The Last Watchdog

on Internet security by Byron Acohido

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Apple criticized for minimizing iTunes hijacking
August 25, 2010

Apple is coming under fire for sticking with a consumer online transactions system that is easily hijacked.

At issue is iTunes, the payment hub for Apple’s online sales of music, video and apps for iPods, iPhones and iPads. Turns out that hijacking an iTunes account is very straight forward. For at least the past year, iTunes hijackers have been buying stolen usernames and passwords from phishers and …More

Data thieves continue to target MMORPG gamer accounts
June 14, 2010

This past weekend a middle-aged professional academic who plays Everquest II as a serious hobby reported losing a mother lode of gaming loot –  worth US  $1,000 in the cyber underground –  to data thieves.  LastWatchdog wrote this letter to the player’s guild explaining the backdrop. Names of the guild and player are kept anonymous to preserve privacy.

Dear (guild name):

Sorry to hear about (gamer’s name)  loss. Sadly, …More

Google, Bing open new criminal opportunities by adding Twitter, Facebook feeds
December 10, 2009

The race between Google, Microsoft Bing and Yahoo Search to incorporate Facebook updates and Twitter microblog postings into search results — in near real-time — is likely to result in a bonanza for cybercriminals looking to take control of your PC.

A01 YAHOO MICROSOFTGoogle this week  announced that it, too, now has the capacity to inject up-to-the-minute Twitter feeds into search query results. Microsoft made a similar announcement …More

uTest discovers cross-site scripting vulnerability on major retailer’s site
December 4, 2009

utest-275pxU-Test has just completed a substantive, independent review of three major e-tailing sites — and found a gaping security hole in one of them.

U-Test retains a stable of 21,000 professional testers from 159 countries available to run any website through the paces. As part of its marketing efforts, U-Test has been running a once-a-quarter contest by which its testers can earn cash testing certain groupings of online services.

In this case, …More

Twilight ‘New Moon’ fans targeted for scareware and viruses
November 19, 2009

twilghit_-newmoonblogspot-fakeTwilight fans beware. A viral marketing campaign designed to exploit your anticipation over the New Moon movie coming out tomorrow may look like normal free media you’ve come to expect on the Internet.

A scareware purveyor has been spreading bad URLs, with the help of corrupted Google search results,  having to do with the movie and its stars, according to PC Tools.

Fans are being directed to chats and blogposts  that …More

Macs emerge as virus carriers into Windows networks
November 9, 2009

tim-armstrong-crop300pxAre Macs that are allowed to tie into Windows-centric networks posing an emerging security threat?

Yes, contends Timothy Armstrong, Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab.

Kaspersky has become the lastest antivirus company to begin offering an antivirus protection suite for Apple computers.

Other security products already on the market include Mac versions of Norton Antivirus, Sophos Antivirus, PC Tools iAntivirus, Avast Antivirus as well as McAfee ViruScan, Intego VirusBarrier …More

Unstoppable new phishing attacks blanket Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail
October 28, 2009

hotmail_phish300pxHow quaint seem the days when naïve hacker wannabes phished PayPal logons, then posted them on IRC chat channels, to try to make a few bucks — but mostly for bragging rights. That was circa 2002-2003.

Fast forward to the present. At this moment, Facebook is being blanketed by two high-volume email phishing campaigns.

These are serious, money-making drives that leverage PCs infected in previous attacks. While the perpetrators get …More

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