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Virus writers have resurrected the Sober worm with a new variant that is spreading quickly over the Internet. Security experts said Tuesday that the worm, dubbed Sober.M, reports e-mail addresses of victims back to its anonymous author--a technique known as harvesting. Spammers typically buy these fresh addresses to add to their lists of e-mail recipients. The e-mail containing the worm is written in bad English with the subject line: "I've got your e-mail on my account." "It looks like the virus writer is deliberately using broken English to (convince) people the e-mail is not a virus," Graham Cluley, senior technology...

Some useful citizen has created an installer that will nail IE with spyware, even if a surfer is using Firefox (or another alternative browser) or has blocked access to the malicious site in IE beforehand. The technique allows a raft of spyware to be served up to Windows users in spite of any security measures that might be in place. Christopher Boyd, a security researchers at Vitalsecurity.org, said the malware installer was capable of working on a range of browsers with native Java support. "The spyware installer is a Java applet powered by the Sun Java Runtime Environment, which allows...

New worms spreading through MSN Messenger -- and its bundled-with-Windows Windows Messenger version -- via links to a malicious site are infecting users and leaving their PCs open to hacker hijack, security vendors reported Monday. The new worms, tagged as Kelvir.a and Kelvir.b, appeared over the weekend and on Monday, respectively, anti-virus vendors said. Both use the same mechanism to attract users and infect Windows-based PCs: they include a link in the instant message. That link, in turn, downloads a malicious file -- the actual worm, a variant of the long-running Spybot -- which opens a backdoor to the compromised...

Important information about current security risks. Worm.Win32.Sober.L Alert! A new variant of the Sober worm is spreading fast. As it's predecessors, Sober.L spreads as an email attachment in emails which are sent to all email addresses found on the victim's harddisk. Even if the executable file is packed in a .ZIP file, many users open the file and activate the worm this way. For novice users it's hard to see that it is a worm generated email because the email subject is "your password + accountnumber !". The email body text is the following: hi, i've got an admin mail...

Just a day after one security firm warned of a vulnerability in Firefox and Mozilla, a rival disclosed that another eight threaten the open-source browsers. The Danish security firm Secunia on Tuesday laid out the flaws, most of which could be used by criminals to spoof, or fake, various aspects of a Web site, ranging from its SSL secure site icon to the contents of an inactive tab. Other bugs can be exploited remotely by hackers able to introduce code of their own choosing on the vulnerable machine, possibly taking control of it or giving them access to files. For...

A major wave of Bagle-like Trojan horses hit users worldwide Tuesday with numerous variations that aim to overwhelm anti-virus defenses by morphing faster than research labs can release new signatures. The attack, which began about midnight EST, was launched in a large-scale spamming campaign, said virus researchers, and although the new threat doesn't spread on its own -- these are Trojans with Bagle characteristics, not true worms -- many security vendors have bumped up warnings to get out the word. It's unclear how many variations are at loose. Some vendors, such as Symantec, had reported only two as of mid-morning...

Windows worm weaves its way with search engines A new worm that uses Internet search engines to spread rapidly was detected Thursday, according to antivirus software maker Panda Software, a private company based in Bilbao, Spain, which operates in the U.S. as PandaLabs of Glendale, in Southern California. Called "MydoomAO," the worm uses Mountain View-based Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Altavista, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Lycos to search for e-mail addresses to which to send itself. In order to trick users, the worm pretends to be a mail delivery error message. In this way, a single infected computer can distribute thousands...

Sorry for the vanity, but my head is about to explode trying to figure out how to get rid of hotbar, which mysteriously appeared on my computer. I know I can trust you guys for the real story on what to do. I know Laura advertises some kind of spyware blocker, but I have no clue about any of this. Any help (here or pm me) would be GREATLY appreciated.

It didn't take hackers long to start banging hard on the vulnerabilities Microsoft disseminated Tuesday. Just a day after the Redmond, Wash.-based developer rolled out a dozen advisoriescontaining 16 vulnerabilities, 10 of them tagged as "Critical," exploit code has gone public for one, Microsoft said late Wednesday. "Microsoft won't be happy that someone has posted information about how to take advantage of their critical security hole within 48 hours of their patch being released," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, in a statement. "Many computer users are bound to have not yet defended themselves," he added. Microsoft posted...

Microsoft Tuesday released its largest group security patches in nearly a year as it posted 12 security bulletins encompassing 19 vulnerabilities, 14 of which it marked "Critical," its highest patch-now warning. Among them is a vulnerability that will likely lead to the biggest, baddest worm in since mid-2003, said Mike Murray, the director of research at vulnerability management vendor nCircle. "There's a clear 'winner' here," said Murray. " MS05-011 fixes a vulnerability in SMB [Server Message Block], which is running on every version of Microsoft's operating systems that a corporation might be using. And it's exploitable remotely, so it doesn't...

