While many countries worldwide have been trying to get to the bottom of phishing scams and identity theft attempts, Italy has just made progress with an operation dubbed "Phish and Chip."
Not too long after its announcement of progress with "Operation Bot Roast", the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has promised more steps forward in prosecutions for spam and botnet related activities in the coming months.
While there is debate about why Apple has developed a version of its Safari Web browser for Microsofts Windows operating system, two points seem clear: the Windows version of the Mac application should work in Apples favor in terms of browser market share, and it could also benefit Apples iPhone by getting programmers to create applications for the iPhone,
Saying that computer users play a huge role in their own security is stating the obvious. But as malware evolves and gets nastier, being alert to online threats is a critical part of staying safe online.
For an interesting read on the evolution of malware - past, present, and lessons to be learned to keep you safe in the future - take a look at Roger A. Grimes' article on InfoWorld.
A malware attack that has been underway since late last week compromised more than 10,000 websites by Monday morning, reports say.
Attackers have hit targets throughout the world, yet more than 80 percent of the infections are on Italian websites.
There has been ongoing debate surrounding two dueling spyware bills, the Spy Act and I-Spy, which have been making their way through the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. FBI has released news that its "Operation Bot Roast" has identified over one million victim computer IP addresses being used in criminal activity. The arrest of three men accused of using the army of hijacked computers for spam related crime was also announced.
A Connecticut, USA judge has granted a new trial for the so-called "Spyware Teacher" Julie Amero, who was facing up to 40 years behind bars after being convicted of exposing students to pornography on a classroom computer.
According to reports, the computer that had been the subject of debate in the trial was sent to a state laboratory following the trial, and those findings may contradict the testimony that had been presented by a state computer expert.
Spam update:
Robert Soloway, considered "one of the most persistent professional spammers" by Spamhaus, has been arrested following an indictment by a grand jury in Washington, USA on charges of mail fraud, identity theft, fraud and money laundering.
If convicted, Soloway faces fines of over $772,000 U.S. and could potentially face up to 65 years in prison.
While spam levels are still on the rise, it seems that e-mail users are less bothered by it. According to a new Pew Internet report, the amount of people who identify spam as a big problem in their online lives has dropped nearly 10 percent since 2003, when the study was originally conducted.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Internet Spyware Prevention Act, which you may know as I-Spy, a bill that aims to create a federal law to take on spyware. I-Spy calls for:
- making it a criminal offense for an individual to place unauthorized code on a computer and use it to obtain or transmit personal information or to impair the security protections on the system.
- fines and prisons terms of up to five years for those responsible for such acts.
Researchers from Google surveyed billions of sites and analyzed 4.5 million web pages, showing the sheer volume of web-based malware.
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