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The super-sophisticated malware that infiltrated Kaspersky Labs is more crafty than first imagined. We're told that the Duqu 2.0 software nasty was signed using legit digital certificates issued to Foxconn – a world-leading Chinese electronics manufacturer, whose customers include Microsoft, Dell, Google, BlackBerry, Amazon, Apple, and Sony. The code-signing was uncovered by researchers at Kaspersky Lab, who are studying their Duqu 2.0 infection. Windows trusts Foxconn-signed code because the Chinese goliath's certificate was issued by VeriSign, which is a trusted certificate root. Thus, the operating system will happily load and run the Foxconn-signed Duqu 2.0's 64-bit kernel-level driver without setting...

When World IPv6 Launch Day dawns on June 6th, IPv6 services will be enabled on thousands of sites around the world and left on. As the 32-bit IPv4 address space has been exhausted, there is a need for global carriers to move to the larger 128-bit address space that IPv6 provides. But will your organization be ready for the new security issues raised by IPv6? In an interview with eSecurity Planet, Chief Security Officer Danny McPherson of VeriSign cautioned that IPv6 is both an opportunity and a potential security risk. VeriSign is responsible for two of the 13 root DNS...

On January 15, 2012, VeriSign®, the registry for .COM and .NET, will increase prices – .COM will go up 7%, and .NET by 10%.

The body that oversees net addresses has approved a controversial deal over the future of the .com domain. The deal gives US firm Verisign control of .com until 2012 and lets it raise prices in at least four of the next six years. The board of net overseer the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was split over the agreement. Critics said the deal virtually granted Verisign an everlasting monopoly over the iconic net domain. Final approval The deal agreed between Icann and Verisign signals the end of lawsuits filed by the organisations against each other. The legal action...

The quasi-governmental organization that oversees the Internet has tentatively approved a ".asia" Web domain to unify the Asia-Pacific community, but the group has delayed a decision on whether to move forward with a ".xxx" zone for pornography sites. At its annual meeting this past weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers took up several topics related to the global administration of the Internet, which has become a heated topic because the U.S. has insisted on maintaining oversight. The new ".asia." domain would supplement suffixes available for individual countries, such as ".cn" for China and...

A controversial plan to embed radio frequency identification chips in license plates in the United Kingdom also may be coming to the United States, experts told UPI's Wireless World. The so-called e-Plate, developed by the British firm Hills Numberplates, is a license plate that also transmits a vehicle's unique identification via encryption that can be read by a small detector, whose output can be used locally or communicated to a distant host. "RFID is all the rage these days," said Bradley Gross, chairman of Becker & Poliakoff, a law firm in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., "but my fear is that this...

VeriSign Inc. is selling its Network Solutions business, which provides Internet domain name registrations, to Pivotal Private Equity for approximately $100 million so it can focus on infrastructure services. VeriSign gained Network Solutions' registrar and registry businesses when it purchased the company in 2000. The registrar business, which offers services such as business e-mail, Web sites, hosting and Web presence, will go to Pivotal Private Equity, the company said Thursday. VeriSign will retain the registry business, which provides the backbone for the .com and .net domain names. VeriSign recently renamed the registry business VeriSign Naming and Directory Services and...

Thu September 18, 2003 09:13 PM ET By Elinor Mills Abreu SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Internet search company on Thursday filed a $100 million antitrust lawsuit against VeriSign Inc., accusing the Web address provider of hijacking misspelled and unassigned Web addresses with a service it launched this week. VeriSign's new SiteFinder service takes searches for ".com" and ".net" Web addresses that are not spelled correctly or have not yet been registered and redirects them to a VeriSign Web page that includes options and pay-for-placement topic links. Since it was launched on Monday, the SiteFinder service has drawn widespread criticism...

VeriSign announced Monday that it will provide key components of a system designed to let Americans abroad cast absentee votes over the Internet. The contract was granted by consulting firm Accenture, which is working with the U.S. Department of Defense on a voting system known as the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment. When completed, the system will allow absentee military personnel and overseas Americans from eight participating states to cast their votes in the 2004 general election. "The solution we are building will enable absentee voters to exercise their right to vote," said George Schu, a vice president at...

California's highest court will finally hear the high-profile case of who owns the rights to the Sex.com domain. The Ninth U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco Wednesday asked the state Supreme Court to intervene and decide whether a domain name is property that can be converted as well as guidance to assess damages estimated at $100 million. The six-year battle over one of the Internet's most highly desired domain names involves founder and CEO of Sex.Com Gary Kremen, VeriSign (Quote, Company Info), formerly Network Solutions (NSI), and Stephen Michael Cohen. But more than simple case of dot-com claim jumping,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to bolster Internet security will not lead to increased government scrutiny of individuals' online habits, the White House and industry sources said on Friday. As it finalizes sweeping guidelines that aim to increase cybersecurity, the Bush administration said individual privacy would not be affected by efforts to prevent cyberattacks. "The administration is not considering a proposal to monitor what individuals do on the Internet," a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said. High-tech companies, meanwhile, said they would resist government efforts to get involved in the day-to-day operation of the global computer network. In a...

Hi FR techie types; My domain name is coming up for renewal. It seems like there's a lot more registrar competition out there than two years ago, when I went with Network Solutions. VeriSign is now offering to renew the registration for the next five years, for a total of $100/$20 per year. Does anyone have experiences with registrants other than VeriSign that are better/cheaper?

VeriSign Hit With FTC Probe Over "Slamming" Allegations By Kevin Murphy The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating a recent VeriSign Inc domain name marketing campaign, following allegations from competitors that it constituted deceptive business practices, a spokesperson for the company confirmed yesterday. "We've been asked by the FTC not to comment on their request for information regarding our marketing activities," a VeriSign spokesperson told ComputerWire. "VeriSign has always taken its responsibility under the law seriously and we will of course cooperate fully with the FTC." The probe is believed to center around a direct mail campaign in which "renewal...

By Kieren McCarthy Posted: 07/18/2002 at 02:01 EST VeriSign is attempting to push through a proposal which will effectively see one company control .com and .net Internet domain names, despite huge opposition from everyone else in the market. Under its proposals, a new domain "wait listing service" (WLS) will be set up that supersedes all other domain renewal services and run by one company, SnapNames, with which Verisign has a close relationship. Under the plan, anyone will be able to pay SnapNames $35 to "reserve" a particular .com or .net domain name were it not to be renewed. VeriSign claims...