Covering the global threat landscape

News

BitDefender vulnerability disclosed

Details released of overflow issue reported and patched.

18 December 2006

UK taxman warns of rebate phish

Mails promising tax refund just another scam.

18 December 2006

'Big Yellow' worm exploits slow Symantec patchers

Worm spotted targeting 6-month-old vulnerability in AV products.

18 December 2006

Microsoft wins block on spam list seller

Court bars bulk email address sales site from further business.

18 December 2006

Yet more Word zero-day woes

Possible third vulnerability in popular software exploited.

15 December 2006

US Postal Service accused of spamming

Customer email campaign in breach of CAN-SPAM regulations.

15 December 2006

European mailer society signs spyware charter

Direct marketeers' association adopts code of good behaviour.

15 December 2006

UK phishing up 8000% in two years, says FSA

Government report shows massive rise in scams.

15 December 2006

Ransom attacks hit webmail

Accounts held hostage by data-stealing extortionists.

14 December 2006

Putting a price on spam

Email-forwarding system lets users set a fee to let spam through.

14 December 2006

Sophos vulnerabilities found, patched

Fixes issued for archive handling problems.

13 December 2006

Patch Tuesday leaves Word open to attack

Old and new zero-day vulnerabilities to remain unpatched.

13 December 2006

MIME tricks beat email virus scanners

Simple encoding dodges slip malware past gateways.

11 December 2006

Smartphone security sphere to reach $5 billion by 2011

Market analysts foresee boom in mobile threats and security market.

11 December 2006

Anti-spyware activists condemn rogue MP3 search firm

CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers.

08 December 2006

Adobe hit by second vulnerability

More document software security worries.

08 December 2006

Free firewalls rated best in leak tests

Leakage review puts Comodo, Jetico way ahead of field.

07 December 2006

Trojan spreading mobile spyware

Consumer phone-snooping tool dropped by Symbian malware.

07 December 2006

Mobile spam wave hits Europe

Multilingual SMS spams reported.

07 December 2006

MS Word zero-day exploit seen in wild

Microsoft warns of attacks using vulnerability.

06 December 2006

Firm charged $1 million in rogue spyware case

Heavy fines and fees hit fake 'Spyware Cleaner' pushers.

05 December 2006

MySpace hit by worm, adware and phishing

Exploit in QuickTime file infecting social site profile pages.

05 December 2006

EU to fund Symantec phishing studies

Security firm in consortium researching phishing prevention.

05 December 2006

Vista launched, malware still a danger

New Windows version on sale, but viruses remain a threat, says Sophos

04 December 2006

China source of huge phishing surge

Spam watchers see major jump in scam spam sent from China

04 December 2006

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 December 2006

In the picture?

Remember VB94?

01 December 2006

Festive greetings

Yuletide wishes.

01 December 2006

Stocking filler

Collection of 419 baiting tales.

01 December 2006

Anti-spammer loses case

Anti-spam activist sued in case that brings enforceability of state anti-spam laws into question.

01 December 2006

Vulnerability hits F-Secure gateway products

Flaw in OpenSSL could allow DoS on servers.

29 November 2006

Europe facing 38 billion spams a day by 2010

Research group releases report on future spam trends.

29 November 2006

Worm targets old Symantec hole

Long-patched vulnerability attacked by new Spybot.

29 November 2006

EU demands better spam and malware fighting

Commission report calls for smarter response to online onslaught.

29 November 2006

Severe vulnerability hits Mac OSX

Exploit published for gaping DMG hole.

23 November 2006

Spyware pushers let off fines

FTC reduces punishment for crooks 'unable to pay'.

23 November 2006

Spammers and phishers target Christmas shoppers

Online shoppers and email users face heightened festive risks.

22 November 2006

McAfee in anti-phishing confusion

Latest study rates all filters poorly, slates SiteAdvisor.

