Posted 08/08/08 at 01:58:58 PM by Paul Lilly

Gamers have enough trouble trying to come up with a game plan to beat pesky end bosses and single-handedly defeat armies of mutant soldiers. Saving often gives gamers an endless advantage and cheat codes can help in a pinch, but neither of these tactics will do any good against an increasing amount of real-life threats the online gaming scene.

More than just an annoyance, time spend in virtual worlds like Second Life can translate into real currency and it's attracted the attention of organized criminal gangs. According to security software vendor ESET (best known for its NOD32 Antivirus products), "high volumes of malware intended to steal passwords for online gaming and virtual worlds" have been detected since 2007, resulting in a "dramatic upsurge."

The alarming news comes courtesy of ESET's mid-yearly Global Threat Report, which focuses on broad trends in malware over the past six months. In addition to an upsurge in attacks against gamers, ESET notes that malicious software that tries to use the Windows Autorun facility to self-install from removable media continues to flourish.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the company reports email bound malware is in "dramatic decline," at least when it comes to dirty attachments. Malicious URLs passed through email messages have taken the place of attachments.

Further reading to keep yourself (and your virtual self) protected:

• Heal and Inoculate Your PC
• Internet Security 2.0
• Blizzard Offers Additional Layer of Security with Authenticator Dongle
• Reducing Thumbdrives' Security Risk

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games, gaming, windows, Software, Security, spyware, virus, malware, second life, threat, Videogames, eset

Posted 10/15/07 at 04:54:55 PM by Mark Soper

Been patting yourself on the back for not using Adobe Acrobat or Reader with IE7 and Windows XP? Don't be too happy: URI-based threats may be lurking everywhere.

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vista, windows, Security, virus, malware, linux, XP, threat, MacOS X, hacker

Posted 10/12/07 at 07:57:20 AM by Mark 'Marcus Soperus' Soper

Put Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader together with Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7, and what do you have? A significant threat to your PC. Learn how to protect yourself.

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windows xp, malware, threat, exploit, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer 7, IE7, vulnerability

Posted 09/24/07 at 11:32:52 PM by Mark Soper

Googling your way around the Internet? Watch out - cross site scripting (XSS) makes Google and other sites less safe than you think.

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1

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phishing, XSS, cross site scripting, pharming, threat, exploit, browser