More Worms

By | November 24, 2011
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Watch out for Mimail.L. During 1st and 2nd December 2003, MessageLabs has intercepted a number of copies of a further variant of the Mimail email worm – W32/Mimail.L. 
 
Here’s what to watch out for:
The worm arrives as an attachment to an email with the subject line Re[2]. The emails arrive from spoofed addresses, disguising the true identity of the sender, such as:
billing.authorizenet.com
billing.spamcop.net
billing.carderplanet.net
billing.cardcops.com
billing.register.com
billing.spews.org
billing.spamhaus.org
 
The worm is self-propagating, and spreads by sending itself to emails harvested from infected machines.
 
Email characteristics
 
Subject line: Re[2]
Possible message texts:
Hi Greg its Wendy.
I was shocked, when I found out that it wasn’t you but your twin brother!!! That’s amazing, you’re as like as two peas. No one in bed is better than you Greg. I remember, I remember everything very well, that promised you to tell how it was, I’ll give you a call today after 9.
 
(remainder of text removed)
 

Squeeze More Out Of Your Gadget

By | November 24, 2011
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 If you’re trying to get more out of your PDA, phone, Treo or whatever, here’s the blog for you: MobileWhack.
MobileWhack is a repository of hacks, hints, tips, tools, stories, news, ideas, and wishes for and around the mobile device you’re actually using. The raisons d’etre are to be useful, to inspire, and to delight.
Actually there’s some useful stuff in there. A post yesterday, for example, explains how to use your Treo 600 as a wireless modem.

File Sharers Beware

By | November 24, 2011
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 File sharers beware: there’s nowhere to hide, even in supposedly ‘anonymous’ filesharing networks. The NewScientist.com news service reports that Japanese police have arrested two people suspected of distributing pirated films and computer games through a program called “Winny”, which is meant to hide the identity of a user from everyone else on the network.
 
It is unclear how the two suspects were traced but their arrests have raised concerns about the security of the Winny network. According to the Japanese Association of Copyright for Computer Software around 250,000 regularly use it to trade files. Interest in anonymous file sharing networks has grown rapidly since the US music industry began taking legal action against individual users as part of a controversial attempt to stamp out illicit online music trading.
 
This is the first time anyone has been arrested in relation to use of this type of secretive trading network. The most popular file-sharing networks provide little or no secrecy for users who can easily be traced through their computer’s internet protocol (IP) address.

More Money Fighting Spam Than Making It?

By | November 24, 2011
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As I’ve suspected, there’s more money made in protecting us from spam than from spam itself. According to a report by Ferris Research quoted by TechWeb news, revenue for vendors selling anti-spam products will be approximately $130 million in 2003 and soar 200% in 2004 to a whopping $360 million.
 
Revenue generated by spammers in 2003 will be roughly $130 million while their profit during the year will range from $20 million to $30 million. Peanuts. Small potatoes.

Diebold Confirms Dropping E-voting Suit

By | November 24, 2011
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 Diebold, the electronic voting company and the subject of a recent Loose Wire column, have confirmed that they’ve decided not to sue folk who published leaked documents about the alleged security breaches of electronic voting. 
 
AP reports (no URL available yet) that a Diebold spokesman promised in a conference call Monday with U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel and attorneys from the Electronic Frontier Foundation that it would not sue dozens of students, computer scientists and ISP operators who received cease-and-desist letters from August to October. 
Diebold did not disclose specifics on why it had dropped its legal case, but the decision is a major reversal of the company’s previous strategy. Ohio-based Diebold, which controls more than 50,000 touch-screen voting machines nationwide, had threatened legal action against dozens of individuals who refused to remove links to its stolen data.