Windows Secrets misleading ParetoLogic spamvertising ......

Now, this is actually a paid advertisement, but the information is blatantly misleading. The Conficker worm did not go active on April 1. The Conficker worm has been active for months. On April 1 the Conficker worm changed an algorithm, that’s all. The Conficker worm is not one of the worst viruses in history. The worm is one of the most wide spread, but it is not known to have stolen data, as many threats have done. Conficker is not known to have sent spam. Conficker has not been confirmed as participating in DDOS for extortion attacks. Conficker has not been implicated in identity theft or credit card fraud.

When WindowsSecrets.com is willing to publish such sad hype and misleading information for a few bucks, you have to question the validity of any information they publish.

Read more
http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog/?p=920

Essential Maintenance: vURL Online/Intranet server

Please note, due to essential maintenance, the *.mysteryfcm.co.uk server may respond slower than normal.

I'm trying to keep it online whilst this is performed, but once done, should reduce the errors people have been receiving (I've also fixed a bug in the code).

My apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

/edit 02-04-2009 15:55

Maintenance is now complete.

Spambot Search Tool: v0.27

* Fixed StopForumSpam limit exceeded message accidentally displayed when it hasn't been (they've not implemented it yet, so it couldn't have been)

if you'd like to save yourself downloading it, you can fix it by changing;

if($bSFSLimit=true){

To;

if($bSFSLimit==true){

... in check_spammers_plain.php

Download:
http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Products&act=DL&p=spambotsearchtool

hpHOSTS - UPDATED April 1st, 2009

hpHOSTS - UPDATED April 1st, 2009

The hpHOSTS Hosts file has been updated. There is now a total of 59,358 listed hostsnames.

If you are NOT using the installer, please read the included Readme.txt file for installation instructions. Enjoy! :)

1. Latest Updated: 01/04/2009 17:45
2. Last Verified: 01/04/2009 17:09

Download hpHosts now!
http://hosts-file.net/?s=Download

Apologies for the delay folks!

eEye: Conficker Detection Scanner and Patch Identification Utility

Found the following eEye security advisory in my inbox:

In response to Conficker, a breed of self-updating worms that is difficult to avoid, Researchers at eEye Digital Security (www.eeye.com/ ) have devised a Conficker detection engine that centers on running a network scan to detect hosts compromised or vulnerable to Conficker. In a proactive measure to protect users, starting today, organizations can download from eEye a free utility that is built around the company’s Retina Network Security Scanner that will detect hosts that are compromised with this latest worm and malicious botnet or do not have MS08-067 applied, the most effective propagation technique that Conficker uses.

The Retina Utility from eEye can be downloaded at: http://www.eeye.com/html/downloads/other/ConfickerScanner.html

In addition to the detection of the Conficker worm, eEye Digital Security's Blink Endpoint Protection Platform can effectively protect hosts, even if they are not patched, from the propagation of this worm. Using protocol based IPS analyzers, Blink can detect and stop the malicious traffic associated with MS08-067 and block the worm from self propagating. For installations that are already infected, Blink's multi layer antivirus engine will remove the Conficker worm and provide protection until a permanent remediation is performed on the host.

Learn more
http://www.eeye.com/html/conficker/index.html

Download
http://www.eeye.com/html/downloads/other/ConfickerScanner.html