Million Computers | SilverScorpio.Com

AVG Research Discovers 1.2 Million Computers Infected by Cybercriminals Using Eleonore Exploits Toolkit

July 23, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Sun JVM and Adobe Acrobat Reader Vulnerabilities Top List with Infection Rates
of 36 Percent
AMSTERDAM–(Business Wire)–
AVG Technologies, makers of the world`s most popular free anti-virus software,
today announced that AVG`s Web security research team has discovered a network
of 1.2 million malware-infected computers controlled by cybercriminals who were
using the Eleonore exploit toolkit – a commercial attack software enabling
cybercriminals to infect and monitor compromised PCs.

The two-month-long study by AVG Research researched 165 Eleonore toolkits in use
by cybercriminals and concluded that those using the Eleonore exploit toolkit
were experiencing a 10 percent success rate in infecting the more than 12
million users visiting their compromised web pages. All 165 domains experienced
high volumes of traffic which the cybercriminals managed to compromise. The
research was built using AVG LinkScanner product data, identifying URLs that the
product blocked when it identified a threat. The full research report can be
found on AVG`s blog post at: http://blogs.avg.com.

“The accessibility and sophistication of easy-to-use cybercriminal toolkits
proves that cyber gangs are raising the bar to monetize their criminal
activities,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, senior vice president, AVG Technologies.
“That is why it`s more important than ever for families, corporations and other
computer users to protect their computers from being targeted by this kind of
increasingly popular cyber attacks by using AVG anti-virus and web security
tools like LinkScanner that AVG offers for free.”

AVG`s free award winning anti-virus software, in addition to its innovative
LinkScanner product, protects users against the ever increasing online
web-threats by dynamically scanning the web pages in real-time before users open
them in their browser. AVG Free or LinkScanner can be downloaded at the AVG
Download web page free of charge, or at www.download.com.

Keep in touch with AVG

* For breaking news, follow AVG on Twitter at www.twitter.com/officialAVGnews
* For security trends analysis, follow AVG blogs at http://blogs.avg.com
* Join our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/AVGfree

About AVG Technologies

www.avg.com

AVG is a global security software maker protecting more than 110 million
consumers and small businesses in 170 countries from the ever-growing incidence
of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. AVG has
nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most
advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats
from around the world. Its free, downloadable software allows novice users to
have basic anti-virus protection and then easily upgrade to greater levels of
safety and defense when they are ready. AVG has nearly 6,000 resellers, partners
and distributors globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro,
Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!.

Source: http://www.avg.com/press-releases-news

AVG Technologies – Investor Relations
Siobhan MacDermott, +420 725 695 132 (CZ Mobile)
+1 415-299-2945 (US Mobile)
siobhan.macdermott@avg.com
or
AVG Technologies – North America
Aimee Schoaf, +1 623-308-5017 (Mobile)
aimee.schoaf@avg.com
or
AVG Technologies – EMEA
Alica Domanicka, +420 725 097 437
alica.domanicka@avg.com
or
MS&L, for AVG
Stephen Gilmore, +1 212-468-4056
stephen.gilmore@mslworldwide.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Adobe Acrobat Reader, Anti-virus software, Attack Software, Avg Virus, cyber attacks, Cyber Gangs, Eleonore, Free Anti Virus, Free Anti Virus Software, Free Avg, Itzhak, Million Computers, raising the bar, Security Research Team, senior vice president, Sun Jvm, today announced that, Toolkits, Web Security Tools, yuval

China installs censorship software in over 500,000 PCs

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Shanghai, July 2 (ANI): Under the controversial Green Dam computer program, China has already installed censorship software in over half-a-million computers.

According to a report in The Telegraph, the Green Dam program has been downloaded three million times since the end of March and has been installed on 518,000 computers. Almost 7,000 websites in China have also installed the software.

On Tuesday night, the Chinese ministry of Industry and Internet Technology issued a short statement, indefinitely delaying a plan to make Green Dam compulsory on all computers sold on the mainland. The regulation was due to come into force on Wednesday.

The government retreated from the plan after fierce opposition from computer manufacturers, the US government and Chinese Internet users.

