[security] Forum Topics

If you are a Windows user and have not installed the [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx"]MS08-067 patch[/URL] from last October, then perhaps you had better pull your finger out. Of course, it could well be too late, and you could well be one of the nine million or so users who have already fallen …

It occurs to me that I've been talking a lot on this blog about data going missing here in the UK. I've given our Government and various people a hard time - if they cared what I said it'd hurt. I've said these things are managerial rather than technical. And …

I shudder when I look at some of the losses there have been in data and then the amount of people who complain that it's all down to computers. Here's a big secret; it isn't. Late last years someone bought a system on eBay which had loads of private information …

It looks ever more likely that 2009 could indeed be the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3781.html"]year of the scam[/URL]. Symantec owned MessageLabs is warning that cases of advance fee [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1198.html"]419 fraud[/URL], along with other financial scams, have spiked as we enter 2009. From December 22nd 2008, through into January 2009, the number of scams …

Gary McKinnon, the British hacker who is still fighting against extradition to the US despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling he should go, has played yet another card in his battle for justice in the UK. Apparently, lawyers representing McKinnon have told the British Crown Prosecution Service that …

A group of over 30 organizations including the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, and Symantec collaborated recently on a security project designed to identify the [URL="http://www.sans.org/top25errors//?cat=top25"]top 25 coding errors[/URL] programmers make when building Web sites. Since many of the mistakes can leave sites vulnerable to to cyber crime, it's a …

If you work in IT support you pretty much learn to expect the unexpected, but nobody could have seen some of these little gems, just [URL="http://www.pandalabs.com"]revealed[/URL] by the Panda Security tech support team, coming. For example, how about the customer who wondered if Panda antivirus software could be blowing the …

The [URL="http://www.e-victims.org"]E-Victims Organisation[/URL], a non-for-profit UK community interest company set up to benefit Internet users by assisting the victims of e-crime after the event, has released a top 10 Internet Scams of 2009 predictions list. Indeed, E-Victims.Org goes as far as to suggest that with new scams appearing almost daily, …

Sophos, the security outfit, has issued a [URL="http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2009/01/04/phishing-scam"]warning[/URL] for users of Twitter to be on the lookout for an evolving phishing attack which could steal personal data if they are not very careful. Already thousands of Twitterers are thought to have received messages from their friends which invite them to …

[I]Instant karma's gonna get you Gonna knock you right on the head ~John Lennon. [/I] It's 2009 and I'm sure the powers that be at Microsoft are hoping it's going to be a good one without any tears, but even as the old year closed, the news kept getting worse …

Ever wondered what the most popular passwords being used are? Ever wondered what the crappiest, most insecure passwords being used are? Hey, you are in luck as it seems the two lists are exactly the same. The What's My Pass 'Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time' [URL="http://www.whatsmypass.com/?p=415"]list[/URL] makes for …

According to an application vulnerability specialist, Fortify Software, HUB Computer Systems in the US has been hit by a $52,000 phone bill following the [URL="http://www.itexaminer.com/hacking-victim-hit-with-52000-phone-bill.aspx"]unauthorised access[/URL] of the company IP-enabled PBX by hackers. "The advent of IP-enabled PBXs, and the facility of remotely- programmable `conventional' PBX systems, means that hackers …

[URL="http://www.messagelabs.com"]MessageLabs[/URL] Intelligence data reveals that, in an announcement that will probably come as no shock to anyone who actually uses the Internet, the average [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2459.html"]spam[/URL] level for the year managed to hit 81.2 percent. Perhaps a little more surprisingly, especially given the number of security vendor [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3419.html"]warnings[/URL] throughout 2008, [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18997/53/"]malware …

Although you might think that your personal information, including your financial data, is hugely valuable to the cyber-criminal fraternity the truth would appear to be somewhat different. Security vendor [URL="http://www.trendmicro.co.uk"]Trend Micro[/URL] has published research which shows that at this time of the year, as we fast approach the climax to …

Oh terrific. Just when we thought things were winding down for the festive season, Microsoft users are advised not to use Internet Explorer until a major security vulnerability is plugged. Clearly I agree, but I'd add a second plea - when you've cross-graded to Chrome, Firefox, Opera or whatever else, …

