Do you think HTML is a Sexually Transmitted Disease? - According to this article, 11% of Americans think so

Ignorance is Bliss, sometimes, it is funny

• 27% identified "gigabyte" as an insect commonly found in South America. A gigabyte is a measurement unit for the storage capacity of an electronic device.
• 42% said they believed a "motherboard" was "the deck of a cruise ship." A motherboard is usually a circuit board that holds many of the key components of a computer.
• 23% thought an "MP3" was a "Star Wars" robot. It is actually an audio file.
• 18% identified "Blu-ray" as a marine animal. It is a disc format typically used to store high-definition videos.
• 15% said they believed "software" is comfortable clothing. Software is a general term for computer programs.
• 12% said "USB" is the acronym for a European country. In fact, USB is a type of connector

The link below has more details:

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-1-10-americans-html-std-study-finds-20140304,0,1188415.story#axzz2v1PZtzMZ

Uroburos rootkit - Apparently this Malware is 3 years old

It is  designed to capture network traffic and steal files. It's a rootkit made up of two files, a driver and an encrypted virtual file system. The rootkit is able to take control of an infected machine, execute arbitrary commands and hide system activities.

The malware communicates over a peer-to-peer network. Providing it can find one computer with internet access within a compromised network, it's capable of stealing data from other infected computers on the same network – even if they don't have access to the interwebs

Similarities in techniques and technology point to links between Uroburos and a malware-based attack against the US around six years ago.

The link below has more details:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/04/uroburos_spyware/

Here is the previous story where it was claimed to be from Russian government.

http://martin-news-bytes.blogspot.com/2014/03/20th-century-was-nuclear-threat-from.html

Can you to legally build a Botnet using Cloud services without paying a dime?

This is not an idea , this was actually demonstrated in the RSA Conference.

The researchers simply automated the process of signing up for the free IaaS and PaaS services.

Much of the abuse the pair tested was made possible due to poor verification of users during the trial account creation process. Even when some services tried to limit accounts by limiting Internet access to those accounts, the researchers were easily able to break the accounts from those bonds through quick workarounds. 

Of the 150 different PaaS and IaaS sites the duo tested, two-thirds of them were not doing any CAPTCHAs, SMS verification or credit card verification beyond simple email account verification.

The link below has more details:

http://www.darkreading.com/researchers-create-legal-botnet-abusing/240166428

US Government is suing SPRINT - What's funny about it?

Apparently, SPRINT overcharged law enforcement agencies with costs inflated by as much as 58 per cent.

Sprint included in its calculations such items as the interest paid on loans it took out to buy surveillance-related equipment, costs related to stock offerings to fund the purchase of equipment, and associated taxes

The link below has more details:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/04/sprint_surveillance_overbilling_suit/

welcome "Bro" - I mean, BROWLOCK Ransomware

If I was someone who can't live without Facebook then, this Ransomware could make my life miserable.

Why, it will lock my Browser until I pay. This would make it hard for me to update the world about what I ate for lunch or what I plan to eat for dinner.

(How can I live without Facebook, I can't imagine the pain and misery it would cause)

The link below has more details:

http://bartblaze.blogspot.com/2014/03/browlock-ransomware-cases-increasing.html

Cloud Security - If Microsoft and Google get it wrong, they move on to the next customer. If IT gets it wrong, they end up looking for another job

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Just when Microsoft and Google agreed that Cloud is "secure enough to use".       This article is a good reminder on Security.

Snippets:

The fundamental problem with today's Cloud, is that security is based on what the Cloud vendor believes it should be. Yes, there are standards and standards groups set aside to help create a better security environment, but those are baselines.

As vendors like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon build out their Cloud infrastructures and tack on better security through authentication and secure communication channels, they are completely forgetting the customer. Instead of pushing forward with what they believe is the best security available, they need to be working with the customer to determine actual requirements.

The link below has more details:

http://windowsitpro.com/cloud/cloud-security-comes-within

Back to the Past - Message from First American Bank - Avoid paying for cab rides in Chicago with credit or debit cards,

This might sound like bad message but, given the context , it looks like the right thing to do.

why?

Here is the public statement from the bank:

“We have reported the breach to MasterCard® and have kept them apprised of details as they’ve developed. We have also made repeated attempts to deal directly with Banc of America Merchant Services and Bank of America, the payment processors for the taxis, to discontinue payment processing for the companies suffering this compromise until its source is discovered and remediated. These companies have not shared information about their actions and appear to not have stopped the breach.”

The link below has more details:

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03/illinois-bank-use-cash-for-chicago-taxis/