Monitoring software sales model gets the rug pulled out from under it. RemoteSpy, a keystroke logger application, sold by CyberSpy Software (fail on name alone) has had its sales blocked by a US court.

From PC World:

The FTC’s complaint said CyberSpy violated regulations prohibiting the installation of software without the consent of a user and surreptitiously collecting personal data. The FTC is seeking a permanent ban on the sale of RemoteSpy and wants the company to forfeit its gains from sales of the program.

RemoteSpy was advertised as being undetectable by antivirus software and was sold using the slogan “Spy on Anyone. From Anywhere.” The company’s Web site was down as of Tuesday, but Google’s cache of its home page showed the program sold for US$89.95 with free technical support.

CyberSpy Software gave its customers special instructions on how to e-mail the program to an intended victim, disguising it as a harmless photo file.

For under $90 you too can violate someone’s privacy. WTF? I find it odd that this product which has been on sale since 2005 is only now receiving the ire of the FTC. Don’t get me wrong I’m pleased to see it.

From the cached version of the website,

CyberSpy is an award-winning spy software that features powerful computer monitoring and internet monitoring.

CyberSpy software started with CyberSpy, our flagship computer monitoring product. CyberSpy is a local computer monitoring product perfect for monitoring your home or office computers. With stealth capabilities CyberSpy can secretly record all keystrokes typed, websites visited, internet conversations, documents opened, and so much more!

Award winning? There are awards for spyware? Do they have a dinner with watered down drinks, rented tuxedos and rubber chicken dinners?

Article Link

G’morning,

The sun is bright and high this morning, here’s hoping this day has great things in store.
Thank you for your continued support.

Cheers!

The Intern

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And now, the news…

1. Rational Risk Management, ‘Angry Italians’ and Irrational Security Analysts - RiskAnalys.is
2. Microsoft sees value in exploitability index - Security Focus
3. Widespread Account-Sharing Threatens Corporate Security, Revenues - Dark Reading
4. November 24 Deemed Black Monday - Dark Reading
5. Law professor fires back at file-sharing lawsuits - The Globe and Mail
6. Lego: 14-Pound Lego Safe Is Guarded By 305 Billion Codes - Gizmodo Need a weekend project? Look no further.
7. Gartner: open source software ‘pervasive’ - The Register
8. Mobile phones will cut off Al Qaeda says DHS - The Register Again, security dependent on something mutable - and you know that Auntie Ruth on her trip to Palm Springs for the winter is going to be whipping out her classic Moto Brick and trying to display a high rez bar code on that 12 digit 7-seg LED display. As Myrcurial would say - it’s all blinkie lights and shiny things for some people. /rant

The classic Moto Brick

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

Good morning, glad you’re joining us. Hope your Monday is without speed traps and detours!

The Intern

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!.

And now, the news…

1. McColo takedown nets massive drop in spam - The Register
2. SDL announcements - Emergent Chaos
3. Cloud Security Macro Layers? I’ll Take “It’ll Never Sell” for $1000, Alex… - Rational Survivability
4. Microsoft’s Stance on Piracy Affects Us All - Security Focus
5. Why Security, Privacy and Compliancy Don’t Mix. - Layer 8
6. Who Should We Be? - Kevin Kelly
7. CohesiveFT VPN-Cubed: Not Your Daddy’s Encrypted Tunnel - Rational Survivability
8. Via Rail explores entertainment download business - The Globe and Mail THIS is what they come up with for a new revenue stream? Wth.
9. Half Life hacker refused FBI sting bait - The Register

And, finally, who hasn’t been slightly red in the face come Monday morning? Maybe it’s only me.

10. 5 Ways to Keep Your Drunken Self Away From the Internet - Mashable

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

Hola! Como Esta?

Make it a great day - thanks for joining us!

Signed,

The Intern

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!.

And now, the news…

1. The Economics of Spam - Bruce Schneier If you read only one article today, make it this one. And don’t skip the comments.
2. @kevinscold is Funny… Is It Legal? - Mashable
3. On Security & Risk Management Innovation Risk Analys.is
4. Patch Tuesday a fairly minor one for Microsoft - Security Focus
5. Intrusion Threatens Data of 330,000 at UF - Dark Reading
6. A copyright call to arms - The Globe and Mail
7. Why clouds should be more like operating systems - The Register
8. ISP boss pledges to undermine Great Aussie Firewall - The Register
9. Tips for getting started in Information Security - Kees Leune I meant to post this last week, apologies.
10. Firefox update fixes four critical flaws - The Register

And finally, if you think you’re having a bad day, at least yours wasn’t being recorded for all and sundry:

11. Texas cop tasers himself - The Register Yes! With video!

Peace Out, Boy Scout.

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

Well, see the problem with that is that the site in question asked for your Twitter username AND password.

Who knows (at this point) he might be legit (doubtful). In all honesty where is that little voice that screams at people that “this is not a good idea“?

