This Week’s Dose of Latest IT Security News and Updates

Grand Theft Auto 5 for PC is finally here! Wait, it’s a Malware!
Grand Theft Auto 5 is set to release on 17 September, 2013. The release is for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and not for PC. But a torrent claiming to be the PC version of GTA 5 is doing the rounds on the Internet. Gamers are advised to steer clear from this torrent as it is nothing but a part of yet another online scam created by hackers and is packed with malware. This is what happens if you download the torrent. The game won’t install completely until you take part in a survey and receive a confirmation code. And to complete this survey, you have to send an SMS to a certain number. Doing so will be sign you up for a premium service, which will keep charging you a daily fee, until it discontinues. On the other side, once the installation completes, a Trojan will get installed in your system. And this malware will allow the hacker to gain access to your computer and its contents.

Third Variant of “OS X Tibet Malware” Detected
A third variant of the Mac malware named “Tibet”, has been detected. The last variant was found the year before. The malware has been designed for OS X, and it uses a Java exploit on the targeted system. Once inside the system, the malware opens a backdoor program. This allows the hacker to remotely access the victim’s system and steal files including personal information. Know more about this malware, and how to deal with it here.

2 Million Vodafone Customers’ Data Compromised
In other news, customers of Vodafone Germany must be contemplating about changing their service. The data of 2 million Vodafone Germany customers has been compromised by a hacker; so has the company announced in its site. The data includes names, date of birth, addresses, genders, and bank account numbers. More critical information such as credit card details, PIN codes or phone numbers, the company has confirmed, is safe. However, the data that the hacker managed to steal could be used to design large scale phishing attacks against innocent people. Read more about this here.

WordPress Bloggers, it’s time You Updated Your Site!
WordPress, the most popular content manage system, has released its new version 3.6.1. It is a maintenance and security update. This version fixes security issues such as remote code execution, redirection of a user to another website (probably a malware-infected one), and privilege escalation. Additionally, this update also reduces the potential for cross-site scripting, and fixes 13 bugs in version 3.6. Read about it more in WordPress official blog.

London Police Prevents Hacking Theft of Millions of Pounds
What could have been a mammoth disaster in the history of a London Bank, turned out to be a bad day for the hackers themselves. A hacking group of 11 men was nabbed by Scotland Yard, before they could run away with millions of pounds. According to the police, this cyber-attack happened to be one of the most sophisticated cases they ever came across. Reportedly, one member of the gang managed to plant a keyboard video mouse on a computer used in the target organization itself. And using this device they were about to put their plan into action, but the police came in as the party poopers. Read the entire story here.

Rajiv Singha