TECH ALERT: Latest in Web Tracking: Stealthy 'Supercookies'!

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By JULIA ANGWIN, nline.wsj.com / AUGUST 18, 2011.

Major websites such as MSN.com and Hulu.com have been tracking people's online activities using powerful new methods that are almost impossible for computer users to detect, new research shows.

The new techniques, which are legal, reach beyond the traditional "cookie," a small file that websites routinely install on users' computers to help track their activities online. Hulu and MSN were installing files known as "supercookies," which are capable of re-creating users' profiles after people deleted regular cookies, according to researchers at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley.

Websites and advertisers have faced strong criticism for collecting and selling personal data about computer users without their knowledge, and a half-dozen privacy bills have been introduced on Capitol Hill this year.

Many of the companies found to be using the new techniques say the tracking was inadvertent and they stopped it after being contacted by the researchers.

Mike Hintze, associate general counsel at MSN parent company Microsoft Corp., said that when the supercookie "was brought to our attention, we were alarmed. It was inconsistent with our intent and our policy." He said the company removed the computer code, which had been created by Microsoft.

Hulu posted a statement online saying it "acted immediately to investigate and address" the issues identified by researchers. It declined to comment further.

The spread of advanced tracking techniques shows how quickly data-tracking companies are adapting their techniques. When The Wall Street Journal examined tracking tools on major websites last year, most of these more aggressive techniques were not in wide use.

But as consumers become savvier about protecting their privacy online, the new techniques appear to be gaining ground.

Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate, identified what is known as a "history stealing" tracking service on Flixster.com, a social-networking service for movie fans recently acquired by Time Warner Inc., and on Charter Communications Inc.'s Charter.net.

Full Story at,

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576508382675931492.html

MOBILE BANKING ALERT: Don’t bank on your phone!

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Guardian / The Hindu / July 23, 2011.

Experts say the mobile phone industry is not fit for financial transactions, and there is no assurance of security with modern smartphones. File photo - AP.

No one knows who lies behind Zeus. Security experts believe he or she is Russian, but no one is completely sure. But what they all agree is that Zeus is the most pernicious “trojan horse” — a destructive programme disguised as an application — on the internet. During the last four years it has infected millions of PCs, taking control of the computer and stealing personal banking details.

Microsoft has fought a running battle against Zeus, which is one of the most difficult types of malware to detect — but the great fear among cybercrime experts is no longer your home computer. A new strain of Zeus, dubbed “Zitmo” (it stands for “Zeus in the mobile“) has begun to exploit a huge hole in personal banking security: the smartphone in your pocket.

‘Android is fraudster’s heaven’

In the past fortnight, this malicious new version of Zeus, which attacks phones using the Android operating system, has sparked intense concern among security companies. One major U.S. internet security provider, Trusteer, claimed Google Android is “fraudsters’ heaven”. The chief executive of Trusteer, Mickey Boodaei, said in a blog: “Bad news: fraudsters have all the tools they need to effectively turn mobile malware into the biggest customer security problem we’ve ever seen.” But it’s not just Zeus that smartphone customers should be worrying about, according to Alex Fidgen of MWR InfoSecurity, one of the biggest cybercrime-busting outfits in Britain. It legally hacks into computers to test and improve security. More recently it has turned its attention to smartphones and found that it can crack open every new handset it sees.

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How Trojans enter smartphones

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Risks of mobile banking

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Anti-virus on smartphone

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Zeus top security threat

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How to stay secure

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Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/gadgets/article2287852.ece

Online Assault: Cyber criminals reach every corner of India!

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• May 2, 2011 
• Vinay Madhav 
• Bengaluru / Deccan Chronicle.

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• With increasing social networking and mobile computing, India’s vulnerability to cyber crime has increased.
  Shockingly, about 35 per cent of spam in Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) zombies are attributed to India and 11 per cent of phishing hosts in APJ were located in India.
  Even worse is that 14 new zero-day vulnerabilities, which played a key role in targeted attacks, including Hydraq and Stuxnet, were found in India during 2010, while mobile vulnerabilities witnessed an upsurge to the tune of 42 per cent.
  These were the findings of Symantec, in its Internet Security Threats Report (ISTR) for 2010.
  This is Shocking!
  Full Story at,
  http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/cyber-criminals-reach-every-corner-india-873