McAfee

Microsoft to give away free antivirus software

Paul Mah — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:05:44 -0500

Microsoft plans to release free antivirus software code-named Morro. This new offering will be made available by the end of next year, and is slated to replace its embattled Windows Live OneCare product, which will be discontinued. In a nutshell, Morro will be a no-frills antivirus software that is able to run on minimal resources.

Such a move is certain to anger existing antivirus vendors, who already are unhappy over the paid-for Windows Live OneCare. Microsoft, however, claims that it merely intends to "remove barriers" that are stopping a sizeable percentage of consumers from installing antivirus applications. So is Microsoft is really concerned about stopping malware, or is it merely putting pressure on antivirus firms such as Symantec and McAfee?

Mary Landesman of web security company ScanSafe suggests that the reason might have more to do with Windows OneCare not generating significant returns in the first place. Pushing it to users' desktops like the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool however, would leverage on existing technologies developed by Microsoft to increase the company's insight into users' desktop. And, of course, there is no doubt that having even a basic antivirus utility on all Windows desktops will be beneficial in the fight against viruses and malware as a whole.

In this context, rolling out a fully functional free antivirus scanner makes sense.

For more on this story:
- check out this article from ZDNet News

Seagate introduces full disk encryption laptop drives

Paul Mah — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:16:49 -0500

Seagate announced earlier this week that it will be rolling out new full disk encryption (FDE) drives with capacities of up to half a terabyte, or 500GB. The Momentus drives come with software from McAfee, for optional encryption management such as policy management and security auditing. Consumers wanting to do away with the McAfee software, for better performance, can opt out by entering a BIOS password upon boot up in order to use it as usual. The third generation of this self-encrypting drive--the second generation came out just mid-2008--uses robust AES 128-bit encryption and has currently achieved FIPS 197 algorithm certification. The drive is available to OEMs, as well as to consumers and various organizations. Both corporate and government organizations are increasingly looking to encryption solutions such as FDE in the wake of major fiascoes, such as those involving the loss of laptops containing extremely sensitive information.

For more on this story:
- check out this article from BetaNews

Cybercrime payoff greater than drug dealing

Judi Hasson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:36:25 -0400

Crime, or at least cybercrime, pays. Business is so good, in fact, that even in the midst of an economic downturn, cybercrime is growing. The FBI reports that, for the first time ever, revenues from cybercrime have exceeded drug trafficking as the most lucrative illegal global business. It is estimated that the cyber crooks are reaping more than $1 trillion annually in illegal profits

"What we've seen is really a deep stratification of electronic crime into a growing, prosperous and responsive economy, with a number of specialty organizations, syndication and deepening organization of peers, both within a vertical skill set and across the entire enterprise of electronic crime," said Peter Cassidy, secretary general of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to counteracting cybercrime. "Increasingly, we see this is turning into big business."

Cassidy said cyber criminals come from all over the world, with large concentrations in Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as parts of Africa. In recent years, China has also emerged as a global security threat. A recent McAfee report found that of 265 countries surveyed, Hong Kong was the biggest security risk, with almost 19 percent of websites with the .hk domain hosting malware. It was followed by the .cn domain out of the People's Republic of China, and then by the Philippines, Romania and Russia.

For more on the payoff of cybercrime:
- check out this CRN.com article

Related Article:
Dutch botnet masters arrested

Microsoft stock dips when patches are released

Judi Hasson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:09:12 -0400

If you either own or are thinking about buying Microsoft stock, take note. A new report contends that the price of Microsoft stock routinely takes a hit on the days it issues security patches.

But have no fear--at least on this issue. The company's stock price typically rebounds the next day, after investors realize that the slight decline on Patch Tuesday--as Microsoft's regularly scheduled update release is often called--was unwarranted, according to McAfee Inc.

The security company said the fluctuations, while evident, are small. "But patches do have a trackable effect," said Dave Marcus, McAfee's director of research.

