security

Adobe has vowed to fix a critical security hole in its Flash software within a week. But the Department of Homeland Security (DoHS) has taken the extremely unusual step of advising users to switch off the feature until the patch is available. The ... hole can be used for so-called 'drive by' attacks occurring when a user simply visits an infected website. However, the relevant code is also shared with Adobe's Acrobat software, meaning it can cause security problems through PDF documents which have Flash embedded in them for greater interactivity. That technique had already been criticized as a ... (view more)

When you can't get any states to participate in your flawed National ID scheme, what do you do? If you're the U.S. government, you change its name and try again. With the death of the REAL ID Act comes a replacement bill that poses many of the same ... threats, including what the Campaign for Liberty refers to as a federal grab for personal information. Now the act has been renamed and referred to as an enhanced or higher security driver's license. In reality, however, the only way to resolve the problem is to repeal it, not rename it. (Source: campaignforliberty.com ) After 9/11, the government ... (view more)

Google made quite the controversial statement recently after attempting to shed some light concerning their new Chrome operating system . Google has raised eyebrows after promising that their customers will no longer have to worry about viruses, ... malware and security updates. In a recent blog entry, Google announced that the company was prepared to "go back to the basics" and redesign the essential security foundations of the OS in such a way so that users would never again have to deal with viruses, malware and the need for constant updates. It didn't take long for a number of security ... (view more)

The company responsible for creating a database containing thousands of identities collected at U.S. airports has shut down. And so, the question remains: what happens to your personal information when a government-sponsored National ID scheme like ... 'Clear' suddenly shuts down? The fate of more than a quarter million people whose fingerprints, social security numbers, home addresses and other revealing personal information allegedly designed to help hasten traveler clearances at airports is hanging on that question, and even the government doesn't know the answer. (Source: yahoo.com ) Who ... (view more)

Although it's been quiet in recent weeks, the dreaded Conficker worm is far from done its reign of terror. In fact, never before has this virus caused so much havoc than when the news mediums stopped printing urgent warnings about its dangers. Now, ... as the reports of countless victims come pouring in, security officials are getting a clear sense of just how many computers are infected on a daily basis. According to one security expert, Conficker infiltrates as many as 50,000 new PCs every day. International Incident What makes matters worse is that the virus has no specific target area, as all ... (view more)

Cybercriminals are continuing to target major news stories and global events such as the recent release of Windows 7 release candidate (RC) and results of the FIFA World Cup. It has been reported that thousands of Windows 7 builds downloaded on ... Torrent and P2P sharing sites contain a malicious Trojan designed to target personal information and has the potential to cause system failure and identity theft. Phishing attacks have targeted the 2010 FIFA World Cup Tournament and evidence suggests that the attacks will continue to escalate, as demonstrated during the previous FIFA World Cup which ... (view more)

Web hosting services in China are allowing anyone to pay about $700 to send out an unlimited amount of spam worldwide. The service, also called "bulletproof hosting," is nothing new in the tech world. The actual intent of bulletproof hosting is to ... allow leniency in the kinds of material that users may upload. Unfortunately, spammers , gambling websites and porn pushers have constantly abused this system to the point where deviant behavior is almost expected. The Ministry of Public Security in China has been cracking down on online gambling sites and Internet pornographers for some time now, ... (view more)

Security specialists who monitor the behavior of cybercriminals are now reporting a disturbing trend among online scammers: paying "captcha-breakers" to solve random blocks of text, to supersede anti-fraud and anti-spam measures. Humans Versus ... Computer Programs Catpcha stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Captchas are most prevalent online blogs that require a user to enter a series of numbers or letters in order to post a comment online. While sometimes an inconvenience, websites and online forms that require captchas are critical ... (view more)

If you're a computer hacker, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to hire you to help secure the nation's networks. Millions of digital attacks occur each day -- one of the most recent of which involves a breached fighter-jet project -- ... and has caused the DHS to put out ads looking for those who understand hackers. Ethical Hacking The DHS wants to hire so-called 'ethical hackers' to analyze threats and keep constant watch over government networks such as the Einstein program (PDF) and to develop ways to reduce vulnerabilities. In addition to hiring ethical hackers requested by the ... (view more)

Security experts have put together some intriguing statistics about the Conficker virus, including the total spread of the worm and the worst-hit country. It seems Vietnam has seen the most serious invasion, while four per cent of all computer ... infections are related to Conficker. The figures come from OpenDNS, a firm which offers DNS (Domain Name System) resolution services. This is the process of mapping a website name (such as www.infopackets.com ) to the actual IP address where the website physically exists. Because Conficker interferes with this process, the firm has plenty of data to ... (view more)