22 November 2006

ISS to integrate BitDefender

Big Blue adds anti-virus and anti-spyware to desktop security product.

21 November 2006

Zango still in spyware game

Dodgy tactics continue despite ruling.

21 November 2006

Trojan planted on Chinese banking site

Backdoor dropper sneaked onto bank card operator's servers.

20 November 2006

UK toughens law against DoS, tools

New law ups penalties for hacking, but could threaten security research.

20 November 2006

Worm targets Real Media files

McAfee warns of dangerous movies and music.

17 November 2006

Patch Tuesday vulnerability exploited

Attack developed within two days of disclosure.

17 November 2006

Panda vulnerabilities revealed

ActiveScan remote access holes patched, details disclosed.

16 November 2006

Firefox anti-phishing better, says Mozilla

Browser phishing filters battle for supremacy.

16 November 2006

AVG, F-PROT suffer vulnerabilities

Reports of buffer overflows and other problems.

15 November 2006

Mobile firewalls released

Trend, F-Secure add extra layer to smartphone security.

15 November 2006

Courts shut down spyware pushers

Media Motor operation frozen by FTC case.

14 November 2006

Forefront Client reaches beta

Microsoft corporate security product goes into public test.

14 November 2006

Russians dominate spammer top ten

Half of ten worst spammers from former USSR.

14 November 2006

OneCare labels Gmail a virus

Rival webmail system flagged infected by Microsoft AV.

13 November 2006

Vista safe without AV, says Allchin

Microsoft chief confident in new security measures.

11 November 2006

MS releases new Sysinternals utility

Process Monitor combines filemon, regmon into unified analysis tool.

11 November 2006

More US political spam

Voter persuasion campaign late and sloppy, says Panda

11 November 2006

AOL ICQ vulnerability revealed

Chat program remote execution flaw patched.

09 November 2006

Google blog spreads Kama Sutra worm

MyWife variant mailed to 50,000 video blog watchers.

09 November 2006

Email worm spams global war news

Bush and Putin still alive, no nuclear war ahead.

09 November 2006

US politicians slated for spam tactics

Report criticises leaders for election-pushing mass mail campaigns.

09 November 2006

XMLHTTP zero-day exploit

ActiveX vulnerability in use by attackers.

07 November 2006

US way ahead in phishing and spam

PhishTank, Sophos stats put US at top of lists.

07 November 2006

Adware costs Zango $3 million

Cash and promises settle deceptive practices case.

06 November 2006

FBI busts phishing gang

Arrests made in Poland and US, more expected.

06 November 2006

IE7 causing McAfee update problems

New browser version blocking install and updates.

03 November 2006

Spam worse than postal junk mail

Survey finds emails more irritating than unwanted paper.

03 November 2006

New OSX parasitic virus found

Symantec report proof-of-concept file infector for Mac.

03 November 2006

Wikipedia spam points to malware

Emails used archive function to lend authenticity.

03 November 2006

Academics create mobile malware

California University publishes Symbian proof of concept.

02 November 2006

Spammed trojans posing as McAfee report

Campaign uses security news to bypass security.

02 November 2006

Spamhaus rests easy

US judge rules against suspending Spamhaus domain.

01 November 2006

Spam hits record levels in October

Image-based pump-and-dumps add to inbox bloat.

01 November 2006

Sender ID specification released

Microsoft reveals all as part of its Open Specification Promise.

01 November 2006

November issue of VB published

The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 November 2006

New anti-spam group formed

StopSpamAlliance unites international bodies.

01 November 2006

News round-up

October's goings on in the AV industry.

01 November 2006

Phish check interface

Developer interface for checking phishy URLs.

01 November 2006

Sophos engine faults disclosed

iDefense reports file-handling vulnerabilities.

31 October 2006

Two more IE7 bugs downplayed by Microsoft

More phishing issues found, not a big problem says MS.

31 October 2006

McAfee up, Symantec down in profits

Financial reports differ widely between top security rivals.

