Spammers have started using Microsoft's MSN blogging service to host malicious content used during spam and virus onslaughts, Internet security firm SurfControl said.

MSN Spaces, which was launched at the end of last year, is a free content sharing and hosting service. Users are required to register for a Hotmail account, after which they can publish a blog and share files.

However, a relatively simple registration system means that spammers are exploiting the service by creating accounts used to deliver often illegal messages and malicious files to unsuspecting users, said Charles Heunemann, managing director of SurfControl.

According to Heunemann, Yahoo's Web hosting service Geocities has been targeted by spammers for some time but MSN's validation system is making the service very popular.

SurfControl claims that 10 percent of all spam on the Internet is now linked to Microsoft's blog network.

"About three weeks ago 30 percent of the spam on the Internet was directing victims to Geocities sites advertising pharmaceuticals. Spammers have moved their content to [MSN Spaces] and from what we gather, the volume of spam attacking MSN sites is about 10 percent -- but we think it will grow," said Heunemann.

However, Tim Hartman, senior systems engineer at Symantec, said that even if Microsoft improved the validation system, spammers would soon find a way around it.

"This isn't Microsoft's fault. Any introduction of new technology is at risk of being exploited or used for inappropriate purposes. Microsoft is not the only target. This is simply a method of keeping the content of the spam e-mail to an absolute minimum -- giving antispam companies very little to go on," said Hartman.

Full Story At Source



 News Source: www.zdnet.com.au

Tools drive point-and-click crime

 

New software tools make stealing data from users as easy as browsing the web.

The easy-to-use tools are being created by malicious and criminal hackers to run the networks of compromised home computers they control, said security firm Websense.

The tools mean hackers can react instantly to what users are doing and re-direct them to fake websites set up to harvest personal data.

This also makes it harder to spot if a PC has been taken over.

Crime spree

The web-based tools put a friendly front end on managing the compromised machines making up so-called botnets.

This makes it a little more friendly and easier to initiate commands Mark Murtagh, Websense

These networks of hijacked home computers can involve as few as 100 PCs but the biggest can call on thousands of machines.

A botnet is a network of Windows machines that have been compromised by a malicious hacker by exploiting security bugs in Microsoft's operating system.

 

Full Story here: Tools Drive Point & Click Crime

 

Web2Messenger allows you to receive instant messages from anybody, via a web-based interface. This can either be your default homepage, or your own webpage. You can check out what I mean here at the default page and here at my own custom page.

 

• You signup
• You add the bot to your contact list
• You start receiving messages

Excellent - I've got to say having two boot managers really has been a pain. I'll be making this amendment to my XP / Vista laptop when I get home!  

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Robert McLaws: FunWithCoding.NET - Longhorn Edition : Two Boot Managers when Dual-Booting Windows Vi

One of my biggest pet peeves about dual-booting with Windows Vista Beta 1 is the fact that I always get two boot managers if I want to boot to Windows XP. Apparently I'm not the only one, because it has been validated 50 times by other beta testers in the Connect program. One beta tester by the name of Waresoft came up with this solution:

This assumes you have two or more partitions set up. Windows XP is on partition 1, which is mapped to Drive C, and Windows Vista Beta 1 is set up on Partition 2, which is mapped to whatever drive you want.

1. Copy x:\Windows\System32\winload.exe to c:\Windows\System32\, where x is the drive Windows Vista Beta 1 is installed.
2. Open c:\boot.ini, and add the "/USENEWLOADER" switch to the Windows XP (multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS) entry under "[operating systems]"

When you reboot, you should only get one boot manager.

I'm sure I'm behind the time with this (however, haven't seen a blog entry referencing it recently?) 

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Mobile Spaces (beta)

It's here!

 

Starting today you can:

1. Create a space from a mobile device.  Pocket PCs, Palms, and most popular mobile phones are supported.  Just browse over to http://mobile.spaces.msn.com from your mobile device (or go to http://spaces.msn.com and you will be redirected to the mobile version)
   
2. See a list of your contacts' recently updated spaces.  This feature is really useful for a mobile device and great for catching up with people!  Just "click" on a contact to get to their space and start exploring.
   
