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Link: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/lifelock-accused-of-running-con-operation/

Did you fall for that whole Lifelock sham? If you did, you at least have one thing coming - some money back.

The FTC said that Lifelock, which advertises itself as “#1 In Identity Theft Protection,” engaged in false advertising by promising customers that if they signed up with its service their personal information would become useless to thieves.

“In truth, the protection they provided left such a large hole … that you could drive that truck through it,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, referring to a Lifelock TV ad showing a truck painted with the CEO’s Social Security number driving around city streets.

A very interesting read even if you didn't sign up. Turns out that due to unsafe data practices you actually put your credit at greater risk by using them.

Not a good week for these two browsers - IE has a pretty big issue that is actively being exploited.

Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, and Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 are vulnerable.

Also there's this issue with Opera - that admittedly Opera itself is trying to downplay.

The vulnerability is confirmed in version 10.50 for Windows. Other versions may also be affected.

Right now the only thing you can do is to NOT use the affected browsers - go and get Firefox or Chrome until patches are available.

Link: http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/energizer-bunnys-software-infects-pcs-929?source=rss_infoworld_news

If you bought one of these you have more to worry about than uncharged batteries.

According to researchers at US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team), software that accompanies the Energizer DUO USB battery charger contains a Trojan horse that gives hackers total access to a Windows PC.
The Energizer DUO, a USB-powered nickel-metal hydride battery recharger, has been discontinued, said Energizer Holdings, which late Friday confirmed that the software contains malicious code. The company has not said how the Trojan made its way into the software, however. "Energizer is currently working with both CERT and U.S. government officials to understand how the code was inserted in the software," Energizer said in a statement.

Link: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/nvidia-pulls-196-75-driver-amid-reports-its-frying-graphics-car/

Official word is that the fan control does not properly throttle up the fan under heavy use - there's already multiple reports of dead and fried cards - if you value your card roll back the driver or uninstall the driver and install a previous one.

Nvidia has pulled the driver and the older one is on the download page.

Link: http://www.norcalis.com/

I can't believe ANYONE would hire these people.... Yes, I've checked it out and there's no evil - well, in the form of viruses etc. The evil is the entire website.

Btw - Norcalis - if you read your webstats see me - you need help. - Not to mention I can upload a malicious file right off the bat ... I could Own that webserver in 3...2...1...

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=7413

Not a lot of details on this one yet - but apparently somethings up...

A vulnerability has been reported in Mozilla Firefox, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system.

The vulnerability is caused due to an unspecified error and can be exploited to execute arbitrary code.

The vulnerability is reported in version 3.6. Other versions may also be affected.

The solution is of course kinda stupid...

Solution
Do not visit untrusted websites or follow untrusted links.

Well, you know this at least - all GeeG links are tested ... you'll get no trouble here.

You have at least 2 of these - and yes, again....  sorry, it's not my fault.

For the Flash Air Bulletin go HERE

For the Reader and Acrobat Bulletin go HERE

Update now or be pwned - you have been warned.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/02/05/mozilla-promises-better-virus-scanning-after-virus-faux-pas/#more-22831

Yeah, Mozilla caught it but if you've ever installed Sothink Web Video Downloader 4.0 and Master Filer - You have some system cleaning to do.

Two experimental add-ons, Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader and all versions of Master Filer were found to contain Trojan code aimed at Windows users. Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader contained Win32.LdPinch.gen, and Master Filer contained Win32.Bifrose.32.Bifrose Trojan. Both add-ons have been disabled on AMO.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/02/microsoft-warns-of-ie-flaw-affecting-windows-xp-users.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

Super - when are people gonna stop using this beast?

Microsoft has issued Security Advisory (980088) to address a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer that may allow information disclosure for Windows XP users or for users who have disabled Internet Explorer Protected Mode. The advisory explains that content can be forced to render incorrectly from local files in such a way that information can be exposed to malicious websites.

No fix yet - maybe next months patch Tuesday? For Pete's sake go and download Firefox,Opera or Chrome eh?

Link: http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/news/breakingnews/story/Transportation-Secretary-advises-owners-of/fwSFz7GLA0mhYAVxIIZPjQ.cspx

This just in - if you own one of the affected Toyota models - STOP driving it until you can get it repaired.

Hey - you finally have a good excuse to tell your boss why you can't come in tomorrow

WASHINGTON -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is advising owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving them and to seek repair.

LaHood said earlier that he planned to speak with Toyota's president about the automaker's spate of recalls in the United States over gas pedal problems.

