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A new online threat – The Clampi Virus

By Andrew Redfern @ 2nd October 2009 3:52 pm security

A highly sophisticated new Trojan virus is currently spreading from the US to Britain. The Clampi virus infects computers when users visit certain websites that host a malicious code. This allows access to your computer for cyber criminals who will seek to capture sensitive information such as online banking log-in details.

Experts have warned this new Trojan is one of the biggest threats to anybody who uses a Microsoft Windows operating system. Only computers running Microsoft Windows have been infected up to now and small and medium-sized businesses seem under particular risk of attack once infected. Investigators have found that the range of sites that Clampi is monitoring included banks, credit card companies, online casinos, retail sites, mortgage lenders and even government sites. Last month, attackers placed a virus in an advert on the website of The New York Times!

The virus has already spread across hundreds of thousands of computers in the US and is now being detected in Britain. Orla Cox, from Symantec, an online security company, told The Times: The first big wave was in the US in July, but it is spreading around the world, particularly English-language countries. We have seen samples of it targeting UK high street banks. There is potential for another wave to come.”

How to protect yourself against the Clampi Virus

1 – Make sure you are running antivirus software such as and a firewall on your computer.

2 – Install any critical updates and security patches for your operating system, all the latest bug fixes and patches are available from the Microsoft website.

3 – If you’re using a Wi-Fi network, ensure it is password protected and secure to prevent people hacking into your network.

4 – Consider using a separate account from your current account for online shopping. If you use a Credit Card ensure that it is a pre-paid card so if anybody does gain access to your details then the amount of money then can spend is restricted.

5 – When surfing the internet, do not click on any suspicious links, especially in emails from unknown senders.

Online Privacy : This Email is Set to Self Destruct

By Andrew Redfern @ 20th August 2009 5:36 pm security

Many users seem blissfully unaware that each and every time they send an email a copy is not only kept on the sender’s machine, but the recipient and even the ISP’s server. Now depending upon where about in the world you live, a copy of that record may also be request-able under a European Directive.

Imagine if every time you sent a letter, the postman made a copy. Or whenever you, under a European commission directive, to dip into some of that data.

There may however be a solution at hand. Seattle based researchers have a free self-destructing-email program. “Vanish” was created by Roxana Geambasu and Prof Hank Levy at the University of Washington. A delivery date set within the message and expiry date transforms emails to become unreadable when this date has passed. Even to the creator of the message.

The need for the service implies that a user may have some sinister reason for privacy, but do they? Many users will have sent emails which contain private data such as credit card details or names and addresses. These message swill often remain until the user upgrades their computer.

Similar sites have offered email services such as Hushmail which offered an encryption service. In 2007 Hushmail admitted that it wasn’t in fact as secure as it would like to make out as Canadian law enforcement had been forcing the company to decode the messages or face jail.

“Vanish” operates in a more innovative manner, following the encryption process the message becomes useless without the “key”. Vanish splits the key into 10 parts then spreads those across 1.5m computers. Making it impervious to hackers as every second goes by less and less machines hold the key until eventually it can never be decoded. Clever.

Governments addressing online fraud and cyber terrorism

By Andrew Redfern @ 25th June 2009 11:30 am security

Two stories have came to light this week outlining how governments are taking steps to address the twin threats of efraud cyber-terrorism.

It has been announced that the British Government are to set up two new monitoring bodies to address the growing online threats. The Office of Cyber Security will co-ordinate policy across UK government as well as looking at legal and ethical issues online.

It is thought that the new agency will be tasked with bringing people together from across government and from outside to get a better handle on cyber security issues.

The other body known as The Cyber Security Operations Centre will be based at government listening post GCHQ in Cheltenhamand will be responsible for startegies aimed at better protecting the country, providing advice and information about online security threats. They will a responsible for identifying when cyber attacks are taking place, where they come from and what can be done to stop them.

The new Cyber Security Operations Centre will work closely with the designated parts of the critical national infrastructure and wider industry and officials say that business are keen for the government to take a lead but also share as much information as possible.

This moved mirrors similar devlopments in the US where it has recently been announced that a shake-up of how the country deals with the growing threat from online attack will take place.

Most eye-catching in these reports is that the head of America’s National Security Agency says that America needs to build a digital warfare force for the future. Lt Gen Keith Alexander heads the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command and outlined his views in a report for the House Armed Services subcommittee. In it, he stated that the US needs to reorganise its online offensive and defensive online in the face of a growing threat.

The US administration is due to publish the results of a 60-day review on cyber-security ordered by President Obama and it’s thought that it will report the need for a much more robust repsonse to the threats both by the US Government and by the organisations and companies associated with it’s security and military.

Just last week there were reports of a security breach of the £225bn F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft project. The aircraft Manufacturer Lockheed-Martin insisted no classified data was stolen however it throws the issue into sharp contrast and highlights the growing need for a formal, organised authority dealing with the ever more critical area of online security.

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