Spyware, viruses, & security forum: NEWS - February 05, 2013

On Monday, Google's Chrome web browser was warning people using popular web sites such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Huffington Post that those sites were afflicted with lurking malware. The sites all used online advertising service NetSeer, which had been hacked.

In a statement, NetSeer CEO John Mracek admitted that the company's third-party hosted web site had been hacked and infected with malware, but that the company's advertising infrastructure was unaffected by the attack. Both services use the netseer.com domain and it was that domain which was added to Google's Safe Browsing lists. This meant in turn that NetSeer's own site and the sites of companies which used its advertising network were added. This in turn makes browsers that use the list raise the alarm.

The malware infection was discovered at 5:30am, California time, on Monday morning and NetSeer immediately set about cleaning the infection out. Working with Google, the company also obtained an expedited review of its site and by 9:30am it had its domain removed from the Google malware lists. NetSeer says it is doing an analysis on the third party host to identify the cause of the problem.

http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/NetSeer-gets-a-quick-all-clear-from-Google-1797702.html

Related to: NetSeer suffers hack, triggers Google anti-malware warnings

Also:
NetSeer Hack Triggered Google Blacklisting of Major Sites
Google Blocks High Profile Sites After Advertising Provider NetSeer is Hacked
Ad network site hack results in popular sites flagged as malicious

Today is Safer Internet Day. And according to a report (pdf) released to coincide with the day, 86% of 7-11 year olds and 96% of 11-19 year olds are communicating online.

So here are 10 tips for you to share with your youngsters, to help make sure they're clued up about internet safety.

1. Lock down your Facebook page. Make sure your profile is only shown to your friends - not their friends too and certainly not the whole world! It's good to check your privacy settings regularly, too, because Facebook often updates them.

2. If you don't know someone on Facebook, don't be tempted to accept their Friend request.

3. Don't post anything anywhere on the internet if you don't want the world to see it. Once you've uploaded something, you cannot be sure that it will stay with just the person you've sent it to. So if it's private, don't share it!

Continued : http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/02/05/top-10-tips-kids-safe-online/

Despite Oracle Java being ranked among the highest risk vulnerabilities, a startling 72% of Java users are not bothering to update their software to the latest and safest versions.

The result of a new study from Kaspersky Lab (pdf), which surveyed 11 million Windows users during the 2012 calendar year, lays out dusturbing statistics: 806 unique vulnerabilities were discovered in the survey period. But the "good" news is that only 37 of those security gaps were considered to be truly widespread and dangerous.

Don't get too optimistic, though: those 37 vulnerabilities accounted for over 70% of all detected vulnerable software last year.

Singling Out Java

The Kaspersky study gets a little arbitrary at one point, singling out eight of the 37 vulnerabilities as those "that are actively used by cybercriminals in widespread exploit packs." Not exactly a scientific classification, which should be taken into account when walking through the next set of results.

Continued : http://readwrite.com/2013/02/05/users-fiddle-while-java-burns