Between the phone ringing, computers rebooting and me sticking my foot in my mouth 2-3 times I have a great show for you.. Back for one show here in Honolulu and off to Austin next week. Then home for Christmas and to prepare for CES 2012!

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Google Changes Search results.

Credits:
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Digital security firm Sophos today released their Security Threat Report for 2011, which reviews all the ways that the bad guys are out to get you. It’s a glossy 52 page report and is worth a quick read to understand the threats that are out there, especially in areas that you might not be familiar with.

The report covers the key threats from 2010:

• Fake anti-virus software and scareware – through a warning dialog, users are scared into paying for and installing fake anti-virus software, which at best does nothing and at worst steals passwords and credit card information.
• SEO poisoning – manipulating search engine results to point users to fake and rogue websites, which are loaded with browser exploits and malware.
• Clickjacking or UI redressing – hiding malicious buttons underneath innocuous images, e.g. clicking on a “Like” or “Share” image actually emails out malware to all the users friends.
• Survey scam – in order to complete a questionnaire that typically offers a non-existent but  sought-after prize, software has to be installed or access given to personal data. This information is then used to propagate the questionnaire onwards, earning affiliate revenue for the application developer.
• Spam – not exactly a new entrant in 2010 but the rise of spam on social networking sites is an increasing problem.
• Spearphishing – a variant on the original phishing but in this case the attack is well targetted and much more convincing and consequently more likely to succeed.
• Stuxnet worm – a traditional vector but with a new target, the Stuxnet worm went after SCADA systems and industrial PLC controllers. Very sophisticated, leading to conspiracy theories involving industrial sabotage.
• Malvertising – the infection of advertising on legitimate websites that links to malware or fake anti-virus software.
• Compromised sites and accounts – Legitimate websites and typically celebrate accounts are hacked to serve infected webpages or link to malware sites.

The report briefly covers the threats posed to iOS, Android, Windows 7 and Blackberry smartphones before moving onto to review issues with Facebook, Adobe products, removeable media and USB drives. Windows 7 and OS X are also discussed.

The report continues with some of the success stories when the justice system has managed to catch up with the criminals before closing with advice and guidance on how to avoid getting hit.

Give it a read. Warning – 4MB .pdf download.

Are you as mad as I am over the latest AT&T announcement I get on the GNC Soapbox and stay there for a bit. Last show in Hawaii for two weeks, I head out to Texas and NY over the next 4 shows. Join me live at more civilized times. Listen to show for details. Looking for some feedback on the Insider Video on how you liked it..

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AT&T Bait and Switch!
Tether iPad Nope Pay to Tether Phone!
AT&T Threatens a Customer?!
Live Stream from YouTube?
520 Day Mars Mission in Moscow.
Ballmer on Google.
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FTC Spanks Key Logger.
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Windows iPad.
Will Paywall Fail?
Google gives up Wi-Fi data to Germany.
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Coal to Elephant Grass.
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Nuke for Oil Leak off the Table.
Eyeball Tickets in Columbus.
App Rejection Criteria for Apple App Store.
AT&T King of 3G (whatever).
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EFF Helping Time Warner.
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Sony Betamax and what’s Left.
Nikon Lense Thermos.

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McAfee just released their annual report talking about the dangers of surfing the Internet. In the report they highlighted the most “dangerous” online celebrities.

Fans searching for “Jessica Biel” or “Jessica Biel downloads,” “Jessica Biel wallpaper,” “Jessica Biel screen savers,” “Jessica Biel photos” and “Jessica Biel videos” have a one in five chance of landing at a Web site that’s tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware. Searching for the latest celebrity news and downloads can cause serious damage to one’s personal computer.

I know McAfee is a provider of anti-virus/malware software so they have a lot to gain by going public with this report. But software alone doesn’t make it less dangerous.

I’ve talked to a number of people who don’t worry about viruses or malware because they are using a anti-virus program and think they are safe. I even know someone who goes to sites to download music knowing that most of the downloads are infected (they get warning messages from their anti-virus program all the time). They think their anti-virus program will protect them.

