Security Trends: Archive: January 2010

Advance-Fee Fraud Has Record Year

Ultrascan reports that victims lost $9.3 billion in 2009.

Network Security Not Priority for iPad

The new iPad offers apps and mobility useful to business, but it lacks important security measures, such as support for a VPN.

Europe to Begin Digital Privacy Overhaul

EU commissioner declares current electronic privacy laws are out of date, pledges sweeping overhaul. In the meantime, Canada’s taking another look at Facebook's privacy changes.

Clever Scareware Scam Spreads Across Facebook

PandaLabs security researchers this week notified users that a fake virus alert was inundating Facebook walls in an attempt to get users to download bogus antivirus software.

National Archives Breach Exposes D.C. Insiders' Data

A hard drive with data including the personal information of more than 250,000 people has gone missing from the National Archives and Records Administration.

The State of Computer Security in the UK

A report from 7Safe and the University of Bedfordshire looks at the state of UK computer security by examining actual data breaches.

Cyber Attack Threat Keeps CEOs Up at Night

Forty percent of IT executives are bracing for a major security incident in their sector within the next year, and only 20 percent think they'll avoid a cyber attack in the next five years.

Examining Email Management Options

A white paper from Sunbelt Software and Osterman Research looks at the strengths and weaknesses of five different email management systems.

Privacy Bill Nears Introduction in House

Chair of House Internet subcommittee says work on draft discussion of privacy overhaul legislation is almost complete, touts plans for wireless overhaul.

Facebook, LinkedIn Resist New Privacy Regs

Leading social sites urge regulatory restraint over consumer data collection practices.

Businesses Plan to Increase IT Security Spending

Forrester Research reports that 40 percent of businesses plan to increase their spending on new IT security technologies in 2010.

Auditing Changes to Active Directory

A NetWrix white paper looks at the challenges of change auditing in Active Directory.

Is the U.S. Gearing Up for Cyber War?

With cyber threats from abroad coming fast and furious, how serious is the United States about going on the offensive?

U.S. Oil Companies Targets of 'Tenacious' Cyber Attacks

Senior executives at major oil firms were hit with a series of unsolicited e-mails containing malware designed to steal key proprietary data.

The Evolution of Phishing

An RSA white paper looks at the threats from phishing, vishing and smishing scams.

Cyberattacks Evolving Faster than Defenses

CSO magazine has released the results of its 2010 CyberSecurity Watch Survey.

How to: Protect Mobile Cloud Data

With mobility comes ever greater responsibility to keep enterprise data safe.

Data Breach Costs Surge in 2009: Study

Ponemon Institute and PGP Corp. study finds average security breach incident costs companies more than $6.7 million in 2009.

Hard Drives Pilfered from BlueCross BlueShield

Between 220,000 and 500,000 members' Social Security numbers, birth dates, medical information, and addresses were stored on dozens of disks swiped from the insurer's Chattanooga, Tenn. call center.

10 Things IT Needs to Do

A white paper from Varonis Systems looks at the 10 things IT should be doing but isn't.

China Denies Role in Cyber Attacks

Government steps up defense of Internet policy in comments to state news agency as more sites come under attack.

Phishing Attacks Continue to Expand

Unique phishing reports submitted to the APWG reached a record 40,621 in August of 2009.

The Dangers of Password Insecurity

A white paper from data security firm Imperva offers advice on password security.

Microsoft Warns About 17-Year-Old Windows Bug

Who's at risk from virtual DOS vulnerability?

ActiveTrak Targets the Enterprise

The theft recovery and data protection company with a near perfect record will soon add a new offering for enterprise customers.

Cardiff Leads UK in Card Fraud

Online fraud affects a third of card fraud victims, while card cloning accounts for one fifth of cases.

Microsoft Ships Patch for Chinese Google Hack

But will a quick patch keep worried users from jumping ship?

Keeping an Eye on Peripherals

An ICSA Labs white paper warns that many seemingly harmless network peripherals now bear a striking resemblance to unsecured servers on a network.

DNSSEC Compromised Again?

Yet another flaw is found in technology aimed at fixing DNS's own flaws. Should we worry?

Keeping an Eye on Peripherals

An ICSA Labs white paper warns that many seemingly harmless network peripherals now bear a striking resemblance to unsecured servers on a network.

DDoS Attacks on Services and Applications are Key Concern

Arbor Networks' fifth annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report says botnet-driven attacks are the leading problem facing service providers.

Preventing False Positives

A Symantec white paper looks at the root cause of anti-virus false positives.

Interacting Securely with IaaS Providers

A white paper from Forum Systems and parent company Crosscheck Networks looks at the security implications of interacting with Infrastructure a a Service providers.

Interacting Securely with IaaS Providers

A white paper from Forum Systems and parent company Crosscheck Networks looks at the security implications of interacting with Infrastructure a a Service providers.

Preventing False Positives

A Symantec white paper looks at the root cause of anti-virus false positives.

Verizon, McAfee Bolster Online Security

Companies boost online security by offering upgraded security suite for 9 million FiOS Internet and high-speed broadband customers.