27 October 2006

Australian spam firm fined $4.1 million

First case under spam laws brings hefty punishment.

27 October 2006

Windows Defender fully released

Microsoft anti-spyware product handed out free.

25 October 2006

Sender ID licence opened up

Microsoft frees up access to anti-spam framework.

25 October 2006

Trojan installs Kaspersky AV

Scanner software used to keep out rival malware.

24 October 2006

Microsoft in multiple security rows

AV firms, Apple and Secunia embroiled in MS spats.

24 October 2006

Latest VB100% test announced

Call for products issued for Windows XP x64 test.

24 October 2006

UK banks failing online users

Report names and shames insecure banking sites - again.

24 October 2006

MacDonald's serves up spyware

Diners 'rewarded' with infected music players

19 October 2006

IE7 used as phishing lure

Spam campaign tries to hook users with new browser version.

19 October 2006

Another hole found in PowerPoint

Proof-of-concept exploit shows further bug in slideshow software

19 October 2006

MySpace users targeted by spam campaign

Phishers pose as online contacts to push bogus shopping sites.

19 October 2006

VB2006 a resounding success - VB2007 dates revealed

As another VB conference comes to a close, dates for next year's conference are revealed.

17 October 2006

Met warns Haxdoor victims

Police notify 2,300 their details have been stolen.

11 October 2006

McAfee stock scandal claims bosses

CEO leaves, president fired over financial problems.

11 October 2006

Domain name threat to Spamhaus

Anti-spam system at risk of losing identity.

11 October 2006

False false positives

BitDefender defends reputation, three more VB100% awards granted.

06 October 2006

Eight years for Russian DoS blackmailers

Extortion gang sentenced for gambling site attacks.

05 October 2006

Hormel denied spam copyright

EU court rejects trademark dispute.

05 October 2006

Stration worm building steadily

Mass-mailer evolving as botnets spread.

04 October 2006

Tesco to sell budget AV product

UK supermarket giant enters software market.

04 October 2006

Trend, McAfee vulnerabilities disclosed

ActiveX and ePO flaws covered by patches.

03 October 2006

Gmail slashes spam FPs

Hotmail lagging behind on mislabelled ham.

03 October 2006

McAfee joins Vista battle

Newspaper ad attacks Microsoft plans.

03 October 2006

Web community fights phishing

Vote-based anti-phish system launched.

03 October 2006

NCSA launches security month

Watchdog kicks off awareness offensive.

02 October 2006

IE punctured yet again

Newly patched browser vulnerable to more malware.

02 October 2006

More spammers nabbed by Earthlink

ISP helps FBI track down spamming duo.

02 October 2006

October issue of VB published

The October issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 October 2006

News round-up

September's goings on in the AV industry.

01 October 2006

Phishers indicted

Six men charged with masterminding a phishing operation.

01 October 2006

Spammer's appeal rejected

Weaselboy conviction upheld.

29 September 2006

McAfee tops for client security

Analyst firm rates industry heavyweights.

28 September 2006

AOL phishers indicted

Team of six face jail in Connecticut.

28 September 2006

More Microsoft vulnerability woes

PowerPoint problem tops off busy month for MS.

28 September 2006

Volvo syndrome for Mac users

Relative safety may lead to unsafe practices.

28 September 2006

Web trust symbol can't be trusted

Certificates sign of danger, says researcher.

27 September 2006

Microsoft patches IE hole

VML fix released only a week after flaw exploited.

27 September 2006

Trend launches bot blocking service

Botnet-spotting system watches for bad DNS behaviour.

26 September 2006

Symantec, Kaspersky issue threat reports

Trojans, vulnerabilities, spam and crime loom large.

26 September 2006

Unofficial VML patch released

Security task force issues stop-gap fix for IE hole.

22 September 2006

Vista issues worry vendors

Security firms complain about monopoly tactics.

