News on Download3000.com » Security

Create an iPhone Worm and You’ll get a job

Sierra Monica B. — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:18:28 +0000

Not long after spreading the world’s first iPhone worm, Ashley Towns got hired by Mogeneration, an iPhone application developer from Australia. Of course security experts don’t have a good impression about that, because they think this encourages others to do the same thing as Ashley Towns did, but the 21-year old student not only shows no remorse about infecting so many iPhones, but feels proud about getting the job and tweets about it saying that he’s collaborating with one of Australia’s leading iPhone development companies.

If you haven’t heard of ikee yet, let me tell you that this worm can affect only jailbroken iPhones using the default password “alpine”. It spreads through the contacts lists where it identifies other jailbroken handsets. What is does is change the default wallpaper with an image of Rick Ashley, the singer of “Never Gonna Give you up”, displaying the message “ikee is never gonna give you up”.

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think virus writers shouldn’t be allowed to rehabilitate and do something worthwhile with their lives,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos in a blog post. “But it jars with me that Towns has shown no regret for what he did, and that his utterly irresponsible behaviour appears to have been rewarded. Will Towns be offering a token $5 compensation to all those he infected for the inconvenience he caused? I doubt it.”

nio Alerts you When one of Your Bluetooth Gadgets is Lost or Stolen

Sierra Monica B. — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:06:28 +0000

nio is a new Blueooth-based gadget launched by TenBu to protect all the Bluetooth-enabled devices that you carry with you. It works by communicating with each of your devices within a short wireless range and when one of them is left behind or stolen it immediately alerts you so you can look around and find it.
nio is already available in European stores, but TenBu has just announced its release in North America, where it’s available at a price of $69.95 with a lifetime service.
You can use nio with any Bluetooth-enabled device, including laptop computers and cell phones.

Nio was the name of the two powerful guardians of Buddha and the gadget wearing it protects your devices by creating a safe zone of up to 80 feet using a Bluetooth tag and a software installed on your cell phone. Whenever you forget your cell phone, for example, in some place, the security zone is breached and both the nio tag attached to your key chain and the cell phone start to beep, flashing a blue light.
Using nio you also can activate the Motion Sensor to know when someone moves one of your devices from their original place, even while on the safe zone.

The new security gadget powers from a rechargeable battery that keeps it operating for up to several weeks.

New iPhone Malicious Worm Targets ING Customers With Online Banking

Sierra Monica B. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:53:16 +0000

Remember the world’s first iPhone worm created by 21-year old Ashley Towns, which affects jailbroken iPhones by changing the default wallpaper with one of Rick Ashley’s, while spreading through the contacts list? It seems that ikee was nothing compared to this new worm reported by F-Secure, the provider of various security tools for your computer files, Internet access and mobile handset.

This time things get more serious, being about a malicious iPhone worm that steals information from the handset. It works like ikee by targeting only jailbroken iPhones with SSH installed and the default password unchanged. F-Secure explains that it has botnet functionality and connects to an online center of command and control located at the IP address 92.61.38.16, which is in Lituania.
The security company promised to offer more information on this as soon as they finish the full analysis.

In the mean time, BBC News provided more details about this issue and we learned that the second iPhone worm is targeting users in the Netherlands who use Internet banking services via ING. What it practically does is redirecting ING’s customers to a web page displaying a login screen.
The best advise is: If you have a jailbroken iPhone change the default password “alpine” immediately.

Panda Released its Free Cloud Antivirus 1.0

Sierra Monica B. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:13:53 +0000

Home computer users who are also beginners in using security software have now the option to use Panda’s final release of the new Cloud Antivirus, which is promoted as the world’s most lightweight, as well as complete antivirus service. It protects home computers against all kinds of malware including viruses, spyware and rootkits, both at the offline and online levels. More than that, Panda Cloud Antivirus is available as a free download from the official Panda Security website.

Based on an advanced system called Collective Intelligence, the service collects information on the latest malware from the users community in the same cloud. It works by combining real-time scanning with local detection, while keeping the resource consuming level low, more exactly it consumes only 20MB of RAM memory.
Key features include an improved user interface that makes the software easy to use, improved performance, cache optimization, smart memory management, and access to a malware list and to online support forums.

