The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service were forced to shut down parts of their computer networks after a mystery virus struck the law-enforcement agencies Thursday, according to an Associated Press report.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that it had disconnected from Justice Department computers as a precaution after being hit with the virus, while an FBI spokesperson would only say that it was experiencing similar issues, according to the report.

“We too are evaluating a network issue on our external, unclassified network that’s affecting several government agencies,” FBI spokesman Mike Kortan told the AP.

The virus’ type and origin are unknown, but spokespeople for both agencies said agencies’ access to the Internet and e-mail was shut down while the issue was evaluated.

Government regulations require agencies to report any security issues to US-Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), but a call to CERT late Thursday for comment was not immediately returned.

Like I have said, it only takes one outward facing machine to get in. I am sure their are tons of viruses and botnets out there going undetected. You just have to play the waiting game, update them, and make the traffic blend in…

(Via CNET)

Did you get all excited about the Windows 7 RC, so instead of waiting till Microsoft released it you downloaded it on torrent? Turns out that prerelease version had a nasty botnet built into it. But don’t worry, you were not the only one, it is spreading at roughly 500 machines an hour.

Damballa reckons malicious hackers distributed the malware by hiding it within counterfeit copies of pre-release versions of Microsoft’s next operating system on offer through BitTorrent.

Damballa reckons that the pirated package was released around 24 April. By 10 May, when security researchers effectively curtailed the operation, as many as 552 new users were becoming infected per hour as a result of the attack.

“Since the pirated package was released on 24 April, my best guess is that this botnet probably had at least 27,000 successful installs

This means if you have not done so already, you need to get the official release from Microsoft. I will even be nice and give you the link right here.

(Via The Register.)

And so it begins. We all know this would happen as Apple started getting a little bit more market share. ZDNet has an article going back to the malware found in iWork ’09. Showing the first DDOS attack tracing back to it.

iBotnet – Researchers Find Signs Of Zombie Macs : via Packet Storm