Anti-virus website infected with virus

An anti-virus company's website has been hacked and used to download malicious software to visitors' computers.

The old advice that warns you to steer away from the dangerous parts of the internet, and to visit only trusted sites, has been out of date for some time. Criminals like to hack websites that belong to legitimate organisations so that PCs belonging to innocent and trusting visitors download malware.

Now the website run by New Delhi-based anti-virus company AvSoft Technologies has been compromised, according to NetworkWorld.com. Its report claims that a researcher from another anti-virus company discovered the ploy. It quotes AVG's chief research officer Roger Thompson as saying, "the download section of AvSoft's S-cop Web site hosts the malicious code."

"The technique used on the site has been seen in thousands of similar hacks over the past few months. The attackers open an invisible iFrame Window within the victim's browser, which redirects the client to another server. That server, in turn, launches attack code that attempts to install malicious software on the victim's computer."

This is not only embarrassing to the security company, but it illustrates clearly the point that trust-worthy sites can be just as dangerous as the dark, spyware-laden corners of the web where, frankly, visitors get what they deserve.

This USB key will self-destruct in 10 login attempts

This USB key claims to be "the world's most secure USB flash drive" and who am I to argue? After all, it's the only one I've heard of that will self-destruct when someone tries to access the stored data. Sadly, and contrary to the 'demo' image (right), this destruction is not explosive. Instead, after ten failed password entries, the device wipes its data.

According to IronKey's website, this destruction uses a, "patent-pending 'flash-trash' methodology" to overwrite data. And if you're thinking, "well, I'd just prise the memory out of the unit and read that directly" think again - the IronKey is filled with an, "epoxy-based potting compound". The idea is that, once you've dug through the resin, you've probably damaged the physical memory in the process.

It's easy to get suspicious about a technical security product that uses "patent-pending" technology. But it's also hard to be unimpressed by IronKey's slick marketing. Personally, I'll continue to store my most personal secrets on something less easy to lose or have stolen. But for the paranoid geek in your life, this might be an ideal gift.

Facebook bookazine

If you're a fan of the Facebook website you might be mainly concerned with increasing the size of your friends list, ensuring you stay up to date with what your friends are up to and sharing photos with everyone. But what about your personal privacy? How easy is it to be stalked online when you use Facebook?

This book, just published by Dennis Publishing, covers the lot - including how to use Facebook effectively. Of course, my contribution to it does not involve virtually 'poking' people or playing silly pirate games. Check out the chapters on privacy and how to stay safe when using this website.