Archive for the ‘security’ Category
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
I’m not sure if I agree with this or not, but the author definitely raises some interesting points …
This week, Google was found out to have been bypassing privacy settings in both Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari web browsers, as Martin reported here. In a statement on their blog, the Corporate Vice-President of IE blogged “IE blocks third-party cookies unless the site presents a P3P Compact Policy Statement indicating how the site will use the cookie and that the site’s use does not include tracking the user. Google’s P3P policy causes Internet Explorer to accept Google’s cookies even though the policy does not state Google’s intent.”
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Tags: cookies, facebook, google, microsoft, privacy, security
Posted in General News, privacy, security | No Comments »
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Flash users should probably check this out; it looks like a fairly important security update …
Adobe has released a new security update for Flash Player that fixes several critical security vulnerabilities in the product. The vulnerabilities affect all platforms Flash Player is available on. Affected software versions are Adobe Flash Player 11.1.102.55 and earlier for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris operating systems, as well as Adobe Flash Player 11.1.112.61 and earlier versions for Android 4.x, and Adobe Flash Player 11.1.111.5 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and 2.x.
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Tags: adobe, android, chrome, flash, google, security
Posted in security | No Comments »
Friday, February 10th, 2012
This is not a good sign; Windows 8 hasn’t even been released yet, and people are already writing articles to describe how to defeat some of its more annoying features …
SmartScreen Filter is a security module that is integrated into several Microsoft products such as Internet Explorer or Windows Live Messenger. It basically warns users if they are about to open a potentially dangerous website or file. A warning is displayed and it is up to the user to continue or stop at this point. The filter has been criticized in the past for being too obtrusive and annoying, criticism that it shares with the User Account Control feature.
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Tags: control-panel, internet explorer, microsoft, security, smartscreen, windows 8
Posted in security, tech tips | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
Patch or no patch, this sounds like extremely bad news (publicity-wise) for both Symantec/pcAnywhere and Norton Antivirus …
Back in 2006 hackers managed to download source codes of Symantec software after successfully gaining access to Symantec’s infrastructure. The hackers managed to obtain Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Utilities, Norton GoBack, pcAnywhere and Norton Internet Security source codes during the operation.
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Tags: hacking, norton antivirus, pcAnywhere, security, source code
Posted in General News, security | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
This article provides a nice, quick overview of some of the security features that will be available in the new, soon-to-be-released version of Adobe Flash.
Popular web browser plugins like Flash Player or Java are a prime target of malware and hackers. The core reasons are simple: Lack of centralized updating and little to no protection of the underlying system if the plugin has been compromised.
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Tags: adobe, firefox, flash, sandboxing, security, windows
Posted in security, software evaluation | Comments Off
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Here’s an interesting tool for those of us who are concerned about privacy (and/or those of us who want to check up on our kids’ online activities …)
Keeping track of all your history items can be quite the feat if you are using more than one browser. Privacy conscious users usually delete the information regularly, while the majority of users is likely unaware what their web browser and operating system can reveal about them.
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Tags: browser history, history, History Viewer, privacy, Windows history
Posted in privacy, security, software evaluation | Comments Off
Friday, January 20th, 2012
An IP Address Filter provides a good start towards wireless security, but you need to enable encryption in order to discourage determined hackers …
Sharing an Internet connection with other household members or even neighbors is easier than ever. All you need is a solid wireless router with enough reach to give all parties lag- and trouble-free access to the Internet. All you need for that is to set up a wireless router in a location that is ideal for everyone, share the access key and you are good to go. You can add wireless repeaters and other hardware to the mix if you need to cover a wider area.
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Tags: encryption, privacy, security, wireless-network
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Online retailers definitely need to be aggressive about user account security; otherwise customers will take their business elsewhere.
Zappos yesterday notified all of their employees and customers that a company server has been compromised. The email, accessible online only for visitors from the US, indicates that the attackers may have gotten hold of part or all of the customer account database of Zappos.com. Information that may have been retrieved by the attacker include customer names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers, the last four digits of the credit card number and encrypted passwords.
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Tags: internet security, online shopping, password, security, zappos
Posted in General News, security | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
A couple of these look pretty important …
Microsoft today has released seven security related bulletins that fix issues in the Windows operating system and in Microsoft’s Developer Tools. One bulletin has received the maximum severity rating of critical, the highest available rating, while the remaining six bulletins have all received a rating of important, the third highest rating.
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Tags: microsoft, security bulletin, Windows update
Posted in General News, security | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Here’s an interesting SSL extension for security conscious Chrome users …
Making sure that you are connected via SSL is one of the most important things Internet users can do to improve their security online. This is especially true on public computer networks, like those on airports, Internet cafes or on campus. Why? Because it is otherwise dead easy to wiretap the traffic that you send and receive on the network. And while that may not be an issue for some activities online, you better be sure when you sign into accounts or handle financial transactions on sites such as PayPal or your bank’s online presence.
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Tags: google chrome extensions, https, security, ssl
Posted in security, software evaluation | Comments Off