It's an annual event: Churches and other facilities putting out creches and other displays for Christmas find parts of it -- typically the baby Jesus -- stolen, with both a financial and a sentimental cost. Now, those facilities are equipping their baby Jesuses with GPS in order to track them …

Forgive the guffaws of uncontrolled laughter from over here. I've just seen that the US Government - January Obama edition - is considering making IT security a matter for its specific attention and put someone in charge of Cybercrime. So why the laughter from the UK? Yes, I can understand …

[URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2289.html"]Facebook spam[/URL] is nothing news, nor for that matter is [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/daveyw/2008/01/03/one-million-facebook-users-exposed-to-zango-worm/"]Facebook malware[/URL]. While we are on a nothing new about Facebook theme, ever [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/editorial-blogs/davey-winder/922815/grownups-invade-facebook.thtml"]since grown-ups started to invade[/URL] the social network has suffered a tad from 'phoney friend syndrome.' I mean, come on, do you really think that [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20618/53/"]Barack Obama …

The IBM Internet Security Systems division, better known simply as ISS, has today warned of the 'perfect storm' of security threats which has been created by the global economic slowdown, an unprecedented level of cybercrime activity and both the cost and complexity of legal security infrastructures. ISS announced a set …

The fact that Apple is now encouraging people to use antivirus software on its systems is to be welcomed. I use a Mac myself but I'm regularly disturbed by the number of fellow users who refuse utterly to use AV because 'there aren't any viruses, they're all on the PC' …

Ever had some computer malware spit a bunch of porn onto your screen? Now imagine it happening in a roomful of schoolchildren. Now imagine it could send you to jail -- for forty years. That's what happened to Julie Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Conn., in 2004. Using a …

If you ever had a big brother, you know that the same guy who gave you noogies could also protect you from a bully at school -- but you had to take the bad with the good. 'Big Brother,' in surveillance, is the same way. Government surveillance is getting easier …

What happens when your security software thinks your operating system is out to get you? Users of AVG8 discovered the answer when it decided that a Windows XP user32.dll system file was infected with a Trojan, and deleted it. Uh oh Buck, biddly biddly biddly. What happens when you delete …

Isn't anything safe from hackers? Now they've apparently found a way to hack into systems through a media stream, threatening users with denial of service attacks that can bring down servers and desktops alike. The vulnerability was reported yesterday by VoIPshield Laboratories, a security tools maker in Canada. The flaws …

According to the fourth [URL="http://www.arbornetworks.com/report"]Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report[/URL] from Arbor Networks, published today, malicious attacks on networks are continuing to rise at an alarming rate. While that is no great surprise, the fact that during 2008 Distributed Denial of Service attacks have peaked at 40 Gbps most certainly is. Arbor's …

Hey, now that is pretty cool! Hot on the heels of a [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21585/53/"]report[/URL] suggesting that some 280 million people around the world have suffered some kind of data loss (through theft or incompetence mainly) during the last three years, Dell just might have the answer. It would appear to be …

There are 5 things that every good Linux Administrator knows. Do you know what they are? They are in no particular order of importance: [B]1. Users are a Necessary Evil[/B] - Do you ever wonder why System Administrators seem so annoyed by you and your questions? It's because you are, …

It's ironic in many ways that UK firms are asking for more help with IT security. The link is [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7702823.stm"]here[/URL] but that's the basics of it - Brits aren't happy with what the Government is doing to prevent Cybercrime, particularly in the business world. Well, OK, there's always more to …

According to a new [URL="http://www.FaceTime.com/survey08/summary"]report[/URL] by FaceTime, an Internet applications control specialist, the number of data leaks and malware incidents continues to rise as employees continue to embrace the whole Web 2.0 thing within the workplace. In fact, FaceTime says, the use of such applications is so widespread that some …

Here we go again. It seems like only last week (there's probably a reason for that) that I was at my desk talking about the amount of alarmist stuff about malware that's out there on the Internet. You know how it goes; someone proves in a lab that something can …