iPad users targeted by hackers

Users tricked in to downloading fake iTunes update that contains malicious code

Security experts have warned that Apple iPad users are being targeted by cyber criminals. Hackers are trying to dupe iPad owners in to downloading a fake iTunes update on their Windows computer, which, when installed, creates a backdoor for cyber criminals, allowing them to remotely access the machine or even use the computer to send spam messages.

A dialog box pops up telling the user that a recent iTunes update has been released for the iPad. Users who click on a link are taken to a site that looks exactly like the iTunes download web page, but the file the user downloads is actually a Trojan that installs malicious code on the machine. The Backdoor. Bifrose. AADY virus tries to steal passwords and login details for email accounts and instant-messaging services.

"The trick is pretty simple," said Catalin Cosoi, a senior researcher for BitDefender, which uncovered the scam. "They're clever to do it this way. If they were able to target Mac customers, it would have spread like wildfire, but because most antivirus companies detect this Trojan, it's aimed at Windows users who have bought an iPad and who also don't run a security product."

BitDefender has advised iPad owners not to click on any links that appear in dialog boxes or alerts, and to download iTunes directly from the Apple website. The company also emphasised that the iPad itself remained unaffected by the Trojan.

Could Gizmodo face iPhone leak charges?

Police in California are investigating Gizmodo’s purchase of an apparent iPhone prototype, according to reports. CNET.com said it has spoken to “a law enforcement official” who said that an investigation was being carried out to see whether there is enough evidence to press criminal charges.

Gizmodo, a gadget blog owned by Gawker Media, says it paid $5,000 for the device, which was left in a bar by an Apple engineer and appears to be a prototype for the next generation iPhone. Gizmodo has been posting articles and videos about the phone since Monday but has now returned the phone to Apple.

As I wrote earlier this week, many technology experts suggested that Apple could sue over the missing device. I thought that was unlikely, since Apple would have nothing to gain from prolonging the attention on the device. However, it is not up to Apple to press criminal charges.

Gawker has not spoken to the police, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Bloomberg quotes Peter Henning, a law professor at a Detroit law school, who says: “The finder may have broken the law. The law of theft isn’t ‘finders, keepers.’ If you know that something has just been mislaid, you can take it and return it, but you can’t take it and keep it, or sell it.”

China Puts Three More Online Activists in Prison

A Chinese court in the city of Fuzhou has sentenced three Chinese Internet activists to prison terms for posting material to the Internet in hopes of pressuring authorities to re-examine a case involving the death of a young woman. The court found the activists guilty of slander, saying that that their actions went against the interests of the Chinese state.

According to the Associated Press, one of the activists—Fan Yanqiong—was sentenced to two years in prison, while two others—Wu Huaying and You Jingyou—were sentenced to one year prison terms.

The three activists had posted online videos and information in an effort to help an illiterate mother, Lin Xiuying, get Chinese authorities to reopen an investigation into the death of her daughter. Police had ruled her death the result of an abnormal pregnancy, but Lin contended her daughter died from injuries resulting from a gang-rape by criminals with ties to local police.

According to multiple reports, Fan met Lin as she was sobbing outside a government office in summer of 2009; he took down details of her story and posted them online You and Wu later conducted a video interview with Lin and posted it online.

The trial became something of a spectacle, with several hundred people turning up at the Mawei District People’s Court in a show of support—police cordoned off the area. Some online reports put as many as 2,000 people at the scene, many of whom where shooting cell phone video of events and posting updates to Twitter.

The case is another example of Chinese authorities targeting online speech and growing street-level, grass-roots activism enabled by new Internet technologies. The Chinese government frequently blocks and bans information it believes to be against the interest of the Chinese state.