For more on Microsoft stock prices:
- check out this ComputerWorld.com article

McAfee touts its 'cloud-based' defenses against malware

Paul Mah — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:05:51 -0400

McAfee made an announcement earlier this week about changes it will implement in how it delivers virus definitions to client machines. Via its new McAfee Artemis Technology method, suspicious and unidentified code that is harmful will be collected and uploaded to servers run by McAfee for immediate and automated review. The result is that the cloud is leveraged to create a virus definition that is then delivered "on-the-fly." Having said that, the current process in which virus definitions are downloaded regularly will continue. Indeed, with up to 3,500 pieces of daily malware, and a three-fold increase projected over this year alone, it's no wonder that competitors such F-Secure and Trend Micro are working on their own cloud-based initiatives.

For more on the cloud-based malware defenses:
- check out this Network World article

Multiplayer online games pose threat

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:01:22 -0400

If you are trying to protect your passwords, prevent identity theft and avoid aggravation and possible loss of money, stay away from multiplayer online games like "World of Warcraft," "Everquest'' and "Lineage." McAfee's Avert antivirus labs found 24,600 versions of one type of malicious code aimed at stealing passwords from a variety of "massive multiplayer" online games during the first half of 2008.

This compared with 26,000 aimed at stealing banking passwords. McAfee researcher Igor Muttik said the goal is to gain possession of virtual in-game property and currency and resell it on auction sites like Hong Kong-based IGE.com. He said many individual gamers have built up accounts of in-game funds worth more than $10,000. "It's very visible that online games are the bad guys' focus," Muttik said.

Gary McGraw, a security consultant with Dulles, VA-based Cigital, said games often aren't as well protected. "As in the real world, a few people try to rob banks, but knocking over a 7-11 takes a lot less gunpowder and less planning," he said.

For more on cyber threats:
- see this Forbes.com article

McAfee: Spam hides in cyberspace

Judi Hasson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:53:29 -0400

Security firm McAfee conducted a test to find out what it already knew; spam is everywhere, and it can come your way with the flick of a mouse. The company, in an experiment, gathered volunteers from around the world to spend one hour a day surfing the Internet, signing up for various newsletters, filling in various forms and writing blogs about their experiences. The results of the Spammed Persistently All Month (S.P.A.M.) experiment: Over the one-month period, McAfee's test subjects accumulated 104,000 spam messages, or roughly 70 per day per recipient. The United States received the most spam, followed by Brazil and Italy. Nigerian scam emails were popular, but more so in the United Kingdom than in the United States.

For more on this chronic problem:
- see this news.cnet.com article

Another way to spot a hacker

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

It continues to be hard to spot security vultures, but McAfee's "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited' outlines data from 9.9 million websites to spot the biggest security threats.

The report said that nearly 20 percent of all Hong Kong websites present a security threat. The other most dangerous sites are registered in China (.cn) and the Philippines (.ph). With that kind of information in your hip pocket, it just might be easier to spot and block sites from those locales.

For more:
- see this InformationWeek.com article

The 10 most annoying habits of tech firms

Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

PC World conducted an informal survey of its readers to find the most annoying practices and policies of technology companies. The results included complaints about the software sunset policies of Intuit and Microsoft; rebate run arounds from Buy.com and Office Depot; the practice by Gateway, HP and Sony of "stuffing new systems with trialware, adware, junkware'' and other marketing gimmicks; and the decisions by Intuit, McAfee and Symantec to include software that "nags you to buy or upgrade.''

To read the entire list:
- check out this InfoWorld.com article

For more tech stories from the Fierce CIO network:
> Cisco leans toward open source. Article
> SAP and Oracle unlikely to settle out-of-court. Article
> Solar power for your mobile gadget. Article

Trojan infects 500,000 PCs

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

A Trojan spreading through bogus MP3 files on popular peer-to-peer networks has infected more than a half-million computers, according to researchers at McAfee's Avert Labs. The company first reported a Trojan, known as Downloader-UA.h, on May 6, on about 26 percent of the approximately 2 million computers scanned.

The Trojan is spreading through MP3 and MPG files disguised to look like audio or video recordings. So be alert, protect your systems, and warn company employees to be be careful what they download onto the company system.

For more on this threat
- see this eweek.com article