3. Add blog entries, view your archives, email a link to your space, and even change your settings - all from your itty bitty mobile device.
   
4. Read and add new comments (my favorite feature!)  You are now able to stay on top of discussions from wherever you happen to be - in school, on a bus, in a meeting, or in line at Starbucks.

Well, I saw this an thought - this will be very handy to check out on my iPAQ PDA. Quickly popping in the URL (now one of my favourites in Pocket Internet Explorer) I was really impressed with this!

My only quarm is when you select the option to go to your Space and click on one of your Blog Entries, it does not show you if there has been any comments (or trackback for that matter) to that particular blog.

As a lot of people respond to comments on their blog in that comments box, it is a little restrictive...

If they add this feature then this could be immense!

I'm glad to see that they have removed the requirement to have MSN Seach Toolbar installed as a prereq. That really annoyed me when I first installed the Screen Saver! Thank-you MSN!

Download the latest version here: MSN Screen Saver (Beta)

Well, I read about the "challenge" over at the MSN Space of the Day about a post from Krazy Ivan entitled "Shows us your pc/desktop and other stuff"

This is a pic of my office desk then (I did tidy up a little - it's normally a hell hole!).

What do we have here then?

Left:

Personal Laptop

Dell Inspiron 8200 Laptop, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, 1.60Ghz P4

Center:

Work Desktop

Dell Optiplex GX260, 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, 1.80Ghz P4

CD-ROM, DVD-Re-writer, Web-cam & Bluetooth Dongle

Microsoft Optical Mouse

Front (of desktop):

Personal PDA

iPAQ 2210, 512 SD Card, Wireless Compact Flash Card

In hand - hence the photo

Sony Ericsson K750i (Bluetooth HBH-660 Headset)

Not a great deal here at the office (I'll snap one of my home office in the next couple of days I think!)

Thanks Eric!!

MSN Spaces Comment Override

If you find yourself having to change your name, e-mail, and / or url everytime you make a comment in MSN Spaces, then you have come to the right place. Visit this link, follow the steps and voila!

So what's new? 3 english-only and currently unsupported powertoys:

• Windows Media Player Power Toy
• Custom HTML Power Toy
• Tweak UI Power Toy

At the start of last year, Bill Gates told the world's elite at an annual conference in Davos, Switzerland, that the problem of spam would be solved in two years.

But if the Microsoft chairman was betting on Sender ID to play a major role in achieving that goal, it looks like a losing bet.

The Microsoft-backed protocol to identify e-mail senders aims to stem spam and phishing by making it harder for senders to forge their addresses and by improving filtering. So far, though, there's been a lack of adoption by legitimate businesses. Instead, it's been proving popular with a group it's meant to deter--spammers.

That could spell trouble. Confidence in e-mail is falling, as its abuse for online scams is growing. If legitimate businesses don't sign up for Sender ID or similar technologies, that trend could continue and undermine e-mail's usefulness.

 

Full Article: Sender ID's fading message

For spammers, publishing a valid record means they will pass that part of a spam check. Earlier this year, Microsoft said its Web-based e-mail service Hotmail would start flagging e-mail without valid authentication as potential spam.

Now this was from the Inquirer, however, if this is true, this is certainly a blow for Microsoft, and as the article does state - Pirates still enjoy a lucrious industry, while we, Joe Public, still pay for legit software!

I wonder if MSFT will ever be able to quell the apparent ever increasing amount of Pirated software out there?

Quote

Pirates sunk our cunning plan

By Nick Farrell: Tuesday 09 August 2005, 07:58

 

MICROSOFT'S attempts to stop people who have pirated copies of its software from getting upgrades has run aground.

A few weeks ago, Vole announced that a program called "Windows Genuine Advantage" (WIG) would scan users' PCs to see if they had a genuine licence key before letting them have any updates.

Of course within a few hours of WIG going into action hackers had torn it apart using a fairly simple hack. This was transmitted across the Interweb and made the whole thing useless.

A Microsoft spinster told the Sydney Morning Herald this morning that Vole had sent its designers back to the drawing board on WIG.

Full Article here