Have cybercriminals created the perfect botnet -- undetectable and indestructible?
Up until now, those fighting against botnets have had some measurable success in taking them down. However, the newest botnet on the block may be a hard nut to crack, and at least one security firm is calling it nearly indestructible.
Kaspersky Labs says the TDL botnet contains about 4.5 million computers, and uses a variety of measures to avoid detection by antivirus programs. Furthermore, communications between an infected PC and the host are encrypted, making it harder to decode what the botnet may be doing, and it disables other malware.
Skype brings video calling to select Android phones
Skype on Thursday updated its Android app to allow users of select devices to make video calls, putting Android users on the same level of functionality as their iOS counterparts. Users of the Skype for iOS app have been able to make video calls since late December.
The first phase of the launch will allow for video calling on the HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro and the Google Nexus S. The calls will be possible over both 3G and Wi-Fi connections.
LulzSec is gone, but #AntiSec antics live on with new hacks and data dump
Now operating under the #AntiSec banner, the LulzSec hackers are still busy causing trouble. The latest data dump posted to torrent sites goes after several governments worldwide as well as both Viacom and Universal Music Group.
"While the LulzBoat is still sailing with us (albeit not with the LulzSec flag), the objective of #AntiSec is different," the description of the torrent reads. "#AntiSec is more than Lulz and more than even Anonymous: It is our true belief that this movement has the capability to change the world. And should that fail, we will at least rock the world."
Specific Media acquires MySpace for $35 million
A day after rumors surfaced about News Corp's attempts to quickly sell off MySpace, a deal has been struck to let the site go for a rumored $35 million. Ad firm Specific Media announced the purchase on Wednesday, of which News Corp would retain a five percent stake.
At that price, MySpace is a staggering 94 percent discount over the estimated $580 million News Corp paid to acquire the site in 2006. The media conglomerate had hoped to make about $100 million from any sale, but as its fiscal end of year approached on Thursday, it became a matter of unloading the site quickly.
MySpace set to be sold for less than $30 million?
MySpace appears set to be sold this week as News Corp aims to get rid of the unprofitable social networking site before the end of the month, which is also the end of the company's fiscal year. The desperation to sell in such short order has also resulted in the site being offered at a rock bottom price: likely somewhere between $20 and $30 million.
That valuation is far from what the company had hoped to get -- about $100 million -- and pocket change compared to the $500 million News Corp dished out for the site when it purchased MySpace in 2006.
Google activates 500,000 Android devices daily
Android's march towards smartphone market dominance continued on Tuesday, as Google's Android chief Andy Rubin disclosed that activations continued to grow at a torrid pace. "There are now over 500,000 Android devices activated every day, and it's growing at 4.4% [week over week]," he tweeted early Tuesday morning.
Putting that in perspective, it was only at the Google I/O conference in May that Google reported surpassing 400,000 daily activations. Before that, in December Android surpassed 300,000 activations per day, and at that point was the first time it was surpassing total iOS daily activations on a regular basis.
With LulzSec gone, Anonymous ramps up attacks
LulzSec may have faded off into the hacking annals of history, but Anonymous isn't resting. The group on Monday released a file of what appears to be a cyberterrorism training manual. It is not clear how the group obtained the document.
"Little teaser while we work on the actual release: Ever interested in anti-cyberterrorism training?" a tweet from a Twitter account associated with the group reads. The manual appears to come from FEMA's Counter Terrorism Defense Initiative and is dated from 2009.
Apple ditching Samsung for chip production next year
The relationship between Apple and Samsung has become increasingly hostile as of late, and it appears to be getting no better. The Cupertino company appears set to tap a Samsung competitor for development of its "A6" ARM system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will begin manufacture of the chip sometime in 2012, says Ars Technica.
Samsung has produced the A4 chips which first appeared in the original iPad and the iPhone 4. The A5 chip, Apple's current SoC, can be found in the iPad 2 and is believed to be in the next generation iPhone due in September of this year. The A6 will not make it into Apple products until next year at the earliest.
Next iPhone to begin production in August
Apple is set to begin manufacturing of the next-generation iPhone in late August, claims one analyst, with a release date sometime in late September. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty made the prediction in a research note following meetings in Taiwan, which were likely with some of the Cupertino company's suppliers.
The prediction lines up with those of other analysts and Apple watchers, most of which have targeted September as the time for the introduction of the new iPhone. Huberty wasn't explicit on what she expected the next-generation iPhone to be, although she did say two million units are expected to ship in the fourth quarter.
Nokia's first Windows Phone device: 'Sea Ray'
It may be the worst thing to tell a crowd: "put away your cameras." But that is exactly what Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said speaking to a meeting of company employees this week in debuting a "super confidential product:" Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 device.
Codenamed "Sea Ray," the device looks much like the Nokia N9. Elop did not specify specs of the Windows Phone version, but the N9 specs are as follows: a 3.9-inch AMOLED display, scratch-resistant glass, 8-megapixel camera, and NFC capabilities.
Scotland Yard arrests possible LulzSec leader, group denies
The "lulz" for LulzSec may be about to end as worldwide authorities begin a push to apprehend those responsible. The British Metropolitan Police Service -- better known as Scotland Yard -- said Tuesday that it had arrested a 19-year-old man believed to be one of the lead individuals within the hacking collective.
UK law enforcement was under increasing pressure to find those responsible after LulzSec said that it planned to release the entire database from Britain's 2011 census. That would have meant some 62 million people could have their personal data exposed, the biggest hack yet for the group.
Trojan stealing Bitcoin users' wallets, says Symantec
Bitcoins have become popular as an alternative to government-controlled currencies, but a new Trojan seems to be specifically targeting Bitcoin wallets in an attempt to steal funds, security firm Symantec warns. The news follows reports earlier this week of a Bitcoin user being hacked to the tune of 25,000 bitcoins, or about $500,000 USD.
Symantec says that the 'Infostealer.Coinbit' Trojan aims to find your wallet file and then mail it to the attacker. There is also similar code which looks for the file, but uses FTP to transfer it to the attacker's servers. With this file, the user can then use a 'brute-force attack' to break in and pilfer the user's coins.
Finally, an official Facebook app for iPad
The days of needing to use Friendly or other third-party applications to access Facebook on the iPad may be soon over. The New York Times reported Friday that sources said the social networking site is close to releasing an application of its own after nearly a year in development.
Facebook's long delay in bringing an official app to market seems also surprising. The company was one of the first in 2008 to launch a native app when Apple opened up iOS to third-party developers.
Connecticut AG wants meeting over Facebook facial recognition
With the public outcry over Facebook's facial recognition feature growing ever louder, Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen is now requesting a meeting with the social networking site. In a letter sent to Facebook, he says the company's failure to provide an opt-in "overlooked a critical component of consumer privacy protection."
Jepsen is not the first time the government has gotten involved with Facebook's new tagging option. The Electronic Privacy Information Center earlier this week filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission accusing the social networking site of running afoul of the same regulations Jepsen is.
Pandora stock falls to IPO price in second day trading
Pandora's second day on the New York Stock Exchange hasn't been much better than the first. In midday trading the stock was down over eight percent, amid a fairly stable market overall. The stock has traded as low as $15.50 in intraday trading, 50 cents below its IPO price.
The music service's continued weakness followed yet more doubts from financial analysts that the company could ever pull a profit. Simply put, Pandora's userbase may be growing faster than its growth in ad revenue, which makes up 87 percent of its total revenues.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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