Monthly Archives: November 2010
Ecards from banks
Our spamtraps started to get flooded with a new type of spam which is spreading a malicious file. The authors somehow couldn’t decide how to make the scam more credible, so they mixed up whatever they could find. The email … Continue reading
Internet Explorer 9 – more secure
Microsoft has added new security features progressively with each version of Internet Explorer (IE). For example, IE 7 introduced a phishing filter, and IE 8 added a cross-site scripting filter and InPrivate browsing for better protecting the users’ privacy. With … Continue reading
Romanian tax return phishing
We received the email below from a customer from Romania. The email, which similar ones have been circulating since beginning of October, is a classical tax return phishing which makes use of social engineering techniques to lure the users to … Continue reading
Windows 0-day thoughts and protection
Currently the news about a Proof-of-Concept malware makes the rounds which is able to bypass the User Account Control (UAC) of Windows Vista / Windows 7 without user notification to gain privileged system access. In plain English: This exploit enables … Continue reading
Closer look at W32/Ramnit.C
In this month’s ITW malware set from the Wildlist organization two new variants of W32/Ramnit appeared. W32/Ramnit is a Worm spreading via infected executable files and infected HTML Files. It is a quite widespread malware – which is why we … Continue reading
Safe holidays season
Thanksgiving and according holidays are very close – a time in which many people have the time to do (online) shopping. The cyber criminals are eager for their share, so it’s time to remember some safety measures. We are expecting … Continue reading
Apple’s iOS Update is more than cosmetic
The Cupertino based company just released the long awaited update of the operating system iOS 4.2.1 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. While it brings many changes mainly for iPad owners like multitasking, app folders and so on, it … Continue reading
PayPal phishing with improved social engineering
Yesterday morning we started to see a new mass mailing Phishing targeting PayPal. Nothing new here, we all know that PayPal is the most targeted brand these days. What we find interesting is the fact that this is the first … Continue reading
Virus Bulletin Article on Anti-Botnet-Initiative
The Virus Bulletin Magazine has published an article on the anti-botnet initiative in which Avira takes part. The goal is to clean infected computers and reduce the impact of cyber criminal activities. Read the article here (.pdf, 111kb) or head … Continue reading
Sidejacking and Wi-Fi security
It is more than a week ago since this new tool “Firesheep” caught a lot of attention in the US and international press. I won’t write about this tool because there is not much to say. Just search the web … Continue reading →