Sign up for our Technology Newsletter 
WordPress Attacked By Hackers
March 14, 2012 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
Comments Off on WordPress Attacked By Hackers
Security outfit Websense said that more than 200,000 infected pages that redirect users to websites displaying fake antivirus scans have been created. The latest compromises are part of a rogue antivirus distribution campaign that has been going on for months, the Websense researchers said.
Cybercriminals gangs have switched to drive-by download attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in outdated browser plug-ins to automatically download and install their rogue software. The large number of infected Web pages seen in this campaign is an indication that these scams still work. Vulnerable websites are a rich source of opportunity for cybercriminals. More than 85 percent of the compromised sites were located in the US, but their visitors were geographically dispersed.
Google Moves Quickly To Plug Data Leaks
May 24, 2011 by admin
Filed under Smartphones
Comments Off on Google Moves Quickly To Plug Data Leaks
Google confirmed that it’s starting to roll out a server-side patch for a security vulnerability in most Android phones that could allow hackers to access important credentials at public Wi-Fi hotspots.
“Today we’re starting to roll out a fix which addresses a potential security flaw that could, under certain circumstances, allow a third party access to data available in Calendar and Contacts,” said a Google spokesman in an emailed statement. “This fix requires no action from users and will roll out globally over the next few days.”
Google will apparently apply the fix to its servers since it does not need to push out an over-the-air update to Android phones.
Experts applauded Google’s fast reaction.
“It’s impressive how quickly Google fixed this,” said Kevin Mahaffey, chief technology officer and a co-founder of San Francisco-based mobile security firm Lookout. “Google’s security team, especially on Android, is very, very quick to deal with issues.”
Whatever Google is implementing will shut the security hole that three German researchers publicized last week.
According to the University of Ulm researchers, who tested another researcher’s contention last February that Android phones sent authentication data in the clear, hackers could easily spoof a Wi-Fi hotspot — in a public setting such as an airport or coffee shop — then snatch information that users’ phones transmitted during synchronization.
In Android 2.3.3 and earlier, the phone’s Calendar and Contacts apps transmit information via unencrypted HTTP, then retrieve an authentication token from Google. Hackers could eavesdrop on the HTTP traffic at a public hotspot, lift authentication tokens and use them for up to two weeks to access users’ Web-based calendars, their contacts and also the Picasa photo storage and sharing service.
Hackers Breach WordPress Servers
April 15, 2011 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
Comments Off on Hackers Breach WordPress Servers
Hackers have gained access to several servers that support WordPress and may have obtained source code, according to the founding developer of Automattic, the company behind the popular blogging platform.
Matt Mullenweg wrote on the WordPress blog that Automattic has been reviewing log records to determine how much information was breached and re-evaluating “avenues to gain access.”
“We presume our source code was exposed and copied,” Mullenweg wrote. “While much of our code is open source, there are sensitive bits of our and our partners’ code. Beyond that, however, it appears information disclosed was limited.”