Critical Windows vulnerability under attack, Microsoft warns

Posted in Anti-Virus, 28th May 2009 22:37 GMT

Microsoft has warned of a critical security bug in older versions of its Windows operating system that is already being exploited in the wild to remotely execute malware on vulnerable machines.

The vulnerability in a Windows component known as DirectX is being targeted using booby-trapped QuickTime files, which when parsed can allow attackers to gain complete control of a computer. Because many browsers are designed to automatically play video, people can be compromised simply by visiting a site serving malicious files. Vista, Windows Server 2008 and the beta version of Windows 7 are not affected, and neither is Apple's QuickTime player, Microsoft said.


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NARA suffers data breach

An external hard drive with personally identifiable information from the Executive Office of the President during the Clinton administration is missing from a National Archives and Records Administration facility near Washington, government officials have said. Read more...

Tools and Config: Configuring Squid Proxy

Here's a good documentation on configuring squid proxy on Fedora.

http://www.labtestproject.com/linnet/squid_proxy_server.html

Hacker demands $10M ransom for data

May 07, 2009

A hacker who claims to have stolen 8 million records from a database that tracks prescription drug abuse in Virginia is demanding a $10 million ransom for the information's return, according to media reports.

"I have your s@*t! In *my* possession, right now, are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions," the WikiLeaks note reads. "Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original. Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing, too. Uhoh :("

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Will Craigslist Have to Crack Down?

South Carolina joins other states in calling for tighter Craigslist ad scrutiny, which could threaten Craigslist's low-cost, laissez faire business model he pressure is on Craigslist to clean up its act. If the online classified ad site doesn't remove a section devoted to erotic services in South Carolina by May 15, the state's attorney general, Henry McMaster, says he'll open a criminal investigation into the company's executives, including Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster. Read more...

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Cyberwarfare unit operating out of North Korea?

Intelligence services in Seoul are claiming that North Korea has set up a specialist cyberwarfare brigade, designed to use technology usually used by hackers to steal information from enemy countries and disrupt rival military networks in South Korea and the United States.

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