Networking Forum

Crikey! And there I was thinking we were slap bang in the middle of a global recession. Things can't be that bad, I guess, if a retailer can find $5.1 million to pay for a new domain name. Yet that is exactly what Toys R Us has paid out in …

Reports suggest that Google Earth might have put the top secret British nuclear defence headquarters, at the Faslane HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, at risk from terrorist attack after the satellite mapping shows clear images of the facility. The images are highly detailed and even show a couple of …

Some school kids in Louisiana got a surprise last Monday when sitting at their computers: the floating head of Barack Obama on-screen. They were amongst the first to be infected with the Obama-head worm which spreads via USB memory sticks courtesy of the Windows Autorun feature which is causing widespread …

The Mayor of London, the totally eccentric Boris Johnson, has written a column in a national newspaper in which he champions fellow loon [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2863.html"]Gary McKinnon[/URL], the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20017/53/"]NASA UFO hacker[/URL]. Currently busy fighting extradition to the USA on the grounds that, essentially, to do so would not be fair to someone …

I'm not talking about openssl, PHP, or even the Linux kernel but all the above plus every other program or bit of code on a Linux system. It's vulnerable. It's hackable. It can be changed at will by anyone because the source is open and freely available (the definition of …

What's more stable than a rock, faster than a spinning disk, more powerful than a Windows system twice its size, and able to leap platforms like no other operating system? Surprise! It's Linux. It's also recession proof. Can that be true? Yes, and here are the 5 reasons why: [B]1. …

How many passwords do you have to remember? The common answer is either too many and I sometimes forget them, or alternatively just the one as I use it for everything. Both options are bad in terms of security. Which is where password management systems come in, and these can …

It looks ever more likely that 2009 could indeed be the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3781.html"]year of the scam[/URL]. Symantec owned MessageLabs is warning that cases of advance fee [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1198.html"]419 fraud[/URL], along with other financial scams, have spiked as we enter 2009. From December 22nd 2008, through into January 2009, the number of scams …

If you work in IT support you pretty much learn to expect the unexpected, but nobody could have seen some of these little gems, just [URL="http://www.pandalabs.com"]revealed[/URL] by the Panda Security tech support team, coming. For example, how about the customer who wondered if Panda antivirus software could be blowing the …

The [URL="http://www.e-victims.org"]E-Victims Organisation[/URL], a non-for-profit UK community interest company set up to benefit Internet users by assisting the victims of e-crime after the event, has released a top 10 Internet Scams of 2009 predictions list. Indeed, E-Victims.Org goes as far as to suggest that with new scams appearing almost daily, …

Ever wondered what the most popular passwords being used are? Ever wondered what the crappiest, most insecure passwords being used are? Hey, you are in luck as it seems the two lists are exactly the same. The What's My Pass 'Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time' [URL="http://www.whatsmypass.com/?p=415"]list[/URL] makes for …

Joe "Zonker"Brockmeier is the Community Manager for openSUSE. He has been involved with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) since 1996 when he discovered FOSS while a college student and was hooked. For most of his career he has worked as a technology journalist covering Linux and open source topics. …

The IBM Internet Security Systems division, better known simply as ISS, has today warned of the 'perfect storm' of security threats which has been created by the global economic slowdown, an unprecedented level of cybercrime activity and both the cost and complexity of legal security infrastructures. ISS announced a set …

Ever had some computer malware spit a bunch of porn onto your screen? Now imagine it happening in a roomful of schoolchildren. Now imagine it could send you to jail -- for forty years. That's what happened to Julie Amero, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Conn., in 2004. Using a …

If you ever had a big brother, you know that the same guy who gave you noogies could also protect you from a bully at school -- but you had to take the bad with the good. 'Big Brother,' in surveillance, is the same way. Government surveillance is getting easier …

Isn't anything safe from hackers? Now they've apparently found a way to hack into systems through a media stream, threatening users with denial of service attacks that can bring down servers and desktops alike. The vulnerability was reported yesterday by VoIPshield Laboratories, a security tools maker in Canada. The flaws …

There are 5 things that every good Linux Administrator knows. Do you know what they are? They are in no particular order of importance: [B]1. Users are a Necessary Evil[/B] - Do you ever wonder why System Administrators seem so annoyed by you and your questions? It's because you are, …

There are three Linux distributions that didn't make it into my [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3322.html"]top 10 list[/URL] of best Linux distributions but they are ones to watch. These three distributions are all aimed at the Desktop, are simple to install and use, and they're free. [URL="http://www.linuxmint.com"]Linux Mint[/URL], [URL="http://www.thinkgos.com"]gOS[/URL], and [URL="http://www.opensuse.org"]OpenSuSE[/URL] are the three …

