passwords

A reward of $250,000 has reportedly been offered by Microsoft to find who is behind the Downadup/Conficker virus. Since its inception last October, the Conficker worm has infected millions of computers worldwide. Microsoft is offering a cash reward ... because they view the Conficker as a criminal attack and believe the people responsible for writing it have to be held accountable. As noted by Sophos, Microsoft's reputation is badly shaken whenever a computer virus causes widespread problems for its users, so it's not surprising that they would offer a reward. (Source: sophos.co.uk ) George ... (view more)

After making intense efforts to re-secure the city's computer network after a disgruntled employee took control of the system, San Francisco officials have made a big mistake by putting around 150 passwords into the public record. The blunder comes ... as part of an ongoing criminal action against Terry Childs, a system administrator who, apparently infuriated by the work practices of his colleagues, put a series of passwords on the entire system to stop anyone else getting access. He then refused to hand over the details even under threat of imprisonment; after being placed on remand with bail ... (view more)

Now that the holiday season is rapidly approaching, it's a good time for some quick reminders about safely purchasing items online. Armed with the proper knowledge and a little common sense, purchasing things online can be as safe as going to the ... store and purchasing it in person. It's getting easier to purchase items online from reputable companies. However, there are also several "companies" that want to steal your personal and financial information. Listed below are some suggestions for making your online shopping experience more enjoyable. Contact Information Is the sellers address and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Harold D. writes: " Dear Dennis, On a new computer or when the operating system is first installed, there is a box that pops up in Internet Explorer that asks if I want to Remember my Login and Passwords on a web site. There is ... also an option you can select that says something to the effect of, 'Don't ask to save anymore passwords," and if you select that option, that box will never appear again.' My question is: how do I turn that feature back on? I have searched everything I can think of on the net and cannot find an answer to this problem. Any help would be greatly ... (view more)

Recently, Kaspersky Labs detected a new form of spam email which contains an attachment of a password-stealing Trojan horse. The attached malware, which is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's consent, is ... called "Trojan-PSW.Win32.Sinowal.u" (herein referred to as "PSW"). (Source: viruslist.com ) Senior research engineers at Kaspersky Lab refer to PSW as being "the next-generation Trojan." The variant is part of the "Sinowal" family of password stealing Trojans, which is designed to steal usernames and passwords entered ... (view more)

Recently, Kaspersky Labs detected a new form of spam email which contains an attachment of a password-stealing Trojan horse. The attached malware, which is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's consent, is ... called "Trojan-PSW.Win32.Sinowal.u" (herein referred to as "PSW"). (Source: viruslist.com ) Senior research engineers at Kaspersky Lab refer to PSW as being "the next-generation Trojan." The variant is part of the "Sinowal" family of password stealing Trojans, which is designed to steal usernames and passwords entered ... (view more)

This is the second installment of a two part series on good password practices (part 1 is here ). You may recall that I previously discussed some poor and all-too-common password practices that people use. And while it's good for us to know what not ... to do, we also need to educate ourselves about the right way to choose and manage passwords. So without further ado, let's get started! How Passwords are "Cracked" To begin, a good password is difficult to guess. A good password will not be tied or related to any publicly known information about you, including your kid's names, pet's ... (view more)

There's no doubt about it, security is a hard problem to solve. The rich functionality and connectivity we enjoy in today's Internet culture does not come without a price. Admittedly, there are so many variables that affect the overall security ... posture of a computer, that it sometimes seems like an overwhelming task to stay ahead of the curve. But with all the intricacies and technical dependencies that go along with securing our machines, it's still the basic steps that we need to be most concerned about doing. The Most Exploited Weakness in Computer Security The SANS Institute maintains a ... (view more)

Synopsis: Password Saver is a powerful, feature-rich solution for storing all your password information in a secure, centralized database on your hard drive. It uses industrial strength 256-bit encryption to keep your passwords secure, while ... providing an easy-to-use interface for organizing, adding and editing your password records. Password Saver provides many pre-defined templates for commonly used records such as web site and email accounts, so you can get started adding data right away. Password Saver's advanced import/export features also let you share passwords with co-workers and ... (view more)

Process Guard Watch processes, memory usage, CPU usage and more. If you go over a limit, you get a warning, and options to close processes, run a program, change priority, hide/show or minimize/maximize them, logoff, reboot, shutdown, suspend or ... hibernate! http://www.donationcoders.com/skrommel/ Default Passwords This page lists default user IDs and passwords from 311 vendor products, including SCSI controllers, BIOS logins, router logins, and more! http://www.cirt.net/cgi-bin/passwd.pl (view more)