Fake anti-virus targeting Macs

An old trick is being repackaged for Macs. A malicious program purporting to be an anti-virus program called MacDefender has been circulating around the Internet in the last few days and targeting Macs (this is why we recommend iAntivirus or ClamXAV for all Mac users). Make sure to be careful about downloading software from websites that you don't know and trust.

I anticipate that you will see many e-mails and websites in the next few days that include attachments claiming to be video of the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Please don't open any videos that are not posted to legitimate news sites.

For more information about these recent attacks, please take a look at these articles.
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/05/02/bogus-macdefender-malware-campaign-targets-mac-users-using-google-images/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/226846/fake_macdefender_brings_malware_to_macs.html

Top Profile Viewers scam

A new scam has reared its ugly head on Facebook this month. The Top Profile Viewers app claims to let you see who on Facebook has visited your profile, however this is (a) a violation of the Facebook Terms of Service and (b) not technically feasible.

When you click the link to Top Profile Viewers, you will be prompted to fill out a questionnaire and required to click through a link 'to verify your account'. Finally, your friends on Facebook will be spammed with invitations to click the link too.

The purpose of this scam is to (a) gather personal information about you, (b) gain a commission when you click through their link and (c) propagate the scam on to your friends.

If you have clicked the link, you should go through your feed and remove any references to the scam and also remove the event that has been posted to your wall.

For more information about this scam, please consult the links below.

http://www.facebookfakes.com/?p=341
http://www.facecrooks.com/safety-center/scam-watch/item/1257-scam-alert-my-top-profile-viewers
http://romcartridge.blogspot.com/2010/01/is-it-possible-to-know-who-views-your.html

The next time you think about downloading the next free widget, remember that if you're not paying for it you are not the customer. You're the product.

After our Oppenheimer Moment

After Stuxnet's 'Oppenheimer Moment' the risk of catastrophic technological failure is real. A hacker is no longer a pasty kid in his Mom's basement or a thug in a former Soviet Republic but could be an agent of state power, a hacktivist or corporate spy.

As an individual, you need to educate yourself about high risk threats and take reasonable precautions to protect yourself. As a civilization, we need to train up a generation of geeks to help mitigate the inevitable blowback of this strange new future.

My students have signed up for the SANS Cyber Security Challenge. If you know any high school aged people, I recommend that you encourage them to do the same.