SwatTheVirus

and they lied!

2006-02-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

http://www.macvirus.org/database

but then, should I be suprised that I can't believe what I read in the paper?

first virus for the MAC!

2006-02-17T12:27:00.001-05:00

Mac users face first Apple virus

read this tonight!

2006-02-02T18:30:00.000-05:00

the newest set to hit tonight:

How Bad Is Kama Sutra?

latest on spyware wars

2006-01-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

Antispyware Company Sued Under Spyware Law
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124508,00.asp

Shining a light on shady software
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/13706595.htm

big news today!

2006-01-05T16:55:00.000-05:00

the end of spam as we know it?

Judgment against spammer

Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution (912919)

Updated Microsoft Directions

Update on the latest vulnerability

2006-01-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Directions

Experts: Windows Flaw Can't Wait for Microsoft Fix

Heres why they say dont wait

New vulnerability

2005-12-29T10:02:00.000-05:00

From what I can tell, the short term soloution for this is not to open any attachments with *.wmf or *.emf file extensions. (ie "holiday party.wmf" or "my picture.emf")

Windows Vulnerability

2nd story

alerts I have found today:

2005-12-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Today we seem to have a poupori of interesting news. spam email, IM vulnerability, and password stealing trojan. It just goes to show that you have to keep on your toes about this stuff.

Dasher Worm

Court judgement could mean the end of spam mail:

End of Spam?

Security Bytes: New threats target IM chatters, Web browsers:

IE Vulnerability

Nabload.U Trojan Swiping Spanish-Speaking Bank Customers Passwords:

Password Scam

Alert: AntiVirus Vulnerabilitys

2005-12-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

this just showed up:

McAfee

Symantec

Happy Holidays?

2005-12-19T03:13:00.000-05:00

Well not the best way but a very common way for many to bring in the holiday season is an array of exploits.

here is info on the latest one:

Dasher Worm

With this exception you will be happy to know that as of this morning the major AV vendors are reporting no Medium or High risk Virus threats.

remember this is ONLY viruses, I have yet to check on Spyware, Adware, keystroke loggers, Trojans, Buffer Overflow Exploits, Browser Hijacking, Spoofing (email), etc.

Here is specifically what Symantec has to say about current threats:

Viruses, Trojan horses, Worms and Macros

Security Risks

Basic Virus Info

2005-12-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

1. Most issues with a computer today are not with a "virus" most of todays threats come from a group of threats termed "malware" this includes spyware, keystroke loggers, backdoors, trojans. ect.
2. Most antivirus vendors also protect you from most of these threats.
3. If security is absoloutly essential than the computer should never be connected to anything else (ie. no network, internet, removable storage devices) everything is a trade off, what do YOU see as a reasonable risk? connecting a computer to the internet to check your email account places you at risk.
4. I have seen studies that show most computers are infected by some form of "malware" within four minutes of the first time they are connected to the internet. (this was done by a reputable Virus research lab that was tracking these types of issues)
5. There are common sense things that can be done to protect yourself.

I will try to provide a rough outline of how to provide basic security and protection for most home users. (if you have critical information , an attorney with your legal doccuments, classified top secret information, etc. this type of information has no buisness being on your home computer IT IS NOT SECURE!).

Always turn on automatic updates from microsoft. Have current antivirus installed, most antivirus vendors provide at lease Daily antivirus updates I suggest setting these to update automatically also. If using Win XP turn on the windows firewall (the Win XP firewall is enabled pre OS boot IE. before you can log in the firewall is on.)