticized Microsoft for warning Mac users of new malware, saying that the threat simply wasn't worth mentioning.

• Director of US-CERT quits abruptly

  Randy Vickers, the director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT), has resigned from his position without any official explanation for the abrupt move.

• Google pulls more malware from Android Market

  Google removed more malware-infected applications from its Android Market last week, according to a security researcher who reported the rogue software to the company.

• Mac scareware gang, Apple trade blows yet again

  Scareware makers on Friday again changed their fake security software scam, while Apple issued the third signature update in as many days to combat the con.

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  Acer server in Europe reportedly breached

  Hacking group Pakistan Cyber Army Friday claimed it had broken into an Acer server in Europe and stole personal data on about 40,000 people.

• Apple strikes back at newest Mac scareware

  Apple on Wednesday updated the malware engine included with Snow Leopard to detect the newest version of MacDefender, the fake antivirus program that's plagued users for the last month.

• Mobile payment systems: A disaster waiting to happen

  When I saw the Computerworld article about Square touting how it is going to replace cash registers with iPads, I was dismayed that there was no discussion of security. And Square's app isn't the only payment app that makes me anxious. While I admit ...

• Cyberattacks fuel concerns about RSA SecurID breach

  Recent attacks against two major defense contractors are fueling concerns about the extent to which RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication technology may have been compromised in a breach the company acknowledged in March.

• Mac scareware gang evades Apple's new anti-malware defenses

  The gang responsible for a month-long plague of fake Mac security software has already updated their "scareware" to evade defenses Apple put in place late Tuesday, a security company confirmed today.

• Honda Canada warns customers of data breach

  Honda Canada has issued a warning that a data breach exposed the personal data of an unspecified number of customers.

• Google patches critical Chrome bugs

  Google on Tuesday patched several vulnerabilities in Chrome, including two a French security company said could be used to bypass the browser's anti-exploit technology.