mcafee

Symantec is out with its "Dirtiest Web Sites of Summer 2009," which it's calling "the worst of the worst" when it comes to malware threats.

The security vendor says that "48 percent of the Dirtiest Web Sites are, well, dirty--sites that feature adult content." That means that more than half the sites cover a wide range of other categories including legal services, catering, figure skating, and electronics shopping, according to the report.

On average, sites on the dirtiest list have 18,000 threats per site, but 40 of the sites have in excess … Read more

This was originally published at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

McAfee on Thursday announced it's acquiring MX Logic, which provides on-demand e-mail, continuity, and Web services, for $140 million in cash.

The move is designed to bolster McAfee's security as a service lineup. Security software vendors have been racing to the cloud. MX Logic has 40,000 customers who cover more than 4 million end users. McAfee said that it plans to cross-sell MX Logic with its Web services such as the Total Protection Service (statement).

Separately, McAfee topped second quarter estimates and delivered a better-than-expected third quarter … Read more

Spam and botnets have hit their highest levels ever, according to McAfee's second-quarter Threats Report, released Wednesday. McAfee's Avert Labs says spam recorded in the second quarter shot up 80 percent compared with the first quarter of the year.

This follows a brief reprieve from spam following last year's shutdown of the McColo ISP. June alone saw the largest amount of spam recorded by McAfee, surpassing the previous monthly high in October by more than 20 percent. McAfee now estimates that spam accounts for 92 percent of all e-mail.

By country, the amount of worldwide spam originating … Read more

The abstract concepts of "botnet" and "Trojan" just became a lot more concrete for me.

In less than an hour on Thursday, I was able to use programs readily available on the Internet underground for as little as $300 to infect several Windows clients and take complete control of them in a test environment.

In contrast to the real world, the McAfee Malware Experience event, which was akin to a Malware 101 class (or, in my case, Malware for Dummies), served up printed step-by-step instructions for us nonhacker journalists. But McAfee researchers said the programs used--real … Read more

Updated June 5 at 3:48 p.m. Pacific Time: Users can now download the trial of McAfee Family Protection.

Correction: The 30-day trial for McAfee Family Protection is not yet available for users. I will update this post when it does become available.

On the heels of Symantec's OnlineFamily.Norton, released earlier this year, security stalwart McAfee is jumping into the family protection game with a new home-oriented protection program. Called McAfee Family Protection, the program will offer many familiar tools to parents in the hopes of fostering conversation while protecting children from harm.

McAfee Family Protection will … Read more

Security companies Symantec and McAfee will be the latest big-name developers to make products for Apple's iPhone, as the two look to cash in on the popularity of the device.

Speaking to Reuters, McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt said his company is developing security software for the iPhone, though no other details on the product were provided. DeWalt also said the company is working on a "much more comprehensive suite for the Apple family."

Symantec is throwing its hat into the iPhone ring too, but it won't be developing traditional security software. Instead, Symantec is looking at … Read more

Intent on beefing up its security offerings, McAfee is adding another company to its mix. McAfee announced on Friday an agreement to buy Solidcore Systems, a vendor of whitelisting technology.

McAfee will pay $33 million upfront to acquire privately held Solidcore, with the promise of an extra $14 million if Solidcore hits certain performance targets.

Solidcore's whitelisting technology combats viruses, worms, and other malware by allowing only approved, preauthorized software to run on servers, mobile, devices, and other computer systems. Cupertino, Calif.-based Solidcore's products also help customers protect ATMs, cash registers, and other systems used in the … Read more

Updated 5:15 p.m. PDT with McAfee saying most of the vulnerabilities have been fixed.

Security vulnerabilities on McAfee sites, including one designed to scan customers' sites for flaws, exposed certain customer accounts and could have been used for phishing attacks in which malware disguised as McAfee software could be distributed, security experts say.

McAfee said late on Tuesday that most of the vulnerabilities were fixed, except for one part of the Web site that was taken offline to be fixed.

The McAfee sites were found to be vulnerable to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks and cross-site request forgery attacks … Read more

The Conficker worm, which has set off many a recent security alarm bell, may just be a small fry, compared to the growing number of botnets, viruses, and worms infecting cyberspace.

According to a report released on Tuesday from security vendor McAfee (PDF), cybercriminals have hijacked 12 million new computers since January with an array of new malware. This represents a 50 percent increase in the number of "zombie" computers over 2008.

The United States now hosts the world's largest percentage of infected computers, 18 percent, according to the McAfee report. China is next on McAfee's … Read more