Carlo Orlando

Those wanting to jazz up their Google Android phones better watch out for a new malware that masquerades as a wallpaper application. While aesthetically appealing, the malware rooted behind the wallpaper strips personal data and sends it away to a ... remote server. The mal-app (malware app) targets phone numbers, subscriber identity and voicemail passwords. The vulnerability was uncovered by the US-based security company Lookout, which is currently working on the App Genome Project, a website designed to uncover apps with malicious code embedded. Malware Source Identified Fortunately, the source ... (view more)

The ' Koobface ' virus is once again making its rounds, freshly updated and even tougher to combat. It's responsible for delivering spyware payloads and also sniffing out passwords and credit card numbers of unsuspecting users. "Several weeks ago ... Koobface added ... hijacking functionality that blocks access to security sites, tipping users off to the fact that something might be wrong with their systems. Since then the authors have taken a giant leap toward invasiveness with the installation of a fake anti-virus Trojan," said Mcafee researchers. (Source: avertlabs.com ) Koobface Now ... (view more)

Hackers have now started using what is being referred to as "indestructible" cloud computing -based phishing attacks . In short, a phishing attack is a "criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire user names, passwords, and credit card ... details by masquerading as a trustworthy website." (Source: wikipedia.org ) For example, you may have received a dubious email asking you to "update" your banking information or to "change your online banking password." These are typical phishing scams whereby the information you input is stolen by fake ... (view more)

Mozilla and Google have taken an interesting approach to ensuring that flaws, bugs and other problems associated with their Internet browsers are reported on in a timely manner. The two companies are paying outside researchers as added motivation, ... with the belief being that if a bonus is attached for their efforts, more individuals will be willing to offer up their time to discover new errors. Not All Researchers Financially Motivated Microsoft employees need not get too excited with the news, as company representatives announced that no such bonuses will be given to their researchers. ... (view more)

Dell has now taken a new approach to combating online malware, focusing not on its prevention but on effective measures needed to trap it when infection occurs. The Dell KACE Secure Browser provides a virtualized version of Mozilla's Firefox onto a ... machine and has the ability to keep malware locked into a browser, rather than having it spill over and infect the entire PC, including the operating system. In techy speak, this is referred as a virtualized sandbox, or " sandboxing " for short. As one Dell spokesperson said, "Any changes resulting from [unwanted] browser activity ... (view more)

Microsoft recently took full advantage when given the opportunity to criticize longtime rival Apple about its iPhone 4. To their credit, however, Microsoft ended up offering some self-depreciating humor in the process. "It looks like the iPhone 4 ... might be [Apple's Windows Vista], and I'm OK with that," said Kevin Turner, Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer (COO) during their Worldwide Partner Conference held in Washington. (Source: thestreet.com ) It was only five years ago that Windows Vista was pegged as Microsoft's most comprehensive operating system (OS) to date, yet it soon fell out of ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled a beta version of their latest software offering called 'WebMatrix'. The free tool is intended to simplify application-based development on Microsoft's ASP.Net web platform. Among its many features, "the (WebMatrix) tool is ... free, provides core coding and database support, integrates with an open source web application gallery and includes support to easily publish and deploy sites and applications to web-hosting providers" according to a recent blog post written by Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president in the Microsoft Developer Division. (Source: computerworld.com ) ... (view more)

With thousands of people flocking to social networking sites each day, a campaign to reduce the ever-increasing spam attacks on Twitter should come as little surprise. What is unusual, however, is where funding for the research needed to crack down ... on Twitter spammers is coming from: Google. Google is offering a grant to researchers at Texas A ... (view more)

Microsoft has recently attacked Google in what critics say is the latest shot fired in the ongoing battle between the two companies. Microsoft openly criticized Google for their lack of customer support services. Microsoft has a reputation of ... offering consistent support via phone, email and online community sites like Microsoft Answers. Google, however, does little to offer support for their customers -- at least, according to Microsoft. Barbara Gordon, Microsoft corporate vice president of customer service and support, offered the following rhetorical questions as it relates to Google-based ... (view more)

Internet Explorer (IE) has given Microsoft reason to celebrate after almost two years of market share decline. (Source: techflash.com ) Internet Explorer 8 is leading all other competitors, with figures that are predicted to be more than three times ... that of rival Google Chrome. Internet Explorer, in the various versions that are still in use, now account for three of the four top market share positions. IE8 Currently 25% Market Share Internet Explorer 8 leads the way, with a 25.84 per cent market share. Internet Explorer 6 is the second-most used web browser at 17.17 per cent. Mozilla Firefox ... (view more)