Time to get that bike out of the garage eh? - This is the only time I've ever thought " man I'm glad I drive a Ford"

Link: http://consumerist.com/2010/01/boars-head-dietz-watson-daniele-salami-recalled-for-salmonella.html

If you have any of these brands of Salami - Throw it out.

Last week, 1.2 million pounds of various cured meats made by Rhode Island's Daniele International but sold under different names were recalled due to possible salmonella poisoning. Labels the affected meats were sold under include Daniele, Dietz & Watson, Black Bear of the Black Forest, and Boar's Head.

On the bright side - phew, at least it wasn't bacon.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/27/ie_file_disclosure_attack/

Seems like there's one a week this year - and if that aint enough to make you switch browsers well, I probably can't help you.

If you use any version of Internet Explorer to surf Twitter or other Web 2.0 sites, Jorge Luis Alvarez Medina can probably read the entire contents of your primary hard drive.

The security consultant at Core Security said his attack works by clicking on a single link that exploits a chain of weaknesses in IE and Windows. Once an IE user visits the booby-trapped site, the webmaster has complete access to the machine's C drive, including files, authentication cookies - even empty hashes of passwords.

Link: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10441811-48.html

Moving you forward - and forward, faster and faster.

Due to Accelerators sticking, launching people into a ride from hell to almost certain doom. If you find yourself in a stuck gas pedal situation ( and you drive an automatic ) - put it in Neutral and lay on the brakes. DO NOT turn the engine off - you'll lose power steering and brakes.

Link: http://scifiwire.com/2010/01/legion.php

Just a heads up to Geeks - don't waste your money... this is maybe a campy Netflix rental at best. I've seen countless reviews from Geeks I trust and the results are a resounding "don't watch"

I don't even think Bruce Campbell could make this better.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60L5O820100122?type=technologyNews

For Christmas sake - why is anyone still using IE?

Research firm Core Security Technologies said on Friday that it discovered another set of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer that hackers can link together and exploit, to remotely access all of the data on a personal computer.

"There are three or four ways to conduct this type of attack," said Jorge Luis Alvarez Medina, a security consultant with Boston-based Core, who will demonstrate the vulnerability at the Black Hat security conference in Washington, which begins February 2.

No patch or mitigation - and even a patch might not fix things permanently - Go and get either Firefox, Chrome, or Opera - (in that order) and be safe.

Link: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/23/1429207/Widespread-Attacks-Exploit-Newly-Patched-IE-Bug?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

First off if you're using IE6 -then you probably are a company that thinks you have to for compatibility - you don't have to and update that buggy out of date piece of....

Secondly if you use IE AT ALL - you'd better patch right the heck now.

The first widespread attack to leverage the Internet Explorer flaw that Microsoft patched in an emergency update Thursday morning has surfaced. By midday Thursday Symantec had spotted hundreds of Web sites that hosted the attack code. The attack installs a Trojan horse program that is able to bypass some security products and then give hackers access to the system

Seriously- go to windows update and patch - this applies to IE7 and IE8 as well....

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/19/microsoft_escalation_bug/

Every OS all the way from Windows NT is vulnerable. -There are workarounds, they are complicated for the general user, and you'll not be running anything in true dos fashion. (this won't be a problem unless you are a true geek)

The vulnerability exists in all 32-bit versions of Microsoft OSes released since 1993, and proof-of-concept code works on the XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008, and 7 versions of Windows, Ormandy reported. Presumably, Windows 2000 is also susceptible.

Ormandy said the security hole can easily be closed by turning off the MSDOS and WOWEXEC subsystems. The changes generally don't interfere with most tasks since they disable rarely-used 16-bit applications. He said he informed Microsoft security employees of the vulnerability in June.

"Regrettably, no official patch is currently available," he wrote. "As an effective and easy to deploy workaround is available, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of users to go ahead with the publication of this document without an official patch."

Follow the article for the workaround - wonder if this will cause problems with Dosbox or not?

Remember that Shockwave update I pointed out on Tuesday - get this ... Adobe says in order to be safe you must...

#1 Uninstall Shockwave

#2 Reboot

#3 Reinstall Shockwave

What are the chances of the average end user doing that? - forget that THEY SAY NOTHING ABOUT IT ON THE DOWNLOAD PAGE

I'm almost convinced that Adobe is priming the web for disaster. -#@%^$##@#

If you want to be safe - follow the above steps and DOWNLOAD the new version.

Mind you - don't forget to uncheck the crapware button eh?

