A news has been released by The Register that Firefox has its own URL handling bug. Specifically, it allows links to send malicious codes to other applications in a user’s PC.

This is the same bug that both Microsoft and Mozilla has been arguing over on which company is at fault.

“We thought this was just a problem with IE. It turns out, it is a problem with Firefox as well,” said Window Snyder, chief security officer for Mozilla.

Now, Mozilla is taking a look on how to respond on this issue. They acknowledged the problem two days ago.

Source: The Register

AVG Anti Rootkit Free is a free application designed for detecting and removing Rootkits on a system.
What is a rootkit some of you may ask? A Rootkit is a piece of software designed to conceal running processes, files or system data from the operating system. Virus and Malware creators often use rootkits to hide the existence of their viruses and malware and make them undetectable to tools like Virus Scanners and Process Viewers.
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Computers have moving parts such as fans on their CPU’s, Power Supplies, Video Cards and in some cases, on the case itself. Each fan is important for the smooth operation of the computer because they keep the system cool. Should Dust, Cigarette Smoke (which forms a paste when in contact with dust) or Pet Hair clog up one of these fans and prevent it from spinning, can cause those parts of the computer to overheat and become damaged.
In light of this, cleaning a computer is something that should be done every 6 months to a year. In this article, we’ll show you how.
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Sophos has added a new blog in their website about an e-mail spam that includes an attachment. The attachment has an Excel file and it entices the reader to buy stocks from a Frankfurt mobile company.

The blog mentioned, “Once the share price has reached a threshold value, they are sold so that the spammer can make a killing.”

The Excel has red headings which says “Turn 5,000 into 25,000.” Underneath it is a sub-title which says, “Invest in exchange mobile (Frankfurt: EM1).”

A screen shot of what the spam looks like is available on the link below.

Source: Sophos

The beta of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was expected to be released last week. However, it did not happen

Some sources say the beta was only supposed to be available for “a select group of testers.”

A more official answer to this mystery is that Microsoft made a typo to the emails that they have sent to developers.

Instead of Vista SP1, Microsoft has released an updated Windows Driver Kit for Windows Server 2008. The article from Arstechnica’s site says that an update to the driver kit both Sever 2008 and Vista should have been released since they share the same Windows Driver Kit.

The final release of SP1 is scheduled for early 2008.

Source: Arstechnica

A new version of Mozilla’s internet browser, Firefox, has been released. It is version 2.0.0.5.

It fixes security bugs, memory corruption, privilege escalation flaws, and the high-profile bug which is connected to Internet Explorer.

This new version has been released for thee different operating systems which are Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.

Users who are using version 1.5.0.x are urged to upgrade to the version 2 of Firefox because Mozilla no longer supports those versions.

Also, a new bug has been discovered in Internet Explorer which involves the address bar and the “document.open()” method.

Source: The Register

The latest driver for ATI graphic cards has been released. This updates the display driver and the control center.

It has new Avivo features and enhancements including support for Windows Vista when using the Simplified Theater Mode2 controls, and an enhanced quick settings for controls when watching videos.

Graphic issues on some games such as Call of Duty 2 and Neverwinter Nights have also been fixed.

Besides gaming issues, the other issues that have been fixed includes enabling CrossFire on a Radeon HD 2900 XT, Google Earth fog effect, and corruption when playing some DVD titles on a Radeon HD 2900 XT card.

Source: Techspot

Most experienced computer users know how adware and spyware is spread. Typically free programs that are designed for a certain purpose such as KaZaA (for downloading music) are bundled with other applications which contain adware or spyware. A new threat on the scene is called “Rogueware”, Rogueware are meaningful files which in reality can be quite malicious. The most common type of Rogueware are fake anti virus/adware/spyware progams that once installed, say you have lots of viruses/malware installed and in order for the program to remove them you must pay for the full version. In the past, these programs typically spread by advertising on other sites with banners saying things like “1023 Viruses detected on your computer! Click here to fix it now!”.

Recently, one of our Technibble forum members, Buzz; spotted a pattern in posts across a few forums he visited and reported it to us. It appears to be another method of spreading rogueware.
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A new breed of ransomware has surfaced according to an article at Arstechnica. Security companies PandaLabs and Kaspersky Lab has identified trojans Sinowal.FY and Gpcode.ai.

These viruses place a readme file where a user can find it if his or her machine become affected.

The file contains a threat that the attackers has encrypted the user’s files and that they are asking for $300. The deadline in the note is July 15.

According to PandaLabs, these are empty threats. A Kaspersky Lab analyst said it has a shelf life between the dates of July 10 and July 15.

An example of how the readme.txt looks like is available at the link below.

Source: Arstechnica

A new blog has been posted at Sophos’ website about a spam which tracks the I.P. address of users who click on malicous spam link.

Two images are posted in the blog and both have Chinese letters on them.

Unlike other similar spam, the user cannot access the link to the site once he or she had clicked it.

A text file is posted on the site which lists all the I.P. ranges based on the users who have been tricked. The most dominant I.P. came from machines in Taiwan but it also has I.P.’s from other continents including Australia and North America.

A more detailed explanation is available in the Sophos’ blog which is located in the link below.

Source: Sophos