Tag Archives: microsoft

Microsoft Responds to Critics Over Botnet Bruhaha

April 16, 2012
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Microsoft’s most recent anti-botnet campaign — a legal sneak attack against dozens of ZeuS botnets — seems to have ruffled the feathers of many in security community. Their chief criticism is that the Microsoft operation exposed sensitive information that a handful of researchers shared in confidence, and that countless law enforcement investigations may have been delayed or derailed as a result. In this post, I interview a key Microsoft attorney about these allegations.

Researchers Clobber Khelios Spam Botnet

March 28, 2012
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Experts from across the security industry collaborated this week to quarantine more than 110,000 Microsoft Windows PCs that were infected with the Khelios worm, a contagion that forces infected PCs to blast out junk email advertising rogue Internet pharmacies.

Most botnets are relatively fragile: If security experts or law enforcement agencies seize the Internet servers used to control the zombie network, the crime machine eventually implodes. But Khelios (a.k.a. “Kelihos”) was built to withstand such attacks, employing a peer-to-peer structure not unlike that used by popular music and file-sharing sites to avoid takedown by the music and entertainment industry.

RDP Flaws Lead Microsoft’s March Patch Batch

March 13, 2012
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Microsoft today released updates to sew up at least seven vulnerabilities in Windows and other software. The sole “critical” update in the bunch patches a particularly dangerous flaw in all supported versions of Windows that allows attackers to seize control over vulnerable systems remotely without authentication.

Critical Fixes from Microsoft, Adobe

February 14, 2012
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If you use Microsoft Windows, it’s time again to get patched: Microsoft today issued nine updates to fix at least 21 security holes in its products. Separately, Adobe released a critical update that addresses nine vulnerabilities in its Shockwave Player software.

Six of the patches earned Microsoft’s most dire “critical” rating, meaning that miscreants and malware can leverage the flaws to hijack vulnerable systems remotely without any help from the user. At least four of the vulnerabilities were publicly disclosed prior to the release of these patches.

Warnings About Windows Exploit, pcAnywhere

January 27, 2012
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Security experts have spotted drive-by malware attacks exploiting a critical security hole in Windows that Microsoft recently addressed with a software patch. Separately, Symantec is warning users of its pcAnywhere remote administration tool to either update or remove the program, citing a recent data breach at the security firm that the company said could help attackers find holes in the aging software title.

Virtual Sweatshops Defeat Bot-or-Not Tests

January 9, 2012
32 Comments

Jobs in the hi-tech sector can be hard to find, but employers in one corner of the industry are creating hundreds of full-time positions, offering workers on-the-job training and the freedom to work from home. The catch? Employees will likely work for cybercrooks and may make barely enough money in a week to purchase a Happy Meal at McDonald’s.

Adobe, Apple, Microsoft & Mozilla Issue Critical Patches

November 9, 2011
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Adobe, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla all released updates on Tuesday to fix critical security flaws in their products. Adobe issued a patch that corrects four vulnerabilities in Shockwave Player, while Redmond pushed out updates to address four Windows flaws. Apple slipped out an update for its version of Java that mends at least 17 security holes, and Mozilla issued yet another major Firefox release, Firefox 8.

Critical Security Updates from Microsoft, Apple

October 11, 2011
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Microsoft and Apple today released security updates to fix a slew of critical security problems in their software. Microsoft’s patch batch fixes at least 23 vulnerabilities in Windows and other Microsoft products. Apple’s update addresses more than 75 security flaws in the Windows versions of iTunes.