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Source: http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/u-s-agency-kills-hardware-over-routine-malware-warning/147365 The U.S. Economic Development Administration destroyed $170,000 in computers, keyboards, printers and mice over a routine malware infection. A lack of funding prevented the agency from throwing out its remaining $3 million in IT inventory An almost farcical series of miscommunications led to the destruction of $170,000 worth of IT gear by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration over a routine malware warning, and it was only a lack of budget that stopped the agency from throwing out another $3 million in hardware. The comedy of errors not only points up a lack of communication between agencies, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of technology. RELATED CONTENT Phising, E-mail en Internet oplichting: http://www.wattpad.com/12260034-abney-and-associates-hong-kong-shares-trim-strong#.UdrHpvlgdhw The upcoming cyber-security threat cycle: http://abneyandassociates.tumblr.com/ The timeline of the fiasco runs something like this: * In December 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (those guys who told the entire North American population to disable Java on its computers) warns the Commerce Department of a potential compromise of its systems. * The Commerce Department identifies the potentially compromised computers as belonging to the Economic Development Administration. Its warning to the EDA names accidentally names 146 systems as being compromised, when in fact, the number is only two. * A follow-up warning tells the EDA that only two systems are compromised, but in classic CYA fashion, does not clearly point out that the first warning was erroneous. * The EDA treats the follow-up as a confirmation of the first warning and proceeds on the understanding that 146 systems are compromised. The EDA commissions a forensic analysis of the two systems identified by Commerce and confirms that they are infected with malware. * Comm

AN Abney Associates News Flash Phishing sites, which masquerade as genuine websites to steal users' personal information, are on the rise in Hong Kong, Microsoft warned on Thursday. Some 6.23 phishing sites were found per 1,000 hosts in the fourth quarter last year, up from 6.01 in the third quarter, according to Microsoft's latest Security Intelligence Report. However, the number of malware infections remained low in the same period. Every 1,000 computers had 2.2 malware infections on average, the report found. Tim Rains, director of product management in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group, said the rise could be because Hong Kong is a financial centre and phishing sites masquerade as banking websites to steal information. "The fact that we have a low malware infection rate in Hong Kong, but slightly elevated level of phishing is actually interesting," he said. He said the reason could be that the attackers were using a smaller number of compromised systems in Hong Kong to do more phishing than other attacks. Roy Ko Wai-tak, manager of Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre, said websites of small and medium enterprises were often hijacked by attackers to build phishing sites - which pose as big corporations - because of poor cyber security. Rains also said the most common malware is called keygen, which comes with key generators that produce serial numbers required to run piracy software. Ko said it showed that Hong Kong people still continue to use piracy software. The report, which also found that 2.5 out of 10 computers on average did not have up-to-date antivirus software in the city, was based on data from over 600 million computers worldwide using Microsoft's products. The number of Hong Kong computers was unknown at the time of going to press. AN Abney Associates News Flash READ MORE: http://mariahabney.weebly.com/ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz5ub4_online-attempts-to-steal-personal-information-on-the-rise-i

Scams are all over Facebook. There are stories telling users that Facebook will end on a certain date, miracle diet pills, celebrity sex tapes, and other shady posts. With a little vigilance, though, users can make sure that they're not continuing the chain. Miranda Perry, staff writer for Scambook, spoke with AllFacebook about ways that people can make sure that they're not giving away information to scammers or spamming their friends' News Feeds with malicious links. Scambook is a complaint-resolution platform where customers can air their grievances and let others know about unscrupulous business practices and identity theft. The company also informs people of scams on social media, using its blog to write about the newest hoaxes that are going viral on Facebook. Perry shared with AllFacebook some ways that users can protect themselves (and their friends) from Facebook scams. Consider The Source One of the most common Facebook scams involves links that either infect computers with malware or automatically share content to users' Timelines. Perry said that by taking a couple of extra seconds to examine not only suspicious links, but the people who shared them, people can protect themselves. For instance, if a fitness buff friend shares a link showing how she's lost 30 pounds by using a weird old trick, or if a pastor shares a link purportedly showing Rihanna's sex tape, odds are extremely high that it's a scam. Perry said red flags should go up whenever someone shares something to Facebook that seems atypical of their nature. If users truly aren't sure, Perry recommends calling or contacting that person offline to see if their account has been compromised: The No. 1 step is just to look at the source and avoid clicking on links or sharing anything on Facebook that seems suspicious. For instance, if you know that your friend is a super-skinny athlete, they are probably not going to be telling you that they've just used weight loss pills. If t