Link: http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/lexicon-bd-30-blu-ray-oppo-clone/oppo-inside-lexicon-outside-1

that is stuck inside Lexicons Shell, wow - what a rip off job.

the Lexicon BD-30 is still an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Player. And what's more, it's not just using the same parts - they actually stuck the player inside - chassis and all. This would be OK, were it not for the $3000 premium over the Oppo and THX certification. As Sherlock Holmes would say: The game is afoot!

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/esandberg/detail??blogid=132&entry_id=55190

I know right off the bat what some of you are gonna say, cus I've gotten it for years. I thought initially the big food databases would bee used ( you know the ones you're a part of for using the supermarket cards?) - some insurance company would get ahold of mine and say "that guy eats too much bacon" and raise my rates.

Well, its happening now with Facebook and I told ya so....

What's going on: In hopes of identifying good credit customers, some financial institutions are tapping into the information you and your friends reveal online. The idea is that the friends you keep and data you disclose may help them make more accurate business decisions.

Who is doing it: Companies such as Rapleaf hunt and gather social networking transmissions, turning the conversations you have in your network into consumer profiles. These profiles provide banks with insight into your behavior patterns - what you like and dislike, want and don't want, do well and do poorly.

How it's being used: There are a couple of ways this information may be applied. It can help creditors promote certain products, cutting down on marketing waste. Why sent pre-approval letters to people not interested, right?

Lowering lending risk is another reason. Creditors can see if people in your network have accounts with them, and are free to look at how they are handling those accounts. The presumption is that if those in your network are responsible cardholders, there is a better chance you will be too. So, if a bank is on the fence about whether to extend you credit, you may become eligible if those in your network are good credit customers.

Bonus is that you can play this in reverse and un-friend people with bad credit. You know, you probably don't want to be hanging around with 'em anyway.

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5225

It could cause you quite a bit of harm,

Microsoft is aware of reports of vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player 6 provided in Windows XP. We are not aware of attacks that try to use the reported vulnerabilities or of customer impact at this time but recommend that users install the latest version of Flash Player provided by Adobe.

The Adobe Flash Player 6 was provided with Windows XP and contains multiple vulnerabilities that could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page. Adobe has addressed these vulnerabilities in newer versions of Adobe Flash Player. Microsoft recommends that users of Windows XP with Adobe Flash Player 6 installed update to the most current version of Flash Player available from Adobe.

Nother words the bad boy has more holes than Swiss Cheese - either uninstall it completely or update it.

Link: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2256040/adobe-issues-fresh-round

If you don't wanna get owned go and update Reader (you most likely have it) and Acrobat - usually you'll know if you bought that.

The updates include fixes for six vulnerabilities which, if exploited, could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a targeted system. Such flaws are commonly used by malware writers to infect systems.

Adobe has classifed the update as 'critical' owing to the severity of the flaws, and recommends that users of all Acrobat and Reader versions update their systems immediately.

Link: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/fraudulent-facebook-group-leads-to-malware-scam-20091229/

If you happen to be on Facebook today and spot a group that is called, “WE’RE AGAINST THE 4.99 A MONTH CHARGE FOR FACEBOOK FROM JUNE 30TH 2010,″ be sure to keep away from it. If you don’t – instead of finding a friendly group of people that are there to discuss ideas or similar interests, a user could potentially end up with loads of malware
garbage on their computer.

Pass it along ....

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/185601/adobe_to_be_prime_target_for_malware_in_2010.html

Yup, this should come as no surprise - The worst threat of the next decade is Flash and Acrobat.

We should all install Silverlight then as that's as safe as mothers milk.

/sarcasm

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/25/microsoft_iis_semicolon_bug/

Couldn't have come at a worse time - the holidays when sysadmins are out.

A researcher has identified a vulnerability in the most recent version of Microsoft's Internet Information Services that allows attackers to execute malicious code on machines running the popular webserver.

The bug stems from the way IIS parses file names with colons or semicolons in them, according to researcher Soroush Dalili. Many web applications are configured to reject uploads that contain executable files, such as active server pages, which often carry the extension ".asp." By appending ";.jpg" or other benign file extensions to a malicious file, attackers can bypass such filters and potentially trick a server into running the malware.

If you have websites where the users can upload a file manually then take off execute rights for the Anon user and IWAM accounts. Lets hope this gets addressed in the January patch Tuesday eh?

Link: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/17/twitter-reportedly-hacked-by-iranian-cyber-army/

Ok, so if you use the site you know it was offline and a hacker message put up in it's place. BUT - the servers were never compromised. In fact nothing was.