“Since the beta release of Panda Cloud Antivirus in April, we have been judiciously testing our cloud-based protection model, making upgrades in security and performance, and listening to our user community,” said Juan Santana, CEO of Panda Security. “With Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0, we’ve really changed the game, providing our users the most powerful and lightweight free protection available on the market today.”

Meet the Creator of the First iPhone Worm

Sierra Monica B. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:44:57 +0000

Yesterday I was telling you the first details made public about the so-called world’s first worm designed to self-replicate through your iPhone’s contacts list. The case was reported by Australian iPhone owners only, who complained about their default wallpaper suddenly changing into a picture of Rick Ashley, the singer whose song called Never Gonna Give You Up hit the first position in Billboard Hot 100.
The information about the worm was published on the Sophos blog and now we can tell your more about the ikee worm and who created it.

The guy, a 21-year old student from Australia, answered to several questions in an interview offered to ABC News, after he was contacted via his Twitter account.
Apparently, Ashley Towns doesn’t know why he spread the worm, if there are any laws he could have broken, or how many iPhones could have been infected after he alone spread the worm to about 100 handsets. After reading his answers in the interview anyone could conclude that he has no remorse for what he did, while he doesn’t even try to apologize.

Still, he advises users of jailbroken iPhones, which are the only vulnerable to this worm, to change the default password. When he was asked if this is the first iPhone virus, with the same superior attitude he highlighted that this is not only the first iPhone virus ever created, but also the first virus that spreads from phone to phone.
The good part is that he tries to teach users how to remove the virus. This can be done by changing the password of the handset and deleting some files.

In2Pay Enables Contactless Payments via Your Cell Phone

Sierra Monica B. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:16:14 +0000

DeviceFidelity presents the world’s first microSD memory card with built-in antenna for Near Field Communication that enables contactless wireless payments via your cell phone, even if the handset doesn’t feature NFC support by default.
The device is called In2Pay and will be showcased at this year’s edition of the CARTES & IDentification 2009 show, which will take place at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition center in France, between November 17 and 19.

The technology powering In2Pay involves a dual interface smart card chip and works with any cell phone with card slot, by inserting the plug-and-play microSD card into the phone’s card slot to enable the NFC-based interactive transactions.
The product is currently tested by telecommunication providers, banks and different payment networks and will enter mass production next year.

“We’re committed to helping the industry transform the mobile phone into a ubiquitous mode of retail payment that is faster, more secure and more convenient,” said Deepak Jain, CEO of DeviceFidelity. “In2Pay’s open architecture, industry standard smart card chip and compliance with industry processes make it easy for banks, payment networks and wireless carriers to deploy mobile payment programs quickly without special handsets or changes to merchant infrastructures.”

First Worm That Targets iPhones

Sierra Monica B. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:57:05 +0000

Well, ikee is not only the first worm that targets iPhones, but it seems to be also very hard to get rid of, this according to Sophos, the UK-based company providing security solutions worldwide.
The first complaints appeared this week-end, when Australian iPhone users have met ikee, the worm that practically replaces the handset’s wallpaper set by default, with a photo of Rick Ashley.
If this doesn’t ring a bell, let me tell you that last year many people were tricked on the Internet to click on links promising to lead them to some page of their interest, but which were sending them to the same “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video. The hit by Rick Ashley was one of the hits reaching the first place in the Billboard Hot 100.

Now the Rick Ashley problem comes back in the shape of this funny iPhone worm that shows the singer’s picture along with the text “ikee is never gonna give you up”. Sophos says the worm is difficult to remove from the infected handset, but highlights the fact that only jailbroken iPhones are vulnerable to ikee.
Being a worm, ikee spreads by checking the handset’s contact list for other jailbroken iPhones and sends itself to them. Affected phones are those with the Unix software SSH, but without the default password “alpine” changed.
It’s strange, but the iPhone worm’s presence wasn’t reported outside Australia yet.

IronKey Launched the D200 High-Security Flash Drive

Sierra Monica B. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:45:10 +0000

Ever wondered what’s the world’s most secure flash drive? Well, it seems that it comes from IronKey and it’s called S200. It features AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption and passed the FIPS 140-2 standard Security Level 3 tests in addition to being rugged.
Other features include AutoRun protection against worms, a read-only mode, Trusted Network restriction, optional antivirus scanning, remote management, 27MB/s reading speed, 24MB/s writing speed, and up to 16GB storage capacity.

