Apple released its Snow Leopard into the wild a little early, while Microsoft revealed its release plans for Windows 7 this week.
Apple began shipping its newest operating system to customers on Friday, a little earlier than expected. Mac OS X Snow Leopard is not as much about adding new features as it is about refining the code in the operating system. For instance, according to Apple, 90 percent of the Mac OS X code has been worked on for the Snow Leopard release.
The CNET Reviews team took the new OS for a spin and gave it a rating of excellent in its review:
Interface enhancements like Expose in the Dock and better file and folder viewing in Stacks make finding apps and files much easier. A completely overhauled QuickTime X now sports a cleaner interface and recording tools. The much-anticipated Exchange support across Mail, the Address Book, and iCal is huge for those who take their Macs to work.
However, the team notes that Snow Leopard will work only on Intel-powered Macs; PowerPC users are out of luck.
Snow Leopard could include some features that would make it secure, or at least push it closer to the level of security that Vista and Windows 7 have, experts said this week.
Contrary to popular belief, Macintosh is not more secure from a software standpoint than modern Windows; it's merely safer to use because malware writers prefer to target the platform with the biggest install base, according to Charlie Miller and Dino Dai Zovi, co-authors of The Mac Hacker's Handbook, which came out this spring.
"Apple hasn't implemented all the security features that Vista has," Miller said. "They made some improvements in Leopard, but they are still behind."
Mac OS X Snow Leopard will cost $29 as an upgrade for Leopard users. For Mac OS X Tiger users, the Mac Box Set, which includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife '09 and iWork '09, will cost $169.
CNET.com
Showing posts with label malware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label malware. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Check out the dirtiest web sites of summer 2009
Security vendor, Symantec has identified the "Dirtiest Web Sites of summer 2009", the 100 sites with the most threats detected by site ratings service Norton Safe Web as of August 2009. These sites represent the "worst of the worst" based on the number of threats.
While nearly 48 percent of the sites feature adult content, the remainder of the sites is dedicated to varying subject matters, like deer hunting, catering, legal services and buying electronics. Malware is the most common threat, followed by security risks and browser exploits. Even a simple visit to these sites without downloading or clicking on anything in particular can be risky. Some of the sites listed include, 17ebook.com, divineenterprises.net, magic4you.nu gardensrestaurantandcatering.com and fantasticfilms.ru.
The report states that there has been an increase in the number of online threats that are constantly evolving, as cybercriminals look for new ways to target money, identity and assets. Rowan Trollope, Senior Vice President, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec says, "Norton Safe Web provides visual ratings that let consumers know about potential risks before visiting a site. Armed with this information, consumers are empowered to make informed decisions about which sites to visit."
The average number of threats per malicious site rated by Norton Safe Web is 23. The average number of threats on the Dirtiest Web Sites list is a staggering 18,000 per site. In fact, 40 of the 100 dirtiest Web Sites have more than 20,000 threats per site. Nearly 75 percent of sites on the list have distributed malware for more than six months. Norton Safe Web crawls the Web and performs analysis of millions of sites, and benefits from a network of more than 20 million Norton Community Watch members that automatically submit suspicious URLs for analysis in real-time.
Agencies
While nearly 48 percent of the sites feature adult content, the remainder of the sites is dedicated to varying subject matters, like deer hunting, catering, legal services and buying electronics. Malware is the most common threat, followed by security risks and browser exploits. Even a simple visit to these sites without downloading or clicking on anything in particular can be risky. Some of the sites listed include, 17ebook.com, divineenterprises.net, magic4you.nu gardensrestaurantandcatering.com and fantasticfilms.ru.
The report states that there has been an increase in the number of online threats that are constantly evolving, as cybercriminals look for new ways to target money, identity and assets. Rowan Trollope, Senior Vice President, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec says, "Norton Safe Web provides visual ratings that let consumers know about potential risks before visiting a site. Armed with this information, consumers are empowered to make informed decisions about which sites to visit."
The average number of threats per malicious site rated by Norton Safe Web is 23. The average number of threats on the Dirtiest Web Sites list is a staggering 18,000 per site. In fact, 40 of the 100 dirtiest Web Sites have more than 20,000 threats per site. Nearly 75 percent of sites on the list have distributed malware for more than six months. Norton Safe Web crawls the Web and performs analysis of millions of sites, and benefits from a network of more than 20 million Norton Community Watch members that automatically submit suspicious URLs for analysis in real-time.
Agencies
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Deadly PC virus -- Conficker C -- to strike on April 1
A security expert has cautioned that an Internet worm, called Conficker C, can strike at infected computers around the world on April 1.
Conficker C is a sophisticated piece of malicious computer software, or malware, that installs itself on a PC hard drive via specially written web pages and then conceals itself on a computer.
Graham Cluley, of the security specialist Sophos, has claimed that Conficker C is programmed "to hunt for new instructions on April 1".
However, "this does not mean that anything is going to happen, or that the worm is actually going to do anything. Simply, it is scheduled to hunt a wider range of websites for instructions on that date," The Times quoted him as saying.
And the biggest catch is that no one yet has any idea what exactly Conficker C is programmed to do.
In February, Cluley said, "It's as if someone is assembling an army of computers around the world, but hasn't yet decided where to point them."
Experts are fearing that on April 1 all the world's millions of infected computers may receive simultaneous instructions to attack, or to flood the Internet with spam email.
Ed Gibson, Microsoft's chief security adviser for the UK, was quite hesitant to make predictions about Conficker's behaviour.
"April 1 is a classic date for anything like this to go off. But I really would hate to say that April 1 is going to be unlike any other day," he said.
Agencies
Conficker C is a sophisticated piece of malicious computer software, or malware, that installs itself on a PC hard drive via specially written web pages and then conceals itself on a computer.
Graham Cluley, of the security specialist Sophos, has claimed that Conficker C is programmed "to hunt for new instructions on April 1".
However, "this does not mean that anything is going to happen, or that the worm is actually going to do anything. Simply, it is scheduled to hunt a wider range of websites for instructions on that date," The Times quoted him as saying.
And the biggest catch is that no one yet has any idea what exactly Conficker C is programmed to do.
In February, Cluley said, "It's as if someone is assembling an army of computers around the world, but hasn't yet decided where to point them."
Experts are fearing that on April 1 all the world's millions of infected computers may receive simultaneous instructions to attack, or to flood the Internet with spam email.
Ed Gibson, Microsoft's chief security adviser for the UK, was quite hesitant to make predictions about Conficker's behaviour.
"April 1 is a classic date for anything like this to go off. But I really would hate to say that April 1 is going to be unlike any other day," he said.
Agencies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)