[SecurityRatty] tag: roundup

Federal Charges Filed Against Alleged Cyber Peeping Tom

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:30:00 +0000

A college student who allegedly rigged a woman's laptop to snap nude photos through her webcam faces federal charges this week, and tops Threat Level's roundup of cybercrime in the federal courts.

A Security Roundup In 20 Minutes Flat

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:28:59 +0000

Mathias Thurman has a chance to make the case for better security every quarter. But he has to be fast.

Keylogger Or False Positive Detected in Wall-E Demo?

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:23:19 +0000

I woke this morning to find an interesting set of blog entries regarding the Wall-E demo game from THQ - someone downloaded the demo and found their AV scanner flagging it as potentially dangerous.

A quick roundup of posts:

1) Security researcher Timeless Prototype downloads the Wall-E demo, only to find his antivirus software going crazy. It has detected Spyware.Ardakey.

2) Over at Spyware Sucks, Sandi Hardmeier decides to try downloading versions of the game from different regions, only to find the French, German ,Danish and Italian versions are all 177MB in size, whereas the US version is "only" 133MB. Furthermore, the 177MB versions all have different filenames. Note that (so far) it's the UK version (clocking in at 177MB) that has been snagged by an antivirus program. As Sandi notes, there is no way an extra 40-odd MB are needed for a keylogger, so why the extra filesize?

3) Wayne Porter contacted Cachefly (who manage the servers the game is downloading from), and they said this:

"I can confirm that our servers were not compromised, beyond that I can't offer much else.

Obviously we'd like to be as helpful as possible, but since it's related to customer data we're rather limited in what we can discuss. I've opened a ticket to make THQ aware of this, and we can/will work them on tracking stuff down if we need to (we do have a history of all versions of a file w/ filesizes/md5 checksums, and the dates/times/src ip of all revisions)."

The 177MB file is still available to download, I grabbed it a little earlier on today:

What we really need to know, is if this is anything to be worried about or not. I would have contacted THQ UK directly, but they don't seem to be available on a Sunday. Until this is resolved one way or another, I'd have to advise people not to download this demo as a precaution until THQ (or Norton, whose AV program flagged the file) have clarified exactly what is going on here. We're currently running some more antivirus / antispyware scans against the download in question, but as you can imagine, this takes some time. A particular problem here is that there are issues submitting a file like this to sites such as Virustotal.com, because of their 10MB file size limit.

Sorting this one out might take a while...

/ Update - some people are saying AVAST flags the file, too.

Your 419 Mail Roundup

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:11:42 +0000

A handful of scam mails currently in circulation, including one mention of "groundnut oil" that seems so bizarre I had to highlight it in bold text. All this and more, after the jump...
Subject:
FROM THE DESK OF MR. STEVEN JAMES
From:
"Steven James"
Date:
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:17:03 +0100
BCC:

FROM THE DESK OF MR. STEVEN JAMES
CHAIRMAN INTERNATIONAL RELATION
FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC
# 1 BANK ROAD WUSE FCT
ABUJA-NIGERIA.
PHONE: +234-80-66520277
Email: stevenjames809@live.co.uk

Very Urgent Attention,

Please permit me to introduce my humble self to you, my name is Mr. Steven James, I am the Manager of International Relation with First Bank of Nigeria Plc, I 'm 38yrs old, and I got your email address from a friend of mine, and my confidence reposed on you. I hope you read this message carefully and reply me immediately. Although we have not met before, but I suggest that this transaction will bring us together.

My dear, we had a customer, a foreigner but base here in Nigeria, his Name was Mr. Hamilton Creek. He is from Atlanta Georgia United State of America, but based here with his wife and his two children, Mr. Hamilton has being banking with us for the past 4yrs and some time in August 2002, Mr. Hamilton was on his way to his house, and unfortunately ran into a Trailer load of Groundnut Oil, and died   immediately, Their car got burnt, no single soul was saved, Mr. Hamilton Creek and His entire family was confirmed dead.

My Board of Directors and the Management of First Bank has mandated and instructed me to look for Mr. Hamilton Creek? Relation(s) and his Next of Kin to come and claim his fund, Since August 2003 till date, I have been looking for his relation's or his next of Kin to come and claim his fund which he Deposited with our bank, I have contacted his Embassy and after 3days, his Ambassador told me that Mr. Hamilton Creek has no relation and no next of Kin, their Ambassador told me that he used his first son as His next of kin, but it is quite unfortunate that Mr. Hamilton Creek Died with all his family members.

