The next time you have something really important to tell someone, consider whether a drive over to his or her house wouldn’t be a nice way of spending a few minutes. One reporter has found that it’s quite easy (and perhaps all too common) for people to buy email accounts’ passwords from hackers. Email Password Hackers Present Real Threat Tom Jackman wrote in an article for the Washington Post,

Perhaps people who like to spend their spare time in the cockpits of imaginary F-16s should be left alone. The man in charge of a flight simulator site that was attacked claims to have identified the hacker and forwarded information to the authorities. Avsim Hacker (Maybe) Brought Before Cops Avsim is one of the best-known flight sim communities in existence. It’s been around for a long time, too. Unfortunately, a hacker managed to wipe about a decade’s worth of modification [...]

A Dutch company known as the Frame4 Group has created what’s almost the computing equivalent of a Center for Disease Control lab. The Malware Distribution Project is, according to its own site, the “world’s biggest private malware archive.” Enormous Malware Archive Creates Stir Don’t jump to the conclusion that the project’s run by a bunch of supervillains; the malware samples are supposed to be “offered for the purposes of analysis, testing and malware research.” [...]

When considering where to live, it’s wise to look up stats about an area’s climate, the cost of living, and its proximity to other important stuff in your life. Symantec’s MessageLabs recently supplied some information about your odds of getting spammed, too. MessageLabs Names Most- (And Least-) Spammed States Somewhat surprisingly, the states you might imagine as being the “most wired” – California, New York, Washington – weren’t at the top of the list [...]

No one’s sure how many there are to go, but according to a Nigerian official, there are about 800 scam email addresses and 18 criminals that can be considered “down.” Mrs. Farida Waziri, the chairperson of a government agency, announced that some shutdowns and arrests occurred thanks to an initiative called Project Eagle Claw.
Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is the force behind Project Eagle Claw, and with Microsoft’s

It’s sometimes fun to be an early adopter, as the long lines and waitlists for things like iPhones and the new Camaro have proven. But where security products are concerned, do yourself a favor and let other folks go first, since a fresh report indicates that it can take more than a single try to get things right. ICSA Labs Finds Flaws In New Security Products ICSA Labs, which is based in Pennsylvania and has been around for 20 years, tests and sometimes certifies products. Emphasis on “sometimes.”[...]

It might not be long before we return to the days of schoolchildren diving under their desks in warfare preparedness drills. Only now, instead of hiding from nukes, the kiddos may be unplugging their computers, since McAfee has indicated that a cyberarms race is taking place. McAfee: Cyberwarfare A Big Threat Dave DeWalt, the president and CEO of McAfee, said in a statement [...]

A report issued by a U.S. Senate committee only uses the word “scam” when quoting different consumers; the report’s title employs the phrase “aggressive sales tactics,” instead. Still, it looks like a number of big online companies have been caught profiting off people’s confusion. Senate Uncovers Online Credit Card Tricks An investigation ordered by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV discovered that Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty “gain access to online consumers by entering into financial agreements with [...]