Summary: Bits from the news about Microsoft insecurity

● Scareware gets Scarier

There I was doing some research on a story, well actually looking for the latest Dr. Who episode, when I was presented with a message that my computer might be infected by a virus and it was being scanned. Yeah. Right. This was on one of my Linux desktops and it's no more likely to get a virus than my Pittsburgh Steelers are to win the Super Bowl this season.

What was actually happening was that I'd stumbled over a site trying to scam me into buying, at best, bogus anti-virus software, and, at worse, infect me with malware and steal my credit-card information. I'm not the only one. The U.S. Government's Internet Crime Complaint Center just reported that this kind of scareware is getting to be a lot more common. Indeed, the "FBI is aware of an estimated loss to victims in excess of $150 million."

● US and Russia begin cyberwar limitation talks

Entry into the cyber arms reduction talks - convened by a United Nations arms control committee - represents a significant shift for the US, which has resisted entering such talks for years, the New York Times reports. The change of tack came after the US decided that the cyberwarfare capabilities were spreading across the globe to countries such as North Korea and China.

Ed: The Cold War is back, thanks to Windows botnets (zombies).