What happened then? Well, their DNS company confirmed the A record was changed with - and get this
a "valid username and password"

So What really happened? - 1 of 3 things

1 - someone inside leaked the password

2 - Bad password security led to a brute force compromise

3 - Someone inside got a Trojan or Backdoor and the info was in a word document or other such insecure place.

Everyone take notes from this and don't make the same mistakes.

Whats this the 14th time in 2 years? Why the heck does anyone need Javascript in PDF's anyway?!?!

The critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions. It is being exploited in the wild. As in you can get owned right now by opening a malicious PDF.

The fix isn't coming for a month so if you're in the habit of opening a lot of pdf's then disable Javascript

Acrobat JavaScript can be disabled using the Preferences menu (Edit -> Preferences -> JavaScript and un-check Enable Acrobat JavaScript).

For more information and enterprise recommendations check out the CERT document here

Link: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=8604

Right, if you control a site or admin sites -

A large scale SQL injection attack has injected a malicious iframe on tens of thousands of susceptible websites. ScanSafe reports that the injected iframe loads malicious content from 318x.com, which eventually leads to the installation of a rootkit-enabled variant of the Buzus backdoor trojan. A Google search on the iframe resulted in over 132,000 hits as of December 10, 2009.

Scan all your sites for " src=hxxp://318x.com " and make sure you're safe.

Follow the link for details.

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5104

Time to do the Flash Shuffle again, one thing to note is that they changed the crapware that comes with it - so when you go to the Download Page - make sure to uncheck the free crap box first.

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Adobe Flash Player version 10.0.32.18 and earlier. These vulnerabilities could cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Flash Player 10.0.32.18 and earlier versions update to Adobe Flash Player 10.0.42.34. Adobe recommends users of Adobe AIR version 1.5.2 and earlier versions update to Adobe AIR 1.5.3.

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5064

If you haven't gotten the auto update yet go and do it manually.

Just two weeks after the release of exploit code for a critical (remotely exploitable) security hole in its Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft says a fix will be included in this month’s batch of Patch Tuesday updates.

Microsoft has already issued an advisory to confirm the severity of the issue, which affects users of Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

This is for all platforms - Windows - Mac and Linux. The actual vulnerability has not been officially disclosed, however be aware that you'll be needing to update these products next week.

the update will affect Flash Player version 10.0.32.18 and earlier versions.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10403226-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

It really burns me that some stores post loss leaders and short the inventory incredibly - Sears takes the cake this year with ....

Samsung 40-inch 1080p LCD HDTV for $599.99

Notice the fine print?

"Only while quantities last, minimum three per store, no rainchecks."

Three per store? Come on! - first the deal isn't that stellar to begin with and second that's just plain crappy. You've been warned.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10403100-238.html

Good article for the noobs on your list - every year about this time the scam operators go on super duty mode and try to take advantage of our frazzled holiday minds.

To highlight the increased crime during the holidays, security company McAfee has come up with the "12 Scams of Christmas" ranging from bogus electronic greeting cards that deliver malware instead of cheer to fake charities that steal your money and your identity.

It's especially important to be extra careful this time of year, says McAfee's David Marcus. "The bad guys know people are spending more time online, they're paying more bills online so [the criminals] stand a chance of being a bit more successful this time of year.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2009/11/18/facebook-login-phishing-and-account-hacking-warnings/

Use Facebook ? I know ya do. If so, you'll want to read about this newest batch of attacks trying to own your account.

a new phishing scam is currently in the wild that is trying to get the Facebook login data of Facebook users. Pandalabs, who uncovered the phishing scam, did not release lots of details about the attack other than it mimicked the Facebook login page and displayed an error message after the user entered the Facebook login information. They also mentioned that the fraudulent url would most likely be spread by email but also Blackhat SEO techniques which could mean that the attackers have placed their website in prominent positions in some search engines making users believe that they visit the right Facebook
website when in fact they visit the manipulated website.

Don't understand what that means ? It means you should never go to Facebook by email link or ad - use your bookmark or a Google search - if you log in any other way you might find yourself locked out of your own account.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10399880-93.html

Listen up if you've ever bought from ANY of these companies.....

The government says the investigation shows that Webloyalty, Affinion and Vertrue "trick" consumers into entering their e-mail address just before they complete purchases at sites such as Orbitz, Priceline.com, Buy.com, 1-800 Flowers, Continental Airlines, Fandango, and Classmates.com.

You're gonna need to check your statements for spurious recurring charges ....

Classmates.com has pocketed $70 million from partnering with the all three companies, according to the report.

How many times have I said that Classmates was pure evil eh?