And when one has a peek at the source code for the site we see this comment;

I am about to ask you for your Twitter user ID and password. You should be afraid. This is where you ask yourself, “Do I really want to find out my twitterank badly enough to give some random dude on teh interweb my account info?” And if that’s not what you’re asking yourself, shame on you.

Um, yeah.

I have been using Paros (and others) for a while now and this was an easy enough tool to use historically. Problem is that it hasn’t been maintained for a long time. One tool that I was introduced to a couple years back was the Burp Suite written by PortSwigger. This is a great application for doing all types of web testing. This has become my “go to” power tool for testing web applications.

This month (yes, I’m late with this one) PortSwigger is posting a feature per day for the new version that he is getting set to release. It looks very cool. The feature per day is his Month of Burp Pron (MoBP). I highly suggest that you check the site out to get an idea of what’s coming in the new version. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this when it’s available.

Seriously, if you haven’t tried this tool before go download and try out the demo version of 1.1 now. For the full version there is a nominal cost involved that is well worth it.

Article Link

OK, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things again. Been a rough ride of late but, I’m back. I figured this would be a perfect article to share.

This comes from the good folks at Computerworld:

“Although I was not official IT and didn’t have any network background, because of the physical distance I had the privilege of checking out user complaints and then passing legitimate help requests on up the chain of command,” says fish.

“One day, I received a request to help with a networking issue: The user was not able to get to the Internet. I did the usual first look and found that the LAN cable was connected. When I checked ipconfig, it showed that the computer had failed to pick up an IP address.”

And it just gets worse from that point. A very funny and sad story all at once. For the full story read on.

Article Link

The middle of the week is here. Are your projects on track? Get it done, scratch it off the list, the finish line is in sight!

Thank you for continuing to follow us here at the Digest.

Signed,

The Intern

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!.

And now, the news…

1. AVG slaps Trojan label on core Windows file - The Register
2. Anti-malware testing group release standards - Security Focus
3. Dutch group develops ‘intelligent pill’ - The Globe and Mail
4. 2008 Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report - Arbor Networks
5. JobBite: Find Out If Competitors Pay More - Mashable Read here to discover hidden truths of your next potential employer.
6. Microsoft rethinks open-source CodePlex site - The Register
7. Hotmail holdouts grumble about ‘pathetic’ new interface - The Register
8. China to offer detox to net junkies - The Register
9. Major Source of Online Scams and Spams Knocked Offline - Brian Krebs, The Washington Post Thanks innismir for that one!

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

At 5:20am local time, I’ve begun to gather the news. I think I may have some weird news gathering sickness. I can’t stop myself. I’m delirious, not enough sleep.
Nothing to see here, move along to the articles.
Have a good day, ok?

Signed,

The Intern

p.s. I’m not being paid to pimp The Reg - honest promise.

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!.

And now, the news…

1. 3 open InfoSec positions at MIT Lincoln Labratories InfoSecPodcast.com Thanks mediaphyter.
2. I Can Haz TCG IF-MAP Support in Your Security Product, Please… - Rational Survivability
3. Apps we love - The Globe and Mail
4. RefSeek is Google for Students and Scientists - Mashable
5. 1 in 12.5 Million is Still a Killer Business Model for Spammers - Mashable Srsly? People still click through spam?
6. Mars lander has probably carked it, says NASA - The Register
7. Denial, exposure and online security - The Register
8. One in ten DNS servers still vulnerable to poisoning - The Register
9. Drive-by download attack mows down thousands of websites - The Register
10. Visa trials PIN payment card to fight online fraud - The Register

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

Good morning and thank you for joining us!
After writing about voting machines and election controversies for months on end, apparently the internet went wild this weekend with a wide variety of interesting and useful articles. Pour yourself a fresh mug and find something good to read.
Enjoy the day!

Signed,

The Intern

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!.

And now, the news…

1. android executes everything you type - hack a day
2. DIY Phising Pages With Command and Control Interfaces - Dancho Danchev
3. We’ve Reached the Application Security Tipping Point - Veracode
4. CTO of the United States? - Emergent Chaos
5. I Was on NPR, an Unmasking of Sorts - Emergent Chaos
6. The Origins of Progress - Kevin Kelly
7. 15+ FREE iPhone Apps to Help to Navigate Your World - Mashable Especially for the Boss, who has an iPhone, unlike me, who doesn’t.
8. Digg Quirk = Malicious Trap? - Mashable
9. 6 Reasons to Start Coworking - Mashable
10. Malaysian court frees ‘detained’ blogger - The Register
11. Inmate hacked prison network, broke into computer database - The Register
12. Wi-Fi phobes hijack disability legislation - The Register At least if it’s WPA2, this guy will feel secure… for now.
13. Hackers breach White House system - The Financial Times
14. Some headphones may interfere with heart devices - The Globe and Mail
15. EMC’s cloud technology erupts into view - The Register
16. Buffer overflow bug bites Linux wireless component - The Register
17. Of Dell’s self-encrypting laptop - The Register

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News