According to Russian forensic security experts and 'password recovery' specialists ElcomSoft, the days of protecting documents and files with 40-bit encryption are now officially over. It has now released a product which uses Thunder Tables technology to unlock password-protected documents that have been created using Microsoft Word. In fact, it …

Sun Microsystems managed to fix multiple security vulnerabilities in JDK and JRE months ago now, so why has it taken Apple so long to finally plug pretty much the same Java holes in Mac OS X? Apple has known that its Java implementation has been, quite frankly, screwed since way …

We were all treated this week to a lovely example of why it's a good idea to use standard email for government business (or corporate business, for that matter). First, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin mentioned that [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903044.html"]she used Yahoo Mail[/URL] for some of her email, which is a …

I've been doing a piece lately that's involved me talking to a number of IT support types and they're all coming out with similar comments and views: too many managers, they're saying, are declaring that something is an IT issue when actually it's no such thing, it's a management thing. …

Are you participating in Hack Week? That's Novell's open invitation to the world for suggestions on how to improve its openSuse Linux distro running through this Friday, Aug. 29. And you might just even win a prize. Calls for porting [URL=http://www.gnome.org/projects/tomboy/]Tomboy[/URL] to Windows (and maybe even Mac OS X), adding …

Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, posted a [URL="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/706950"]nasty smackdown [/URL]on security nerds and their obsession with security in the gmane.linux.kernel newsgroup. Linus is referring to security professionals who feel that security should be the only focus for bug fixes and patches. His argument is that all bugs are …

While the full story behind [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2842.html"]San Francisco city government computer engineer Terry Childs[/URL] hasn't yet come out, one thing is certain: the mainstream media is ignorant about technology. Moreover, either the city government and prosecutors are deliberately painting things in as negative a light as possible in order to force …

According to the [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/27/internationalcrime.hacking?gusrc=rss&feed=technologyfull"]Observer newspaper this morning[/URL] Gary McKinnon, the British hacker accused of what US prosecutors refer to the biggest military computer hack of all time, has claimed he was threatened with a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. His lawyers are using this as part of their defence against …

Claiming he was protecting San Francisco city government's computer system from incompetent coworkers, computer engineer [URL="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/22/BAGF11T91U.DTL"]Terry Childs[/URL] changed the system's passwords and then for more than a week refused to give them to anyone, even after being arrested. Childs was under four felony counts for blocking administrative access to the …

Security researchers within the Marshal TRACE Team have [URL="http://www.marshal.com/trace/traceitem.asp?article=714"]warned[/URL] that malicious spammers are using fake United Parcel Service invoices in order to deliver a malware payload. Always looking for a new and convincing hook to snare the unsuspecting user into downloading malicious components from the web, this new attack utilises …

The Advanced Research Team of security tools vendor Ounce Labs has identified two vulnerabilities in the Spring framework for Java. The vulnerabilities have the potential, the team says, to allow an attacker to “subvert the expected application logic and behavior,” and gain control of an application and access any personal …

It's that time of year in the UK once more - the Wimbledon grand slam tennis tournament is upon us. Here in the UK we believe this is the most important tennis tournament in the world. When you talk to a French person they'll tell you the same thing about …

[URL="ttp://www.kaspersky.com"]Kaspersky Lab[/URL] is warning the public at large to be on the lookout for a new version of the blackmail virus Gpcode which has started to appear in the wild. This particularly nasty twist on the virus format encrypts your files using an RSA encryption algorithm, this time with a …

[URL="http://www.verdict.co.uk"]Verdict Research[/URL] has published a report which suggests that the credit crunch is benefiting web-based businesses as consumers in the UK flock to the Internet in search of money saving bargains. With £15bn ($30bn) spent online by UK consumers in the last 12 months, [URL="http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909857992097/online-sales-rise-by-a-third.html"]according to the research[/URL], this equates …

According to reports the most serious forthcoming threats to IT security will be revealed during the Gartner Security Summit in Washington this coming week, and it looms like the consumerization of IT will be right there front of stage. Something that Gartner research fellow, John Pascatore, describes as the Gen …

Mac OS X is safer today than it was Tuesday, thanks to Apple. The company on Wednesday posted [URL= http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1141]Security Update 2008-003[/URL], containing forty one performance and security fixes for the enhanced Active Directory, AirPort, iChat, Mail, Time Machine and several other components of the company’s operating system. It also …

