As more and more people are using Google Chrome and its functionalities to browse the net and to organize information, cybercriminals are setting their minds on exploiting this environment to spread malware and steal users’ information. The story is simple: Google Chrome users receive an unsolicited e-mail which announces that a new extension of their favorite browser has been developed to facilitate their access to documents from e-mails. An apparently unsuspicious link is provided, and the recipients are advised to follow it in order to download the new extension. Once they click the link, they are redirected to a look-alike of the Google Chrome Extensions page, which, instead of the promised extension, provides them with a fake application that infects their systems with malware. Although the sham application has the same description as that of an original Google Chrome Extension, the first sign the more inquisitive users will get about it not being what they were looking for should be the fact that instead of the expected “.crx” extension, it features a flamboyant “.exe” tail. Identified as Trojan.Agent.20577 the application modifies the Windows HOSTS file in an attempt to block access to Google and Yahoo webpages. Every time users want to access them and write “google.[xxx]” or “[xx].search.yahoo.com” in the web browser, they will be redirected to another IP: 89.149.xxx.xxx . This allows the malware creators to intercept the victims’ calls to reach the respective sites. In this way, the credulous users will be redirected to the cybercriminals’ own malware-laden versions of those sites.
Apple Inc has accepted distribution of Opera Software’s Internet browser for its iPhone after a long review, opening a new and potentially lucrative market it has so far closely guarded. There are numerous versions of Apple’s own browser on App Store, but Norway-based Opera is the first rival to get access to iPhone. Opera applied on March 23 for its mobile browser to be distributed on iPhone, and it was available for downloading to consumers early on Tuesday, three weeks later. Usually the review process takes up to one week, developers say. Analysts have said the decision was difficult for Apple — whose application store is the only way to distribute software for iPhone users — as its Internet browsing function is key to the success of the iPhone.
If you visit www.live.com today, you will no longer be redirected to Bing.com, but instead you’ll be taken directly to Windows Live Home. No surprises there as Windows Live Home finally takes its rightful place. Although do remember that Windows Live Home is due for a major revamp coming up in Wave 4, and it will also become the “Today” page for Hotmail too.
Mind reading may no longer be the domain of psychics and fortune tellers — now some computers can do it, too. Software that uses brain scans to determine what items people are thinking about was among the technological innovations showcased Wednesday by Intel Corp., which drew back the curtain on a number of projects that are still under development. The software analyzes functional MRI scans to determine what parts of a person’s brain is being activated as he or she thinks. In tests, it guessed with 90 percent accuracy which of two words a person was thinking about, said Intel Labs researcher Dean Pomerleau. Eventually, the technology could help the severely physically disabled to communicate. And Pomerleau sees it as an early step toward one day being able to control technology with our minds.
A 25-year-old Frenchman has been arrested for trying to gain access to President Barack Obama’s official Twitter account, as well as other notable public figures. The man, whose name wasn’t released, is unemployed but obviously has some technical skill up his sleeve. French police official Captain Adeline Champagnat said the suspect was able to retrieve passwords from Twitter administrators. From there, he was able to log in and see personal data from every Twitter account holder. Champagnat said there was evidence that he looked specifically at the official accounts of politicians and music/movie stars, but didn’t cause any real damage.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has lost market share in major European markets, such as France, Britain and Italy, after the U.S. software firm started to make it easier for European consumers to use competing browsers. Microsoft’s pledge to allow easier access to rival browsers in Windows by the middle of May, ended a long antitrust dispute with the European Union. The company has started to send a choice screen, where consumers can easily click on rival browsers, to almost 200 million old and new computers. According to web statistics firm Statcounter, Internet Explorer’s share of all Web surfing has in March dropped in France by 2.5 percentage points from February, in Britain by 1 percentage point and in Italy by 1.3 points.
last week there have been a lot of reports from the users of an antivirus program called BitDefender. The owners of this program could not start their PC if they were running 64-bit version of Windows. The experts have concluded that the cause has been in the recent update, that made the program think that some core system files were infected with Trojan.FakeAlert.5. The software is now free of this defect, and a special set of instructions has been released for those, who have lost their PC’s to this error.
Facebook’s 400 million users have been targeted by a spam run that could infect their computers with malicious software designed to steals passwords and other data. Over the last two days, millions of messages have been sent. The messages appear to come from Facebook, with a return address that looks legitimate but has been spoofed, such as “help@facebook.com”. The messages say that the user’s Facebook password has been reset and the user should download an attachment that contains the new password. The English-language messages are grammatically correct, but contain an odd sign-off: “Thanks, Your Facebook.” The attachment is actually a Trojan horse program, which infects a computer without any visible signs, the spam run contained a variety of malware programs, including password stealers, rogue antivirus programs or botnet code.
Computer hackers are targeting Facebook users with an email scam that attempts to steal their passwords. Some users of the world’s most popular social networking site were receiving emails that appeared to be from Facebook informing them their Facebook password had been reset and to click on an attachment to retrieve it. The attachment is actually a “password stealer” that is installed when a user clicks on it and can potentially access any username and password combination on that computer, not Facebook-related information. Please watch out for this new threat and keep your passwords to yourself .
The sudden takedown of an Internet provider thought to be helping spread one of the most promiscuous pieces of malicious software out there appears to have cut off criminals from potentially millions of personal computers under their control. But the victory was short-lived. Less than a day after a service known as “AS Troyak” was unplugged from the Internet, security researchers said Wednesday it apparently had found a way to get back online, and criminals were reconnecting with their unmoored machines. Botnets are networks of infected PCs that behave like criminals’ remote-control robots. They steal identities en masse and are used to attack Web sites. But instead of a slam-dunk victory, the incident wound up highlighting the whiplash pace at which criminals can resurrect their illicit businesses after what should have been a devastating setback.