The reason why I contacted you is thus, Mr. Hamilton is dead, and his only son who supposed to inherit his properties and money also died with him. As at this moment, nobody or person[s] is coming to   claim this Money from our bank. The Board of Directors and management of our bank told me that if nobody or person[s] apply for the claim of Mr. Hamilton Fund, the bank will return the entire Fund into our Federal reserve. In the Light of the above, I want you to stand as the next of kin to Late Mr. Hamilton Creek; it might interest you to know that he had a Domiciliary Bank Account with our Bank and he has a total sum of US$9.2M Nine Million Two Hundred thousand Dollars, this is the exact amount which he had in his domiciliary account before the ugly incident occurred, and this money is still in his account as unclaimed money.

This transaction is very easy and simple, and it is 100% risk free, I'm the Manager for International Relations with First Bank of Nigeria Plc, and the Management and Board of Directors of the Bank are waiting for me to provide to them the Relation or next of Kin to late Mr. Hamilton Creek, of which I told them that I am still searching the next of kin to the deceased. Finally, if you are interested with this transaction, I will front you to the bank as the only next of kin to late Mr. Hamilton Creek, and I will let the bank know that you are the only right person to inherit Late Mr. Hamilton Funds and properties. If you are interested, just email me or call me on my   direct and private line#: +234-80-27536038 and late Mr. Hamilton's Funds will be credited into your account and all his Properties will be released to you either through Courier Services or the Bank will Cargo all his properties to you in any were you want it.

So reply me immediately and feel free to ask any question with regards to this transaction. You will take 50% of the US$9.2M. Which is? US$4.600, 000.00 Four Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars, while the Balance of the same amount will be mine.

Your swift response will be highly appreciated.

Thanks and have a nice day.

Friendly Regards

Mr. Steven James

*******************************************************************************************

Subject:
REPRESENTATIVE NEEDED
From:
DFS SALES LTD UK
Date:
Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:00:55 +0800
To:
undisclosed-recipients: ;

COMPLIMENT OF THE DAY TO YOU.

I am PETER WOODS from DFS SALES LTD UK.(
Website: www.dfs-online.co.uk ) Visit our site

We are into furnitures and we sell shares to people in
Canada,America, Australia and Europe.

We are in need of a book keeper. someone who can represent our company
in his/her country.

Our client in your location will contact you and make the company
payment to you.

You will be entitle to 11% of every payment been made out to you.

This is because most of our officer are from china and they do not

understand english very well.its hard for them to contact our
customers.

Our head office is located in CHINA. But we have a sub-office in the
uk.

If you are interested, Kindly send the entries for more understanding.

NAME IN FULL :.........
COMPANY NAME: .....
POSITION:......
FULL ADDRESS: .......
CITY/TOWN:........
STATE:............
ZIP CODE:........
COUNTRY:.......
MOBILE:.......
HOME TEL: .....
EMAIL ADDRESS: ........
OCCUPATION: ...........
BANK NAME :.......
AGE:............

You are to send the above details to

NAME : PETER WOODS.
EMAIL : dfs_woods@yahoo.co.uk
PHONE NUMBER : +44-704-575-0212

HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU

*****************************************************************************************

To:
undisclosed-recipients:;

Good day!!!

We have been waiting for you since to contact me for your Confirmable Bank Draft of ?18 Million (Eighteen Million Pounds sterling) but we did not hear from you since for a couple of weeks now. Then we went to the bank to confirm if the draft that expired or getting near to expire and Metropolitan Police Uk told us that before the funds will get to your hand that it will expire.So I told him to cash the ?18 Million (Eighteen Million Pounds sterling) to cash payment to avoid losing this fund under expiration as I will be out of the country for a 6 Months Course.

