Security news updates from the last week

Microsoft releases ‘Fix it’ tool for IE vulnerability
Microsoft has released a temporary “Fix it” tool for the highly publicized Internet Explorer vulnerability. A full IE update will soon be released as well. The security hole exploited Internet Explorer users when they visited a malicious website and installed a trojan known as Poison Ivy on vulnerable machines. The flaw also led many Governments to discourage people from using Internet Explorer but the end of this saga looks imminent.

Latest iOS version jailbroken a few hours after release
iOS 6, which was released a day ago, has already been jailbroken in record time. The new operating system was released by Apple over-the-air and featured over 200 improvements. But the iPhone Dev-Team, an independent group of hackers, wasted no time in jailbreaking the OS once they got their hands on it.

Territorial dispute between Japan and China leads to cyberattack
If you were doubtful about the prevalence of nations using cyberattacks for propaganda, this report should settle that. Japan and China have both laid claim to the Senkaku Islands. However, Japan paid $30 million to private owners to nationalize the territory that China claims is theirs historically. Subsequently, 19 Japanese banks and universities were hit with cyberattacks.

New cyberspying malware ‘Mirage’ targets various industries
A new cyberespionage campaign is being waged on various targets in Philippines, Taiwan, Canada, Brazil, Israel, Egypt and Nigeria. The malware, known as Mirage, is a backdoor trojan and awaits instructions from an attacker once it is installed. The malware enters through ‘spear-phishing’ emails that carry infected PDF files as attachments. The source and the purpose of the malware is unknown as of now, but all of the targets operate in the energy, defense and infrastructure industries.

Rahul Thadani