Computer Security Updates Week 3 of Feb 2013

Refer to 'Computer Security Updates Week 1 of Feb 2013'; in which the biggest news was Chinese hackers break into the New York Times. Also, trends of U.S authorities raising the awareness on cyber-security threats heightens up.
  • Symantec report finds email malware rate in January 2013 at the lowest since 2009.
  • Cyber-Ark announces record growth in 2012.
  • Reuters reported that Facebook claims being hacked and user data compromised.
  • Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 wins prestigious Best Protection 2012 and Best Repair 2012 awards from AV-Test.
  • ESET security team discovers Win32/DoS.OutFlare, a c&c-powered malware designed to challenge CloudFlare anti-DoS service.
  • Sophos extends UTM to the enterprise.
  • Kaspersky research found over 7000 attempts to infect gamers on daily basis.
  • Sophos advances Mobile Device Management for Android environments.
  • Reuters reported that hackers may have gained access to passwords and other information for as many as 250,000 user accounts on Twitter.

Check out more on security and weekly updates.



February 18, 2013 - Symantec Report Finds Email Malware Rate in January 2013 at the Lowest since 2009

The January 2013 Symantec Intelligence Report found that email malware rate has dropped significantly since December 2012. The global ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic was one in 400 emails (0.25 percent) in January 2013, a decrease of 0.11 percentage points since December 2012.

This was the lowest virus rate recorded since 2009. It could indicate that email virus distributors took a break after the holiday season, or that they have continued to migrate away from email as a choice for malicious payload delivery.

The top five geographies with highest virus rate in January 2013 were Hungary, South Africa, United Kingdom, Italy and India; and the top five industry sectors with highest virus rate were the Public Sector, Education, Accommodation/Catering, Transport/Utility and Non-Profit.

In Malaysia, the ratio of email-borne viruses in email traffic in January 2013 was lower than the global rate at one in 678 emails (0.15 percent), a decrease of 0.02 percentage points since December 2012.

More details.

Singapore, February 18, 2013 - Cyber-Ark Continues Momentum with Record Growth in 2012

Cyber-Ark® Software today announced a year-over-year sales growth rate of nearly 40 per cent and a record pace of new customer acquisition. The company’s growth reflects established organisational awareness of the connection between privileged accounts and advanced internal and external security threats.

Main 2012 Highlights:
  • Nearly 40% YoY sales growth rate with record Q4
  • 230 new customers, increasing user-base to more than 1,200 global enterprise customers
  • Retained impressive profitability and cash flow results
More details.

February 16,2103- Facebook hacked, social media company says

Facebook said on Friday that it been the target of a series of attacks by an unidentified hacker group, but it had found no evidence that user data was compromised.

More details.

Petaling Jaya, 15 February 2013 - Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 wins prestigious Best Protection 2012 and Best Repair 2012 awards from AV-Test

Kaspersky Lab’s flagship corporate solution has picked up two prestigious European awards in AV-Test’s end-of-year summary for 2012. Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 won Best Protection 2012 and Best Repair 2012 from the independent experts.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 13, 2013 – Sophos Extends UTM to the Enterprise

Sophos has strengthened its network security offerings with two enhanced high-end Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances, Sophos UTM 525 and 625, and the new Sophos RED 50 (Remote Ethernet Device), the first security solution to offer complete and centrally managed Unified Threat Management for medium-sized branch offices. With these updates and additions, Sophos extends UTM, Next Generation Firewall, and branch office security to the enterprise by improving throughput speeds and performance as well as offering additional flexible deployment options.
Sophos UTM appliance

More details.

Blog, Feb 14 2013 - ESET security team discovers Win32/DoS.OutFlare

ESET security team discovers Win32/DoS.OutFlare, a c&C-powered malware designed to challenge CloudFlare anti-DoS service.

The modus operandi consists of a special routine made specifically to bypass the CloudFlare client-side DoS detection mechanism.

One technique of CloudFlare to validate that the requests are coming from a legitimate browser is to forcing the client to evaluate Javascript in order to solve a mathematical challenge on the CloudFlare infrastructure. The client’s request will make it to the real webserver only if the correct answer is provided.

Win32/DoS.OutFlare was able to by-pass this challenge.

ESET communicated with affected users and CloudFlare itself and found that all parties are informed and mitigation steps had been taken.

More details.

KL, February 8, 2013 - Playing unfair: cybercriminals set their sights on gamers

According to data from KSN*, Kaspersky Lab experts recorded 7,000 attempts to infect gamers around the world every day in 2012. These attacks are launched in an attempt to gain access to personal user data, such as passwords to online games and online banking systems. Where games are concerned, malicious users attempt to steal avatars and in-game items to subsequently sell these virtual goods for real money. In the case of online banking, cybercriminals aim to steal money directly from real bank accounts.

More details.

KL, February 5, 2013 - Sophos Advances Mobile Device Management for Android Environments

Sophos announced the latest version of its award-winning mobile device management (MDM) solution, Sophos Mobile Control 3.0, which is offered both on-premise and as-a-service. This version includes support for Samsung SAFE™ devices, granting tighter control over how devices are used and making BYOD (bring your own device) policies easier to define and enforce. It also provides integration with Sophos Mobile Security 2.0, which protects Android smartphones and tablets from malicious apps.

More details.

San Francisco, February 1, 2013 - Hackers target Twitter, could affect 250,000 user accounts

Anonymous hackers attacked Twitter this week and may have gained access to passwords and other information for as many as 250,000 user accounts, the microblog revealed late on Friday.

More details.

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