There was an absence of widespread virus alerts in the first half of this year, but this "apparent calm" is only indicative of silent infections, not a lack of them, according to PandaLabs.
Over the last six months there have been 19 367 new viruses detected, the majority of which are worms. The global top 10 list marks W32/Sdbot.ftp, Exploit/Metafile, W32/Netsky.P, W32/Sober.AH, W32/Tearec.A, W32/Gaobot.gen, Trj/Qhost.gen, W32/Alcan.A.worm, W32/Parite.B, and W32/Smitfraud.D.
Following trends
A recent phishing scam involving customers of the ICICI Bank in India is using promises of added security as a lure.
Sophos has issued a bold statement: home PC users should ditch their Windows operating systems in favour of Mac, for their own safety.
Ilva Pieterse, ITWeb contributor
An e-mail asks tells users to update their details, because the bank is improving its security measures. It also informs users that their bank accounts will be suspended if the request is ignored. The update link, of course, takes the reader to a bogus site.
Fearing zombies
A recent survey conducted by StreamShield Networks shows UK ISPs live in constant fear of the disruption of service and risk posed by compromised PCs.
Ninety-six percent of the 50 ISPs surveyed admitted a huge proliferation of hacker-controlled botnets as a key business issue.
According to industry analyst firm Gartner, seven in 10 spam e-mails originate from infected PCs.
P2P: be warned
On that note, there is a new worm to watch out for that is spreading via e-mail and P2P programs, warns PandaLabs. This worm, the Peerbot.B, is especially nasty because it is capable of carrying out many actions aimed at degrading the security level of the system and remaining hidden.
It steals information stored in SQL Server and MySQL databases, providing the author with confidential data and gains remote control over infected computers in order to carry out actions like spamming.
Ditch Windows
Sophos has issued a bold statement this week: urging home PC users to ditch their Windows operating systems in favour of Mac - for their own safety.
This comes after the issuing of a report detailing the main trends in malicious software to be Windows-based.
The report also claims a clear reduction in viruses and worms, but a definite increase in Trojans, which now account for 82% of new threats.
User name and shoot
A German inventor has been fiddling with the idea of password-protected bullets. Herbert Meyerle has patented the concept of a modified cartridge that would only fire once a correct authentication signal is received.
A transponder with matching codes needs to be worn in a ring on a shooter`s firing hand before a gun using the invention would be capable of discharging a bullet.
Meyerle explains his basic idea is to present tampering. The invention, he says, provides a means to secure firearms against accidental or unauthorised use.
Sources used: The Register, PandaLabs, MicroWorld Technologies
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