In a [URL="http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;649220418;fp;16;fpid;1"]comprehensive review[/URL] of the new ZonaAlarm virtualized security environment that is ForceField, Roger Grimes praises the elegant user interface. While admitting to being a big fan of Check Point and the ZoneAlarm brand, Grimes remains skeptical of these kind of virtualization products and it would appear with good …

According to the UK government, new proposals within the [URL="http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2461.asp"]Communications Data Bill[/URL] are being put forward in order to prevent and detect crime as well as protect national security. The government argues that unless legislation is amended to reflect changes in technology, the ability of public authorities to counter criminal …

Speaking at the [URL="http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/eforum/default.aspx"]Westminster eForum[/URL] on Web 2.0 in London, the VP of legislative affairs with AT&T, Jim Cicconi, has claimed that without investment the Internet's current network architecture will be at full capacity by 2010. That's just 24 short months from now, and with the ever increasing volume of …

When he took the reins almost two years ago, new Novell President and CEO Ronald Hovsepian, was going to lead the charge in driving the Linux acceptance and conversion. Recently he said that the Desktop Linux market, in the next 3 to 5 years, is mainly enterprise-related and that the …

Rather surprisingly, Kaspersky Lab has forecast that the security threat landscape will increase by more than 20 million programs by the end of 2008 when compared to the 2007 year-end figures, a ten-fold increase no less. That is worth repeating: the number of [B]new[/B] malicious applications in circulation by the …

Researchers at web gateway security specialists [URL="http://www.finjan.com"]Finjan[/URL] have uncovered an underground crime data exchange service which is highly sophisticated in nature. The exchange, known as SellCVV2, promotes the sale of fraudulent credit card data, offering not only volume discounts for fraudsters with bigger ambitions, but guarantees as well. According to …

Computerworld is [URL="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9071638&source=rss_news6"]reporting the possibility[/URL] of a worm or bot in the wild that is specifically targeting D-Link branded routers. It refers to a three year old vulnerability which Symantec security researchers believe is being exploited by a new exploit. Apparently, the Symantec security response team has seen an increase …

[URL="http://po-ru.com/about/"]Paul Battley[/URL] is a software developer from London who can probably lay claim to being the biggest thorn in the side of the BBC right now. No sooner had the mighty British Broadband Corporation [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7293988.stm"]announced[/URL] that his hack which allowed people to download iPlayer TV streams meant for an iPhone …

A hearty slap on the back must go to authorities in South Korea who have [URL="http://www.sophos.com/news/2008/03/lee-shin-ja.html"]arrested and charged[/URL] the 41 year old ex-CEO of an antivirus software company with distributing fake security scareware. Lee Shin-ja was formerly CEO with security outfit Media Port, and stands accused of distributing the 'free' …

According to the [URL="http://www.timesonline.co.uk"]Sunday Times[/URL] one couple got more than they bargained for courtesy of the almost extortionate charges that mobile phone companies are allowed to levy in Europe when it comes to sending text or data while 'roaming' away from your home country. Although the case in question might …

The Cult of the Dead Cow, the infamous hacking collective, has released a Google hacking utility called Goolag Scan that brings the ability to search the information engine for web-based data that is normally hidden to anyone wannabe with a web browser and half a brain. It does this by …

How long before [URL="http://www.skype.com"]Skype Ltd[/URL]. ends up as an item for bid on eBay? Ever since its acquisition by the Internet auction site, Skype has been a rudderless boat — and without a captain, following the departure of cofounder Niklas Zennstrom, who took £2.8 billion of Skype’s £5.2 billion value …

It has been estimated that something in the region of 70 percent of the ATMs in current use are based not on the proprietary hardware, software and communication protocol platforms of old but instead on PC/Intel hardware and commodity operating systems, the most popular being Windows XP embedded. In fact, …

For many people, the word "[B]encryption[/B]" invokes images of spies, clandestine operations and World War II, or [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsa"]NSA[/URL] code breakers feverishly working to decipher enemy messages. Actually, encryption is a priceless security tool that any business can easily use to keep sensitive information confidential and safe from prying eyes. Unfortunately, …

[B]Rumors and speculation about why five undersea cables to the Middle East have been severed — and what it means for IT security[/B]. Since [B]Jan. 30, 2008,[/B] there has been a troubling pattern of underwater anarchy. At first, it was reported that two, then three, then five undersea [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber-optic"]fiber-optic[/URL] cables …

When you think of security, it's a good bet that some of your thinking drifts to hackers and crackers. These are both security threats that you have to take into account. But do you know the difference? Well, some people do, and although many of them don't want their names …