22 September 2006

Canadians row with Sony over DRM

Rootkit battles still going.

22 September 2006

More than 90% of email is spam

Spamhaus founder estimates spam levels significantly higher than other industry monitors.

22 September 2006

AV guru Jimmy Kuo heads to Microsoft

Industry veteran joins others from McAfee.

20 September 2006

AIM worm warning

AOL IM users at risk from botnet-building attack.

19 September 2006

Zero-day exploit targeting IE flaw

'Extremely critical' buffer overflow used to drop spyware.

19 September 2006

Spam King sued again

Serial spammer charged with more spamming.

19 September 2006

Google embarrassed by phishing demo

Fake Gmail site served by Google itself.

18 September 2006

Several backdoors in PDF revealed

Researcher lists security issues with document format.

18 September 2006

FTC shuts down spammers

Four spam companies hit by CAN-SPAM rulings.

18 September 2006

Vulnerability reported in IE

ActiveX flaw opens another hole in MS browser.

16 September 2006

Chain letter email reaps addresses

Fake research a harvesting trick by spammers.

15 September 2006

Symantec hit by vulnerabilities

Two flaws in alert handling unveiled.

15 September 2006

Spamhaus fined $11.7 million for blocking spam

US judgement meaningless, says UK anti-spam project.

15 September 2006

Sony DRM/AOL combo breaks computers

Anti-spyware tool attacks rootkit, kills CD drive.

14 September 2006

ISP wins $11 million from spammers

Judgement in EarthLink lawsuit grants heavy payout.

14 September 2006

Star sites host most malware

Celebrities bigger lure than sex, says McAfee.

13 September 2006

Patch Tuesday light on patches

MS patches previous patches, but not Word exploit.

13 September 2006

Zotob authors jailed

One year, two years for worm writing duo.

13 September 2006

Barclays phish spammed widely

64% of recent phishes targeting global brand.

13 September 2006

Phishing records broken in July

Highest ever numbers of phishing sites and brands, reports APWG.

12 September 2006

Fake news site carries trojan

Conspiracy warning spam points to exploit web page.

12 September 2006

Spearphishers track eBay trades

Auction losers tempted by second-chance phishes.

12 September 2006

More AV products suffer flaws

Vulnerabilities found in AntiVir and avast!.

11 September 2006

Botnet keepers rake in adware cash

Zombie herder makes $430 per day from single piece of adware.

11 September 2006

Zango not guilty on spyware charges

Spyware bad, adware OK, says court.

8 September 2006

Samsung site hosting malware

Websense reports trojans found on electronics giant's servers.

8 September 2006

Phishers cast nets less wide

More scams hitting fewer targets, says report.

8 September 2006

'Magic Quadrant' study unveiled

AV industry future revealed - must do better.

7 September 2006

Spyware firms charged $2 million

FTC takes cash, bans from future naughtiness.

7 September 2006

MS sues UK spammer

Civil action avoids spam law technicalities.

7 September 2006

Subliminal message hidden in spam

Mail campaign aims to sneak into readers' subconscious minds.

6 September 2006

Word zero-day exploited

Trojan uses unpatched hole in office software.

6 September 2006

Nine years for spam felon

Tough sentence upheld despite free-speech claims.

6 September 2006

Gromozon mystery clearing

Cleaner tool aims to remove sophisticated attack.

5 September 2006

Phishing on the rise

One in three malicious emails a phish, says MessageLabs.

5 September 2006

Mobile snoopware labelled spyware

Future phone privacy threatened.

4 September 2006

CA in Windows FP

eTrust identifies critical file as virus.

4 September 2006

New New Zealand spam laws to allow spam

Adjustments to laws may let 'non-commercial' spam continue.

4 September 2006

Worm spreads via mobiles. Maybe.

PC malware thought capable of using phones as vector.

1 September 2006

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 September 2006

Future browsers battle phishing

Microsoft and Mozilla's upcoming new versions to include safety measures.

