Tag Archives: security

Vendors are missing out on a malware fighting technique

Posted on September 2, 2012 by halberenson

There is a growing controversy over the business of selling zero-day exploits, that is bugs in software that can be exploited by malware.  I say controversy because it is perfectly legal in the U.S. and many other jurisdictions for someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Security | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Tumblr is back on my good side

Posted on July 5, 2012 by halberenson

In a piece I wrote a couple of weeks ago I’d brought up the problem of Tumblr hosting phishing/malicious web sites.  Well after a few days of my feeding examples to Tumblr’s support team, and they taking down the sites, I haven’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Phishing, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why a locked down Metro/WinRT model makes such a big difference to security

Posted on February 15, 2012 by halberenson

Secunia is reporting that 78% of end-point (individual computers for all those not in the security business) vulnerabilities are attributable to third-party software.  That’s everything from browser plug-ins like Flash and Java, to Adobe Reader, to Quicken or any other desktop … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Security, Windows | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Why are there so many website security breaches?

Posted on July 26, 2011 by halberenson

Over the weekend my wife and I decided to go pay our last respects to Borders Books.  I could write a blog entry on why they failed (which includes missing the Internet, then missing e-Readers), or why we bought nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Database, Security, SQL Server | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The insanity of using public computers

Posted on June 26, 2011 by halberenson

I approached the public PC in the lounge of Holland America’s Eurodam as though it carried the plague, and perhaps it did. The anti-malware signature were out of date, victims to the PC only having Internet connectivity when a user … Continue reading →

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Adobe Reader installing McAfee Security Scan Plus Scareware

Posted on May 17, 2011 by halberenson

When I recently upgraded a couple of computers to the latest version of Adobe Reader I discovered something very disturbing.  The download installs software from McAfee (of all people) that amounts to Scareware (a type of Malware that tries to … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Security | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Old Operating Systems never die, and it seems they don’t fully fade away either

Posted on April 29, 2011 by halberenson

In Time and Malware I mention that very old malware is still with us.  That made me curious about just how many PCs are still running pre-XP versions of Microsoft Windows (e.g., Windows 98).  The data from a number of sources … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Security, Windows | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Time and Malware

Posted on April 28, 2011 by halberenson

I’m in the process of setting up a PC that I’m going to use exclusively for playing around with malware.  In fact, I’m thinking of starting a pool to capture people’s guesses as to how long it takes someone who … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Security | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

When are we going to get serious about computer/network security (Part 3 – WiFi)?

Posted on April 22, 2011 by halberenson

I recently updated my Samsung Focus with the Windows Phone 7 NODO update and received a feature I am not sure I wanted, support for the WISPr protocol.  WISPr support, long present on the iPhone, allows your AT&T smartphone to automatically and transparently switch … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment