Thursday, June 30, 2011

Do hackers have your passwords?

Here is a very good tip from Kim Komando. The article, posted below, contains a link to a useful web site. I was surprised that none of my 3 primary e-mail addresses had been compromised, but obviously happy to see that!

Do hackers have your passwords?

"Data breaches aren't really anything new. However, the number of data breaches has recently skyrocketed. A list of them would more than fill this page.

It's likely you have accounts with at least some of these companies. That can put your information with that company at risk. It could also endanger other accounts you have online.
Hackers aren't just stealing this information. They're releasing it online. That means anyone could have your data.

If your email, username or password is exposed, you want to know. That's where today's Cool Site comes in. It's aptly named Should I Change My Password.

The site aggregates all the information databases hackers have released. You can search for your email address or username. If you see it, it's time to change your passwords."

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Rootkit infection requires Windows reinstall, says Microsoft

Ouch! Be careful, no be VERY careful out there. This is the first time I have seen anything like this, but then I have wondered for years now why the authors of these nasty viruses, trojans, worms, and rogue programs don't do more damage than they do. I have seen many of them that could erase all of your data, for example, but thankfully they don't.

This one, well this is something completely different.

"Computerworld - Microsoft is telling Windows users that they'll have to reinstall the operating system if they get infected with a new rootkit that hides in the machine's boot sector.

A new variant of a Trojan Microsoft calls "Popureb" digs so deeply into the system that the only way to eradicate it is to return Windows to its out-of-the-box configuration, Chun Feng, an engineer with the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC), said last week on the group's blog.

"If your system does get infected with Trojan:Win32/Popureb.E, we advise you to fix the MBR and then use a recovery CD to restore your system to a pre-infected state," said Feng.
A recovery disc returns Windows to its factory settings."

Monday, June 27, 2011

LulzSec calls it quits after 50 days of 'mayhem'

You have probably heard of LulzSec. They are the people who have been wreaking havoc on the internet for the past 50 days. They say they are moving on. Let's hope they move out of our world (the internet)!

This is from ComputerWorld.com.

"IDG News Service - The computer hacking group LulzSec said Saturday it had ended its campaign of cyberassaults on government and corporate websites and that it was time for it to "sail into the distance."

Its announcement came three days after LulzSec released its latest trove of internal documents, stolen from the Arizona Department of Public Safety computer network, and four days after U.K. police said they had made the first arrest of a man allegedly affiliated with the group.

"Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind - we hope - inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love," the group said in a post on the Pastebin website.

"If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere."

LulzSec spent the last several weeks attacking websites and computer networks of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Senate, the U.K.'s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Brazilian government and the energy giant Petrobras, among others.

Last Tuesday U.K. police said they had arrested a 19-year-old man who they said was a member of the group. LulzSec said he had operated one of its Internet Relay Chat (IRC) servers but that he was not one of its leaders.

On Saturday, shortly after group's last missive was posted, a hacker thought to be one of the group's leaders, Sabu, dismissed a suggestion that LulzSec disbanded because of the arrest or any internal disagreement.

"If you read the statement your questions will be answered," he wrote in a Twitter message. "There's only been one arrest; Ryan, and he isn't part of lulzsec."

LulzSec conducted its campaign "just because we could," it said in its statement.

"All to selflessly entertain others -- vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy.""