CyberSecurity updates

December 16, 2011

Sometimes, it seems that the only thing advancing more quickly than technology is activity by hackers and other criminals who are finding new ways to put that technology to illicit uses.

Wabash Valley Manager, Security and Field Operations John Chambers monitors developments related to cybersecurity, and we’ll include his updates in The Power Report.

NOT YOUR FRIEND: Most Facebook users have received a “friend” request from someone they really didn’t know. Choose to accept those requests, and you may be setting yourself up for theft of your personal information, says a recent study. Researchers from the University of British Columbia created 102 fictitious Facebook users and used “socialbot” systems to post messages and send friend requests to more than 5,000 randomly selected Facebook users. During the first two weeks, about 19 percent of users accepted the friend requests. Over the next six weeks, the bots sent requests to 3,500 friends of people who had accepted the initial request. Nearly 59 percent of those “mutual friends” accepted the requests. It’s clear that people were easily fooled, and if the fake friends had been criminals instead of researchers, the users’ information would be in jeopardy. The moral? If you (or your children) don’t recognize someone, don’t accept a friend request!

FAKE KASPERSKY OFFER: Kaspersky is a popular antivirus program. It’s so popular that crooks have been sending emails designed to look like real announcements from Kaspersky. The emails take recipients to a page where they’re asked for their email address and credit card number. Of course, they don’t get their software. If you want to buy Kaspersky or update your present copy, go to the company’s site or a vendor you know and trust.

SHOCKWAVE SECURITY UPDATE: Apple and Adobe have issued critical security updates. The Adobe alert centers on the Shockwave Player for Windows and Mac OS X systems. They have issued an updated version that addresses security flaws in the software, and recommend that users update to Shockwave version 11.6.3.633. Apple issued an update to target 17 vulnerabilities in Java for Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7 systems.