Huge spikes in automated password guessing attacks against Australian computer servers show geographical isolation offers no protection against internet-borne threats.
Data compiled for Next by security vendor Arbor Networks also shows the US remains the largest single source of malicious internet background noise targeting Australian computers.
China ranks as the second-largest source of the noise, generated by virus-infected PCs pseudo-randomly scanning for other systems to attack.
“Some countries have better infrastructure than others or are better able to patch their systems,” says Robert Malan, the founder and chief technology officer of Arbor Networks.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 26th, 2008 | Posted in Internet Security, Scams | 1 Comment
Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page each took home their customary $1 annual salary again in 2007, while a steep decline in the company’s stock price chopped more than $8.5 billion from each of their massive holdings of Google shares, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
Brin, 34, the company’s president of technology, and Page, 35, president of products, took the hits to their multibillion-dollar fortunes as shares of the Internet search leader plunged over the past five months on disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and fears the company can’t sustain its torrid growth.
CEO Eric Schmidt also received his customary $1 salary in 2007, the Mountain View-based company said in its proxy statement filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 26th, 2008 | Posted in Google | 2 Comments
Microsoft is cracking down on Xbox Live users artificially bumping up their “Gamerscore” achievements, warning any cheaters would be publicly humiliated and have their accounts reset.
On Xbox Live - the online component of the Xbox 360 that allows gamers to compete and communicate with each other - players can build their Gamerscore and Achievements list by playing through games and completing certain objectives.
But some players have managed to artificially boost their Gamerscore by unlocking objectives without actually playing the games.
The hacks, which involve manipulating the player’s save files and account information, do not make the player more competitive in games but the higher score gives them significant bragging rights.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 26th, 2008 | Posted in Gamers | 2 Comments
With newspapers, television, magazines, and the Internet full of warnings about phishing scams , it’s astonishing that so many people continue to fall victim to the many variations of this high tech scam that tricks you into providing private information for the purpose of stealing your identity. Phishing scams use a variety of ways to convince you to give up one or more of the following pieces of personal information:
your credit card number
bank account information
social security number
passwords
other personal information
Read the rest of this entry »
March 25th, 2008 | Posted in Scams | 2 Comments
Google has unveiled plans for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves, and sought to alleviate fears that this might interfere with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones.
In comments filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the internet leader outlined plans for low-power devices that use local wireless airwaves to access the “white space” between television channels. A Google executive called the plan “Wi-Fi 2.0 or Wi-Fi on steroids”.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 25th, 2008 | Posted in Google | 1 Comment
Yahoo has announced a new mobile phone service that integrates email, instant messaging and social networks.
Called oneConnect, the service is expected to launch this European spring, Marco Boerries, executive vice president for Connected Life at Yahoo, said today at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.
Its open architecture means users and other companies can eventually add many other applications to it.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 24th, 2008 | Posted in Yahoo, News | No Comments
Microsoft has posted a major package of updates and security fixes for Windows Vista.
The world’s largest software maker said “Service Pack 1″ will improve Vista’s reliability, security and performance, though many components already have been released during monthly updates since the operating system went on sale just over a year ago.
Industry analysts offered mixed reports on whether the updates make their Vista experience better.
Michael Cherry, of the research group Directions on Microsoft, said the time it took to copy files over a network “returned to normal” with SP1 - meaning the operation felt as speedy as it did using Windows XP, Vista’s predecessor.
But he said one thing SP1 didn’t fix was his ability to wake his PC from sleep mode, which he described as “a hit or miss affair.”
Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, said it took an hour or so to install the service pack on each of two of his computers, but once the machines were upgraded they both seemed “snappier” and less prone to crashing.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 24th, 2008 | Posted in Microsoft | 2 Comments
IT STARTED with two students in a garage and became a $A220 billion giant relied upon by 60% of the world’s internet users.
Now, one of the men at the heart of the Google empire has disclosed the secrets behind its rise from almost nothing 10 years ago to the globe’s most popular search engine, the fifth largest company on the US sharemarket and a global brand worth twice as much as Coca-Cola.
Chef Charlie Ayers has revealed that, from the beginning, Google was based not just on groundbreaking computer technology, but on a revolutionary approach to food in the staff canteen.