New Browser Trick FoundUses homograph attack to spoof links As members of our Security forum discuss, a new homograph browser trick (see demo page) has been discovered that oddly works in every browser but IE. The trick uses International Domain Name (IDN) character support (using foreign characters that resemble American alphabet letters) to trick your browser into showing fake domain names in hyperlinks and in the address bar. IE doesn't support IDN (though it can via plug-in), so by default isn't vulnerable. More detail in this advisory from the group that discovered it.

Phishers are taking advantage of Microsoft’s new software anti-piracy initiative by launching a wave of phishing e-mails in an attempt to get credit card numbers from Microsoft customers. The rogue e-mails also allow phishers to install spyware and adware on users’ machines. Last month Microsoft said it would not allow users in some countries install software updates online unless they could prove that their Microsoft software was legitimate. Security company Websense said it has received several reports of two new versions of spoofed e-mails that are being used to install spyware/adware onto end-user's machines and steal credit card details. The...

Microsoft to release bumper Windows patch February 04 2005 by Karen Said February's release to fix 'critical' flaws... "A bumper crop of Microsoft patches will be released next week, including nine fixes for Windows flaws. At least one of the updates for the Windows operating system is rated "critical", its highest rating, Microsoft said on Thursday in a posting to its TechNet site. The forewarning is part of the company's programme to give regular computer users notice of monthly security bulletins before the patches themselves are released. There will be 13 updates in total, Microsoft said. That includes a critical...

Microsoft on Thursday gave early warning that next week's monthly dose of security bulletins and patches will be among its biggest ever. According to the Advance Notification service, which pre-announces upcoming patches but limits the information disclosed, next Tuesday's roundup will include 13 security bulletins, at least three of which will be marked "Critical," the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's most dire warning. Nine of the bulletins affect Microsoft Windows. That's a much-higher-than-normal number, and three times what the company published in January. Other patches will be published to fix bugs in SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office, the .Net Framework, Visual Studio, Windows...

Lexus cars may be vulnerable to viruses that infect them via mobile phones. Landcruiser 100 models LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems that transfer within a range of 15 feet. It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection. It is still unclear whether the cars in question use the Symbian operating system which has recently been under attack from various worms and viruses. Vulnerable operating systems are increasingly moving onto a number of different devices. Last year the Slammer worm...

Aiming to crack down on counterfeit software, Microsoft plans later this year to require customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system. Since last fall the company has been testing a tool that can check whether a particular version of Windows is legitimate, but until now the checks have been voluntary. Starting Feb. 7, the verification will be mandatory for many downloads for people in three countries: China, Norway and the Czech Republic. In those countries, people whose copies are found not to be legitimate can get...

Antivirus specialist GeCad Net is warning that it has found a problem with Microsoft's most recent software patch for Windows. The Bucharest, Romania-based security service provider said that a critical patch issued by Microsoft in its MS05-001 bulletin earlier this month fails to resolve all of the security issues surrounding the HTML Help ActiveX control in Windows. Microsoft distributed the fix, along with additional security updates, to address the threat of attackers placing and executing malicious programs such as spyware on affected computers. GeCad, which sold its antivirus software business to Microsoft in 2003, said that the patch has not...

Full text of a letter from Microsoft, in response to coverage of companies moving from IE to Firefox and other alternative browsers. InformationWeek Editor's note: the following is the full text of Microsoft's response to an InformationWeek.com poll and related story regarding Internet Explorer, and whether companies are switching to the Mozilla browser. It came from Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's public-relations agency. You mentioned that many or the respondents in the self-selecting survey recommended against IE and that many people have said Microsoft needs to address security issues more fully. Regarding the recommendation, we're aware that some people have recommended against...

Tuesday, January 04, 2005 Microsoft Readies 'A1' Security Subscription Service By Mary Jo Foley Microsoft's anti-virus/anti-spyware strategy is taking shape. Sources say Redmond's prepping a fee-based bundle, which could go beta soon. Publicly, Microsoft continues to be cagey about packaging and pricing plans for its anti-spyware and anti-virus solutions. But privately, Microsoft has begun informing partners of its plans for a security subscription service code-named "A1," according to developers who requested anonymity. Microsoft bought anti-virus vendor GeCAD in the summer of 2003, and anti-spyware maker Giant Company Software last month. As to how it plans to deliver these technologies, Microsoft...

WASHINGTON - Microsoft Corp., whose popular Windows software is a frequent target for Internet viruses, is offering a free security program to remove the most dangerous infections from computers. The program, with monthly updates, is a step toward plans by Microsoft to sell full-blown antivirus software later this year. Microsoft said Thursday that consumers can download the new security program from the company's Web site — www.microsoft.com — and that updated versions will be offered automatically and free each month. It will be available starting Tuesday. Also, Microsoft offered Thursday a free program to remove "spyware," a category of irritating...