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Headlines for Wednesday January 16, 2013

Posted by news on Jan 16, 2013 in ISN | 0 comments

Spam Volumes: Past & Present, Global & Local
Last week, National Public Radio aired a story on my Pharma Wars series, which chronicles an epic battle between men who ran two competing cybercrime empires that used spam to pimp online pharmacy sites. As I was working with the NPR reporter on the story, I was struck by how much spam has decreased over the past couple of years. Below is a graphic that’s based on spam data collected by Symantec’s MessageLabs. It shows that global spam volumes fell and spiked fairly regularly, from highs of 6 trillion messages sent per month to just below 1 trillion. I produced this graph based on Symantec’s raw spam data.

Taking Stock of Rustock
Spam Volumes Dip After Spamit.com Closure
Harvesting Data on the Xarvester Botmaster
Feds Convict Stock Scammers, Overlook Spammers
Top Spam Botnet, “Grum,” Unplugged

Think tank presses Blue Coat over censorship concerns
A Canadian think tank called on Tuesday for continued scrutiny of U.S. security vendor Blue Coat Systems after a new technical analysis showed wide use of its products in countries with human rights and censorship concerns.

Congresswoman proposes computer fraud law amendment to honor Aaron Swartz
A draft bill to exclude terms of service violations from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Security audit finds dev OUTSOURCED his JOB to China
Cunning scheme netted him ‘best in company’ awards: A security audit of a US critical infrastructure company last year revealed that its star developer had outsourced his own job to a Chinese subcontractor and was spending all his work time playing around on the internet.

Malware infects US power facilities through USB drives
Two U.S. power companies reported infections of malware during the past three months, with the bad software apparently brought in through tainted USB drives, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT).

6Scan launches free website vulnerability and malware scanning service
6Scan, a Web security startup based in Tel Aviv, Israel, launched a new service on Tuesday that can scan websites for security issues, like vulnerabilities and malware infections, and allows their owners to automatically fix the identified problems.

Latest Java patch is not enough, warns US gov: Axe plugins NOW
Metasploit boss says Oracle needs TWO years to make everything good: Security experts advise users to not run Java in their web browsers despite a patch from Oracle that mitigates a widely exploited security vulnerability.

Java exploit used in Red October cyberespionage attacks, researchers say
The hundreds of government, military and research organizations targeted in a large-scale cyberespionage operation dubbed Red October were not only attacked using malicious Excel and Word documents, but also with Web-based Java exploits, according to Seculert researchers.

Wombat Unveils Social Engineering Security Training Module
The training explains the psychology behind social attacks and gives practical tips for recognizing and avoiding them.

Company bosses slacking on hacking
Company bosses across the UK have a complacent attitude toward cybercrime and are inviting criminal attacks due to their sloppy approach to internet security, reveals new research from Swivel Secure. …

South Korea accuses North Korea of launching cyberattack against conservative Seoul newspaper
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea says North Korea was behind a cyberattack against a conservative Seoul newspaper critical of Pyongyang.

Sandy Hook Truthers claim Newtown school massacre a hoax to spur gun control measures
Their theories appear to lack any basis in fact or common sense. But the movement is gaining momentum with both a college professor and a Fox News anchor questioning the official narrative

Quebec to legalize assisted suicide; Death a medical issue, health minister says
A panel has recommended the provincial government allow what it calls medical assistance to die in cases where a patient is close to death and unable to endure the pain

AMD accuses former top employees of stealing over 100,000 documents
Chip maker says the defendants gave trade secrets to their new employer, NVIDIA.

Probe into privacy breach of thousands to take months RANDY RICHMOND, QMI Agency
An investigation into the loss of sensitive medical and employment information of about 5,000 Canadians is likely months from completion.

A great movie script: Quebec man accused of heading $1B marijuana smuggling operation
Jimmy Cournoyer lived a playboy lifestyle with a professional model girlfriend, an elite $2-million sports car and lavish parties until it came to an end when he was arrested in Mexico

Facebooks friends-based foray into search puts user data to work
On Tuesday, the worlds largest social network unveiled a new tool dubbed Graph Search, which enables Facebook users to quickly search their friends interests, locations and photos

Majority of Canadians concerned about financial accountability on First Nations reserves: poll
More than four out of five Canadians say they dont want more money sent to aboriginal reserves unless proper, independent audits are conducted to ensure financial accountability

Class action lawsuit launched against government over missing student loan info
A Newfoundland lawyer will file a class-action lawsuit Wednesday in court against the Federal department that lost the personal information of 583,000 student loan borrowers.

Virut malware fuels Waledac botnet resurgence
This may not be the first time Virut has been used to spread the Waledac worm, whose goal is to earn money for its purveyors through rogue ad networks, online pharmacies, or outright fraud.

Online Privacy Is a Serious Matter, So Why Do Few People Care?
Facebook, Google and other collect and use consumer information in ways few people understand. It’s time to stop being so naive, say analysts.

Two US power plants infected with malware spread via USB drive
Investigators find no up-to-date antivirus, system backups for control systems.

Commtouch’s New Mobile Security For Android Combats Fast-Growing Number Of Mobile Threats
Solution offers cloud-assisted antivirus and Web security services

Feds lose student loan data for 583,000 people QMI Agency
The federal government has lost a USB stick containing the personal information of more than half a million student loan borrowers.

Texas congressman threatens impeachment as Barack Obama considers taking executive action on gun control
Facing powerful opposition to sweeping gun regulations, President Barack Obama is weighing 19 steps that could be taken through executive action alone, congressional officials said.

“Red October” spy campaign uncovered, rivals Flame virus
Researchers at Kaspersky believe the Red October campaign, which is spreading a data-sucking trojan known as Rocra, dates back at least five years, and is still ongoing.

Automated YouTube account generator offered to cyber crooks
You’re a spammer / malware peddler / phisher, and want to register hundreds of bogus accounts on a popular online service such as YouTube in order to lead users to your wares. But, you don’t want to c…

Wombat unveils social engineering security training module
Wombat released its social engineering training module to defend against social engineering threats, including spear phishing and social media-based attacks. Commonly defined as the art of exploiti…

Waledac botmasters use Virut malware to build a new botnet
Despite having been swooped down on by security companies and law enforcement a couple of times, the botmasters of the Waledac (Kelihos) botnet refuse to give up and are using new variants to set up n…

Quebec and Ontario top Canadas health care rankings while Newfoundland lags behind
The ranking compares the availability and quality of health services with their costs, and finds that spending more does not necessarily mean a better system

HHS settles first small data breach case at medical practice
The agreement underscores the importance of mobile device security and routine risk assessments.