The world of cyber-crime has grown so much in these past few years due to the explosion of growth with respect to the number of internet users the world over. It has not only expanded on the side of normal people but on the side of cyber-criminals who now operate on their own networks, spanning the globe and ready to spread their products, malicious code that first scans the globe for weak points in the security net that we all put up to somewhat give us a sense of security from the ever-growing threat which is actually futile to some extent. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, News, Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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You’d think that men, who are supposed to be better at maths and similar subjects, would be better at online security as well. According to an online survey, though, the opposite is true. Carrie Anne Skinner reports:

When it comes to online security, men are less savvy than women, according to PC Tools.

Research by the security firm revealed that 47 percent of men use the same passwords when signing up to online banking and shopping facilities, compared to just 26 percent of women.

I can think of several reasons for this. One, men are notorious for forgetting details, and passwords are one of them. If you think about it, it is only understandable that the men would tend to use one password for most of their accounts. Two, men tend to have this feeling of invincibility. It’s that machismo factor that gets them into fights. They think that they’re not going to get hurt. Yes, it happens to others, but not to them. The same article confirms this:

Men have a more cavalier attitude to email attachments, with 60 percent admitting to opening them immediately without checking to see if they are legitimate, but only 48 percent of women do the same thing.

This is not to say that they are not AWARE of the potential threats. In fact, the same study showed that men knew more about the threats than women did. It really is just the attitude that makes a big difference. Well, maybe that’s why men have more viruses and other malware in their toys.

Categories: E-mail, General, IT Security Basics

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Yup, 46! That is one heck of a lot of security flaws, don’t you think? Considering that the iPhone is being used by a lot of people to go online, it seems quite irresponsible of Apple to release a product that has so many flaws. Still, that has not stopped people from buying the iPhone. Indeed, the major reason people do not get one is the price and not the existence of security flaws. In any case, the recent iPhone 3.0 update has fixed those flaws.

Of the 46, six of the security flaws involve CoreGraphics. Without the update, if a user views a maliciously coded image, the application he is using may terminate suddenly. Alternatively, it can lead to arbitrary code execution. What that can lead to, who knows? Another flaw involves opening and viewing PDF files. Apple provides the same result: either application termination or arbitrary code execution.

There is also a flaw with regard to the mail client. Without the update, remote images in HTML messages are automatically fetched and loaded. There is no option to turn off this feature. With the update, this potential security flaw has been fixed.

Meanwhile, Safari can now be totally wiped clean – history of visited web pages and searches together – by accessing the option in the Setting menu. Previously, only the history of web sites was removed, and the searches remained. Now, iPhone users can rest easy knowing that they’ve left no traces behind.

Of course, there are other features to the updates, many of them not solely related to security.

Categories: E-mail, News, Operating Systems, Privacy & Anonymity, Web browsers

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Cool! But wait – Microsoft is giving away something for FREE? Am I dreaming? You better believe it, though. The software giant is jumping into the freeware fray with their latest security product. Dubbed Microsoft Security Essentials, the program is designed to detect, find, and kill malicious software that might find its way into your computers.

The beta version will be released next week. In the meantime, the company is continuing to develop the full version of the product, which is slated to be released in the fall. The security software is not going to be bundled with Windows 7, as this may provoke anti-trust issues, which Microsoft has had more than its share of. Still, critics have not been slow to point out that the description of the product is flawed and misleading.

David Cole of Symantec has stated that it is NOT an essential security solution. He also pointed out that users still need protection such as firewalls, spam fighters, and other features that are included in subscription products.

So what does Microsoft Security Essentials really offer? According to Theresa Burch, the program will try to spot malicious software, even if it is not part of the database of known threats. Once the suspicion of the software is aroused, it will first check with online servers before allowing the program to run. Users do not have to worry about the program interfering with trusted sources, however, as there will be a list of those, such as Google Toolbar.

I think I’ll see what it has to offer next week.

Categories: General, Malware, News, Spyware

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