A new malware attack was discovered targeting Iran. Dubbed ‘Flame’, ‘Flamer’, or ‘sKyWIper’ depending on the source, the cyber attack has been called “much bigger than Stuxnet,” “most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed,” and “most lethal cyberweapon to date.” However, at least one security vendor takes issue with the ‘Flame’ hype and calls the threat “overblown”.

Malware researchers claim that the code behind “Flame” bears many resemblances to Stuxnet and Duqu. The sophistication of the attack and the techniques used within the threat are similar, and so is the primary target: Iran.

A tireless collaborative effort by the iOS Jailbreak Dream Team (a group comprised of members from the Chronic-Dev Team and the iPhone Dev Team) has yielded Absinthe 2.0--a jailbreak utility for iOS 5.1.1. While some appreciate being able to break out of Apple’s “walled garden”, the fact that iOS devices can be rooted poses a significant security risk.

Jailbroken iOS devices can pose a security risk.A press release for Absinthe 2.0 explains the concept of jailbreaking: “iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through use of custom security exploits. Jailbreaking allows users to gain elevated access to the operating system. Consequently it also allows users to download additional applications, extensions and themes that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.”

Microsoft released a total of seven new security bulletins for May’s Patch Tuesday. Four are rated as Important, and the other three are Critical, but two in particular are getting the most attention: MS12-034 and MS12-029.

MS12-034 fixes 10 separate vulnerabilities spanning a range of Microsoft products including Windows, Office, .NET Framework, and Silverlight. It’s unusual for Microsoft to lump so many products together in a single security bulletin or patch.

Text messaging is the most common non-voice use of a mobile phone. There are trillions of text messages received around the world each day, and an increasing number of them are spam, or phishing attacks of some sort.

A report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project claims that 73 percent of adults with a mobile phone use text messaging--sending and receiving an average of 41.5 messages per day. That average jumps to a startling 110 messages per day for individuals between 18 and 24.

Mac users have been forced to face a cold reality lately—the days of security through obscurity are over. Macs have traditionally been off the radar, and relatively safe just by virtue of being Macs. Now that malicious attacks are targeting Macs, users need to defend themselves. Avast is stepping up to offer its popular free antimalware software for Mac OS X.

No, malware is nowhere near the scourge for Mac OS X as it is for Windows. I am not saying the “sky is falling”, and I’m not declaring a “Macpocalypse”. But, the reality is that malicious attacks exist, and the threat will continue to grow. Macs have been gaining in market share, and the growth rate of Mac is outpacing the growth rate for Windows-based PCs, so the operating system has captured the attention of malicious developers. It’s time to recognize that, and implement security tools to defend against attacks.

Kaspersky and Symantec both reported dramatic declines in the number of Macs infected with the Flashback malware this past week. However, Dr. Web--the source that discovered the threat in the first place--claims the number of compromised systems is still going strong, and may even be growing.

Apple responded to the malware attack with a patched version of Java, and a subsequent update that removes the Flashback malware. Apple also implemented a process to proactively disable Java if its not actively used--a brilliant way of reducing the exposure to attack by following established security best practice and turning off or removing services and tools that aren’t necessary.

Better late than never? Apple has released the third Java update in a week for Mac OS X, and this one contains the tool to remove the Flashback malware from infected systems. Beneath the belated fix to help users eradicate the threat, Apple has introduced a proactive approach to reducing security risk, and other vendors should take note.

This first couple of Java updates already patched the underlying vulnerability. The latest version doesn’t address any new vulnerabilities—it takes care of the destruction left in the wake of the vulnerabilities in the first place, and proactively reduces the exposure to risk for Mac users.

Unless you’re some sort of adrenaline junky like Jeb Corliss, you know better than to engage in certain risky behaviors like BASE jumping from the Empire State Building. According to a new survey from Webroot, though, a majority of people now consider online activity to be a greater risk than real-world activities.

The Internet is a part of mainstream culture, and users—both consumers and business users—perform a wide variety of tasks online that can potentially expose them to risk. Sharing personal information on social networks, accessing bank accounts, purchasing goods online, sending email, and other activities can put sensitive identity information and financial data in jeopardy if not properly protected.

Today is the second Tuesday of April, and that means it’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday time. This month Microsoft released a total of six new security bulletins, but one in particular deals with a zero-day vulnerability impacting virtually every Microsoft user, which is already being exploited in the wild.

Four of the six security bulletins are rated as Critical by Microsoft, with the remaining two ranked as Important. The Critical security bulletins include a fix for Windows and the .NET framework, as well as the perennial favorite—the cumulative update for Internet Explorer. The biggest deal, though, is MS12-027, which addresses a critical flaw in Windows Common Controls.

An estimated 600,000 or more Macs are currently compromised and part of a massive botnet thanks to the Flashback Trojan horse. To put the size of the threat in some perspective, the Flashback Trojan botnet is even bigger than the massive Conficker botnet…relatively speaking.

The Conficker botnet compromised an estimated seven million plus Windows PCs around the world at its peak. Seven million is obviously much larger than 600,000, but Windows also has a significantly higher number of PCs in use around the world.