[security] Forum Topics

I was in a pub in Manchester recently for my friend Chris's leaving do (he's got a job in Spain :p ). Somehow a brief discussion about Mac OS X got started (yes, OK I started it). Most people I've met who've used it seem to think it's great because: …

Since writing [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry846.html"]here [/URL]about the release of a new 'privacy preserving web browser', I have now had a chance to test [URL="http://www.browzar.com"]Browzar [/URL]for myself and can make the following additional comments: I do not buy the 'Browzar is adware' comments that have been doing the rounds of the blogosphere, at …

Once upon a time, back in the late 1990s, Ajaz Ahmed was the founder of an ISP that literally changed the shape of the UK Internet. The reason as to why is hinted at in the name: Freeserve. Ahmed had the vision to understand that free access to the Internet …

[URL="http://www.privacyinternational.org"]Privacy International[/URL] a human rights watchdog, has announced it is to run the second Stupid Security Awards in order to reward the numbnuts responsible for some of the most ridiculous security measures on the planet. If it is annoying, pointless, intrusive, illusory, self-serving and above all else just plain stupid, …

Microsoft has released Windows Vista build 5536.16385 on Windows Connect only. Microsoft calls this a Pre-RC1 Build. This means that this built will have part of the improvements that will be set for RC1. This build is not available for public download. According to first Experiences: 1. Performance has much …

It’s bad enough, as an individual, to discover that the domain name you wanted has been snapped up by some corporate pirate looking to make a mighty profit by sitting on it and selling it on. It is even worse when these cyber-squatters snap up a domain you had been …

Earlier this year [URL="http://www.mcafee.com"]McAfee [/URL]sponsored a rather interesting survey of search engine safety. Safety, that is, from the ‘how safe are the links they deliver and you click’ angle. Now, for the longest time, I have harbored a passing suspicion that the dodgiest links you can follow from any search …

Here are some little words that I have found about the progress of some of the most Exciting Software Development Stories. First of all, the most awaiting Operating System, Windows Vista has reached the RC1 Milestone. After the Beta1 and the recent Beta2, the development process has got “branched” to …

Here we go with the mobile phone beat-down again: Cingular Wireless, in a move boiling over with distasteful corporate hubris, has had the unmitigated effrontery to announce that they are going to charge folks with "older phones" an additional five bucks a month (OK, $4.99, but who's splitting hairs here?) …

Surveys, I often find, manage to arrive at the most unexpected of conclusions. This could be down to the questions that are asked being worded in such a way to solicit a politically or commercially acceptable result. It could be down to the fact that people do not tell the …

Italy may have won the soccer [URL="http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/"]World Cup[/URL] in a thrilling final yesterday, but they did not even make it through to the group matches as far as the Malware World Cup is concerned. [URL="http://www.webroot.com"]Webroot Software Inc[/URL]. has just released details of global average malware infection rates during June 2006 …

Although the Firefox Version 2.0 Beta is not actually released until Tuesday 11th, you can download the feature complete Windows public release candidate 1 build right now from the [URL="http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/bonecho-beta1-candidates/rc1/firefox-2.0b1.en-US.win32.installer.exe"]Mozilla FTP server[/URL]. Linux and Mac versions are also available, early reports suggesting that it works just fine with Intel based …

Are users becoming more wary of link clicking in email? Are they getting savvy to the tricks of the email phisher? Certainly there is some evidence that the security message is starting to get through to the masses, but not nearly quickly enough to turn the phishing tide in my …

Just when [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft [/URL]had hoped things could not get any worse after the whole Windows Genuine Advantage phones home scandal, things have. Much worse, as the newly discovered Cuebot-K worm disguises itself as something called Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Notification. Intended as an anti-piracy measure, WGA has in fact been …

What started off as a show of political defiance, with thousands of file-sharing downloader’s joining forces and planning to field 140 candidates in the September Swedish elections, has spread to the US. The trigger in Sweden was the May 31st police raid on a community of a million BitTorrent users …

As the battle to become the next [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft [/URL]heats up, this week I’ve been struck by the online maneuvering from both [URL="http://www.ebay.com"]eBay [/URL]and [URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL]. The auction company is looking to tread on Google toes with its own contextual advertising service, named using devilish cunning ‘AdContext.’ Google, meanwhile, is keeping very …

According to Symantec it would seem that security flaw + patch in 5 days = result. Certainly compared to the average 140 days it takes Microsoft to patch a vulnerability it’s to be applauded, but only with one hand. 5 days is 119 hours and 55 minutes too long in …

“I believe the 2.6 kernel is slowly getting buggier

Here’s a question for you: being a clued up Internet user which browser client do you favour when it comes to being totally safe and secure on the web? The answer I know you are shouting loudly at the screen is ‘Firefox you freakin’ idiot’. But at the risk of …

A couple years ago, RedHat Linux was a completely open-source, freely-available linux solution that brought linux to the masses. Then, RedHat changed the paradigm: they wanted to transform RHL to a corporate supported linux, and enjoined with the Fedora Project for community support. But now a choice had to be …

Happy Birthday to Firefox! Mozilla.org today confirmed that November 9, 2004 was when it's popular web browser Firefox, was released at version 1.0 Today, the software is at revision level 1.0.7 (Mac, Windows, Linux), and the company is working on 1.5. The announcement website: [url]http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2005-11-9.html[/url] mentions a contest to "extend" …

Once upon a time, Symantec was a known leader in the computer software industry. They had compilers (Think C/C++), purchased and maintained Peter Norton's DOS / Windows Tools, and developed some products for the Mac. Today, they are well known for their Corporate Antivirus tools, although their reporting and functionality …

Various internet sources are reporting two Microsoft patch concerns -- a failed "real" patch released by Microsoft, and a third party assembling various hot-fixes, and calling them "Windows XP SP3 Preview Pack". There is no official "Windows XP SP3"... the third party preparing them clearly mentions that on their website, …

Akronix, a company that provides IM security and management tools, reports that Q3 2005 attacks on IM networks averaged more than one per day. The report mentions that IM borne viruses were "often mutations of other varients, however in September, we had seven new viruses." The report did not mention …

Security researchers announced a new vulnerability for users of the Firefox 1.0.6 browsers on a Unix or Linux platform. The problem revolves around a security bug that could allow hackers to execute arbitrary shell commands if they can trick the user into accepting a malicious link on a website. The …

Symantec released a report comparing Mozilla Firefox vs. Windows Explorer, and found that Firefox had more security flaws, but Explorer's were more severe. The report also disclosed statistics on a number of other concerns involving Internet Security. Using data collected between January and June 2005, Mozilla's browsers suffered 25 vendor-confirmed …

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Association committed acts of browser discrimination by only allowing people with Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer 6.0 to file electronic claims in response to Hurricane Katrina. This means that if I was an affected citizen of the US, and had my Mac laptop with me …

A new virus has been found and it is targetting all you porn purveyors out there! The trojan named Yusufali-A seeks to help, not harm people by interrupting their depraved activity. On an infected system, window titles are scanned for keywords such as: sex teen xx Phallus jegger Priapus Phallic …

The Mozilla Foundation ([url]www.mozilla.org[/url]) has announced that Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is due on September 8. Firefox is an alternative web browser to IE developed by the Mozilla foundation, the group of people who brought us Netscape and other fine utilities. Firefox is available for Windows, Macintosh (both OS 9 …

Webroot, the makers of Spy Sweeper, are claiming that 8 out of 10 corporate PCs are infected with Spyware. Wow! That's a significant amount of computers. Looking at my personal experience troubleshooting and repairing computers, I have to agree with them. Before we go to deeply, let's define Spyware. According …