No software on your computer can protect you completely. Operating systems are very complex and WILL contain bugs that hackers can exploit. Once vendors know about these holes they do try to patch them but it may be too late for some users. Anti-virus/malware programs try to protect you but they may not always be up-to-date or in some cases are not able to detect/fix the problem.

In the past most viruses/malware were spread by email attachments or clicking links in emails. Now, you can be infected by going to the wrong website. These sites take advantage of bugs/holes in the operating system or in applications like Adobe PDF reader, Flash player, etc. A while back there was a flaw in Windows where all you had to do was go to a website with an inflected photo, and your machine was infected. No piece of software on your computer would have protected you from that.

What can you do to keep from getting infected and stay safe? Buy a Mac (just kidding). Mac users don’t have the same issues with viruses and malware but that could change. Apple has put out a number of security patches for Mac OS 10.5 lately and there are rumors that they will include anti-virus software in the upcoming release of Snow Leopard. Reports on viruses for the Mac have been few but that may change as the number of users grow and hackers refocus their attacks.

So here are my tips to keep your computer safe (for both Windows and Mac):

1. Keep your computer Operating System (OS) up-to-date. Don’t disable or put off updates your OS vendor sends. Chances are they are patching a problem that is currently being exploited.
2. Keep your applications up-to-date. In the past you may have put off updating to the latest Adobe Reader because you didn’t see any problems with the one you’re using. Now the update may include a security fix too.
3. Don’t click on unknown links. Be careful clicking on links in emails or social sites (like Twitter and Facebook). If your bank sends you an email saying there is a problem with your account and says “click here,” close the email and enter the bank’s website address yourself so you know you’re going to the right place.
4. Don’t go to risky sites. Some browsers (i.e. Firefox) use a list of infected sites and will warn you if you about to go there. Google search does the same. http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/
5. Be careful when you get a message box saying that a program wants permission to install or access one of your computer’s resources. Don’t blindly hit Yes/Ok unless you know that is what you want to do.
6. Don’t believe message boxes that pop up when you go to a new website. A common popup is a warning that your computer is infected and you need to click this link to run a scan of your computer or download a program to remove the infection. Generally, the program you download (and install) IS the infection! Once, I ran this scan on my Mac and it told me my Windows computer was infected with a virus.
7. Don’t reuse passwords. A lot of sites require you to sign up for an account and create a password. Don’t use your email account password for your online banking account. Get a program to manage your passwords and use a different password for each site. Most of these password programs will generate a long random password that can’t be guessed. (I use 1Password for the Mac, and Personal Passworder for Windows.)
8. When going to secure sites, like banks or sites to purchase items, make sure you have a secure secure connection when you are about to enter sensitive information (i.e. credit card number, password, etc.). You should  look for the small padlock symbol at the bottom of your browser window and make sure the URL to the site begins with HTTPS, indicating that you are using a SSL (Secured Sockets Layer) connection. The URL should match what you are expecting. If you go to the Bank of America website make sure the URL shows  https://www.bankofamerica.com and not https://www.bankofamerica.com.myxyz.com.

I know the above list doesn’t cover everything that you should do to keep your computer safe, but I think it’s a good start.

If you’re a regular to Geek News Central, you most likely know what to do and what not to do to be safe. Do your family and friends a favor and send them a link to this post or, at the very least, talk to them about how to be safe on the Internet.

73′s, Tom

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Lots of content tonight and a bunch that I could not cover in the show but all the juicy stuff is in the show notes. Big thanks to the Ohana that stay Subscribed.

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Show Notes:
Rootkit Detection Software
MixTape
ISP vs IFPI
Vista Announcements
Google Switch
Prada Phone
Adapatable Circuits
Suits!
MySpace Widgets
$2.00
Linking
Hands on iPhone
indexed
Google pulling domains
SETI
Myspace Parent Spyware
Vista Downloads
Tiger
ET call Home
Skype Pricing 12 more days!
First Amendment
Convert Video
Skype International
Google versus Paypal
Time Magazine DOA
Progress to ISS
Pluto Mission
Server Hackers
RIAA vs Soccer Mom
IsoHunt RIP
CSS Tips

Let me run this scenario by you. You subscribe to an influential newsletter that cost nearly a $1000.00 a year for the subscription. The Newsletter gets delivered digitally. Sounds reasonable so far doesn’t it? Well let’s assume that you open your newsreader today to find out that the person who you get that newsletter from has also distributed Spyware to detect if you make a digital copy or share it with someone.

