Our last edition of WIG for June is filled with news link goodness covering topics such as a new printer bomb malware that wastes reams of paper, Google bars a website that converts YouTube songs into MP3s, Ubuntu plans to drop GRUB 2 to implement UEFI SecureBoot compatibility, and more.
Image courtesy of Google Online Security Blog.
Weekly News Links
Image courtesy of Google Online Security Blog.
- Google finds 9,500 new malicious Web sites a day
Search giant details how much malware its Safe Browsing keeps away from users and hints at scanning Chrome extensions. - Market for zero-day vulnerabilities incentivizes programmers to sabotage their own work
In this Forbes editorial, Bruce Schneier points out a really terrible second-order effect of the governments and companies who buy unpublished vulnerabilites from hackers and keep them secret so they can use them for espionage and sabotage. - DDoS becoming more ‘sophisticated’, damaging
Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) have matured with hackers blending different attack techniques and becoming more damaging, observers note. They add that defenses need to evolve to complement infrastructure security that has already been commoditized.” - Beware Scare Tactics for Mobile Security Apps
It may not be long before your mobile phone is beset by the same sorts of obnoxious, screen-covering, scaremongering ads pimping security software that once inundated desktop users before pop-up blockers became widely-used. - New Android malware disguised as security app
Android Security Suite Premium — loaded with Zeus variant ZitMo — is a threat to companies given the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend. - Encoding malicious PDFs avoids detection
Security researcher Brandon Dixon has discovered that attackers can thwart detection by most common anti-virus software if they encode malicious PDF files in the XDP format. XDP is an XML-based file format which includes the PDF as a Base64-encoded data stream. XDP files are opened by Adobe Reader just like a normal PDF would be and can therefore infect systems in the same way. - Printer bomb malware wastes reams of paper, sparks pandemonium
A recently unleashed piece of malware is wreaking havoc in some enterprises by causing all their printers to print gibberish until they run out of paper, researchers from Symantec said. - Exploit for unpatched IE hole released
An exploit for the recently disclosed critical hole in Microsoft XML Core Services is now publicly available as a module for the Metasploit exploit framework. - Report: Espionage malware sends data to China
ESET Security researchers have discovered an espionage worm, believed to have originated from China, that targets and steals files running AutoCAD software. - Google: Govt censorship trend ‘troubling’
Google has released its fifth installment of its Transparency Report detailing the number of requests made by governments to remove online content from its services, and with it, notes its “alarm” that free expression on the Web appears to be increasingly curbed by countries–notably Western democracies not known for censorship. - Cybersecurity education should start early
Educating students on cybersecurity should start as early as possible, considering they are being exposed to the latest technologies at an increasingly young age, say industry watchers. They suggest an integrated, holistic approach for the curriculum but are divided as to whether hacking skills need to be taught. - Google bars site that converts YouTube songs into MP3s
Google tells operators of YouTube-MP3.org that by converting YouTube music videos into MP3 files, they violate the site’s terms of service and risk “legal consequences.” - Adobe updates Flash Player 11.3 to fix Firefox crashing problem
Adobe has released an updated version of its proprietary Flash Player 11.3 plugin to address a bug that caused Firefox 13 on Windows to crash for some users. The problem is believed to have been related to the recently introduced Protected Mode for the Windows version of Flash Player and the open source web browser. - Shumway, community-based Mozilla-supported, exciting experiment to handle Flash
Mozilla Labs is working on the community-based and Mozilla-supported Shumway, a “HTML5 technology experiment that explores building a faithful and efficient renderer for the SWF file format without native code assistance”, thus removing the need to install Flash for when dealing with flash content. - New “Australis” theme for Firefox previewed
A developer at Mozilla has created a new test build of Firefox 16 that features a preview of the project’s upcoming “Australis” user interface for the open source web browser. See our ETC post about the ‘Australis Build’ here. - Mozilla working on WebKit-based “Junior” browser for iPad
Mozilla is developing a new mobile web browser called “Junior” to compete with the built-in Safari browser on Apple’s iPad tablet. - Mozilla debuts ‘ridiculously simple’ web site creator Thimble
Simple Web site creator allows Internet users to publish sites written in HTML and CSS from the browser window within minutes. - Is ChromeOS Heading to the Raspberry Pi?
