Gartner Questions Microsoft’s Commitment To OS Security
The research firm warns that the ASN.1 vulnerability made public this week could prove worse than the vulnerability that made MS Blaster possible.
Privacy, Security Archive
Spyware Cures May Cause More Harm Than Good
Web surfers battling "spyware" face a new problem: So-called spyware-killing programs that install the same kind of unwanted advertising software they promise to erase. Though the companies that fail to disclose this practice are facing an outcry from consumers and watchdogs, there is little people can do to defend their systems, security firms say.
Who’s Patching Open Source?
The first place many companies look for Apache support is their main distribution provider, most commonly Red Hat or SuSE. As open source grows, the need for support grows, and this new need has led to the development of a new support option: third-party vendors who manage or patch software. Flaws raise red flag on Linux security but many users remain confident about the security of the open-source environment notices ComputerWorld.
Reflecting On Linux Security In 2003
This has been indeed an interesting year for Linux security. The point of this article is to offer a view on what I believe to be some of the most interesting happenings in 2003. The Linux experts that offer their view on 2003 are Bob Toxen (one of the 162 recognized developers of Berkeley UNIX and author of "Real World Linux Security") and Marcel Gagne (President of Salmar Consulting, Inc. and author of "Linux System Administration - A User's Guide" and "Moving to Linux").
Developers take Linux Attacks to Heart
A handful of recent online attacks on free and open-source software servers has open-source developers looking over their shoulders.
Ballmer: Raising Microsoft’s Security Game
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Tuesday defended his company's efforts to secure its software and fend off open-source rivals.
Microsoft Warns of 4 New Windows Flaws
Microsoft Corp. warned consumers Wednesday about four critical new flaws in its popular Windows software as the company shifted to monthly alerts for serious problems that could let hackers break into computers. In the meantime, Windows XP SP2 is to be getting backported security enhancements from the Longhorn codeline.
Digital-rights Group Knocks “Trusted” PCs
A high-profile digital civil liberties group is criticizing a component of the "trusted computing" technology promoted by Microsoft, IBM and other tech companies, calling the feature a threat to computer users.
Commercial Trojan Horse Spyware
A company is maketing a product called Lover Spy, which allows the customer to send a "greeting" to an acquaintance. That greeting contains a hidden application that installs itself on the victim's computer and reports back information on that person's online activities. It's intended to be a way for jealous lovers to keep tabs on their partner. It's a remote version of the old "install a keystroke logger on your boyfriend" trick. It's also probably illegal in the United States.
“MS: Security Risk” Paper Criticised By Industry Group
The recent paper that claimed that Microsoft's dominance poses a risk to US national security has come under fire by the groups Americans for Technology Leadership as being a shameless attempt by Microsoft's business rivals to promote their own products. Interestingly enough, Microsoft is one of the founding members of Americans for Technology Leadership, so this looks like this may be a bit of a "Battle of the Trade Groups."
Proper Security Will Take Horsepower
A ZDNet article has figured out what to do with all that extra processing power that Moore's Law keeps giving us: use brute force to make our computers secure. Encrypting everything, between machines, and also between processes might do the trick. Of course, you can't keep your keys in software, so that's where hardware tricks like "Trusted Computing" come in. So let me get this straight, because we're all afraid of viruses and hackers now, we're going to get back on the processor upgrade treadmill and give up ultimate control over what's on our PC to our motherboard and OS vendors?
IEEE Begins Standard to Create Baseline for More Secure OSes
The ability to enhance security in information systems and networks is limited by the operating systems that underpin them. Recognizing this, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has begun work on a standard to formulate consistent baseline security requirements for general-purpose (GP), commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) operating systems.
Microsoft Patches Critical VBA Flaw
An identified security issue in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications could allow an attacker to compromise a Microsoft Windows-based system and then take a variety of actions. Windows and Office users should update their system.
User Authentication Based on Keyboard Usage
Just as access can be granted based on a fingerprint or retina scan, biometrical analysis of the keyboard typing style can produce a unique pattern. A project to produce an authentication scheme based on hardware that every computer has already (unlike a retina scanner) was started in 1999 for BeOS but now is available on MacOS X, in a beta release.
Don’t Rely on Microsoft, Homeland Security
A trade group has urged the US Department of Homeland Security to reconsider its recent decision to use Microsoft as its preferred supplier of desktop and server software, citing recent security problems. Quote from the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) report: "Because of these recent developments, historical experience, and the inherent risks associated with lack of diversity, we ask that you reconsider your heavy reliance on a single, flawed software platform to protect our national security."
Blaming Microsoft for Hacker Attacks
"Some think the software maker is at fault for the latest viruses. But you can't blame a target. "Let's all just beat the hell out of Microsoft. It unleashed the worms!" Well, that's what some people think, if the e-mails (uninfected) I got during the past week are any indication." says Wrastler for CNN Money. "So why doesn't Microsoft make its software more secure? They're trying, company officials say. But they also argue that like any other company, there's only so much Microsoft can do to prevent a crime if a criminal truly wants to commit it." a Statesman article says. In the meantime, the FBI has identified a teenager as the author of Blaster and plans to arrest him early Friday, a U.S. official confirmed.
Microsoft Using Linux? Netcraft Responds
In order to protect itself from DDoS attacks, Microsoft is using the Akamai service to distribute its load. Ironically, as a result, the domain www.microsoft.com is now listed in the Netcraft report as being Linux running IIS. Netcraft has received so much mail asking about that, and the irony of Linux-bashing Microsoft now depending on "enterprise-class" Linux servers has generated so much discussion, Netcraft has posted a page explaining what's happening.
Deploy Linux Desktops to Boost Security, Urges Sun’s Schwartz
Sun's EVP of Software Jonathan Schwartz uses the popular metaphor of the natural ecosystem to describe the IT world. Most corporate IT departments are what ecologists call a "monoculture." As various blights and famines have proven, when there is too much of the same plant growing in one place, it's suceptable to being wiped out by a disease. Stressing the need for "genetic diversity on the desktop" to combat security threats, Schwartz points to a non-Microsoft desktop as a viable solution. The difficulty in implementing the new OS? Says Schwartz, "you might have to train the user that a home directory named 'My Computer' on Windows has been renamed 'This Computer' . . . "
More Windows Trouble Ahead?
Blaster winds down, but security experts predict more Windows trouble ahead. Some believe that a new attack is imminent.
Making Your PC Secure: A Responsibility
I am a "Technologist", a Technology enthusiast that is usually the one that is called should a major catastrophe strike an end user. My saga of computer rescues becomes a plot that is ever so thickening, if not only for the fact that's it's becoming incredibly easy for hackers and malicious code writers these days to invade personal property to find, seek, and destroy. Each year, virus and hacker threats increase, and in addition the damage trail left behind is something of a problem. Not to forget, a majority of "PC Panic" cases I've come across are often times the same common, "major" problem.