Would you be inclined to renew that newsletter regardless of value? That is the question I am sure a lot of people are asking themselves today as this scenario has played itself out. Apparently a Wall Street Analysis who has been distributing the spyware with his newsletters is not real happy that a firm shared the contents with colleagues and has sued the firm based upon evidence he collected from the spyware application.

I wonder if their will be a counter suit surrounding the spyware installation. The company being sued manages mutual funds. Can you imagine spyware being installed on traders and analyst computers? It’s hard to imagine what else could have been collected. I would not be surprised if the SEC got involved with this [Boston Herald]

No that headline is not coming from me but hijacked from the BBC! I have been accused in the past of telling Mac users not to get to comfortable in not having to deal with Virus and Spyware threats. Seems I am not the only one to think that. [BBC]

Disclaimer thus far Mac users have been pretty lucky thru either good code or lack of hackers who really cared to write to the OS in it’s small adoption numbers. If you are of the mentality that you are immune, all I can say is keep drinking the Koolaid and when you wake up one morning and the Sugar has been replaced with Acid don’t blame me.

I am not a prescribed Max expert but I do own a Mac Mini in which I utilize Firefox as the browser and I do get e-mail into an account that is only received on the Mac. A listener on my show called me out and said were is the evidence that Macs are susceptible to Spyware regarding a comment I made that basically said everyone needs to be careful including Mac users. All of us have seen various articles on the subject to include statements that the threat is growing, Honestly I don’t know if one Mac Spyware program even exist, but the thing that makes me really sit back and wonder is why do Mac owners think that their Operating System is hardened from any attack.

They do enjoy the benefits of not having to deal with viruses, spyware and trojans at the level of Windows users do, and it is likely because there is such a small percentage of actual Mac users in the world as compared to Windows users. But being a owner of a Mac I don’t think I would ever be bold enough to declare that the Mac is hardened from any attack.

In my personal opinion though is, that when a trojan or spyware program is released that targets Macs it will devastate the community because for such a long time people have been saying, and even to the point of taunting that the Mac is exempt. Thus Mac users will be sitting ducks, I wish ill upon no one, but I do not think I would be so bold as to say that nothing can penetrate the operating system. I will likely strike a nerve here, and I am sure devoted mac users will pile on me for suggesting that they could be vulnerable to spyware getting on their systems.

No Operating System that has ever been made to this date did not have a vulnerability or two or three or thousand.

To my faithful listener that called me out, I really hope nothing ever happens but I just cannot join the party and say it won’t

Rumor on the street is that Microsoft is about to buy Claria which was responsible for the spyware filled application Gator. If Microsoft is buying it I hope the purpose is to fire everyone and close the company down dismantle it’s customer tracking infrastructure and shred all data they have. Yeah I know that would be dream come true are probably a million to one.

This would be a very bad move. Imagine the worldwide top seller of software buys a spyware company. Makes me shudder to think about it. [ComputerWorld]

Panda Software, a respected vendor of antivirus software applications within the technical community, has named a Trojan, Downloader.GK, as the most malicious virus of 2004. Even though Downloader.GK isn’t technically a virus, an application that independently distributes itself, the program has caused the most damage to users’ computers, according to data collected by Panda Software’s ActiveScan process.

Until now, the first place award had been earned by a computer worm; however, Downloader.GK was responsible for 14 percent of all digital attacks, last year.

Dave’s Opinion
We may see this as an oppugnant award, encouraging us to take retribution; however, much of the responsibility for this Trojan’s efficacy falls on our shoulders. Downloader.GK requires unsuspecting users to visit an affected webpage and accept installation of a specific ActiveX control before the program modifies the computer’s Windows system registry. The payload is a set of adware programs.

We can be proactive in preventing the spread of this type of malware by being cautious of the sites we visit, never opening an e-mail attachment that we don’t expect, keeping our antivirus applications up to date and set to maximum security, using a software and, if possible, hardware firewalls, and, finally, using a third-party web browser that’s more secure, such as Opera or Firefox.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Panda Software
Opera
Firefox