Middle East targeted in cyber attack

Posted by Jim Bernstein

There has been a recent discovery of a virus that is stealing data from countries in the Middle East such as Iran and Israel apparently since 2010 or maybe even longer. The malware has been called Flame and appears to have been created by a government agency rather than the usual cybercriminal.

Flame has been designed to steal information such as files, audio conversations and screenshots off of targeted systems. Security firm Kaspersky Labs said "The complexity and functionality of the newly discovered malicious program exceed those of all other cyber menaces known to date." Code wise, Flame is 20 times the size of the recent Stuxnet malware that attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities.

It is still unclear who designed the Flame virus and what country it may have come from. Kaspersky is currently working deciphering the virus and it may require other security analysts to help figure it out since is a very complex virus. Both Flame and Stuxnet seem to infect computers by exploiting the same hole in the Windows OS and use a similar way of spreading itself.

Shared “CableWiFi” to be offered by Verizon’s cable partners

Posted by David Bernstein
 
There has been a new shared WiFi network put into place by Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks and Cablevision Systems that includes over 50,000 hotspots that can be shared by their customers. In fact, this has already been implemented in New York City and central Florida by Cablevision and Bright House. Time Warner plans on building a free WiFi network around Los Angeles for their customers that also offers pay as you go access for non Time Warner customers. These access points will be in high traffic areas such as malls, parks and concert venues. Plus if you are traveling you will be able to get wireless access from another of the partner’s connections with the same account you use in your coverage area.

This merging of cable companies and Verizon has some worried that a decrease in competition will lead to fewer options and higher prices for consumers. Mayors from upstate New York wrote to the FCC saying they feared the deal would “deter any expansion” of Verizon’s fiber-optic FiOS network in their communities, thus “killing thousands of jobs and exacerbating the digital divide.” The partnership expands upon a 2010 agreement reached by Comcast, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable to allow their rivals' customers to roam on each others' networks of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Flash Player for Internet Explorer vulnerability

 Posted by Jim Bernstein

Adobe is warning Widows users who use Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash Player that they may be at risk of a malware infection. It turns out that there are Flash Player update installation files being sent via email that contain malicious code which can allow attackers to crash Flash Player and execute malicious code which can seize control of the user's computer.

Adobe has released an emergency patch to address the vulnerability in their Flash Player software and it should be applied if you are an Internet Explorer user running Windows. Even if you use Flash Player on a different platform it's still a good idea to apply the patch.

Adobe is recommending that users of the following or earlier versions of Flash Player update their software ASAP:

Version 11.2.202.233 for Windows, Mac and Linux users
Version 11.1.115.7 for Android 4.x users
Version 11.1.111.8 for Android 3.x users

For more information and a link to the patch visit the Adobe Flash website