The internet security industry applauded the recent capture of a Botnet hacker in Slovenia.

Known as Iserdo, he is believed to have written the programme on which the mariposa virus is based. Such was the importance of his arrest, that the FBI described it as a major breakthrough.

The mariposa virus created one of the globe’s most virulent botnets which eventually infected over 12 million computers.

Also known as butterfly, the mariposa virus was created as a tool to steal personal financial details from bank customers. Many of the infected companies were in the computers owned by banks, financial institutions and major companies.

The 23-year-old Iserdo was one of the internet security industry’s most wanted men and he, and around a team of three which ran the botnet, have been hunted by officials from around the world. Last December the team of three were arrested in Spain, which led to the closure of the infamous botnet.

The FBI was delighted with the arrests and botnet’s demise, with the deputy assistant director of the unit’s cyber division telling Associated Press:
“To use an analogy here, as opposed to arresting the guy who broke into your home, we’ve arrested the guy that gave him the crowbar, the map and the best houses in the neighbourhood.”

A botnet is a network of compromised computers which are controlled by malicious programmes without the owners of the computers realising their machines are infected. They are designed to sit on the compromised computer and send back key information on the hard drive, including personal information, including usernames and passwords.

Commenting on developments, the BBC was told by Rik Ferguson, an expert in internet security at company Trend Macro, said:
“The guys behind it said it was more successful than they had intended to be. As is the case with most botnets, the more widespread they are the more likely they are to be discovered. They were a victim of their own success.

“The thing with the underground economy is that it’s full of niche vendors and players, it mirrors legitimate business. There’s a lot of competition – it’s not unusual to see malware designed to remove other
malware, just so that it can take over.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Major computer security company AVG has identified new social network application threats from what’s become known as Political Hacktivists.

And these Political Hacktivists are becoming a major threat to social networking websites like Facebook.

For those unsure of the term, Political Hacktivists are those that use non-violent use of legal, or indeed illegal digital tools to make a political statement. For example, the research team at AVG spotted that a number of Facebook accounts has apparently been targeted by Turkish hackers. Their actions appeared to be in revenge for the recent ship seizure as people tried to break the Gaza blockade, but were stopped by the Israeli military.

The Political Hacktivists use a number of techniques and tactics to make their point. These include virtual sabotage, website defacements, re-directs, information theft, virtual sit-ins, website parodies and denial-of-service attacks.

Roger Thompson, AVG Chief Research Officer. said:
“The number of hacked accounts is fairly small, so far lass than fifty, which would indicate that it is not an automated attack, but the number is still increasing, albeit slowly. This is the first time, as far as I am aware, that Facebook has been a victim of political hacktivism.

“Given that the attack seems to be being run by Turkish hackers, and that Turkish hackers had once claimed a world record for defacing 37k pages in a single day, we should not discount the thought that they might find an automated way to move, and we should be extra vigilant with what we click. Think before you link.”

AVG state that Facebook has had a number of such attacks from Political Hacktivists and warns people to take care when accessing social networking websites.

AVG recommends to avoid such Political Hacktivists attacks, computer users should always practice safe surfing, which includes using a link scanner which helps identify, in real time, rogue links and other web-based threats.

And as always, users should ensure that their anti-virus software application is fully up-to-date.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

If you use the internet you need to consider computer virus protection. One way to protect your computer is to use antivirus PC software. The anti virus software is designed to protect your PC from viruses that can be found when you surf the web. 

Computer viruses can be contracted in a variety of ways. Sometimes you will visit a website which has malicious code on it which will then install itself on your computer. The virus code can attach itself to a program on your computer. Some computer viruses can be very dangerous as they can reproduce themselves and infect other computers on your network or even PCs you communicate with through email and instant messenger. 

How do I protect my computer against viruses? 

There are new computer viruses being created all the time which is why it is important to make sure you have the best virus protection. There are many different kinds of PC protection software so you will need to do some research to find out which software is the most appropriate for your computer usage. 

Antivirus reviews are a great way to find out which antivirus software is the best and how they work. Good anti virus review sites will have antivirus software reviews and will also provide information about the latest computer security issues. At Antivirus-BUYability we bring you the latest virus news so you can be aware of all the latest computer vulnerabilities and how to stay safe online. 

