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IT Security Highlights March 4th 2010
By Kelli Tarala | March 5, 2010
Microsoft wants to put infected PCs in Rubber Room
A top Microsoft executive is floating the idea of creating mandatory quarantines for computers with malware infections that pose a risk to internet users. Scott Charney is the latest to champion the idea that infected PC users should be put in their own rubber room, so the malware, spam, and other attacks they generate cannot harm others. The logistics of such a plan remain unformed. While many say ISPs should monitor subscribers for infections, there is considerable disagreement about how providers should carry out and pay for such a system.
Full Story:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/02/microsoft_charney_rsa/
Spain busts global botnet masterminds
Spanish police have arrested three men accused of masterminding one of the biggest computer crimes to date — infecting more than 13 million PCs with a virus that stole credit card numbers and other data. The men were suspected of running the Mariposa botnet, named after the Spanish word for butterfly.
Full Story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6214ST20100303
White House declassifies parts of US Cybersecurity Plan
At the RSA conference in San Francisco on this week, the White House Cyber Advisor declassified parts of the previous U.S. Presidential Administration’s secretive plan to defend the nation’s computer networks. Howard A. Schmidt announced that the current Presidential Administration was partially declassifying the 2008 Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative - 20 - (CNCI) in the name of transparency. The declassified portion of the CNCI includes descriptions of 12 broad initiatives of the CNCI, but few details. The document largely focuses on efforts to secure the federal government’s vast computer networks with the use of its Einstein system to detect unauthorized attempts to access government computers.
Full Story:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0302/White-House-declassifies-parts-of-US-cybersecurity-plan
Microsoft Pushes another Patch linked to Windows Blue Screens
Microsoft on March 2 said it had restarted distribution of a security update that had crippled some Windows PCs last month with reboot problems and Blue Screen of Death error screens. The update, dubbed MS10-015, originally shipped on February 9, but was pulled from Windows Updates’ automatic update two days later after complaints flooded Microsoft’s support forum from users whose machines refused to restart after they had installed the patch.
Full Story:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9164518/
Zombie Tactics threaten to Poison honeypots
Innovations in botnet technology threaten the usefulness of honeypots, one- of the main ways to study how cybercrooks acting as bot herders control networks of zombie PCs. Computer scientists at the University of Central Florida warn that bot herders can now avoid honeypots – which are unprotected computers outfitted with monitoring software. Cybercrooks can program servers to disable or simply ignore honeypots, thus depriving security firms of vital intelligence in how zombie botnets are operating in the real world. The scientists are working on techniques to make stealthier honeypot traps to trick bot herders.
Full Story:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/02/
Read the Full DHS Infrastructure Report:
www.enclavesecurity.com/blogresources/cdr_030410.pdf
Topics: DHS Infrastructure Reports |
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