1 September 2006

Spot that spammer

Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites.

01 September 2006

More MS06-040 worries

Vulnerability still causing problems.

1 September 2006

Nearly VB 100%

Near misses.

01 September 2006

AT&T hack led to spearphish

Stolen details used to trick victims out of further info.

1 September 2006

Testing patience

Consumer Reports does it again.

01 September 2006

A fine, a curfew and a treasure hunt

Round up of the month's spammer penalties.

01 September 2006

Phone companies' security shaken

As T-Mobile hacker is convicted, AT&T reveals break-in.

31 August 2006

eBay phishing ups its game

Decent spelling and convincing design aim to trick users.

31 August 2006

BitDefender to join mobile market

AV firm releases phone security beta.

31 August 2006

Corporate mail spam drops Haxdoor

Business-related message carries trojan.

31 August 2006

More ConsumerReports complaints

Testing organisation's methodology slammed again.

30 August 2006

AOL 9.0 slated for suspect tactics

More badware accusations levelled at web giant.

30 August 2006

iPod spam carries trojan

Fake sales invoice includes downloader.

30 August 2006

Malware mostly crime-related, says Panda

Security firm reports 88% of new malware linked to cyber crime.

29 August 2006

IBM invests in security, others may follow

Big Blue purchase sparks rumours of more mergers.

29 August 2006

Three years for botnet master

Zombie herder sentenced to 37 months behind bars.

29 August 2006

Share dealers robbed, phishing suspected

Canadian stock-trading association warns of security breaches.

29 August 2006

Child porn blackmail spam carries trojan

Spoof mail claims to come from anti-child porn site.

24 August 2006

Rooting out malware

Sophos joins anti-rootkit market, others expected to follow soon.

24 August 2006

Phishing help for Yahoo! users

As phishing nets spread wider, Yahoo! announces defensive 'seal'.

24 August 2006

Trend and Microsoft deny vulnerability

PowerPoint zero-day hype just hype after all.

23 August 2006

Stock scam spam duo sued

Pump-and-dump couple face fines, as do many others worldwide.

22 August 2006

McAfee faces legal and financial woes

With books under scrutiny, McAfee is sued over property rights.

18 August 2006

AOL AV in adware alarm

Free product offered by AOL accused of potentially unwanted tactics.

18 August 2006

Phishers target more charities

Christian Aid warns supporters of bogus emails, while Katrina phishmaster is indicted.

18 August 2006

Movie firm harasses users with spyware

Film download service accused of using spyware strongarm tactics.

16 August 2006

AOL digging for spammer's treasure

Web giant plans hunt for hidden spam gold.

16 August 2006

MS06-040 fears spread

Exploit worm stories continue to appear, but threat believed minor.

15 August 2006

Test company creates malware

Consumer organisation makes over 5,000 'virus variants' for AV product testing.

15 August 2006

Tough week for Symantec

Security firm suffers security bug and incompatibility criticism.

14 August 2006

OneCare pounds competitors

Microsoft's AV storms to second in US sales charts.

14 August 2006

US e-vigilante takes on spammers

65-year-old files 82 cases in two years.

14 August 2006

BlackBerry 'Trojan' unveiled

Mobile device proof-of-concept opens hole in network security.

11 August 2006

Patched Windows vuln exploited

As Microsoft plugs security holes, hackers quickly take advantage.

11 August 2006

Spammers sued under child-protection law

State of Michigan accuses spam companies of corrupting minors.

11 August 2006

F-Secure and Symbian row over hype

Commwarrior alert reignites battle over mobile malware danger.

09 August 2006

JFK spam scam

419ers try conspiracy tactic.

09 August 2006

AOL hands out security software

Web giant provides free Kaspersky AV to all.

09 August 2006

419 ringleader arrested

Scammer made $2m, now behind bars in Lagos.

09 August 2006

South African bank gives away Trend software

More online customers get free protection.