Computer Viruses 

Hackers and cyber criminals will often exploit the latest fads and technology in order to spread computer viruses very quickly. For this reason social sites like Facebook and Twitter can be a risk to your computer because they are often a target for people who wish to spread computer viruses. By using computer virus protection you can use these sites with no worries of security issues. 

Another popular way in which computer viruses spread is through email. Because email viruses can spread so quickly it is important when you are reading your antivirus reviews you ensure the antivirus software you buy gives you adequate email protection. Email viruses can inject onto your computer even without opening the infected attachment, by viewing the email in your preview pane can cause infection.

Computer virus protection is a must in a world that is increasingly digital, be vigilant when opening and downloading files. If you are unsure of the source of the file then delete it from your PC. IF you keep up to date with potential computer viruses by reading antivirus reviews sites and buy antivirus software you will have done your best to protect your computer against viruses.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

News agency Reuters is reporting that the FBI has started an investigation into the recent security breach of the iPad which resulted in the leak of personal information about AT&T customers.

And the names leaked included a number of senior US Government officials, celebrities and businessman.

The attack on the iPad was first announced by the website Gawker. It reported that a group going by the name of Goatse Security had succeeded into hacking into AT&T’s subscriber data, obtaining the sensitive details from about 100,000 email addresses.

AT&T admitted the attack and said that the flaw had been corrected and what’s more, that only those email addresses which had a security weakness had been exposed by the hackers. AT&T didn’t comment on the role of the FBI.

A less shy FBI spokesman said: "The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber threat.”

Observers see this as a passing embarrassment for AT&T and by no means a crippling blow. The general feeling was amongst security professionals that the breach was not catastrophic and that it had little to do with the iPad’s basic set-up. Furthermore, others pointed out that whenever Government and VIP addresses get hacked, the Feds usually get a call and have to be seen to be pro-active.

AT&T has the exclusive US rights to carry the iPad and the iPhone. This exclusivity hasn’t won it many friends in certain quarters of a jealous industry. There are also subscribers who complain about the quality of the AT&T network.

This won’t dent the incredible success already experienced by the iPad, already selling over two million units worldwide since its launch in April. And the iPad is being seen as Apple’s major battering ram to enforce its international growth strategy. Last month Apple over took its rival Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology stock.

Rival models to the iPad are expected soon from Dell and Hewlett Packard, although experts see them playing a game of catch-up.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Top computer security company AVG Technologies is warning people about rogue Facebook applications which are doing the rounds at the moment.

The rogue applications were said to be part of an aggressive and co-ordinated attack by hackers during the weekend of 15/16 May 2010.

In one period alone – from midnight to 9am on 15 Saturday – AVG spotted and dealt with 300,000.

Talking about the rogue Facebook applications Roger Thompson, AVG’s Chief Research Officer, said:
“This latest issue really underscores how powerful, while at the same time vulnerable, social networking applications are. This attack was actually stunning in terms of scale.

“Facebook is very responsive to threats when we identify them, and removing these applications as soon as they find them, but they’re still able to generate huge traffic, just because of the viral nature of social networks. It is staggering how many threats were propagated before they were stopped.

The rogue Facebook applications attack come wrapped in a time-honoured trap: a picture of a girl in a bikini which encourages the victim to innocently install an adware-supported viewer. The viewer is not viral in nature say AVG and it has been seen in various forms.

The rogue Facebook applications are coming in waves, with AVG saying that the peak before the weekend in question was about 80,000 and then had died to around a few hundred by Friday 14 May. However, that quickly climbed to 200,000 as the weekend started and the attack mounted in ferocity.

To put the rogue Facebook applications attack in context, the second largest attack registered at the same time, some anti-spy software, lodged 24,000 detections.

As Mr Thompson from AVG added about the rogue Facebook applications:
“Interestingly, they launched it on a Saturday. I guess they figure we don’t watch on the weekend, but malcode researchers are all cut from the same cloth as Inspector Gadget… we’re always on duty.”

When it comes to such rogue Facebook applications, AVG warned that people should employ a link scanner which alerts you if a page, or link, is bad. Furthermore, if you have to install a viewer to watch, then walk away. This is a sign that things might not be as they seem. Never download viewers via a link.

Guest Article by Neil Camp