While S200 was designed for portable applications and daily tasks, the new IronKey D200 high-end flash drive offers increased protection for mobile workers who need to rely on a large storage capacity.
IronKey D200 is rugged and features AES 256-bit hardware encryption in the CBC mode, the Security level 3 FIS 140-2 design, AutoRun protection, the read-only mode, Trusted Network restriction, optional anti-malware scanner, remote management software, and, like the S200, up to 16GB capacity on the dual-channel MLC Flash.
It supports up to 25MB/s reading speeds and up to 17MB/s writing speeds and measures 75 x 19 x 9 mm at 0.9oz.

“As mobile devices become more ubiquitous, it is imperative for enterprise organizations to be able to track, manage, maintain and update the USB drives in use in the organization,” said David Jevans, CEO at IronKey. “Many of our large government and enterprise customers require the ability to update and upgrade devices in the field. The addition of the D200 devices to the IronKey line provides this functionality and allows us to offer more management and more choices without ever compromising on security.”

Textsafe Provides 10 Ciphers to Keep Text Messages Private

Sierra Monica B. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:13:56 +0000

Ellis Video, a developer of innovative applications for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch mobile handsets, released Textsafe.
Textsafe is a cool application destined to users who want to send and receive private messages that no one can read if it happens that others to get their hands on the handset.
It allows you to encode and decode text messages via email, choosing from ten different ciphers.
Supported ciphers are: Morse Code, Vigenere, Caesar, Playfair, ROT13, ADFGVX, Affine, Trifid, Railfence and Tap Code. The Morse Code and Tap Code are for audible ciphers, for playing messages aloud, while some of the ciphers use one or more passwords and can be decrypted only if the receiver knows them. The receiver can then send messages back choosing the same code or a different one.

The Morse Code is based on rhythm and can be used with sounds, pulses, marks and flashing lights to represent dashes and dots.
The Vigenere Cipher uses poly-alphabetic substitution, similar with Caesar ciphers, while Playfair uses pairs of letters instead of single letters.
ROT13’s name comes from “rotate by 13 places” and is a substitution cipher used in online communities to hide spoilers, offensive language and puzzle solutions by replacing each letter with the 13th character following after in the alphabet.
ADFGVX is more powerful and was used in the World War I by the German Army. It uses fractionating transposition and a Polybius square.
Affine is a mono-alphabetic substitution cipher based on the old Cesar cipher, ROT13 and a code called Atbash. It maps the letters of an m-sized alphabet to integers ranging between 0… m-1. The formula used to encrypt each letter is E(x)=(ax+b) mod m.
Even if it uses mathematics, it is considered to be a weak cipher.
Trifid is a more complex trigraphic substitution-based cipher, while the Railfence, known as the zigzag cipher, is a transposition cipher type that encrypts letters in zigzag.
Tap Code is used today in the communication between prisoners. Each letter is represented by two numbers in a coordinate.

The Textsafe application also includes two sections called History and How To, which teach the user how to use each code, providing the option of sending standard text messages via Text Safe.
It is now available at the Apple App Store and at Ellis Vigeo.

Norton 360 4 Beta Powered by Quorum and SONAR 2

Sierra Monica B. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:06:31 +0000

Norton 360 is a complete protection software for computers provided by Norton, integrating all the required technologies to keep the user safe while online or offline. It delivers the Antivirus, Botnet Protection, Norton Safe Web, Network Protection, Automated Backup & Restore, Norton Insight, Antispyware, Norton Identity Safe, Firewall Protection, PC Tuneup, Norton Browser Protection and Norton Pulse Updates, all in a single software package available for a reasonable price of $79.99 a year for three computers.

Yesterday, Norton announced that the latest version of Norton 360, the 4 Beta, is based on the Quorum protection model, which is compatible with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
Quorum uses specific file features, including the age, download source, prevalence and digital signature to know its reputation, and updates it continuously. It is capable to track one million different files per week and achieved 100% detection in lab tests.
The second unique technology powering Norton 360 4 Beta is SONAR 2, in charge with detecting new threats by looking at their suspicious activity.

You can download the new software from Norton’s website.

“In the fight against cybercrime, we recognize that consumers need more than just basic protection,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products and Marketing, Symantec. “Our technology’s effectiveness has been battle-tested and proven in the field, and we’re including this new form of security in the Norton 360 beta.”