The Month: Global snapshots

US: The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to Windows users to apply patch MS06-040 to their system without delay. "This vulnerability could impact government systems, private industry and critical infrastructure," according to the official release. The possible flaw has sparked fears of a big worm attack.

Germany: The first publicised attack tool for the RIM BlackBerry has been unveiled, coining the phrase 'Blackjacking'. The tool, called BBProxy, can be hidden in a BlackBerry download. Once activated, BBProxy opens a covert tunnel within the PDA's normal encrypted communications channel to the host network.

UK: Most Britons (90 per cent) take security precautions online, and 92 per cent of online shoppers take protect themselves against fraud, says a survey from the British Computer Society. It also found that the number of home PC users who have purchased online has grown by more than two million to 17.4 million in the past year.

UK: The Government faces tough questions over current plans to activate part three of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which makes it an offence to fail to hand over encryption keys. The police claim that the powers are necessary to solve an increasing number of cases involving encrypted information.

US: Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare antivirus and PC care package has reached the number- two sales spot in US stores in its debut month. Analysts believe that the product's price (as low as $19.99) has been a critical factor. OneCare combines AV, firewall and anti-spyware software with backup features and tune-up tools for PCs.

US: Search giant Google is now warning web surfers about potential malware threats. A deal with StopBadware.org sees a pop-up appear alerting the surfer that the site has previously been reported to spread malware. Google says it plans to replace the general warning page with individually tailored reports in the future.

Turkey: Users of the Turkish version of the Skype website are the latest targets of a malware scam posing as an invitation to try the VoIP application. Instead of downloading Skype, those who click the link provided will get a malicious file, skypekur.exe. This then installs password recovery tools onto the target PC, according to SurfControl.

Israel: The conflict between Israel and Lebanon has sparked a surge of online "hacktivism", according to VeriSign iDefense. The primary response is website defacement, and sites supporting either sides have already been damaged. The company also reports increased online activity supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.