Only yesterday, we informed you that Microsoft had released free computer security software, which goes by the name of Microsoft Security Essentials. The tool adds extra security to all Windows users and is completely free as long as they are using a genuine version of Windows.

However, computer security firm Symantec are questioning the reliability of the free software. They claim that the software is missing too much functionality  and is based on outdated security methods that have already been surpassed by hackers and virus developers.

A spokesperson for Symantec said;

“From a security perspective, this Microsoft tool offers reduced defenses at a critical point in the battle against cyber crime,” going on to say; “Unique malware and social engineering tricks fly under the radar of traditional signature-based technology alone — which is what is employed by free security tools such as Microsoft’s”.

In a stroke of good will, computer software giant, Microsoft, has released a free computer security software package to all Windows operating system users. The software set, named the Microsoft Security Essentials, can be downloaded free of charge from the official Microsoft website.

The website states that the package “provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.”

The only requirement is that users must have a genuine version of Windows, which will be etsted when you try to download the software. The application will run in the background and will automatically update itself to protect against the latest viruses and malware.

Almost everyone with a computer (which is pretty much everyone now anyway) will have most likely encountered a computer virus or some sort of malicious software on their computer. While there is anti-virus and similar software to help prevent these infections or intrusions occuring, computer hackers and virus creators are constantly redesigning the worms and trojans to find a way around the prevantatives.

This is what led researchers to come up with a new form of protection, based on nature itself. The researchers noted that when an ant is under attack or in danger, “swarming intelligence” will kick in and pretty soon an abundance of ants will show up to overwhelm the threat. Using this same logic, the researchers have developed a form of computer security that involves sending out ‘digital ants’ that will crawl computer networks and once they spot a threat they call in for reinforcements until the danger is cleared.

A sophisticated computer trojan virus has been developed by computer hackers to steal the login credentials of hapless computer users when they visit major financial websites, such as banking and credit card systems.

The Clampi Virus can infect a computer when the user visits a website with malicious code on it, the virus will then lie in wait until the user logs on to any one of 4,500 financial websites. Once this happens the virus then grabs the login informatino, such as the password, and sends it back to the hackers.

The Clampi virus was originally discovered in 2005, but the latest strain that has been developed seems to be much more infectious for computers and is spreading at a rapid rate.

Security researchers from the Internet security firm, PandaLabs, recently discovered a number of scams involving a rising demand for hacks on soocial networking sites. One scamstood out  in particular, which offered to give gullible wannabe hackers access to any Facebook profile, all for a small cost of course.

The website only asks for the ID of the account you want to gain access to, it then scrapes information like the users name and other details in an attempt to appear more legit. Then all you have to do is sed some of your own private details, along with $100 to some place in Ukraine and you’ll be able to download the username and password to access the Facebook account. Simple, yes?

Don’t fall for these scams!

Microsoft is launching a new mobile phone software in October in a hope to revive its fortunes in the market for smart phones. It’s estimated that Microsoft’s Windows software is fourth in the market with a 9% share whilst rival Symbian has the majority at about 50%. It’s not yet known how many of the phones will feature Windows Mobile 6.5. Mobile operators which are signing on are AT&A and Verizon in the US, Orange and T-Mobile in Europe as well as a few others around the globe. Handsets making the phone include the likes of LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

In a classic example of how a computer system malfunction can have serious negative effects, the Police National Computer currently features a glitch that stops it from linking to the Northern Ireland criminal database. This means when routine checks are made, for example when someone is arrested and their name is put on the file, the computer is not finding their previous criminal profile if it was in Northern Ireland.

One such case is the Ulster terrorists, who are all on the Northern Ireland database, one of whom was apprehended recently, but they weren’t aware they had actually got Johnny Adair, nicknamed “mad dog”, until they went and Googled his name.

Rogueware refers to software that tries to advise users that their security or performance is underperforming and offers to rectify the problem. They employ this scare tactic in order to get people to part with their money to purchase licences for the Rogueware, hence why it is often also refered to as Scareware. Most of the time, scareware is useless and in actual fact can do more harm than good.

Recent Rogueware has been shown to try and uninstall well reputed brands of anti-virus, -malware or -adware software. This can have a disastrous effect as it then leaves the user believing they are protect and are free to perform their usual computer or internet activities, when in actual fact they are more at risk than ever before.

A recent study undertaken by PC Tools showed that a large proportion of Briton’s are failing to update their secruity software at regular intervals. In fact, the results show that Britain is the worst of all the Western European countries when it comes to ensuring PC security is updated consistently.

Of the 4,500 participants surveyed, a third answered that they didn’t update their security software and almost one in ten didn’t have any security software in place at all.

Michael Greene, vice president of Product Strategy at PC Tools, stated;

“While consumers are generally security conscious, they are not yet security savvy. The increased use of the internet among consumers, almost all of whom are now online on a daily basis, is providing a lucrative market for cybercriminals and as a result, we are seeing more and more sophisticated techniques that lure consumers into clicking on malicious links or downloading malicious files, for example.”

Ebay which is a popular online auction site has agreed to sell a large stake of its internet phone company Skype for approximately £1.2billion.

The majority of the company is owned by private investors including Netscape’s co – founder Marc Andreessen and private equity firms. Ebay will keep a 35% stake in the firm which has been on the market to sell for awhile now. The new owners are Andreessen Horowitx, Index Ventures who originally invested in Skype. Earlier this year Ebay had planned on selling its shares in 2010 which was the first indication that it was up for sale.