Russian Malware Is Infecting 100,000+ Wordpress Sites

About 100,000 or more websites running the WordPress content management system have been compromised by mysterious malware that turns the infected sites into attack platforms that can target visitors, security researchers said.

The campaign has prompted Google to flag more than 11,000 domains as malicious, but many more sites have been detected as compromised, according to a blog post published Sunday by Sucuri, a firm that helps website operators secure their servers. Researchers have yet to confirm the cause of the infection, but they suspect it's related to a vulnerability in Slider Revolution, a WordPress plugin, that was disclosed in early September. Update: In a new blog post published after Ars went live with this brief, Sucuri says it has confirmed the so-called "RevSlider" vulnerability is the culprit.

Continue reading at http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/some-100000-or-more-wordpress-sites-infected-by-mysterious-malware/

Microsoft, Adobe Push Critical Security Fixes

If you use Microsoft or Adobe software products, chances are that software is now dangerously out of date. Microsoft today released seven update bundles to fix two dozen security vulnerabilities in Windows and supported software. Adobe pushed patches to correct critical flaws in Acrobat, Reader and Flash Player, including a bug in Flash that already is being exploited.

Four of the seven updates from Microsoft earned a “critical” rating, which means the patches on fix vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malware or attackers to seize control over vulnerable systems without any help from users (save for perhaps visiting a hacked or malicious Web site). One of those critical patches — for Internet Explorer — plugs at least 14 holes in the default Windows browser.

Another critical patch plugs two vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and Office Web Apps (including Office for Mac 2011). There are actually three patches this month that address Microsoft Office vulnerabilities, including MS14-082 and MS-14-083, both of which are rated “important.” A full breakdown of these and other patches released by Microsoft today is here.

Adobe’s Flash Player update brings the player to v. 16.0.0.235 for Windows and Mac users, and fixes at least six critical bugs in the software. Adobe said an exploit for one of the flaws, CVE-2014-9163, already exists in the wild.

“These updates address vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take over the affected system,” the company said in its advisory.

Read more on http://krebsonsecurity.com/

Apple goes green with renewable energy

Apple is moving to shrink its carbon footprint, building the nation’s largest privately owned solar farm to run its data center. NBC chief environmental correspondent Anne Thompson reports.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Learn more https://www.apple.com/environment/

BBC News - Heartbleed Bug: Public urged to reset all passwords

Several tech firms are urging people to change all their passwords after the discovery of a major security flaw. 

 "On the scale of one to 10, this is an 11” -Bruce Schneier Security technologist 

 The Yahoo blogging platform Tumblr has advised the public to "change your passwords everywhere - especially your high-security services like email, file storage and banking". 

 Security advisers have given similar warnings about the Heartbleed Bug. It follows news that a product used to safeguard data could be compromised to allow eavesdropping. 

 OpenSSL is a popular cryptographic library used to digitally scramble sensitive data as it passes to and from computer servers so that only the service provider and the intended recipients can make sense of it.  

If an organisation employs OpenSSL, users see a padlock icon in their web browser - although this can also be triggered by rival products.

Continue Reading BBC Heartbleed Bug Story

Security Now 450

How the Heart bleeds
The end of updates for Windows XP, AnyDVD, the Heart Bleed Bug, and more.
View or listen to Security Now 450

Security Now 451

TrueCrypt & Heartbleeds Part2
The previous week consisted of nearly a single story: Heartbleed. It was only "nearly", though, because we also received the results from the first phase of the TrueCrypt audit.
View or listen to Security Now 451

littleBits the future of your child's education?

littleBits (spelled lower case L, upper case B, all one word) consists of tiny circuit-boards with specific functions engineered to snap together with magnets. No soldering, no wiring, no programming, just snap together for prototyping, learning and fun. Each bit has a specific function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, thresholds, pulse, motors, etc), and modules snap to make larger circuits. Just as LEGO™ allows you to create complex structures with very little engineering knowledge, littleBits are small, simple, intuitive, blocks that make creating with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together.

With a growing number of available modules, littleBits aims to move electronics from late stages of the design process to its earliest ones, and from the hands of experts, to those of artists, makers, students and designers. 

littleBits make BIG things happen for MoMA Stores

Make Something That Teaches Something

Visit them http://littlebits.cc/

Parallels Survey of IT Professionals Finds Macs are Moving Beyond BYOD Phenomenon, Now Considered for Broader Corporate Deployment

SAN FRANCISCO & RENTON, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MacIT Conference – Parallels® (www.parallels.com/mac-pro), a global leader in cross-platform solutions, today announced results of its commissioned survey of more than 200 IT decision makers about their attitudes toward Macs in the enterprise. The results are telling – almost half of businesses (45 percent) currently offer their employees Macs, and more than nine out of 10 businesses (95 percent) that don’t currently provide Macs would be more likely to offer employees Macs if they had a single central management system for both Windows PCs and Macs.