Recent commits to the ChromiumOS source code appear to hint at work on porting the OS to run on the $25 Raspberry Pi development board. - Ubuntu Plans to Drop GRUB 2 for Implementing UEFI SecureBoot Compatibility
Canonical has been researching on UEFI SecureBoot for quite some time and now they have proposed a new solution to implement it. Intel’s efilinux loader with some modifications will be used instead of GRUB 2 to add a relatively simple menu interface. So there will be no GRUB 2 by default on systems with secure boot enabled. - Google confronts extinction of more than 3,000 languages
Google-backed initiative the Endangered Languages Project aims to help preserve the many languages slated to become extinct within the next 100 years.
Random TinyHacker Links
- What is a Service in Windows?
This in-depth tutorial explains what are Windows services, what is their role in the operating system and how to manage them. - Secure Your MS Office Docs Using Passwords
Learn how to secure your MS Office 2007 docs using passwords without the need of a separate software to do that. - Integrate Google Docs with Windows Phone
Can you connect to Google Docs from your Windows Phone device? The answer is “Yes”. - Top Security Apps For Android
Worried about security of your data on your Android phone? You should check out these useful apps then. - Learn about the next generation Xbox
It is really interesting to see what Microsoft has planned for the next Xbox. - Free Music ! $2 MP3 Credit at Amazon
Through 7/1/2012 via RetailMeNot. Sadly, U.S. only. - Infographic: How Love Helps!
An infographic discussing the effects of being in a relationship versus being single on personal health.
Super User Questions
- Automatic shutdown prompt on Windows 7
- Add Notepad to Right-click new menu in Windows 7
- How could I save on ink when printing this map?
- How do I get firefox to identify itself as Internet Explorer for certain sites?
- What’s the Difference Between Do Not Track and Disabling Cookies?
- Does the use of Tor makes additional encryption unnecessary?
- Why is it bad to have two anti-virus systems?
- Why does performance of a regular hard drive decrease over the duration of a benchmark while SSD doesn’t?
- What is the correct term for the mouse pointer/nipple/joystick thingy in the middle of a laptop’s keyboard?
- What is the difference between Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT?
How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap
- How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless
- Desktop Fun: Moonlit Nights Wallpaper Collection Series 2
- HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It?
- 5 Cmdlets to Get You Started with PowerShell
- How to View That Forgotten Wireless Network Password in Windows
- 5 Tips and Tricks to Get the Most Out of Steam
- 7 Tips to Get the Most Out of BleachBit, a “CCleaner for Linux”
- The Best Tips and Tweaks for Getting the Most Out of Internet Explorer 9
- How to Connect Your Android to Your PC’s Internet Connection Over USB
- 8 Ways to Tweak and Configure Sudo on Ubuntu
Geeky Goodness from the ETC Side
- How a Hard Drive Works in Slow Motion [Video]
- Vulcan Emoticons [Humorous Image]
- DIY HDTV Antenna Sticks To Your Window without Blocking the View
- Hundred Zeros Catalogs Current Free Best-Sellers on Amazon
- DIY Wirelessly Charged LED Lanterns
- Grams to Pounds: A Domino Chain Reaction [Video]
- The Evolution of 8-Bit [Video]
- Build a Water Rocket for Cheap Summer Fun
- Get Your PhD in Googling [Slideshow]
- Looking Out Over the City [Sci-Fi Wallpaper]
One Year Ago on How-To Geek
- How To Plan, Organize, and Map Out Your Home Network
- How To Forward Ports on Your Router
- How To Easily Access Your Home Network From Anywhere With DDNS
- How To Stream Video to Both iOS and Android Devices With Plex
- How To Wirelessly Access Network Shares from Your iOS Device
How-To Geek Comics Weekly Roundup
- The New Sequel
- In Case of IT Emergency
- A Less than Thrilling Joyride
- How He Measures Success
- Medicine that is Specially Geared for Geeks
- The Missing ‘Like’ Button
- The Company Handbook Said it All
How-To Geek Weekly Trivia Roundup
- Which Sci-Fi Actor Raised $25,000 For Charity By Selling His Kidney Stone?
- Which PC Game Was The First to Be Flown Into Space?
- Which Planet Has Mysteriously Hexagonal and High-speed Storm?
- Which Action Movie Boasts The Most Expensive Fight Scene Of All Time?
- Which Sci-Fi Author Famously Encourage Us To Never Forget Our Towels?
- An Outbreak In Which Multiplayer Video Game Attracted the Attention of Epidemiologists?
- What Popular Video Game Is Called “Big Pineapple” In Order To Dodge Chinese Censorship?