Tag Archives: Bogdan Botezatu

Rogue Chrome extension racks up Facebook 'likes' for online bandits

Security researchers at Bitdefender have discovered a new phishing scam that installs a malicious extension in the Chrome web browser in order to turn Facebook ‘likes’ into cash for cyber crooks.

The exploit begins with a malicious link embedded in spam email, says Bogdan Botezatu, a senior e-threat analyst at Bitdefender. The link ushers you to the Chrome Web Store, where you download an extension for a “business” Flash player—assuming you’re foolish enough to click on spam links.

Once this so-called “business” version of Flash is downloaded, it monitors your browser activity. When you land on a Facebook page with Chrome, the malware checks your browser cookies to see if you’re logged into Facebook. If you are, it will fetch a piece of Javascript code that tells the extension what to do with your account.

“They can run as many campaigns as they want,” Botezatu said in an interview. “All they have to do is fetch a new script.”

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

It's time to rewrite Java from scratch, security expert says

If the most recent security flaw in Java is a sign of anything, it’s that the time has come for Oracle to rewrite the programming language.

That’s the view of Bogdan Botezatu, a senior e-threat analyst with Bitdefender, a Romanian-based maker of antivirus software, who estimates that as many as 100 million PCs are vulnerable to hacker attack because of the latest Java defect discovered this week.

According to Botezatu, Oracle has lost control of Java’s code, which is why serious security vulnerabilities continue to emerge in the software.

“Oracle needs to take some core components of Java and write them from scratch,” he said in an interview.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld