In The News...

EyeWonder malware incident affects popular web sites
[Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:09:29 -0700]
During the last couple of hours, visitors of popular and high trafficked web sites such as CNN, BBC, Washington Post, Gamespot, WorldOfWarcraft, Mashable, Chow.com, ITpro.co.uk, AndroidCommunity; Engadget and Chip.de, started reporting that parts of the web sites are unreachable due to malware warnings appearing through the EyeWonder interactive digital advertising...

iPhone executes SMS binary code as root
[Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:58:54 -0700]
A security flaw has been discovered in the iPhone OS that could allow attackers to gain root access to the iPhone OS and allow them to install and execute malicious programs at will. Charlie Miller announced the discovery of the vulnerability during a presentation at the SyScan...

Facebook - Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?
[Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:18:15 -0700]
What on earth are Facebook doing? Imagine going into a stationery store and buying a Filofax personal organizer and then over time filling it with personal contacts info, photos and notes. You come home one night and it's no longer...

Will security paranoia kill wireless health IT?
[Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:56:39 -0700]
Frost & Sullivan's wireless analysts can come up with all the scary scenarios they want, but where is the real danger? The danger is you're raising the cost of care. by Dana Blankenhorn

Apple files patents on haptic feedback, biometrics and RFID detection
[Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:30:21 -0700]
A patent application filed by Apple in February 2008 for multi-touch display screen with localized tactile feedback indicates that the company is researching haptic feedback for possible inclusion in the iPhone and iPod touch. Most telling is a line in the application about the competitive advantages of...

Manchester City Council pays $2.4m in Conficker clean up costs
[Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:22:26 -0700]
How severe can the impact of the Conficker worm be on a single city council that has apparently not implemented basic security solutions in place? Pretty severe according to a recently released a report entitled "Service interruption resulting from ICT disruption in February 2009" which details the...

Asus Wireless-N RT-N16 router offers 300Mbps throughput
[Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:28:23 -0700]
ASUS on Tuesday announced the RT-N16 router, touting speed for data transfers, simplicity for usage and security. The RT-N16 offers a maximum wireless speed throughput of 300Mbps and enables 24/7 downloads to wireless clients, even when PCs are off. The router comes with...

Apple makes it official: Steve Jobs is back to work
[Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:27:27 -0700]
The word out of Cupertino this morning is that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has returned to work, following a six-month medical leave announced in January. We kind of knew that already last week after reports of Jobs being spotted around the Cupertino campus - but now, it's...

Do security and privacy make health IT reform impossible?
[Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:34:46 -0700]
The hardest thing to be is simple. This is true in story-telling. It's true in science. It's also true in software. Any requirement that gets in the way of simplicity needs to be carefully considered, and pared down to its simplest form, before being tossed at an industry with a...

Getting your hands on Microsoft Security Essentials ...
[Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:30:39 -0700]
Microsoft allowed 75,000 people to download the beta of its new Microsoft Security Essentials, but all these places were snapped up in under 24 hours. However, you can still get your hands on the downloads ... if you know where to look! by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Intel urges SMEs: Don't delay PC refresh
[Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:10:29 -0700]
Chip giant Intel urges small and medium-sized enterprises to avoid lengthening their PC refresh cycles as a cost-cutting measure during the recession. Chip giant Intel has urged small and medium-sized enterprises to avoid lengthening their PC refresh cycles as a cost-cutting measure during the recession, reiterating that security risk...

Churchill Club podcast: The Cybersecurity Challenge
[Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:20:32 -0700]
In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series a panel of experts examine the cybersecurity conundrum and whether the U.S. can herd enough private---and public sector---cats to secure the Internet. With the world increasingly going "cyber," how is cybersecurity keeping up? Exponentially more data is stored...

CLEAR: Your data will be properly disposed of
[Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:13:35 -0700]
The defunct CLEAR service is attempting to re-assure its former customers that their biometric data will not be divulged or misused. The defunct registered traveler service CLEAR see previous post has recently sent out the following communication to its former subscribers,...

Michael Jackson's death themed malware campaigns spreading
[Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:56:53 -0700]
The sudden death of Michael Jackson quickly opened a window of opportunity for cybercriminals to capitalize on. With a malicious spam campaign, blackhat SEO search results poisoning which is serving scareware within the first 100 search results for Michael Jackson's death, and an opportunistic participant in Zango...

Jackson death prompts malware alert at Google
[Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:34:53 -0700]
The breaking news of Michael Jackson's death on Thursday triggered an alert at Google over a potential malware attack. The breaking news of Michael Jackson's death on Thursday triggered an alert at Google over a potential malware attack. As reports began to circulate, first of Jackson's...

Cybercrime doesn't pay: well it does, and very well
[Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:24:36 -0700]
A large part of me is worried about writing this post because in some way, I could be considered as promoting the idea or inciting people to commit cybercrime. Well, that's not my intention as such - instead I'm taking a more back seat approach to denounce why people commit...

Secunia: Average insecure program per PC rate remains high
[Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:21:38 -0700]
With the time frame for an exploit to become an inseparable part of a web malware exploitation kit shrinking, and with the average Internet user's over-confidence in an antivirus scanner's ability to detect and block exploits (Secunia: popular security suites failing to block exploits) it shouldn't come as a surprise...

Britain hires hackers for intel squad
[Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:29:38 -0700]
The hackers are coming, the hackers are coming. Britain is hiring ex-hackers as a security cadre to protect the country's computer systems from cyber attacks, AP reports. [Anti-terrorism minister] Alan West said the technology-savvy staff will join efforts to trace the source of â€"...

China throttles Google, U.S. ratchets up trade war over Green Dam
[Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:05:57 -0700]
With less than a week until July 1 - the deadline for PC makers to start intalling the spyware called Green Dam Youth Escort - China appears to be cutting off access to Google after a bitter campaign accusing the American company of spreading porn. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have escalated...

Catch Yourself If You Can: A Con Artist Guide To Forging Checks
[Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:00:38 -0700]
Frank Abagnale has spent 35 years helping the FBI fight forgery, embezzlement and identity theft. This is a guy who spent five years in prison after starting out in adulthood as a con artist. Now, he’s dedicated his professional life to figuring out the flaws in financial systems and...