Global Cyber News Bits, August 24, 2009 from CommunityDNS.
Provided by CommunityDNS, the information in this post consists of news items in the security-based Internet community.
Internet scammers step up attacks on Australian taxpayers
With identity theft being one of fastest growing crimes in the world, Australia’s tax office has seen a 31% increase in eSecurity incidents between 2007 and 2008. Through offers of tax refunds, Internet-generated cold-calling and finding a website set up to look exactly like that of the ATO’s, hackers, posing as the Australian Tax Office, are trying to trick Australian tax payers into handing over personal information. During a one week period the ATO found eight variations on a refund scam that was designed to coincide with the end of the financial year. Over 90% of tax returns in Australia are filed electronically.
Click here for more information.
London hospital recovers from Conficker outbreak
London’s Whipps Cross University Hospital was hit by the Conficker worm earlier this month. While 20 computers were taken off-line for the worm’s eradication no information was tampered with or stolen. While the mystery of Conficker continues, this is an example of its continued presence.
Click here for more information.
Tech Insight: SQL Injection Demystified
SQL injection, according to a new report, lists SQL injection as the method used for conducting the most Web breaches for the first half of 2009. Regarding Web applications SQL injection is one of the most common form of vulnerability. SQL injection allows users to take advantage of existing fields to gain access to applications that do not require authentication/challenge by the end user.
Five key defenses against SQL injection include:
- Parameterized queries
- Stored procedures
- Escaping all user input
- Least privilege
- Whitelist input validation
Click here for more information.
Norton Symantec names Top 100 Dirtiest Sites
Though a little dated, the top 100 dirtiest websites are listed. Simply visiting any one of the top 100 would result in the user’s PC being infected, even without downloading files or clicking on links. 75% of the sites on this list had been distributing malware for over six months.
Click here for more information.
Filed under: Anycast, Australia, Community DNS, CommunityDNS, Conficker, Confidence, Cyber defense, Cybercrime, Cybergang, Cybersecurity, Hijacking, malware, Phishing, Privacy, Security, Spam, Virus, Vishing, Worm | Leave a Comment
Tags: Anycast, Australia, Australian Tax Office, Business Continuity, Business resilience, Community DNS, CommunityDNS, Conficker, Cyber Criminals, Cybercrime, DNS, DNS Resolution, Global resolution, Hacker, Internet, London, malware, Phishing, Resolution Service, Security, SQL Injection, Vishing