Once Green Dam is installed on a home computer, it links to a central database and automatically filters out all pornography and some politically sensitive content.

A spokesman for the US embassy said they welcomed the decision by the government to shelve the project.

According to researchers at the University of Michigan, the installation of Green Dam leaves computers more vulnerable to hacking. It may also be able to report an individual’s web-use back to the Chinese authorities.

A number of major computer manufacturers have already started selling computers with the software.

Sony and Lenovo, the Chinese company which bought IBM’s PC division, have already sold Green Dam compliant machines, while Acer, the Taiwanese manufacturer, said yesterday it intended to comply with the regulation. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Acer, ANI, censorship, Censorship Software, Central Database, China, chinese authorities, chinese company, Chinese Internet Users, chinese ministry, company, compliant, Computer, Computer Manufacturers, computer program, content, Dam, Dam Program, database, decision, division, embassy, end, force, Government, green, Green Dam, half a million, home, IBM, individual, industry, installation, internet, internet technology, July, Lenovo, mainland, Major Computer, manufacturer, March, michigan, Million Computers, million times, ministry, night, number, opposition, plan, pornography, program, project, regulation, report, Selling Computers, Sensitive Content, shanghai, shelve, software, Software Sony, sony, spokesman, statement, Taiwanese Manufacturer, Technology, Telegraph, Tuesday, University, US, Wednesday, yesterday

China to require censor software on all PC’s

June 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

San Francisco/Beijing- China is demanding that all new personal computers sold in the country from July onwards include filtering software that blocks access to pornography and other “unhealthy information” on the internet, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported Monday.

The so-called Green Dam software will allow the government to continually update a list of banned websites and could represent a dramatic tightening of internet restrictions in a country that

already places severe limits on free speech on the web and elsewhere.

According to the reports, the requirement was issued last month by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The software is made by the China-based Jinui Computer System Engineering, whose owner Zhang Chenming was quoted by the New York Times as saying that concerns over censorship were overblown because the program could be uninstalled or temporarily turned off.

“A parent can still use this computer to go to porn,” he said.

The new regulations were posted Monday on the ministry’s website.

It is unclear whether computer makers will have to pre-load the program on to their machines or simply provide customers with a compact disc. Over 40 million computers were sold in last year China, where an estimated 300 million people regularly use the internet.

A spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard, which is the largest US PC seller in China, told The Wall Street Journal that the company is “working with the government authorities and evaluating the best way to approach this. Obviously we will focus on delivering the best customer experience while ensuring that we meet necessary regulatory requirements.”

In addition to concerns over censorship, the software, which according to the company website has already been downloaded more than 3 million times, has also been criticized on technical grounds. The reports quoted experts as saying that it slowed computers down and often led to system crashes. (dpa)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: beijing china, censorship, Chenming, Compact Disc, Computer Makers, Computer System Engineering, Customer Experience, Dam Software, Filtering Software, Free Speech, government authorities, Green Dam, Internet Restrictions, Million Computers, million times, New York Times, personal computers, Regulatory Requirements, System Crashes, wall street journal

UK Parliament PCs infected with Conficker virus

March 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar.27 (ANI): The IT system in the British Parliament has become infected with the Conficker computer virus, The Telegraph reports.

The worm virus, which has affected more than 15 million computers around the world, has become established on computers used by MPs, Lords and parliamentary staff.

Known variously as Conficker, Downadup, and Kido, it buries itself deep inside a PC’s Windows operating system, from where it can be used by hackers to steal users’ passwords and personal information.

Although it is not clear when or how the machines became infected, there were claims last night that parliament had failed to follow standard online security procedures.

“This incident clearly shows, once again, that when it comes to even the most basic of security procedures, parliament is lagging behind everyone else,” the paper quoted Rob Cotton, of IT security company NCC Group as telling Channel 4.

He added: “Unauthorised machines shouldn’t even be capable of coming anywhere near an official network like this, particularly one which could provide a doorway to seriously sensitive material. Even worse, this particular virus is one that has been around since November last year, and security updates and patches have previously been issued to deal with it.”

