Kaspersky Lab Discovers Koobface Worm Doubles its Number of Command and Control Servers in 48 Hours

It’s not easy being ‘friends’ and now it is getting downright dangerous as the Koobface worm returns with a vengeance infecting social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, according to Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions.

The malicious Koobface program(an anagram of Facebook) targets sites such as Facebook and Twitter and uses compromised legitimate websites as proxies for its main command and control server, attempting to gather sensitive information from the victims such as credit card numbers. It was first detected in December 2008 and a more potent version appeared in March 2009 and it is unfortunately back again in 2010.
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The occurrence of DLL errors is not an unfamiliar sight on Windows-based computers. A normal Windows computer contains thousands of DLL files and because of their presence in great numbers, DLL errors are quite common.

DLL error messages seldom give any insight to their solution. However, with a little knowledge and precaution you can easily get rid of these stubborn looking PC problems.

In this article, we will look at some useful pointers that you can follow to fix common DLL errors, such as wgalogon.dll and connapi.dll errors. Let’s take a look at examples of common DLL error messages that may appear on your screen.

“Connapi.dll file not found”

“This program failed to load because wgalogon.dll file was not found. Reinstall the program to correct this error”

“The file wgalogon.dll is missing”

DLL errors – Causes and Fixes

Incorrect installation/uninstallation of an application: A faulty program may install corrupt or damaged DLL files on your system, causing DLL error messages to appear. Before installing a new program, ensure that its setup files are not damaged or corrupt. Also, in case you are performing a new installation using an installation CD/DVD ensure that the disk is not scratched or damaged.

Similarly, when performing uninstallation take care not to delete any shared DLL files. Deletion of a shared file will cause missing DLL errors to appear when any other program sends a message to the operating system asking for this particular file. If your shared DLL file gets removed during uninstallation of any program, then promptly install the program again to restore the missing file.

Outdated Driver files: Outdated driver files may also lead to DLL errors. To prevent DLL errors, such as connapi.dll error from occurring due to driver problems, ensure that your driver files are up-do-date with the latest releases. You can do this manually or opt for a third-party driver update tool, which can automatically download and install driver updates for you.

Undo any recent system changes: Alteration to any Windows file, such as wgalogon.dll or kernel32.dll may also cause DLL error messages to appear on your screen. If you suspect that you are receiving a DLL error message after you have made changes to an important Windows file or configuration, then use the System Restore utility to undo these changes. You may also try to restore the missing file from the Windows setup CD Recovery Console.

Malware Infection: Malicious programs, such as viruses, worms, trojans, and spyware deliberately add incorrect codes to DLL files. It is important that you install robust antivirus and antispyware tools on your PC to secure your system against such malicious programs. Also, make sure to schedule regular complete virus and spyware scans of your system. Further, remember to keep the live malware definition update feature enabled so that your protective gear gets regularly updated with the new security releases and definitions.

Keep your registry clean and compact: Lastly, make sure to maintain a healthy and clean system registry. Incorrect or missing DLL registry entries often cause DLL errors. The best way to ensure the good health of your registry is to perform regular registry scans using a robust registry cleaning tool. A good registry cleaner ensures that all incorrect or obsolete entries are flushed out of your registry.

Windows PC Problems And Solutions

Every type of operating system has a certain set of problems that are particular to it and the Windows PC is no exception.  Microsoft continues to improve its products and make Windows PCs better and less prone to errors.  They also offer an opportunity for you to automatically update your system to cover the loopholes and to eradicate any bugs in their operating system and other products. They provide technical support on their websites about the common problems that may occur in their operating system. However, most users may find that researching errors on their website a cumbersome task. Moreover, a large number of users may not even be aware about how to go about troubleshooting and may choose to outsource the problem to an expert. That is why this article has enlists common tips to prevent as well as troubleshoot Windows errors.

The old saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”, however, in terms of computers, it is best to say “prevention and vigilance are better than cure”. Let’s see why.

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Sony Corporation from Japan has launched a voluntary recall for their laptops of 438,000 Sony Vaio notebooks a.k.a portable computers, this is because of a potential hazard that could cause the laptops to easily overheat and possibly catch fire/burn a user.

This is one of the biggest computer recalls since in 2006 when Dell Inc recalled a sum of 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could overheat and catch fire. This Sony’s laptop recall affects 72,800 computers in the United States, said a Sony representative.

So far, Sony received about 15 reports of overheating, including one of a consumer who suffered a minor burn, said U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.
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A leading company in network security applications, Trusted Computer Solutions (TCS), has recently announced upgrades to one of its most well known applications, Security Blanket. The application is capable of allowing administrators to configure and manage their network as well as lock it down if needed.  The system communicates through network cables which transmit the security information all throughout the network.  The application runs on Linux operating system and announced new and improved compliance features. The reasoning behind the enhanced features of the security application is for the protection of companies that handle and process credit card transactions. This is virtually everyone in today’s business world.  Here are a few of the highlights of the new and improved Security Blanket:  

• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – helps companies to prevent credit card fraud and other forms of credit security threats.
• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) – allows Security Blanket to automatically lock-down any unused ports and services on the operating system.
• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) – Allows the application to gather information, store it centrally, and then protect it from cyberwarfare/cyberterrorism.  Read more »