Hasta La Gadget!

Many of you are probably sporting some kind of anti-malware software on your computer, whether it’d Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky, etc. However, it turns out that almost a quarter of all PCs in the world are unprotected, leaving them wide open for all kinds of havoc that no one really wants lurking around.

According to Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report, 24% of all PCs are absent of any kind of anti-malware software. Microsoft says that unprotected computers are 5.5 times more likely to catch a virus than computers that have anti-malware software installed. However, it seems some users are willing to take the risk.

According to the report, the country who has the most unprotected computers roaming around is Egypt, with a whopping 40% of unprotected PCs laying around, with India coming in second at 30%, and Russia with 29%. The US comes in at 26%, with the UK at 21%, which ties for the lowest percentage along with Brazil and Australia.

However, Microsoft notes that the reason for unprotected PCs may not just be about laziness on the users’ part, but they simply may not be well-informed on the importance of having anti-virus software on their computer. There’s also other contributing factors, like free trials expiring without notice, or a virus itself disabling your anti-virus software.

Microsoft reports that 24% of all PCs are unprotected is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This is completely reassuring, we don’t have to worry. A vial containing a virus that causes hemorrhagic fever has gone missing from a research facility in Texas. Okay, maybe we should worry. More »

A group of ten criminals have recently been arrested in the Costa del Sol area of Spain. These ten are from varying countries and are said to have been running a ransomware scam. The arrests were made by Europol, the European police agency and follow the arrest of the head of the network who was taken into custody last month while in Dubai. The head of the network is reportedly from Russia and this latest round of ten includes two Ukrainians, two Georgians and an additional six from Russia.

Regardless of their country of origin though, this group is said to have been running their ransomware scam across Europe and are believed to have taken in millions of euros. These crimes were based on a virus that locks a user’s computer and in turn sends them a message that appeared to be a warning from the police. The key here, these messages were demanding a sum of €100 to unlock the computer.

Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol was noted as saying that this is essentially a mass marketing scam and that “even if only 2 percent fall victim to the scam, it is still a very good pickup rate.” He went on to say that 3 percent of those targeted in this scam were believed to have paid. Wainwright didn’t mention any estimates in terms of dollar amounts, however Francisco Martínez, Spain’s secretary of state for security believes they collected more than €1 million in Spain alone.

Dollar amounts aside, an inspector from Spain that helped in the investigation said this organization “had a very well-structured and complex infrastructure.” In addition to the arrests, police also took several computers as well as more than 200 credit cards and €26,000 in cash. Those arrested were charged with varying crimes including money laundering, fraud and involvement in a criminal organization.

[via The New York Times]

Multinational cybercrime gang arrested in Spain’s Costa del Sol is written by Robert Nelson & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Three men involved in creating and distributing the “Gozi” virus that infected over one million computers worldwide have been officially charged today. The group’s hack allowed them to steal millions of dollars from users over a five-year period, stealing passwords and various banking information, like credit card numbers and bank account information.

The virus was first discovered by US cyber security experts back in 2007, and it’s described as “one of the most financially destructive computer viruses in history.” but the operation actually continued well into 2012. The mastermind behind Gozi, Nikita Kuzmin, was arrested in the US in November 2010 and pled guilty to computer intrusion and fraud charges in May 2011.

As for the two other co-conspirators, Deniss Calovskis and Mihai Ionut Paunescu, Calovskis was arrested in Latvia in November 2012 and Paunescu was arrested in Romania last month. Extradition proceedings for both of them are ongoing as we speak, and they face up to 67 and 60 years in prison, respectively, while Kuzmin faces up to 95 years in the clink.

The Gozivirus infected around 40,000 computers in the US, with 160 of them belonging to NASA, according to court documents. When the virus was discovered in 2007, cyber security expert Don Jackson went undercover in Russian chat rooms to try and obtain a version of the virus for testing purposes. He actually ended up getting several offers for a few thousand dollars each, but ended up severing communication before a deal was made.

[via ABC News]

Image via Flickr

Three charged over “Gozi” computer virus is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The norovirus can be nasty. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting in humans. It is also extremely contagious. You might remember several cases of outbreaks in cruise ships on the news. This virus is estimated to have caused over 90% of epidemic nonbacterial gastroenteritis in the entire world. So it only makes sense that scientists want to understand the virus better. That’s what Larry the vomiting robot is all about.

At the Health and Safety Laboratory in Derbyshire, northern England, researcher Catherine Makison developed this humanoid simulated vomiting system. Yeah, Larry sounds much nicer. When scientists analyzed his reach, they found that small droplets of sickness can spread over three meters.

You see, vomiting, robots and science are all making great strides every time Larry spews. Larry Spews. That would have been a good name. Or Barf Simpson. Maybe just simply Ralph.

[via Neatorama]