We've brought you news of the growing botnet threat with an article in our Spyware Education Center and updates in Lavasoft News. This weekend brought a new botnet-related news story making the headlines.
A California, U.S. man has admitted to infecting a quarter of a million computers with malware and spyware, allowing attackers to control the machines remotely in order to steal the personal details of thousands of people.
Want some weekend reading?
Yesterday, the November issue of Lavasoft News was sent out to subscribers all over the world. If you missed out, don't fear - head over to the newsletter archive to catch up.
It's not even November, and holiday shopping is already becoming a hot topic. Figures show that this online shopping season could reach record numbers. Shoppers in the U.S. alone are expected to spend more than $39 billion online.
The Washington Post recently ran an article profiling the Russian Business Network, an Internet business based in St. Petersburg said to be responsible for hosting websites that carry out a major part of the worlds cyber-crime.
For your reading pleasure, in this months Lavasoft News we've brought you an insightful look at social engineering with an article by our own Joe Wells.
Joe's article, Social Engineering - Good Triggers and Bad Triggers, was also published in Septembers Cyber Security Industry Alliance newsletter, which featured Lavasoft in its "member spotlight."
As you may have noticed by the new banner we've added on our homepage, October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division and the National Cyber Security Alliance, the goal of this program is to educate everyday PC users on staying safe online.
Our good friends at the volunteer-led security community CastleCops are devoted to helping victims of cybercrime, but the community itself is also a frequent target for attacks from cybercrime organizations.
The attacks have, up until now, consisted mainly of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks intended to make the community unavailable for its members.
Let me take a quick moment to explain for you one of the ways we are 'walking the walk' when it comes to making real social change in this burgeoning malware industry. We belong to two organizations that you should be familiar with, if only from a point of interest.
Consumer Reports has come out with the results of their latest "State of the Net" report which surveyed over 2,000 online households to look at the impact of spam, viruses, phishing, and spyware.
According to the report -
The good news: Spyware infections dropped among respondents to the survey.
With the news of the return of the "Storm worm" with a vengeance and reports of the rise and rise of malicious websites, there's really no such thing as being too cautious when you're online.
Should the "good guys" be able to use spyware? Similar questions have been raised about police hacking. The methods that law enforcement officials are allowed to use to investigate crimes vary (as does public opinion, reports say) depending on what part of the world you are in.
In the United States, the FBI recently used a secret surveillance program, a computer and internet protocol address verifier, to catch an alleged teen bomb threat suspect.
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