What you have to do now is to contact FED EX COURIER SERVICES as soon as possible to know when they will deliver of your funds to you because of the expiring date. For your information we have paid for the delivering Charge Insurance premium. The only money you will send to the FED EX COURIER SERVICES to deliver your cheque direct to your postal Address in your country is ?250.00 being Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far. Again don't be deceived by anybody to pay any other money except ?250.00 for the Security Keeping Fee.We would have paid that but they said no because they don't know when you will contact them and in case of demurrage. You have to contact FED EX COURIER SERVICES now for the delivery of your Draft with this
information below:

CONTROLLER: Mrs.Helen Williams
NAME: FED EX COURIER SERVICES
ADDRESS: fedexofficeuk@gmail.com
PHONE NUMBER: +447024080684

IF YOU ARE THE OWENER OF THE FUNDS AND YOU WILL SEND YOUR INFORMATION TO US SO THAT WE CAN DELIVERY YOUR FUNDS TO YOU WITHIN THE NEXT 84HRS TIME.IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVED YOUR FUNDS WITHIN THE NEXT 72HRS TIME AND YOU REPORT US THE UK FBI AND THE METROPOLITAN POLICE (SCOTLAND YARD) or YOU CONTACT YOUR LAWYER TO TAKE UP PROCEDURES AGAINST US.

Let me repeat again try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid any further delay and remember to pay them their Security keeping fee of ?250.00 for their immediate action. The FED EX COURIER SERVICES don't know the contents of the funds. This is to avoid them delaying with the funds.

Thanks as you contact them today.

Yours Faithfully

Mrs Helen Williams.

(The above actually comes with a nifty graphic that they've thrown in, thinking it makes it all look more legitimate. It doesn't, but here it is anyway):

....altogether now: oooooh. A slightly shorter 419 roundup than usual, but I'm sure I'll have piles of the things next week.

Summertime security: No letup for IT

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:00:00 +0000

What ever happened to the lazy days of summer? For IT and security managers in businesses, hospitals and universities across the country, summer is just another season to get things done. Here's a roundup of IT security projects we're hearing about.

Your 419 Mail Roundup

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:29:29 +0000

Are you ready for more 419 missives?

Of course you are. Plenty of winning lottery tickets, fictitious banks, a wonderfully sick "Robert Mugabe" themed mail and, er, someone called "Captain Frank Bojo" after the jump...
Subject:
HELLO DEAR
From:
"abavanagift13 Gazeta.pl"
Date:
Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:26:24 +0000
BCC:

Hello Dear,

My name is Blessing Abavana, the elder daughter of Mr. paul Abavana of Zimbabwe, I am 17 years old with my younger brother (Micheal), we are in Ghana as refuge/asylum since we lost our parents because of the recent war that occurred in our country.please do go through this web page for better understanding with full details:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0418/zimbabwe.html

I am looking for one who will honestly assist my younger brother and I to realize our inherited funds into your account and as well as invest it into a lucrative business.

During the recent war against the farmers in Zimbabwe from the supporters of our President, Robert Mugabe to claim all the white -owned farms to his party members and his followers, he ordered all the white farmers to surrender all their farms to his party members and his followers.

My father being one of the few rich and successful black farmers in our country was also victimized because of his opposition to Mugabe's policies. And because he did not support Mugabe's ideas, Mugabe's supporters invaded my father's farm and burnt everything in the farm, killed my father and made away with a lot of items in my father's farm. This action was taken because my late father felt the growing tension on the farm issue, but I guess he never anticipated the tragedy that brought their brutal and sudden death.

However with the benefit of hindsight, owing to the looming but deteriorating crisis in my country, Zimbabwe, my father, before his unfortunate death deposited with International Commercial Bank (ICB) here in Accra Ghana the sum of US$ 35MUsd (Thirty Five Million United States Dollars), with the sole aim of acquiring and buying some dredging equipments in setting up of a dredging firm with his partner. With his death and all his assets seized at home and accounts frozen, the family is now in a very difficult situation.

After the death of my father, my brother and I escaped to the Republic of Ghana where he had deposited the money in the Bank . And we were permitted to reside here as Political Refugees.

So Because of our present and unpleasant status here we decided to contact an overseas firm / individual that can assist us to move this money out Of Ghana because, as asylum seekers, we are not allowed to operate any financial transaction of such amount within Ghana and also to assist in providing me and my brother a permanent residential permit in your country after the money must have been transferred to your account.

