There are varied types of gadgets under production nowadays and all of them are as good as the other. However what takes the crown is the recent production of the coolest, sleekest spy gadgets that are not only easy to carry, but easy to hide and stay inconspicuous with even when close to your spy subject. The good thing is that their purchase is not restricted to the authorities or the spy master but you too can have a lot of fun with them playing the ever watching big brother over your partner, friends and family.

Tiny cameras, tiny mikes and bugs are now readily available for anyone who would like to use them. As you buy them you are also going to find that you will get many free spy gadgets as discounts on the internet and elsewhere. There is no respite   but the fact is that your James Bond fancy is going to be fulfilled here.

Just stay on the lookout because there is no end to the coolest gadgets that are coming out today. You will be spoilt for choice. And to think that even tinier and better spy gadgets are still emerging the future might thrust the whole world in to one spy arena with everyone spying the other with the most inconspicuous gadgets ever produced.

While I won’t attempt to rank the programs here as their rank keep on changing every month so I am just ordering them in the way I liked them.

1. Virus Total – Scan Now!

2. Eset NOD32 – Scan Now!

3. Kaspersky – Scan Now!

4. Bit Defender – Scan Now!

5.  Norton Security Check – Scan Now!

6. McAfee Antivirus - Scan Now!

7. Panda Security - Scan Now!

8. Avast Online Scanner – Scan Now!

9. Trend Micro – Scan Now!

10. Computer Associates – Scan Now!

11. One Care – Scan Now!

12. iolo – Scan Now!

13. Comodo – Scan Now!

14. Emisoft Web Malware Scan – Scan Now!

15. Quick Heal - Scan Now!

Though it is a matter of preference and need when you will use these online scanners, I do have NOD 32 installed on my system but yet I do use these online scanners regularly, What about you?

Owners of iPhones are one step closer to taking total control of their widgets, after US pronounced legal the practice of “jailbreaking”, on Monday, the 26^th of July 2010.

This means that anyone can jailbreak or unlock any cell phone without fear of legal consequences. Still, iPhone unlocking fans should pay attention to the software they download for this operation, because cybercriminals never sleep.

And this is how the story goes: you receive an e-mail in which you find out that you might get a new application for iPhone jailbreaking.  All you have to do is click a link that will take you to the web page on which the desired software awaits you.

As you go further into this labyrinth and click the link, an exe file attempts to download onto your computer. But once saved and run, the executable opens up the way for a nice Trojan.

Identified by BitDefender as Trojan.Generic.3010833, this piece of malware is a keylogger that transmits everything the user writes on the computer to a specific email address, in this particular case to directory[REMOVED]@hotmail.com.

This allows the malware creators to intercept the victim’s visited sites, usernames, passwords, bank accounts information, such as pin number, bank account numbers, passwords, etc.

In order to stay safe, never open suspicious links or attachments without scanning them first. Install and update a complete antimalware software solution.

All product and company names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the property of, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This beta is available only to customers in the United States, Israel (English only), People’s Republic of China (Simplified Chinese only) and Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese only).

This Beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials includes these new features and enhancements to better help protect your computer from threats:

1. Windows® Firewall integration: Microsoft Security Essentials setup allows you to turn on Windows Firewall.
2. Enhanced protection from web-based threats: Microsoft Security Essentials has enhanced integration with Internet Explorer® which helps prevent malicious scripts from running and provides improved protection against web based attacks.
3. New and improved protection engine: The updated engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities and better performance.

Download Microsoft Security Essential Beta

Today BitDefender, released a report that found the first half of 2010 saw a rise of worms exploiting various Web 2.0 platforms. The report examined data from January through June 2010 and found social networks and Web 2.0 services have become one of the most valuable channels of malware dissemination during the last six months, while phishers focused on impersonating PayPal and eBay, and pharmacy spam volume now makes up two-thirds of all spam.

Spam and Phishing Trends in First Half of 2010

Financial institutions were cyber-criminals’ preferred targets, constituting more than 70 percent of global phishing messages. Social networks also came under heavy fire, as user profiles are a rich source of personal information and compromised accounts may be effectively used in spear phishing attacks. For the first half of 2010, phishers focused on impersonating PayPal and eBay. The HSBC Bank ranks third, while Poste Italiene and EGG conclude the list of the most abused online identities.

World’s Top 10 Phishing Targets January – June 2010

The FIFA World Cup and the massive floods in Guatemala were two of the many events used for Black-Hat SEO optimization to improve the ranking of various malware-serving websites in the first half of 2010. The period also saw spam messages grow to 86 percent of the total email, driven by pharmacy spam, which reached new heights – jumping from 51 to 66 percent of all spam.

The spam breakdown by type for the first half of 2010 is:

• Medicine Spam – 66%
• Replica products – 7%
• Loans and insurance – 5%
• Bundled malware – 3.5%
• Casino and gambling – 3.5%

Malware Threats in Review

Exploiting Windows’ Autorun feature – Trojan.AutorunINF.Gen ranked first in the study, with more than 11 percent of the total number of infections, while MBR worms have made a comeback with upgraded viral mechanisms. Late January saw the emergence of Win32.Worm.Zimuse.A, a deadly combination of virus, rootkit and worm. Upon infection, the worm would start counting down the days. 40 days from the infection, it would overwrite the hard disk drive’s Master Boot Record, thus rendering the OS unable to boot. China and the Russian Federation led the world in malware hosting, with 31 and 22 percent respectively.

