Security News

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Computer security specialists warn that hackers are using fake YouTube pages to trick people into opening their machines to diabolical software.

David Kernell, who was accused of accessing Gov. Sarah Palin's email account without authorization, pleaded innocent to the charges on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Tennessee university student has been indicted for hacking into a personal email account of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

SAN FRANCISCO - Savvy Internet users know that downloading unsolicited computer programs is one of the most dangerous things you can do online. It puts you at great risk for a virus or another time bomb from a hacker.

A 20-year-old college student was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Tennessee for allegedly hacking into the Yahoo e-mail account of Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

SAN FRANCISCO - A jury on Friday acquitted the former top lawyer at computer-security software maker McAfee Inc. of illegally tampering with his stock option grants to boost his pay package.

In a September study of spam by Secure Computing, Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Barack Obama top their rivals in the number of spam email messages making reference to them.

On Thursday, Panda Security released its report for the third quarter stating that adware is responsible for one third of all new malicious software. In particular, the security company cited increased use of fake antivirus scanners.

San Francisco - The Internet is a scary place. Criminal malware lurks on legitimate and illegitimate Web sites alike, looking to steal your money one way or the other.

San Francisco - Many sandbox security vendors claim that their products stop all known and unknown attacks. Even assuming the ability to curtail all known attacks could be proven, it's simply impossible to believe that any piece of software could halt all unknown attacks. Of course, that doesn't prevent the vendors from making empty promises or the malware authors from proving them wrong.

Nokia, the No. 1 cell phone maker in the world, is close to selling its computer security hardware unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Russian security giant Kaspersky Lab on Wednesday released its mid-year report on current trends in malware along with a report on spam trends. The upshot? Trojans continue to dominate the threat radar, and mobile-phone viruses are now a valid concern.

San Francisco - The past 30 years of InfoWorld's existence have seen a series of future shocks, from the ascent of the personal computer to horrifying strains of malware to the sizzling sex appeal of the iPhone. In honor of InfoWorld's 30th anniversary, we've decided to take a playful look ahead at the future shocks that could occur in the next 10 years (30 years seemed a little too sci-fi).

What really drives me crazy about our government--and it applies to Republicans and Democrats alike--is the blithe insouciance of empowered apparatchiks who run their respective fiefdoms as if they have all the time in the world to get things done.

Dell wants to sell emerging consumers their first PC

LONDON (Reuters) - Dell hopes its new retail drive to sell in stores rather than just online will help it sell to consumers in emerging markets buying their first computer, Chief Executive Michael Dell said on Tuesday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Computer security company McAfee Inc plans to buy Secure Computing Corp for $465 million, adding specialized equipment that keeps hackers from breaking into computer networks.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Sunni Muslim computer hackers have attacked hundreds of Shiite websites including Shia Islam's most popular site linked to the community's leader in Iraq, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Friday.

On Thursday, Advanced Micro Devices tied a new corporate branding campaign,"Fusion," to a beta utility that is designed to speed up AMD-powered PCs. The company warned, however, that the utility could turn off antivirus or other security software without notifying the user.

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Hackers broke into the email account of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the John McCain campaign said.

A general news correspondent with Reuters in the United States, Andy Sullivan has covered hurricanes, executions, elections, scandals and computer hackers. He has been with the company since 2000. In the following story, he describes playing baseball with lawmakers and lobbyists at the Republican event.

Movie fans who love to search what leading man Brad Pitt is up to need to beware of malware. Pitt's name is being used to lure Web surfers to malware-hosting sites, according to McAfee. Web surfers looking for wallpaper, ring tones, photos and screensavers are the main targets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Looking for information about Brad Pitt or Beyonce on the Web? It could be risky.

The Supreme Court of the State of Virginia has released a spammer previously sentenced to nine years in prison. Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., was convicted in 2004 of sending tens of thousands of e-mails from his home.

SUNNYVALE, California (AFP) - Hackers armed with laptop computers, camping tents and dreams of software glory invaded Yahoo during the weekend as the Internet pioneer opened its strategy and its doors to outside developers.

LONDON (AFP) - Hackers claim they have broken into the computer system of the Large Hadron Collider, the mega-machine designed to expose secrets of the cosmos, British newspapers reported on Saturday.

RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia Supreme Court declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional Friday and reversed the conviction of a man once considered one of the world's most prolific spammers.

Cybercriminals are getting more and more business-like. The latest examples involve a tool that automates the creation of fake YouTube Web sites that can be used to deliver malware and password-cracking services for sale.

Don't believe everything you read on the Internet: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama isn't a terrorist...or a porn star.

What if your desktop security application could detect and remove a new threat that was only minutes old? That's the impetus behind McAfee Artemis Technology, announced on Monday.