We have agreed to offer you 30% of the total sum for your assistance, and the rest will be for my brother and I, to Invest in your country under your assistant

All I want you to do is to furnish me with the below information including your readiness to assist me achieve this transaction for investment purposes in your country under your supervision. Kindly re-confirm to me the followings:

1) Your Full Name:
2) Phone, Fax and Mobile
3) Profession, Age and Marital Status.
4) Nationality

I have to re-assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free and should be treated with absolute confidentiality. All the vital documentation/certification that has to do with the origin of the fund is with me for the security reasons.And I will send them to you when we progress.And I guarantee you that this fund is not government fund, drug money, or from arms deals.

I will detail you more about the bank immediately I receive your acceptance response. I hope this is the beginning of a prosperous relationship between us.Thanks and God bless you

Regards

Blessing/Micheal Abavana

(Wow, spectacularly sick. Not that we're expecting scammers to have any morals, of course).

*********************************************************************************************

Subject:
Lycos Online Lottery Notification
From:
"LHOUTY MOHAMMED HASSANE"
Date:
Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:42:53 -0000
BCC:

LYCOS LOTTERY ONLINE
8th Floor
1 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1AL

WINNING NOTIFICATION
This is to inform you that your email address has won the Lycos Lottery for the year 2008. your email has won you the sum of ?952,350.00 (Nine Hundred And Fifty Two Thousand, Three Hundred And Fifty pounds sterling).
You are advised to keep this notice confidential to avoid misinterpretation of funds and unauthorize claims, cheating or fraud.
To claim your funds please contact us with the information below.
Name: Dr. George Stevenson
Tel:+447031991681
Email:lycosclaimsdpt@gmail.com

It is mandatory that you send us your full names, address, phone number,
age, sex and occupation to enable us arrange your claim.

Note: Winners were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from Microsoft users from company and individual email addresse users. All winning must be claimed not later than 21 working days from the time of notification. After this date all unclaimed funds will be returned to European Union Treasury as unclaimed funds.

Congratulations from mambers and staff of Lycos
Lhouty Mohammed Hassane.
Lycos Lottery Co-ordinator

(A "Lycos Lottery" and they're using a GMail address? Doh).

*********************************************************************************************

Subject:
Yukos Oil
From:
Mr. Timinskiy Vladimir
Date:
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 5:38:17 -0400
To:

I have a profiling amount in an excess of US$100.5M, which I seek you in accommodating for me. You will be rewarded with 4% .If intrested, please reply me for moredetails...
Regards
Mr. Timinskiy Vladimir

(Short. Sweet. Pointlessly fake).

*******************************************************************************

Subject:
Immediate Release of Your FUND Via ATM CARD
From:
"Mr. Mark Louis"
Date:
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:45:09 -0700
To:
undisclosed-recipients:;

SUBJECT: Immediate Release of Your FUND Via ATM CARD

Attention: ATM Card Beneficiary,

I wish to use this medium to inform you that your CONTRACT/INHERITANCE Paymen of USD$10,000,000.00 (Ten Million United States Dollars) from CENTRAL BANK
OF NIGERIA have been RELEASED and APPROVED for onward transfer to you via an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw all the USD$10,000,000.00 in any
ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world, but the maximum you can withdraw in a day is USD$10,000.00 Only.

We have mandated IBTC CHARTERED BANK PLC, to send you the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER which you will use to withdraw all your USD$10 Million Dollars in
any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world. You are therefore advice to contact the Head of ATM CARD Department of IBTC CHARTERED BANK PLC;

Contact Person: Dr. Olu James
Office email address: pcfc_nigeria@yahoo.com
Private: +2347084501007
Office:018969906

Tell Dr. Olu James that you received a message from the CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. Instructing him to send you the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER which you will use
to withdraw your USD$10 Million Dollars in any ATM SERVICE MACHINE in any part of the world, also send him your direct phone number and contact address
where you want him to send the ATM CARD and PIN NUMBER to you. We are very sorry for the plight you have gone through in the past years. Thanks for adhering to this instruction and once again accept our congratulations.

Best Regards.
Mr. Mark Louis.
Executive Governor,

Central Bank of Nigeria {CBN}.

(Ah, the old "Let's lure them in with the magical bank card" trick).

