Spyware Techie

It seems that Trojan infections are starting to perform new actions when installing a fake anti-spyware application. From our many articles and removal guides[,] we have explained that rogue anti-spyware programs are sometimes installed or downloaded through a Trojan infection. Now with Internet users wizing up to the Trojan tricks, Trojan makers have tighten the lease on Users’ computers by running files that prevent users from opening other programs or hiding the C: drive.

With today’s slumping economy and extremely high gas prices, spammers are using this time for self gain by exploiting computer users through messages using inherent economic terms. The current economic terms that people will pay more attention too are ones such as “free gas”, “gas cards”, “get more miles per gallon out of your car” and “lower your mortgage now”. During America’s hard economic times we all give a second look at something that would save us money so we can afford to fill our gas tank. Simply put, spammers are getting a lot of response and victims falling in the trap that they have set out for common computer users.

Hijackers gained access to 200 Comcast.net Domains

It seems more people are equipping themselves with the knowledge and know-how of hacking big networks and temporarily taking over domain names until they are caught. Usually in the end it results in the hacker or hijacker getting caught. That is a exactly what happened when Comcast.net was hijacked a few days ago.

Hijackers were able to hack into Comcast’s domain management console at Network Solutions where they gained access to upwards of 200 domain accounts. The hijackers started to change the contact information for the accessed domains changing them to their personal email address and explicit address names such as “Dildo Room” at “69 Dick Tard Lane”.

Gas Savings Spam Messages Are Increasing Just Like The Gas Prices.

With the extremely high gas prices lately everyone is looking for and paying close attention to ways to save on gas. Lately spammers are taking advantage of this need for consumers to save money at the gas pump. We have one question for you, would you open an email message that it says something related to saving money on gas? Of course you would and spammers know this. Right now according to the security vender McAfee, 0.2 percent of ALL spam is related to reducing the price of gas or consumption of gas. This figure is on the rise and fast so we must all guard ourselves appropriately.

Many fake MP3 files contain an infection such as the Downloader-UA.h Trojan.

A countless number of computer users have downloaded MP3 or various video files from popular P2P networks only to find out that the file downloaded is not a legitimate music or video file. Many times we search P2P (peer 2 peer) networks or client applications such as limewire or bit-torrent sites in an attempt to find a certain shared media file or files. Whether it be a MP3, WMA or AVI file, we are finding that a large number of downloads are infected with a form of malware that may install dangerous software or files onto your computer.

How do you know if a MP3 file is infected?

Have you ever downloaded an MP3 file that was titled just like it should be but when you attempted to open the file you were prompted with a message stating that the format does not match the extension of the file you are attempting to open, open anyway? A number of times this is a clear sign that the file you just downloaded is not what you are looking for. The file is either corrupted or in most cases some form of a Trojan, malware, spyware or virus infection. When you proceed to select “yes” this gives the file permission to install infected files or malicious applications onto your computer.

Did you know that one web page or website is infected every five seconds? Sophos, a security vendor, stated that an average of over 15,000 web pages were compromised daily between the months of January and March of 2008. For a comparison, for the whole year of 2007 their were about 6,000 daily infections which equals about one every 14 seconds. This is absolutely unbelievable if you look at this astronomical growth rate of infected web pages.

Sophos additionally reported that 79 percent of the infected or compromised web pages tracked this year belong to legitimate websites. Many big companies’ websites have fallen into the “infected by malware” category lately.

Fake Security Software Spread Through Porn and Viagra Ads On the Net Send Messenger Service

Ron Cooke was recently accused of sending popup ads to computer users through the Windows Messenger Net Send service. The popups and ads that were sent advertised several rogue anti-spyware programs that Ron Cooke sold to users on the internet. Many of the rogue programs are well known fake anti-spyware software such as WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus Pro 2007, and System Doctor.

Reports have found that his software caused the infected computers to send additional spam messages via the Net Send service further spreading the rogue software. The messages promoted ads for Viagra and porn onto other computers every two seconds. The security vendor Sophos said that the victims of this scam did not have to actually surf the web, they only had to be connected to the internet.

Security Hole Discovered In Certain Microsoft Word Versions

Recently it was reported that a vulnerability in MS Word allows an attacker to exploit a computer system through the Microsoft Jet Database Engine was confirmed by Microsoft. The Database through which attackers can exploit a system shares data with Visual Basic, Access and other third party applications.

Even though Microsoft advises that the potential for the attack is “very limited”, it still leaves an outlet open for a hacker to attack a person’s system. Microsoft has said that this attack is applicable to customers running Microsoft Word 2000 SP3, Microsoft Word 2002 SP3, Microsoft Word 2003 SP2, Microsoft Word 2003 SP3, Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Word 2007 SP1 on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 SP1.

Lessen your password confusion with KeePass Password Safe

Do you have so many passwords that when you attempt to login a certain website you end up locking yourself out because you forgot which password you originally used? KeePass Password Safe is a program developed to allow you to safely store your passwords for access to various web sites or local access entries. KeePass is a great helping hand in the case that you manage you live a busy life, as many of us do, and are unable to memorize the large number of usernames and passwords that grant access to all kinds of online sites and accounts.

Security vendor McAfee has discovered that over 10,000 web pages were attacked by having hijacking malware. This is known to be one of the largest attacks of this kind. A look into the attack exposed these sites to have a certain type of java script code that silently redirects visitors to other websites that have malware that may install onto a users computer. The malware attempts to break into a user’s computer wreaking havoc.

Many times security researches give out the advice to not visit un-trusted sites. This time that advice can be thrown out of the window because trusted sites are known to be in the number for sites that were compromised.