Malware filters bad for business

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Up to 80% of Web sites flagged as malicious by antivirus and search engine indexes are legitimate businesses, according to security experts. Experts said while the security industry is on top of conventional spam and phishing attacks, more effort needs to be put into preventing and eliminating so-called drive-by-downloads. The attacks allow ...

Why Your Computer Runs So Slowly

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

The first thing I suspect when someone tells me that their PC is running slowly is that they may be dealing with adware or spyware. Typically, a computer infected with this type of malware will display other symptoms as well. Odd behavior such as pop-up ads, your internet home page ...

Top 15 Malicious Spyware Actions

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Spyware authors have ramped up their malicious code to invade users' privacy at unprecedented levels. The following list describes some of the most malicious activities of today's spyware, illustrating the need for solid antispyware defenses. Changing network settings: To prevent signature updates for antivirus and antispyware tools, some spyware alters the ...

Five of the Dirtiest Malware Tricks

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

If the crooks behind viruses, Trojan horses, and other malicious software were as stupid as they are scummy, we'd have a lot less to worry about. But as protective measures get better at stopping the obvious attacks, online creeps respond with underhanded moves to invade your PC. Here are five ...

Antivirus software too inconsistent

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Anti-virus technologies are inconsistent when it comes to identifying attacks such as worms, phishing and botnets. That's according to a report from the University of Michigan's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department and network security company Arbor Networks, antivirus products are inconsistent at best when it comes to identifying attacks such ...

Is Desktop Antivirus Dead?

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Some industry analysts are proclaiming the traditional antivirus method for detecting and eradicating viruses, trojans, spyware and other baneful code by matching it against a signature to be "dead." They say signature-based checking can't keep up with the flood of virus variants manufactured by a criminal underworld that is beating the ...

The Ten Net Commandments

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

1. Thou shalt not buy merchandise found in pop-up ads or spam. 2. Thou shalt not post thy email address, phone number, address or social security number to the internet, nor shalt thou post anyone else's. 3. Thou shalt not forget to update thy Windows every second Tuesday. 4. Thou shalt not connect ...

Stealth Mode Malware

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Makers of antispyware and antivirus programs, pay attention to this article. An ugly trend is developing in the world of antispyware. It is my belief that, very soon, all current tools and methods used to detect and remove malware will become obsolete. Very soon, malware will be able to load ...

ID Theft Keylogger Examined

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

I have had email conversations with a number of people at Sunbelt Software about the ID theft ring they discovered recently. They were kind enough to provide a HijackThis log entry that identifies the keylogger. I promised not to publish it but said I would warn the helpers at the ...

Webroot Enlists Bots To Fight Spyware

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Anti-spyware company Webroot Software Inc. Monday announced what it claims is the industry's first automated spyware research system. Called Phileas, the system relies on bots--computer programs that perform tasks in lieu of a person--that continually crawl the Web, looking for spyware, adware, and the sites that host such software. Webroot ...