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Two Major Ad Networks Found Serving Malware 330

Posted by samzenpus from the wanna-buy-a-virus? dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "Two major online ad networks — DoubleClick and MSN — were serving malware via drive-by download exploits over the last week, experts say, after a group of attackers was able to trick the networks into displaying their ads by impersonating an online advertising provider. The scheme involved a group of attackers who registered a domain that was one letter away from that of ADShuffle.com, an online advertising technology firm. The attackers then used the fake domain — ADShufffle.com — to dupe the advertising networks into serving their malicious banner ads. The ads used various exploits to install malware on victims' PCs through drive-by downloads, according to information compiled by security vendor Armorize."
Oracle

RIP, SunSolve 100

Posted by timothy from the to-the-moon-instead dept.
Kymermosst writes "Today marks the last day that SunSolve will be available. Oracle sent the final pre-deployment details today for the retirement of SunSolve and the transition to its replacement, My Oracle Support Release 5.2, which begins tomorrow. People who work with Sun's hardware and software have long used SunSolve as a central location for specifications, patches, and documentation."

Submission + - Bank of the Clueless

Submitted by jcomeau_ictx
jcomeau_ictx writes: Bank of Internet has for years limited passwords to 8 alphanumerics, but over the next few days they will open their members' accounts up to anyone with the last 4 letters of their Social Security number: ex-partners, family, and any of thousands of employees of banks, credit unions, and online and offline businesses which have requested it over the course of an average life. Here is the communication sent out today:

Bank of Internet USA is upgrading our online solutions for Online Banking this weekend. The Bank is making this change to ensure we provide you with an Online Banking experience so impactful, you will not be able to imagine banking any other way. In preparation for the launch, there is some important information you need to know:

Launch Date: December 11, 2010. The conversion time frame will be from December 9, 2010 to December 11, 2010. Logging in to Online Banking on December 11, 2010 or thereafter. You will use the same Online Banking ID as you did prior to December 11th. The first time you log in only, your Password will be the last 4-digits of your Social Security Number. You will be prompted to change your password to one of your choosing immediately upon logging in.

This doesn't mean I'll stop doing business with them; they still have better customer service than any other bank I've ever dealt with. I just won't keep anything more than a few hundred in there until they take security a little more seriously.

Robotics

Submission + - Researchers build self-healing plastic (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by schliz
schliz writes: Watch out for T-1000s (Terminator) — Arizona State researchers have developed a "self-healing" polymer that uses a fibre optic "nervous system" to detect and fix cracks. The system recovers up to 96 percent of an object's original strength in laboratory tests and will likely be used in "large-scale composite structures for which human intervention would be difficult", such as wind turbines, satellites, aircraft and the Mars Rover.
Science

Scientists Discover Solar Powered Hornets 177

Posted by samzenpus from the beware-of-the-electric-bees dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "The oriental hornet is more active during the day, and tends to become even more active as the temperature rises. And now scientists have discovered the reason: the hornets are solar powered. It turns out that the distinctive yellow stripe on the hornet's abdomen is actually full of tiny protrusions that gather sunlight and harness it for energy. The insect also features a special pigment, called xanthopterin, that helps with the process."
Government

USDA Services Moving To the Microsoft Cloud 146

Posted by samzenpus from the you-got-microsoft-all-over-my-government dept.
JoltinJoe77 writes "Not to be outdone by Google, who recently announced an e-mail deal with the GSA, Microsoft is pressing forward with a migration of its own. 'The US Department of Agriculture is ready to go live with Microsoft's cloud services. In the next four weeks, the agency will move 120,000 users to Microsoft Online services, including e-mail, Web conferencing, document collaboration, and instant messaging.'"
Movies

George Lucas to Resurrect Dead Movie Stars? 296

Posted by samzenpus from the meesa-think-dis-is-creepy dept.
According to his director friend Mel Smith, George Lucas has a plan for upcoming movies more insidious than a whole Gungan cast. Smith says Lucas is buying the rights to old movies in order to put dead actors in his films. He says, "George has been buying up the film rights to dead actors in the hope of using computer trickery to put them all together, so you'd have Orson Welles and Barbara Stanwyck alongside today's stars." Even if Smith is lying, it makes you wonder who long it will be until Hollywood starts to recycle actors as well as scripts.
Earth

Earth's Water Didn't Come From Outer Space 181

Posted by Soulskill from the no-word-on-elvis dept.
sciencehabit writes "Where did Earth's oceans come from? Astronomers have long contended that icy comets and asteroids delivered the water for them during an epoch of heavy bombardment that ended about 3.9 billion years ago. But a new study suggests that Earth supplied its own water, leaching it from the rocks that formed the planet. The finding may help explain why life on Earth appeared so early, and it may indicate that other rocky worlds are also awash in vast seas."
Medicine

Being Too Clean Can Make People Sick 333

Posted by Soulskill from the but-not-vice-versa dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Young people who are overexposed to antibacterial soaps containing triclosan may suffer more allergies, and exposure to higher levels of Bisphenol A among adults may negatively influence the immune system, a new University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests (abstract, full paper [PDF]). Triclosan is a chemical compound widely used in products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpaste, pens, diaper bags and medical devices. Bisphenol A is found in many plastics and, for example, as a protective lining in food cans. Both of these chemicals are in a class of environmental toxicants called endocrine-disrupting compounds, which are believed to negatively impact human health by mimicking or affecting hormones."
Government

DHS Seizes 75+ Domain Names 529

Posted by Soulskill from the going-for-the-gusto dept.
Many readers have sent in an update to yesterday's story about the Department of Homeland Security's seizure of torrent-finder.com, a domain they believe to be involved in online piracy. As it turns out, this was just one of dozens of websites that were targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "In announcing that operation, John T. Morton, the assistant secretary of ICE, and representatives of the Motion Picture Association of America called it a long-term effort against online piracy, and said that suspected criminals would be pursued anywhere in the world. 'American business is under assault from counterfeiters and pirates every day, seven days a week,' Mr. Morton said. 'Criminals are stealing American ideas and products and distributing them over the Internet.'" The TorrentFreak article we discussed yesterday has been updated with a list of the blocked sites.

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