For various reasons milw0rm has not been as active as it once was, these guys are going to be picking up where milw0rm left off.
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Author Archives: Dale
Its official playing games on your Mac, kills your data – OSX.Loosemaque
I dont think its any surprise, that people who are big fans of gaming use a PC, and the creative fashionable people of the world prefer to use a Mac.
Well now its official, trying to play games on your Mac, will result in data loss 🙂 Well thats the case with the OSX.Loosemaque virus in the Lose Lose Game.
Symantec have come across a creatively crafted space invaders type of game, that when you play it your actually deleting various files from your home directory, and it doesn’t even try and hide that fact. This is certainly interesting to find, and interesting that Symantec have classified it. From my quick research it looks like this popped up towards the end of September, and was featured on the Wired site to name a few.
I hadn’t heard about it before, so assume some of you guys haven’t also.
Here is a video showing the game in action:
If you want to try this out in your testing environment, the download is here. Obviously I am not responsible for your issues or data loss.
Eurotrash Security Podcast – A new european based podcast, check it out.
eurotrash security podcast
Hopefully you have heard about the new Eurotrash Security Podcast, but if not you have now 🙂
This is a new security podcast, covering European based security news and information. There are many great security podcasts out there, but many are US focus, this is where this podcast plans to be different. Obviously I am biased, as I am one of the hosts, along with Craig Balding, Chris John Riley and Wim Remes.
So what are you waiting for, check out the site and download the podcast NOW.
Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) on Aspire One Mini Review
As posted earlier, today was the release of Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala), you really have to love the release names they come up with 🙂
So I downloaded the Remix version because I run Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire One 110, and its just a little more user friendly that a standard desktop gui. For reference I did a fresh install, and not an upgrade from the 9.04 I was running.
So the download and install onto USB stick was a doddle with the packaged USB Creator, then about 15 mins and the install was good to go.
So first impressions, well in the past getting things to work first time with the Aspire One can be a little difficult. Like the wireless doesn’t always work, or the led doesn’t flash, or the sound is no good, or the camera doesn’t work, you get the idea. Well I am pleased to say I had no issues, touch wood everything works as you would expect. The SD card reader doesn’t work in real time, and requires a reboot but that’s always been the case. So everything is working, and I have to say it seems to boot faster to.
So on start up with have the Remix interface we expect, with some slight colour and theme changes. The interface is as intuitive as ever, and somehow seems abit slicker. The motion seems improved and I can move between the different areas very easily. I did an update check, and as expected its all up to date. I know its only been out two minutes, but you never know 😀
Next I thought I would fire up Firefox, and I am happy to see 3.5.3 is pre-installed (I know 3.5.4 has just been released, but we will let them off there). Everything works as expected, things seem pretty slick. I still get a few minor HDD pauses from the Solid State Drive on my 110 but, this is a feature 🙂
What new OS wouldn’t be complete with its own bit of Cloud 🙂 So 9.10 comes with a link to Ubuntu ONE, I don’t know all the details about this offering, I think its something to do with Amazon’s cloud offering. Regardless, this is just a quick link from within Ubuntu to allow you backup, sync and share your data easily. I might look into this at some point as you can get 2GB for free 😀 We like free.
Next I thought I would take a quick look at the Ubuntu Software Centre. This is basically a simple interface to manage and install all your applications. I guess this is to make it easier than using the old package manager.
So here we are, all very simple and easy to understand. I popped Pidgin at this point, and it was found and installed without issue.
Just a quick look at my Ones spec info, lovingly named Betty 🙂
I appreciate this isn’t an in depth review, but I think you can normally tell if your going to have any issues early. I think its a certainly an improvement in appearance and performance compared to the previous version I was running. I have not tried out the standard desktop version yet, but everything seems straight forward and easy to use. I really do think Ubuntu is a real alternative to Windows for anyone, not just the hardcore IT Unix guru’s.
I hope this mini review was of little help to those considering going with 9.10, especially those of you who are Netbook users.
Rogue Security Software Report by Symantec
I think most people are becoming more and more familiar with the so called “Rogue Security Software” , if not an good example that has been popular this year was the AV program AntivirusXP. A user will download a product like this looking for some free AntiVirus software, or perhaps via a popup telling the user they have an infection. This software then gets on the machine and claims your machine is in really bad shape, but for a few quid all can be put right.
Needless to say, apparently the developers of this type of software are duping a fair amount of users into coughing up some cash, and making potentially some serious money. I personally have not had any time to do some serious investigation into this, but I was recently given a copy of Symantec’s research into Rogue Security Software, good timing huh 🙂
In total, Symantec has detected over 250 distinct rogue security software programs.   During the period
of this report, from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, Symantec received reports of 43 million rogue security
software installation attempts from those 250 distinct samples. Of the top 50 most reported rogue
security software programs that were analyzed for this report, 38 of the programs were detected prior to
July 1, 2008. The continued prevalence of these programs emphasizes the ongoing threat they pose to
potential victims despite efforts to shut them down and raise public awareness.
I found this report really interesting, some of the findings I wouldn’t say are surprising to me, but it really does confirm that the general users still has a long way to go in even basic security education.
Some of the highlights for me that I thought was interesting, is just how many installation attempts were detected, I mean 43 million isn’t a small number by any standards, and then when you look at the possible payout per installation you can see why this is a worthwhile exercise to these guys. They obviously also spend a lot of time and effort to ensure that their products are highly ranked in search engines to further guarantee a successful hit, if only I could work out such good SEO 🙂
Symantec have also come up with some interesting stats on the possible financial impact to victims of this software, ranging from $30 – $100. I guess these depends on how badly there system was supposedly infected. As usual the US and UK were most impacted (we don’t do to bad for a small island do we), but its interesting to read affiliate networks have been setup to sell this stuff on. I guess it makes sense, I wonder how many of the affiliate networks are non voluntary.
I recommend you spare the few mins to have a read of this 14 page report, and perhaps share it with those you know who have fallen victim to this (I know a few who have more than once:( ).
If you would like to take a read of this report, you can down it here in pdf.
Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Available Now. Bonza mate :D
The new Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is now available to download.
If your a Ubuntu Remix User also visit here for a download.
Here is what apparently new in Karmic Koala:
1. Brand new wallpapers
2. New brown login screen
3. New themes and updated icons
4. Xsplash
5. Ubuntu Software Center
6. Empathy
7. Ubuntu one
8. Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud
9. Linux kernel 2.6.31
10. New Intel video driver
11. Hal deprecation
12. Ext4 by default
13. GRUB 2 by default
14. Firefox 3.5
15. gnome 2.28
16. AppArmor
17. New font vewer/installer
18. Gdm 2.28