Apple Intros 2010's First Mac OS Security Update

Mac users get Flash, audio, and printing updates for some very serious security issues.

Click Fraud Rates Were Low in Q4 2009

Click Forensics reports that the industry average click fraud rates was 15.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Smartphone Security Increasing

ABI Research reports that the number of smartphones protected by advanced security software will increase fivefold over the next five years.

Smartphone Security Increasing

ABI Research reports that the number of smartphones protected by advanced security software will increase fivefold over the next five years.

Click Fraud Rates Were Low in Q4 2009

Click Forensics reports that the industry average click fraud rates was 15.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Internet Users Falling for More Scams Despite Growing Awareness

RSA queried 4,539 people and found that while more people know about phishing and spam scams than ever before, they're still falling for them in record numbers.

DDoS Attacks on Services and Applications are Key Concern

Arbor Networks' fifth annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report says botnet-driven attacks are the leading problem facing service providers.

IDC: Asia-Pacific Primed for Security Software Growth

Market researchers expect "strong double-digit" growth in 2010 for most security applications as IT spending begins its modest recovery.

Microsoft Cuts Data Retention Time on Bing

Microsoft is trying to move the needle in the online privacy debate by purging IP addresses after six months.

VeriSign: Google Attack by Chinese Government

Security firm says its sources believe the cyber attack came from 'intelligence entities' operating in the People's Republic of China.

Drive, Patient Data Go Missing in California Theft

An external drive was swiped from a Kaiser Permanente employee's car in December, compromising more than 15,000 patients' personal data.

Russia, Brazil Lead Cyber Attack Barrage

Russia overtook the U.S. and China as the world's leading source of cyber attacks according to Akamai Technologies' "State of the Internet" report for the third quarter of 2009.

Boom Times for Mobile Security Software

ABI Research report projects a $4 billion market for mobile security by 2014.

Hackers Snare N.Y. Bank Customers' Login Info

A hacker last month infiltrated a server hosting the online banking system of Suffolk County National Bank in New York, putting 8,000-plus customers' login information at risk.

How to: Protect Yourself at Public Wi-Fi Hotspots

Some basic knowledge and some free tools can go a long way toward protecting your e-mails and other sensitive data when surfing on unsecured, public Wi-Fi networks.

Facebook Teams With McAfee to Secure Site

Two companies announce exclusive partnership, custom security tools to shore up social network.

Oracle Patches Two Dozen Flaws

First Oracle critical patch update of the year shows that databases are still very much at risk in 2010, though more so on Windows than on Linux.

Adobe Serves Up Critical Patch for Acrobat, Reader

Adobe finally released its cross-platform fixes for zero-day vulnerabilities in its popular Reader and Acrobat applications.

Patch Tuesday: One 'Critical' Fix and an Adobe Flash Warning

Microsoft shuts down one significant vulnerability in Windows 2000 SP4, while raising the flag on another old flaw -- this time, in Adobe Flash 6.

What to Do When Your Laptop is Stolen

Even the most cautious among us can fall victim to laptop theft. Learn the importance of password protection, encryption, and other strategies for protecting your data--and some tools that may even help you recover your system.

Facebook's Zuckerberg Redefines Privacy

Facebook CEO describes consumers' diminishing expectations for privacy in an always-on world.

Demand for Networking and Security IT Pros Remains High

Last year, IT professionals with experience and skills in networking and security were in demand, and this should remain the case through 2010.

Who Was Who in Spam for 2009

McAfee on Monday released its latest spam report including the list of the Top 25 men and women found in spam subject lines in 2009.

How to: Create a CAPTCHA Script with PHP

Learn how to protect your site from spammers and bots using a simple CAPTCHA script.

Network and Security Software Hit by Y2K10 Bugs

On the enterprise IT side, network and security software has been hit with some unexpected Y2K10-related glitches.

One Bug Fix Coming on Patch Tuesday

Tuesday's single patch is rated critical for Windows security--the highest level of Microsoft's four-tier security threat severity scale--only for Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4).

Network Security Pros Unhappier In Recent Years

A new study shows a trend of decline in the willingness of IT pros to go the extra mile at work.

Oracle 11g Security and Secure Sockets Layer

Oracle Advanced Security and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) can be used to tighten security for both network traffic and for communication between user and database.

How to: Protect Your Website Using robots.txt, Part 1

Learn how to put up a "Keep Out" sign at your Website in this introduction to protecting your Website using robots.text from networking expert Aaron Weiss.

Is First Service Pack for Windows 7 Pending?

Blogger spots signs SP1 may be coming soon.

Hacker Tags Eastern Washington University

School officials say more than 130,000 student records dating as far back as 1987 were compromised by a hacker who accessed EWU's computer network.

IBM Adds Code Quality Analysis to Rational

Big Blue integrates static analysis into Rational following the acquisition of Ounce Labs.

The 2010 Guide to IT Salaries

Unemployment in this sector remains low, but salaries are slumping.

Security Trends: Archive: January 2010

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