He was hired by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google’s founders, in the belief that like a Napoleonic army, an internet giant marches on its stomach.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 24th, 2008 | Posted in Google | 4 Comments
Many people now create and share content on the Internet or blend services from various sites in their daily tasks, reflecting the medium’s clear evolution from a place for simply consuming Web sites.
The upcoming version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer, version 8, embraces those trends by adding an “Activities” feature that makes all that easier for PC users.
Although version 8 is still in a “beta” test mode meant mostly for Web designers to try out, I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.
Internet Explorer’s main competitor among browsers for PCs, Firefox, also has been testing an update, although the most promising features await implementation by Web sites.
With Activities, one of several new Internet Explorer features, Web services like Facebook, eBay and Yahoo can write tools that users can install with just two clicks.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 23rd, 2008 | Posted in Firefox, Microsoft | 1 Comment
The attacks on mailing lists and online forums contain information related to recent events in Tibet and may appear to come from a trusted person or organization.
A shadow war against organizations supporting Tibetan protesters has erupted in cyberspace, mirroring efforts by Chinese authorities to quell unrest in the Tibet.
“Somebody is trying to use pro-Tibet themed e-mails to infect computers of the members of pro-Tibet groups to spy on their actions,” said Mikko H. Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, in a blog post on Friday. “And this is not an isolated incident. Far from it.”
If you don’t have a telecommuting program, how much revenue is your business losing? Learn more, download free white paper.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 23rd, 2008 | Posted in Internet Security, News | 4 Comments
IMAGINE living in a country where bird flu is a constant danger, yet you can’t look it up on Google. You’re diagnosed with HIV AIDS but you can’t search for a Facebook support network. You’re trying to research a school project on religion but Wikipedia’s content on the subject is blocked. You’re in the mood for some distraction but can’t access YouTube.
Even worse, imaging living in a country where trying to find this information online could land you in trouble.
This is the everyday reality for people in China, where online censorship is carried out by 30,000 internet police and state-owned internet service providers. And China is far from the only country in which controlling information and opinion in cyberspace is pervasive.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Internet Security, Internet, General Articles | 2 Comments
Mafia groups are stealing thousands of identities — not for their cash or credit cards — but for their insurance benefits information.
“They place an operative in an organization who steals hundreds of thousands of people’s information at one clip,†said Gary Auer, a fraud investigator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield who covers California, Nevada and Colorado. “Then they set up dummy corporations for three to six months.â€
The corporations bill insurance companies for big-ticket medical equipment items — things like wheelchairs, he said. Since those items have to be paid within 30 days, insurers don’t have time to check the authenticity of every claim.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 21st, 2008 | Posted in Scams | 1 Comment
It seems the $499 ultra-portable Asus Eee PC can do no wrong. The size of a paperback, weighing less than a kilogram, with built-in wi-fi and using flash memory instead of a hard drive for storage, the Eee PC has been winning positive comments not just from breathless reviewers but from ordinary people who have bought it and loved it.
In an online survey of 1000 users on the independent Eee PC site eeeuser.com, about 4% were dissatisfied with their purchase, 33% found the system pretty much what they expected and 62% thought it was better than they had hoped for.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 21st, 2008 | Posted in Technology | 1 Comment
Hackers are paying top dollar on international blackmarkets for computers from Australia that have been unknowingly hijacked and infected with spyware.
A Russian malware distribution site offers $US100 for a haul of 1000 spyware-infected Australian machines, double the price offered for US machines and 30 times more than those from Asia.
Philip Routley, product marketing manager at internet security firm MessageLabs, said he believed the high price tag on Australian machines was due to the fact that Australians were more ignorant about computer security threats than people from other parts of the world.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 21st, 2008 | Posted in Internet Security | 1 Comment
A co-creator of YouTube says he feels uneasy that his video sharing site is frequently used to publish vile clips showing rape, bullying and gratuitous violence, but says it would be impossible to completely eradicate it.
Steve Chen, in Sydney yesterday, told the Herald that vetting all clips before publication would break the fabric of YouTube. Instead, the site relies on its users to report offensive content.
Founded in 2005, YouTube now accounts for a third of all video viewed on the web. About 10 hours of footage is uploaded to it every minute.
Read the rest of this entry »
March 20th, 2008 | Posted in You Tube | 2 Comments