A spokesman for the Houses of Parliament declined to comment. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: british parliament, channel 4, Computer Virus, doorway, hackers, houses of parliament, Million Computers, parliament, parliamentary staff, passwords, patches, security company, security procedures, security updates, sensitive material, spokesman, Telegraph, uk parliament, windows operating system, worm virus

Teenage whizz-kid hacker gets a straight job

March 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Wellington – A New Zealand teenage whizz-kid who admitted developing software that infected a million computers around the world has been hired by telecommunications company TelstraClear to advise companies how to avoid hackers.

Owen Walker, 19, who was tracked down by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, is advising on “botnets” – networks of computers infected by malicious software – TelstraClear spokesman Chris Mirams told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday.

Walker admitted when he appeared in court in July to being part of what the FBI called “an elite international botnet coding group” that caused chaos around the world, including shutting down the entire network of 50,000 computers at the University of Pennsylvania.

A judge discharged Walker, who was at high school at the time, without penalty, saying he had not acted with criminal intent and a conviction could jeopardize his potentially outstanding future.

Walker had turned down numerous job offers from companies around the world and said he wanted to be the next Bill Gates, the New Zealand Press Association reported. (dpa)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Bill Gates, chaos, Coding Group, conviction, Criminal Intent, developing software, Entire Network, fbi, federal bureau of investigation, hacker, hackers, malicious software, Million Computers, Press,conviction,Association,Teenage,court,Federal,hacker,Bureau,network,University,botnet,software,TelstraClear,time,dpa,judge,future,Wednesday,Radio,penalty,Investigation,chaos,elite,job,spokesman,i, Radio New Zealand, spokesman, Straight Job, Telecommunications Company, university of pennsylvania, Wellington, Whizz Kid, whizz kid, radio new zealand, straight job, coding group, million computers, entire network, federal bureau of investigation, telecommunications company, bill gates, developing software, criminal inte

Mobiles to turn into ‘zombies’ by malicious cellphone networks

March 10, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

London, March 10 (ANI): If cellphone networks called botnets have their way, many mobile phones may soon become useless zombies.

Botnets are networks of hacked computers recruited to assist in cybercrime without their owners realizing that their cell phones are being hacked.

These networks can incorporate as many as a million computers and are used to send out spam email or even to extort money from website owners.

According to a report in New Scientist, the botnets use a software worm that targets cellphones and spreads by sending out text messages to all of a person’s contacts, asking them to visit a weblink.

Although contacts have to choose to follow the link, the worm creates a bridge between mobile phones and the Internet, and suggests that mobile botnets may not be far away, according to California-based network security company Fortinet, in a report in their latest monthly report on current computer security threats.

The new worm, called Yxes.A or Sexy View, targets cellphones running the S60 3rd Edition of the Symbian operating system, such as Nokia 3250 handsets.

“Security threats against mobile devices are set to grow,” said Derek Manky, project manager for cyber security and threat research at Fortinet.

“We are just starting to see the tip of the iceberg with Sexy View, but we predict much more to come with the growth of mobile platforms, applications and broader bandwidth,” he said.

Although Sexy View can interfere with a phone’s function, its main aim is to gather information such as the serial number of the mobile and a person’s phone number.

That is relayed back to a remote server, but it is not yet known how that information is used by hackers.

“If the worm is upgraded to exert more control over an infected phone, it could lead to botnet-like networks of cellphones being established,” said Fortinet.

Such networks could be used like existing desktop-based botnets, with many “zombie” phones coordinated by hackers – for example, in attacks against websites. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: aim, ANI, bandwidth, Botnets, bridge, California, cell, cellphone, Cellphone Networks, cellphones, company, Computer, Computer Security Threats, control, Current Computer, cyber, Cyber Security, cybercrime, Derek Manky, edition, email, Email Money, example, Fortinet, function, growth, iceberg, information, internet, link, London, london march, manager, Manky, March, Million Computers, Mobile Platforms, Mobiles, MONEY, network, Network Security Company, New, New Scientist, New Worm, Nokia, Nokia 3250, number, person, Phone, project, Remote Server, report, Research, scientist, security, serial, server, sexy, Sexy View, software, spam, Symbian, system, text, threat, Threat Research, tip, view, way, weblink, website, worm, Yxes, zombie