Threats in the News for November
The big news in November was the takedown by the FBI of the DNSChanger botnet, which consisted of over four million infected computers worldwide that generated over $14 million in fraudulent Internet advertising revenue over the past 5 years for the cybercriminals.
While this is one of the biggest cybercrime takedowns, it is unfortunately just the tip of the iceberg for online attacks in terms of what consumers face. In November, some of these other attacks include fake anti-virus, exploits against plug-ins like Java, and Trojans distributed on social networks, among many others.
In addition to attacks on home computers, rogue apps on mobile devices, especially Android, continue to proliferate and can run up big mobile bills or be used to launch scams such as the ones that targeted shoppers on Black Friday.
Here are November’s top news items you should be aware of:
- Cyber-Criminals Peddling Fake AV That Looks Very Much Like the Real Thing
Nov 29, 2011 — eWeek - New Java Attack Rolled Into Exploit Kits
Nov 28, 2011 — Krebs on Security - Shoppers Need Watch for Scams While Using Mobile Devices on Black Friday
Nov 23, 2011 — eWeek - Android is sole target of new mobile malware in Q3
Nov 21, 2011 — NetworkWorld - Backdoor Trojan pushed via versatile Facebook campaign
Nov 18, 2011 — HelpNetSecurity - Facebook identifies those behind coordinated spam attack
Nov 16, 2011 — ZDNet - Feds: Cyber Criminals Hijacked 4 Million Computers
Nov 09, 2011 — ABC News - Get Safe Online says that rogue apps are running up big bills on mobiles
Nov 08, 2011 — Infosecurity - Phone scammers target PC users with phony virus reports
Nov 04, 2011 — ZDNet - Were Your IDs, Passwords Stolen? Check PwnedList
Nov 01, 2011 — InformationWeek
This post is by no means exhaustive and you can find more articles in our Industry News section. You can also find the latest list of home network infections and Internet threats as reported by Kindsight Security Labs.
