Tag Archives: oracle

Defend Against the CryptoLocker Virus

The “CryptoLocker” virus has been making a great deal of noise lately. Though we at Thom Infotech have not personally encountered it, we know others who have. We’ve written this post to help you to understand and defend against the CryptoLocker virus. What is it? CryptoLocker is an insidious twist on the all-too-familiar virus or […]

WordPress now offers automatic updates

There is welcome news for web developers this week as WordPress now offers automatic updates to the uber-popular web development platform. Starting out as a blogging tool, WordPress has morphed into a full website development ecosystem. Like many, this author has embraced WordPress due to its simplicity, flexibility, and easy search engine optimization. The importance […]

Oracle closes critical Java vulnerability

Oracle announced today the release of updates for Java versions 5, 6, and 7 to patch a critical java vulnerability actively being exploiting in the wild. The patches were reportedly slated for release in April but the timetable was pushed up in response to a recent report demonstrating the active exploit. This further prolongs the […]

Apple blocks vulnerable Flash plugins

Kudos to Apple. Last week they decided to start blocking vulnerable versions of Adobe Flash plugins from running in the built-in Safari web browser. This is in direct response to the active exploits in the wild affecting Macs as well as PCs. Users who fail to update when prompted are now receiving an error message […]

Yet Another Java Zero-Day

Researchers at the respected security firm FireEye have discovered yet another Java zero-day attack that leverages previously unknown vulnerabilities with the latest versions of Java (as of this writing Java v1.6 Update 41 and Java v1.7 Update 15) to install malware. This comes on the heels of a discovery of two other holes (as yet […]

Apple also a victim of targeted malware attack

Apple revealed today that they were targeted by the same malware attack leveled against Facebook on February 1st. The earlier comments by Facebook hinted at a working group of high-value targets and Apple now appears to be among them. The attack took advantage of a previously unknown Java zero-day exploit to infect the engineers’ computers […]

Facebook is apparent victim of a Java zero-day attack

Facebook has confirmed that they were a victim of a targeted attack that leveraged a previously unknown Java vulnerability. The zero-day exploit was used to infect the laptops of several engineers with malware that apparently was used to attempt a full-scale infiltration of the inner sanctum of Facebook. Facebook reported that all of the infected […]

Oracle releases emergency patches for Java

Oracle has released a sizable number of patches for Java to address 50 vulnerabilities affecting both the browser versions as well as the server. The “Critical Patch Update February 2013” (CPU) for Java had been scheduled for February 19th, but due to one of the vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild, the company brought the […]

Seriously… not another Java zero-day attack?

I’m not kidding. Heck, I might even be wrong. But it appears as though the administrator of a hacker forum has sold weaponized and full source code versions of the new zero-day exploit. There are reasons for doubt, however. According to Brian Krebs, the exploit was purportedly limited in its sale to only two buyers […]

Why did I get a virus?!

For crying out loud… How did this happen? You’re just surfing along, minding your own business and BAM – some bogus-looking thing pops up claiming you have 300 infected files and you need to pay $70 to get your computer cleaned. Or, like my elderly neighbor over the past weekend, you get a scary full-screen […]