* Patches from Microsoft, Ubuntu, Debian, others * Talking Trojan says 'bye bye' to victims' data * Credit card thieves donate to charity, and other interesting reading
Today’s bug patches and security alerts:
Microsoft to release six security updates next week
Microsoft will release six groups of security patches next week, including three critical updates for Windows and Excel users. The critical updates will fix bugs in many different versions of Microsoft’s products including the latest versions of Excel, Windows XP, Vista and Windows Server 2003, Microsoft said Thursday in a note on its Web site. IDG News Service, 07/05/07.
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Two new updates from Ubuntu:
Gimp (buffer overflow, code execution)
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Three new patches from Debian:
gfax (non-secure temp files, privilege escalation)
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Five new fixes from Mandriva:
Apache for Corporate 3.0 (multiple flaws)
Apache for Multi Network Firewall 2.0 (multiple flaws)
Apache for Corporate 4.0 (multiple flaws)
kdebase/Flash plug-in (information leak)
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Today’s malware news:
Talking Trojan says ‘bye bye’ to victims’ data
A newly identified malicious program not only messes up its victims’ computers, it taunts them too. The program, called the BotVoice.A Trojan was first spotted by security vendor Panda Software last week. It is a Trojan horse program, which the victim must download first. But once installed, it gets nasty. IDG News Service, 07/05/07.
Mpack installs ultra-invisible Trojan
The notorious Mpack hacker tool kit is installing malware that carries out all its chores — including spewing spam — from within the Windows kernel, making it extremely difficult for some security software to detect, Symantec said today. Computerworld, 07/05/07.
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From the interesting reading department:
Credit card thieves donate to charity
Symantec says it has noticed an increase in the use of stolen credit cards to make charitable contributions as a way to check out whether card numbers are legitimate before the thieves attempt to sell them or make large purchases with them. Network World, 07/06/07.
Symantec Security Response blog: Scammers make friends with charities
Attack of the killer bots
If malware were insects, botnets would be termites — they burrow in behind the walls of your security perimeter, lie dormant for a period of time, then attack. Network World, 07/06/07.
How big is the botnet problem?
Watchdog organization Shadowserver Foundation calls it “gigantic.” Network World, 07/06/07.
Six ways to fight back against botnets
Botnets are a growing threat, but there are six steps that security professionals can take to fight back. Network World, 07/06/07.
E-mail worms rarer in 2007, says vendor
E-mail worms, not long ago the scourge of the Internet, have declined sharply in 2007, a security company has revealed. TechWorld, 07/05/07.
Gov’t report: Data breaches don’t often result in ID theft
Most large data breaches don’t appear to lead to identity theft, and proposals that would require companies to notify customers of most breaches may lead to increased costs without significant benefits, says a report from a U.S. government agency released Thursday. IDG News Service, 07/05/07.
Security company launches eBay for bugs
Psst. Want to buy a zero-day? A Swiss startup called WabiSabiLabi has some for sale, but to qualified buyers only. IDG News Service, 07/05/07.
Mozilla security guru backs industry confab
While stopping short of volunteering to host the event, Mozilla chief security official Window Snyder said that it could prove helpful for the open-source community to meet at its own conference to debate secure coding, vulnerability reporting, and product patching issues. Computerworld, 07/05/07.
