WyzGuys Tech Talk

The bad guys just keep getting better and better, which is why I am going back to school to upgrade my security expertise.  A recent outbreak was discovered by F-Secure and  reported by Sophos, that uses a Java archive file to determine which operating system you are using, and then downloads the appropriate version to malware to install.  The lesson here is that any imagined security invulnerability you thought you had as a Windows or Linux user is ...

Be on guard against email messages that look like a meeting announcement.  The attachment, Report.zip,  is a Trojan horse.  In many cases there are what appear to be intentional typos in the body text, partly to defeat spam filters and partly to appear as a hastily written email.  You will want to treat these kinds of email with suspicion.  When in doubt, suspicious attachment and links can be sent to Virus Total for analysis.  Thanks again to Continue Reading →

When I teach my computer security classes, I am often asked “why do they do it?”  My answer is always “It’s the money.”  Most of the computer and network malware exploits are making money for the perpetrators one way or another, and as more traditional criminal organizations move into cybercrime, we see more traditional criminal elements.  In this case, spam email messages are sent out with a subject line of “You pig!” and a threatening note that the attached photograph ...

Yahoo Voices, which is a sharing site on Yahoo “where your expertise and perspectives take center stage!” and users can post their own articles, videos and slideshows was hacked recently by the “D33Ds Company” and they posted 453,491 email addresses and passwords online.  If you have an account on this website, you will want to change the password.  And try going with something harder than “123456, password, welcome, ninja, or abc123” which were the top 5 most used ...

A cybercriminal going by the name “Dr. Smurf was taken down by the FBI for selling stolen credit card information on the underground “Dark Market” in 2008.  What Dr. Smurf didn’t know id that the FBI had infiltrated the DarkMarket in 2006 and was using it to learn how the world of cybercrime really worked, and to find and apprehend the malefactors that buy and sell credit card information, malware, and ...

Have you ever reported content on Facebook as “abusive?”  Have you ever wondered just what happens.  Facebook has opened the door a bit to let users see inside, in a report they issued on June 19th.

Basically, there are four abuse teams working different issues.  The Safety Team focuses on violent and harmful behavior by it’s members.  The Hate and Harassment Team specialize in dealing with abusive speech.  The ...