SecurityWeek

Microsoft has a relatively light Patch Tuesday planned for next week with no critical patches.According to the company’s pre-patch advisory, Microsoft plans to release five security updates rated ‘Important.’ The bulletins cover issues in Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Server Software such as SharePoint Server and Office Groove Data Bridge Server.

Statistics show an increase in Android devices infected with crimeware that is actively communicating with multiple criminal C&C servers Google Android devices are being caught in a Web of botnet activity at an unprecedented rate, according to new research by security firm Damballa.

On Wednesday, GlobalSign said that it has tapped Fox-IT, the Dutch cybersecurity team hired to investigate the recent compromise of Dutch Certificate Authority (CA) DigiNotar, to assist with investigations of a claimed breach by an individual that seems to be a serial CA hacker.

IronKey Introduces Trusted Access Platform and Downloadable Secure Browser to Reduce Online Banking RiskIronKey this week introduced a new platform along with a secure browser application, that when used in combination, can protect online banking users from being victimized—even when their systems are infected with some of the nastiest financial malware in existence.

Trusteer today unveiled four product updates designed to anchor its Cybercrime Prevention Architecture.The product updates cover a lot of ground, from technology aimed at blocking browser exploits to fingerprinting machines used by cyber-criminals that attempt to access protected Web applications. The company is also making a play for mobile device security with capabilities aimed at protecting the latest Apple iOS and Google Android devices from financial malware.

In my previous column I presented five commonly used weapons in arsenals of security researchers. This week, we complete the list with a mix of tools and tool types ranging from the old to the new, including tools unveiled for the first time at the recent Black Hat conference. So once again, without further ado, here are some of the tools researchers keep in their security toolbox:

As more and more digital technology is introduced into automobiles, the threat of malicious software and hardware manipulation increases. ISec Partners’ researchers got a lot of attention at Black Hat this year when they demonstrated how to start a car’s engine via text message. As it turns out, that was just the latest of several examples of how attackers can turn the electrical systems in your car into their own personal lock pick.

GlobalSign, one of the longest established Certification Authorities (CA) today said it would temporarily cease issuance of all digital certificates following a claim that the same hacker responsible for the recent DigiNotar hack had access to four other Certificate Authorities, and named GlobalSign as one of them.The company posted the following announcement on the incident on Tuesday afternoon:

Veracode today shared a newly created infographic that summarizes the techniques News of the World reporters used to pull off nefarious schemes including bribery, cracking insecure passwords, caller ID spoofing and social engineering.The infographic, titled, “News of the Scandal: The Story That Destroyed a 168 Year Old Newspaper” provides a detailed timeline with pivotal events, key players and technology-enabled privacy breaches that destroyed the 168 year old publication.

A former vice president in Citigroup's treasury finance department, pleaded guilty today to bank fraud arising from his embezzlement of more than $22 million from Citigroup. The defendant, Gary Foster, entered his plea before a United States District Judge at a Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn.

Imperva, a soon to go public provider of data security solutions, today launched a cloud-based service designed to help businesses defend against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

The gap between vulnerability and protection is a distance that can be measured both by the amount of time that sensitive database information goes un-patched and by the extent of damage caused by a potential data breach. While organizations understand the stakes involved in leaving their systems un-patched, quite often they do not install patches in a timely manner. Is there a convenient and reliable way to bridge this gap?

In response to a series of cyber attacks that resulted in the personal information of more than 100 Million customers falling into the hands of hackers, Sony today announced that it has hired Philip R. Reitinger, a former U.S. Homeland Security official in charge of cyber security, as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer.

According to VeriSign, more than five million domain names were added to the Internet in the second quarter of 2011, bringing the total number of registered domain names to more than 215 million worldwide across all domains.The increase of 5.2 million domain names marks a growth rate of 2.5 percent over the first quarter.