security

Tue
26
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Flying Getting Easier For Laptop Owners

The US government has changed its rules on carrying laptops through airport security checkpoints. Whereas passengers previously had to keep their laptops in clear display, they can now keep them packed away in approved bags. While there's no ... official register of which bags are suitable, most existing laptop bags will not make the grade. That's because the guiding principle now is that security agents should be able to lay the bag flat on the X-ray belt and get a clear view of the contents when they scan it. The guidelines follow tests of 40 manufacturer prototype bags for Transport Security ... (view more)

Fri
15
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Hackers Strike At Black Hat Security Conference

Three French journalists have been booted from a major security conference amid claims they were able to hack the laptops being used by fellow reporters. It's particularly embarrassing for those reporters, many of whom write for Global Security Mag, ... an official sponsor of the Black Hat Las Vegas event. Only one of the hackers, Mark Brami, has spoken out; though he blamed colleague Mauro Israel for the 'attack', he said it was meant as a prank. The men involved reportedly told organisers they were attempting to raise the issue of privacy risks among people using public Internet connections. ... (view more)

Thu
14
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Questions Raised About Vista Security at Recent Black Hat Conference

A new technique has reportedly been developed by two security researchers that bypasses all of the memory protection safeguards in Windows Vista. The tactic is expected to have far-reaching implications for Microsoft the rest of the tech industry. ... Mark Dowd of IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) and Alexander Sotirov of VMWare Inc. will discuss the new methods they've found to get around Vista's Address Space Layout Randomizations (ASLR), Date Execution Prevention (DEP) and other functions built into Windows Vista by using Java, ActiveX controls and .NET objects to load arbitrary content into ... (view more)

Tue
12
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Internet Security Flaw 'Worse Than Realised'

A recently-discovered security flaw in fundamental operation of the Internet could be much more serious than first believed. Every form of network, including email services, could be vulnerable. Dan Kaminsky, the security expert heading efforts to ... solve the problem, told a Las Vegas convention that the central problem can be exploited in at least 15 different ways. As we recently reported , the heart of the problem is the Domain Name System (DNS), which translates website addresses into the identifying number of the particular computer where the content of site is physically stored. A key ... (view more)

Fri
08
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

Apple Bungles Security Fix

Apple has finally caught up with its rivals by issued a Mac-based fix for a major flaw in the Internet's workings. However, experts say it may not have fixed the problem. The patch is for a recently discovered issue with the Domain Name System ... (DNS). In short, DNS translates website addresses into the numbers which identify the computer where a website is physically stored. When you visit a popular website, Internet providers usually keep a copy of the relevant DNS data to make the site quicker to load for the next visitor. The problem is that hackers found a way to exploit the way the DNS ... (view more)

Wed
23
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Businesses Warned: Open-Source Risky

A security firm has warned businesses that using open-source software could put them at risk. A new study carried out by security consultant Larry Suto for Fortify claims people developing open-source software simply don't meet the security ... standards that would be expected of commercial software companies. Open-source software involves the source code behind the software being publicly available. In most cases there is no charge to use, distribute or modify the software. Indeed, many developers and enthusiasts will share ways to improve the software or adapt it for different tasks. The best ... (view more)

Thu
10
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

DNS Security Hole Threatens Internet

Security experts are warning that a major Domain Name Service (DNS) hole could have catastrophic results for the web in the near future. DNS, which is responsible for converting readable names into IP addresses for individuals and major firms alike, ... is nothing less than the Internet's phonebook. Without it, imagine the Information Superhighway littered with the overturned, flaming vehicles of visitors. What's wrong? So that names indexed by DNS are not repeated with every network connection, systems store the results in a cache for a temporary period. If a hacker could slip false addresses ... (view more)

Mon
09
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

'Xp Safeguard', and 'Process Security Manager'

Xp Safeguard XP SafeGuard lets you alter and disable the settings in several Windows categories. Within each are heavy-duty controls, not available elsewhere, like deleting the LMHash or Net Crawling, as well as aesthetic changes. ... http://www.app-zilla.com/XP_SafeGuard.html Process Security Manager This program enhances the functionality of Windows Task Manager by providing a security risk rating, a process description, and file path. The security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being leading to spyware, malware, Trojan, or keylogger infection. http://www.app-zilla.com/ ... (view more)

Thu
05
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Leopard Update Masks Security Threat

When Vista experienced problems on takeoff, it resulted in a huge media debate that continues to this day. However, when Apple launches an update that experiences growing pains of its own, the media jabber is at an all time low. What gives? ... Proponents of the infallibility of Macs might be surprised to know that the new Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard update has a host of problems to combat. From simple issues like USB devises not showing up in the finder (Mac's version of My Computer) to ensuring that the airport wireless detector is reliable, the upgrade has a long list of small to large problems to ... (view more)

Wed
02
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Mac Hacker Wins $10,000

A security researcher won $10,000 for hacking a MacBook Air in just two minutes. Rubbing salt in the wound, he said Apple's operating system was the easiest of targets. The competition, held at Vancouver security conference CanSecWest, challenged ... entrants to break into one of three laptops: a MacBook Air running the latest version of Macintosh's Operating System, a Fujitsu running the latest edition of Windows Vista, and a Sony Vaio running Ubuntu, an operating system based on the open-source Linux system. All three machines were protected with the latest security patches offered by the ... (view more)

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