Macs are in high demand – and respondents who already support Macs shared the top reasons why:

• Eight out of 10 businesses (77 percent) say Macs are more reliable overall than Windows machines
• Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say they are easier to support
• Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say offering Macs would likely help attract employees (a very important factor given the competition for talent)

Continue reading http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140325005604/en/Parallels-Survey-Professionals-Finds-Macs-Moving-BYOD#.UzGp79y3jlM

Apple Rolls Out CarPlay Giving Drivers a Smarter, Safer & More Fun Way to Use iPhone in the Car

CarPlay Premieres with Leading Auto Manufacturers at the Geneva International Motor Show

GENEVA―March 3, 2014―Apple® today announced that leading auto manufacturers are rolling out CarPlay, the smarter, safer and more fun way to use iPhone® in the car. CarPlay gives iPhone users an incredibly intuitive way to make calls, use Maps, listen to music and access messages with just a word or a touch. Users can easily control CarPlay from the car’s native interface or just push-and-hold the voice control button on the steering wheel to activate Siri® without distraction. Vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will premiere CarPlay to their drivers this week, while additional auto manufacturers bringing CarPlay to their drivers down the road include BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp. 

“CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing. “iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction. We have an amazing lineup of auto partners rolling out CarPlay, and we’re thrilled it will make its debut this week in Geneva.”

Apple has led consumer technology integration in the car for more than a decade. CarPlay brings your car and iPhone together for a thoughtful experience that lets drivers focus on driving, while also tapping into everything they want to do with their iPhone. 

Once iPhone is connected to a vehicle with CarPlay integration, Siri helps you easily access your contacts, make calls, return missed calls or listen to voicemails. When incoming messages or notifications arrive, Siri provides an eyes-free experience by responding to requests through voice commands, by reading drivers’ messages and letting them dictate responses or simply make a call.

CarPlay makes driving directions more intuitive by working with Maps to anticipate destinations based on recent trips via contacts, emails or texts, and provides routing instructions, traffic conditions and ETA. You can also simply ask Siri and receive spoken turn-by-turn directions, along with Maps, which will appear on your car’s built-in display. 

CarPlay gives drivers access to all of their music, podcasts, audiobooks and iTunes Radio℠ with easy navigation through listening choices from the car’s built-in controls or simply by asking Siri to pull up what you’d like to hear. CarPlay also supports select third-party audio apps including Spotify and iHeartRadio, so you can listen to your favorite radio services or sports broadcast apps while driving.

Pricing & Availability
Apple CarPlay is available as an update to iOS 7 and works with Lightning-enabled iPhones, including iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5. CarPlay will be available in select cars shipping in 2014.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Press Contacts: 
Christine Monaghan
Apple
cmonaghan@apple.com
+1 (408) 974-8850

Adam Howorth
Apple
adamh@apple.com
+44 207 184 1202

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPhone, Siri and iTunes Radio are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/03/03Apple-Rolls-Out-CarPlay-Giving-Drivers-a-Smarter-Safer-More-Fun-Way-to-Use-iPhone-in-the-Car.html

Update NOW: OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 and Security Update 2014-001

Apple released OS X 10.9.2 and Security Update 2014-001, which includes a fix for a major SSL security flaw that first came to light on Friday, after the release of iOS 7.0.6. 

You can test if your OS has been patched by visiting https://gotofail.com.

OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 Update (Combo) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1726

Security Update 2014-001 (Mountain Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1729

Security Update 2014-001 (Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1727

Security Update 2014-001 Server (Lion) http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1728

OS X Mavericks 10.9.2: Using FaceTime Audio on a Mac

Everything We Know About The Huge Security Flaw That Affects (Nearly) All iPhones, iPads, And Apple Computers

 "A software bug called "Gotofail" currently affects every single Apple device, whether it's an iPhone, iPad, or desktop or laptop computer. If you have not updated your machine in the last few days, your Apple device is currently vulnerable.

Apple revealed that the security flaw in its iOS operating system for iPhone and iPad affects encryption. That's how data gets sent over the Internet without you having to worry about people reading your emails or stealing your credit card number when you buy something from Amazon. 
The name "Gotofail" is a reference to the "goto" computer command.

A fix recently went out to iOS customers that renders this bug a non-issue, so if you haven't updated your iPhone or iPad's software recently, be sure to do so. There's a full guide right here, but you'll want to plug your phone in as if you're charging it, open the Settings app, select "General," then "Software Update," and follow the instructions that appear.

OS X users are still waiting for a fix. Official word from Apple is that it will come "very soon."
"

Continue reading the Business Insider Story by Dylan Love