The Internet Threat Landscape

New Malware Cracks Macs

Many times, we hear about virus and worms exploiting loop holes in Window OS and Internet Explorer. Mac users are also not spared and are vulnerable to attacks as malware that targets Mac OS get more widespread. Users are advised against downloading pirated software as they might be malware in disguise. Below is another example:

Hackers Leverage on Facebook to Spread Spam & Malware

My brother-in-law started facebook-ing last month and has since been intensively exploring the related functions, applications and games. As a result, I get lots of email updates of his activities recently. For someone who is familiar with facebook, you will not be alien to the email updates, informing you of the latest on-goings from your list of contacts. This is probably why hackers are making spam to be facebook look-alike mails. Victims will not think twice that the spam mail is actually fake as they are used to receiving similar ones.

Data-for-ransom Syndicates Strike Online

Kidnapping for ransom is a typical plot in Hong Kong styled drama serial. The following malware is a very innovative scam that does a pseudo “kidnapping” of your PC’s data. Although the data is not physically removed or taken away, victims will be unable to access the information till the “ransom” is paid. However, the scam is so nicely disguised, victims may not even realize that they have been conned. Do read on:

What happened to April Fools Day Virus Conficker?

Ironically, I kinda missed April fools jokes though some of them are truly embarrassing. (I shall not go into the details here…) None of my peers are treating me to April Fools’ Day jokes for the past few years. This is a sign that we have outgrown pranks and are getting on in years.. Sigh….

Much has been anticipated on the Conficker Virus (a.k.a DOWNAD worm) which is said to be activated on April Fools’ Day. As of now, we only see a Spam run on D-Day. We have yet to seen the worm in effect. Experts warn users to be wary as it can still carry out a full blown attack beyond 1^st April. Infected systems could be cleaned by following the instructions in this page.

What Will Go DOWNAD on April 1?

- by Trend Micro

Much has been said about the DOWNAD worm (a.k.a.Conficker) and its enigmatic payload that will supposedly be unleashed on April 1st. There are two days to go until the moment of truth and the hype isn’t expected to die down. But online threat history tells us that trigger/activation dates of equally hyped malware have come and gone without much fanfare. Whether or not April 1 will play out to be D-Day indeed, the security industry will be keeping an eye out for any malicious activity—like it should.

What we do know at this point is that the latest variant, which we detect as WORM_DOWNAD.KK(first detected on March 4, 2009), includes an algorithm to generate a list of 50,000 different domains. Five hundred (500) of these will be randomly selected to be contacted by infected PCs beginning April 1, 2009 to receive updated copies, new malware components, or additional functional instructions.

Figure 1. Routines that WORM_DOWNAD.KK will start performing beginning 1 April 2009