World’s Top 10 Malware January – June 2010

Vulnerabilities, Exploits and Breeches

Critical zero-day exploits on popular software such as the Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft or Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player and even Adobe Photoshop CS 4 have also played a key role in the malware landscape for the first half of 2010. Some of the Internet Explorer exploits have even been used to attack major companies such as Google, Adobe and Rackspace.

E-Threat Predictions

“With Facebook surpassing 400 million users, most of the malware authors will focus on the social networking platform to deliver their newest payloads. Some of these attacks will focus on social engineering tricks (such as launching various malware offensives from compromised computers), while others will try to exploit different vulnerabilities or features already implemented across the platform,” said Catalin Cosoi, Head of the BitDefender Online Threats Lab.

For more information and to see the full report, please click here.

The Data Snatchers move fast – a page that was safe yesterday may not be safe today – and your antivirus and firewall won’t help you.

Antivirus? Firewall? LinkScanner®?

Antivirus and firewall software is no longer enough. The threat has evolved. Only AVG LinkScanner can protect you from the Data Snatchers and raise your internet security to the next level.

Look before you click

AVG LinkScanner puts you one step ahead of the Data Snatchers by analyzing every website behind every link you click or type into your internet browser. LinkScanner lets you know if the webpage you are visiting is safe before you even get there.

Instant and Real-time

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How it works?

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The e-mail marking the first step of this data harvesting scheme is very likely to go down in the history of cybercrime-generated fiction on human behavior – claiming that if you tell people something is illegal, they won’t do it. This is how the promised tool gets the thinnest of all legitimacy coatings: “This tool could be used by hackers to hack MSN password, it should not Windows Live password hacking is illegal! […]”.

Much like a wolf trying really hard to grow a thick coat of wool and develop a persuasive bleating technique, this tool is allegedly intended for “[…] the use of owners to hack their own MSN accounts […]” and for “forensic scientists”.

Far be it from me the idea of preaching complete distrust in our fellow humans and their natural generosity! However, the logic of this message is quite puzzling. The final reference to the tool being valid for situations in which you are “[…] able to login without having to enter your password” adds to its sci-fi aura.

Such in-depth analysis of the meaning of every e-mail that you receive may not be your favorite pass time, but any claim to rendering password recover easier is quite hilarious in an age when you can never be too cautious about personal data theft.

Literary analysis aside, the promised tool is supposed to be downloaded using the link embedded in the message. And here’s when HackMsn.exe drops its mask and reveals that it’s a backdoor at heart.

Identified by BitDefender as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY, this piece of malicious code affects Windows platforms. The malware injects itself into the explorer.exe process and opens up a backdoor that allows unauthorized access to and control over the affected system.

Moreover, Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY attempts to read the keys and serial numbers of the various pieces of software installed on the affected computer, while also logging the passwords to the victim’s ICQ, Messenger, POP3 mail accounts, and protected storage.

This is not the first campaign aiming to disseminate this piece of malware. You can find out the details of another scheme it’s been part of on the Malwarecity Blog.

This article is based on the findings of BitDefender security researcher Sabina Datcu.

The invitation to the “contagious fiesta” comes via the e-mail: an unsolicited message instructs iPad users to download on their PCs the latest version of the iTunes software as a preliminary step to an update of their iPad software.

To carry conviction, the e-mail emphasizes that users should keep their iPad software updated “for best performance, newer features and security”.

It goes on to clarify the multi-step procedure by pointing out that in order for the update to be performed the latest version of iTunes should first be downloaded from the Internet. A direct link to the download location is conveniently provided. As a proof of cybercrime finesse, the webpage the users are directed to is a perfect imitation of the one they would use for legitimate iTunes software downloads.

Unfortunately for these users, following the malicious link means opening up a direct line to their sensitive data as instead of the promised iTunes update they get malware on their systems.

Identified by BitDefender as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY, the piece of malicious code inadvertently downloaded injects itself in to the explorer.exe process and opens up a backdoor that allows unauthorized access to and control over the affected system.

Moreover, Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY attempts to read the keys and serial numbers of the various software installed on the affected computer, while also logging the passwords to the victim’s ICQ, Messenger, POP3 mail accounts, and protected storage. It is important to say that Mac users remain unaffected by this piece of malware.

The alert is about a PC malware distributed as an iTunes software update. (Last version of iTunes software is needed for iPad software updates)

1. The computer shuts down when a DCOM error or a RPC error occurs
2. The computer continues to run without network connectivity.
3. The computer triggers a Bugcheck (Blue Screen).

The DAT file version that that caused the problem is McAfee DAT 5958. This file was propagated to client machines that conduct automatic updates of definition files. McAfee updated the DAT file soon after the problem was identified with a new version that does not cause the problem.

Resolution Steps

Please review the following KB Articles for specific steps to resolve the issue on systems that are affected.

1. McAfee KB Article
2. Microsoft KB Article

What-else in Windows Security going on – Norton Internet Security 2011 Beta is available for download now!