How many Windows viruses and malware have hit the net since the last time Apple was in the news for this?
Notice it was the same JAVA attack that hit facebook and other companies.
And the hack-a-thon continues, as NBC.com has become the latest to be infected with malicious software. The first report actually stemmed from Facebook Thursday afternoon, as the social network began blocking access to NBC's website after it was reported as "abusive". Google also blacklisted the site.
After reports began to surface, several security bloggers confirmed the infection, advising web surfers to steer clear of the buggy website. Those who already visited may have suffered a drive-by-download attack using the Citadel Trojan, meaning software is downloaded to the hard drive simply by loading the webpage. This Trojan is typically used in banking fraud and… wait for it… cyber-espionage.
According to Securi, affected websites included Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno's Garage and other NBC-based websites. "Anyone that visits the site (which includes any sub-page) will have malicious iframes loaded as well redirecting the user to exploit kits (Redkit)," the blog stated.
What's funny is back in the 90s when I was in high school our programming class we had to take (if you were in the computer program at school that is) was on Java. We were told how developers were going to Java because you couldn't write malicious code with it and viruses were non-existent compared to the variants of C.
It was a rough Friday for Microsoft, which suffered a major outage with its Azure cloud-storage service and revealed that it too was a victim of a large hack that hit big tech companies this week.
The Redmond, Wash., tech company said some of its employees' computers were breached as part of a hack that affected Facebook and Apple in a similar way.
"During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations," Microsoft said in a statement Friday afternoon.
Now Microsoft admits it was also attacked: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-microsoft-hack-azure-20130222,0,6681241.story
One reason is that a freshly discovered weakness in a popular piece of software, known in the trade as a “zero-day” vulnerability because the software makers have had no time to develop a fix, can be cashed in for much more than a reputation boost and some free drinks at the bar. Information about such flaws can command prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from defense contractors, security agencies and governments.
This trade in zero-day exploits is poorly documented, but it is perhaps the most visible part of a new industry that in the years to come is likely to swallow growing portions of the U.S. national defense budget, reshape international relations, and perhaps make the Web less safe for everyone.
The problem now is that zero day bugs are extremely valuable. Governments buy them and keep them secret. Of course it is only a matter of time before someone else figures it out...
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/507971/welcome-to-the-malware-industrial-complex/
The only completely safe computer is not connected to the internet, and is never powered on. Can't get much done with it, but it is secure.
Nah just have to do it the old fashioned way... Have it in a copper lined room, no outside connections and a marine stationed outside.