08 August 2006

Badware blacklist comes into force at Google

Search engine starts flagging suspect sites.

08 August 2006

More vulns in AV products

eTrust, PC Tools suffer security bugs.

07 August 2006

BlackHat shows off yet more holes

As conference highlights security issues, MS dares hackers to find more.

07 August 2006

Spammers target phones

Text message spam on the rise.

07 August 2006

Serious vulns in Centrino wireless

Intel releases generic patches, urges users to seek specific fixes.

04 August 2006

Norton scares vicars

Sermon software spyware, says Symantec.

04 August 2006

Hi-tech phreaking and other VoIP woes

Security issues with VoIP technology revealed at Black Hat USA.

03 August 2006

Apple releases patches - Mac debate rumbles on

Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc.

03 August 2006

Vietnamese botnet-keeper arrested

Student launched DDoS attacks 'just for fun'.

03 August 2006

Supermarket scammed by hacker employees

Supermarket sweep.

02 August 2006

Virus writers continue targeting Microsoft's latest ideas

Another piece of malware for MS Powershell.

02 August 2006

Rain of phish hits UK

Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails.

03 August 2006

Symantec, McAfee suffer bugs

Norton and VirusScan afflicted.

02 August 2006

Security products scoop sales top ten

Strong sales for security products in June.

02 August 2006

Interpol site spoofed

Beware fake international police organizations...

02 August 2006

F-Secure announces healthy figures

Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.

02 August 2006

BBC hypes 'more than 95% spam rate'

Shock figure drawn from dubious source.

02 August 2006

Anti-phishing best practices

Anti-phishing recommendations for ISPs and mailbox providers.

01 August 2006

Supply of data to spammers stopped

Database thief charged.

01 August 2006

Linux magazine prints rootkit how-to

Arming sys admins with all they need to know to write a rootkit...

01 August 2006

More on the XP comparative

Setting the record straight.

01 August 2006

New and revised laws

New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited.

01 August 2006

Sysinternals goes the Microsoft way

Microsoft acquires company behind the Sysinternals range of freeware tools.

01 August 2006

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 August 2006

Market consolidation

Mergers in the anti-spam market.

01 August 2006

False positive reduction

Amendment to VB's June Windows XP comparative review.

01 July 2006

m00p group members arrested

Three members of virus-writing gang held.

01 July 2006

July issue of VB published

The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 July 2006

Big bucks

AV software revenues increase.

01 July 2006

New faces

VB welcomes new Technical Consultant.

01 July 2006

Phone phishes

Watch out for fake SMS messages.

01 July 2006

Symantec vulnerability discovered - and fixed

Buffer overflow vulnerability found in corporate AV software.

01 June 2006

OneCare goes live

Microsoft anti-virus goes on general release.

01 June 2006

Blue Frog croaks but may rise again

Open source project to create anti-spam opt-out tool based on the defunct Blue Frog service.

01 June 2006

Bank takes steps to increase customer security

Bank signs deal with AV vendor in an attempt to stop phishers in their tracks.

01 June 2006

June issue of VB published

The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 June 2006

Gone phishing in Japan

Japan's first crackdown on organized phishing.

01 June 2006

Spam papers available

Organizers of the 2006 Spam Conference encourage you to get reading.

01 May 2006

VoIP phishing scam

New species of phish spotted.

01 May 2006

Security survey and checklist

Attempt to gain better understanding of the costs of computer security incidents.

01 May 2006

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

01 May 2006

OECD calls for coordination and cooperation

OECD issues 'Recommendation on Cross-Border Cooperation in the Enforcement of Laws against Spam'.

01 May 2006

VB job vacancy

There are currently no job vacancies at Virus Bulletin.

8 June 2006

VB2006 conference programme revealed

The VB2006 conference programme is now available.

26 April 2006

Grisoft makes acquisition

AVG developer acquires Ewido Networks.

19 April 2006