******************************************************************************************

Subject:
CONTACT THE FEDEX COMPANY FOR YOUR FUNDS
From:
"SAMUEL DUNBAR"
Date:
Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:33:43 +0100
BCC:

Dear Friend,

Compliment of the new year, I have been waiting for you since to come down here and pick your Bank Draft which my boss left with me before he travelled to England but I did not hear from you since that time till today. I went to the bank to confirm whether the draft is getting close to expire as it had been long time my boss issued the draft. The director of the bank told me that before the draft will get to you, that it will expire. Then I told him to help me and cash the cashier bank draft of $1,500.000.00 to cash payment.

However, I have successfully cashed the draft and packaged it in a box and have registered it in the Fedex Express Company Service here in Benin Republic because I will travell to see my boss in England and will not come back till August 20th 2008. You have to contact the Fedex Express Company Service to know when they will deliver your package to your address. I have paid for the delivering charges and insurance fees. The only money you have to send to them is their security keeping feeswhich is USD$135.00 USD to receive your package. Don't be deceived by any body.

This is their Contact Address;
Attn: Cheif Mr. George Kobra (Director)
Tel: +229-9799 2240
E-mail: fc.bj@sify.com

Send them your contacts information to enable them locate you
immediately they arrived in your country with your package.

This is the information they needed from you.

1. Your full name:.....
2. Your shipping/home address:.....
3. Your tel no #......
4. Your current office tel no #
5. A copy of your passport.

Try to contact them as soon as possible to avoid increasement of the security keeping fees Note; I didn't tell the Fedex Express Company Service that it's money inside the box, I registered it as a church of a Church Minister Materials. This is to avoid delay or any upfront problem during the delivery. So, do not let them know that the package contents money. Do let me know as soon as you received your package. You will contact me only through e-mail as my phone is no longe available now that I am out from our country. Contact me at samdunbar1986@yahoo.com and I will reply as soon as I can.
I wish you and your family Long Life,
Prosperity and Happy 2008.

Thanks and Remain Blessed.

Yours sincerely,
Mr.Samuel Dunbar
(Secretary)

(Honestly, if you contact FedEx they'll give you tons of money....)

****************************************************************************************

That's your lot for another week....

Security Briefing: May 27th

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:30:44 +0000

Sorry for the lack of content yesterday. Due to a ~~PBCAK~~ failure to pay attention I neglected to ~~publish~~ write yesterday’s article. So, ~~they’ll trickle out over the next couple days~~ I’ll try to do better while Dave takes some time off to work on a personal project. Thanks to all of our new subscribers that joined us yesterday. Welcome!

Click here to subscribe to Liquidmatrix Security Digest!

And now, the news…

The Science behind 3-1-1 Mental Note - When flying this weekend, do not play the part of a vain astronaut.
DeCSS is now illegal in Finland Quick - jam the inflatable boat back into the travel pouch — Hurry!
Microsoft Whitepaper: Comparing Features - Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1 smell the slow burn of a sweaty Ballmer
CFP (Computers Freedom and Privacy) Conference Roundup from Wired’s 27B/6 MmmmMmmmm… Cyberdyne me baby
RIM will not give Blackberry Keys to India Ahhh yes, but to which national governments (besides the Mennonites) have the boyz in Waterloo given the keys?
Elevator disables UAC on a per-application basis Do you want to Allow or Cancel?
Nottingham University Student Detained DWB (Downloading While Brown) from the US Gov’t - Go Directly to Secret Detention
President Bush Signs Landmark Genetic Nondiscrimination Information Act Into Law Gattaca… Gattaca… Gattaca…

More as I process it all (seriously, where the hell does Dave find the time for this every.single.day?)

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

PCI 6.6 clarified

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:47:40 +0000

Trey Ford has a good roundup of the new PCI 6.6 clarification in PCI 6.6 Information Supplement Released. All I have to say is well done to the PCI council! From my first pass it seems like it is pretty clear AND they understand the issues organizations are facing. I have a few nits, here and there but it is 1000% better than it was before.

No related posts

Post from: Grumpy Security Guy

PCI 6.6 clarified

Vulnerability Roundup

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:57:11 +0000

The last couple of days have seen a series of vulnerability disclosures and security updates.

Links for 2008-02-27 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:00:00 +0000

anti-virus rants: availability > confidentiality + integrity?
Andy, ITGuy: Security Catalysts Community Roundup
security catalyst blog carnival
The Security Catalyst » Carnival of the Security Catalyst Community for Tuesday, February 26, 2008
security catalyst blog carnival
The Security Catalyst Community - Carnival of the Security Catalyst Community