The week in security: Aussies atop victim rankings, malware authors down tools

Australian computer users are setting the benchmark when it comes to falling victim to malware, a new analysis has concluded. Yet that wasn't the only category where Australia was making a strong showing: we're also pretty ordinary when it comes to password strength, and we're now a top-10 source of cyber attacks, according to another survey that warned cybercriminals are targeting mobile commerce.

Even as malware authors unleashed the cleverly written Corebot malware, targeted players of online poker games and installed persistent malware within firmware on business routers in four countries – not the only attack to target routers – some hackers are apparently going back to basics, eschewing the use of malware to rely exclusively on tools already running on compromised systems.

Security experts were exhorting Internet of Things (IoT) designers to build in security from the early days of their designs, even as Intel established the Automotive Security Review Board, a thinktank for addressing security issues in automotive hardware. Better review would also help designers of popular travel apps that were found to be riddled with security flaws, and might even have helped Google avoid a new hack that allows bypassing of Android mobile devices' password protection.

Microsoft renewed its information-sharing partnership with NATO, while the US Federal Trade Commission said data and privacy are the top security concerns. The administration of US president Barack Obama was warning that encryption backdoors would hurt cybersecurity, while security firm Kaspersky Lab was warning that DDoS attacks rarely happen in isolation – and that companies need to be looking elsewhere to avoid getting faked out. That might have been good advice for a Bitcoin payments processor that is suing a US insurance firm for rejecting its $US1m claim after a spear-phishing attack.

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