Facebook straddles a precarious line when it comes to information security and data privacy. As a social networking site, its very existence is based on the premise of freely sharing information -- status updates, photos, likes, location check-ins -- with others. However, that sharing has to be tempered as well to ensure personal privacy is not violated. This week, Facebook simultaneously introduced a new ad model that could infringe on user privacy, while also improving security for the site itself.
Tony Bradley |
28 Jan |
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Until recently, "cyber war" has been reserved for science fiction thrillers -- like something you might expect from William Gibson. In the past few years, though, the concept has been gaining more mainstream acceptance as a real possibility, but a recent report shoots that theory down, claiming "It is unlikely that there will ever be a true cyber war."
Tony Bradley |
20 Jan |
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Spammers are people too...apparently. They have families and want to take a vacation to spend quality time with them over the traditional holiday break just like everyone else. Or, at least that is the way that it appears if you follow the trends in spam traffic.
Tony Bradley |
13 Jan |
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The concept of ethical or whitehat hacking is nothing new. There is some merit to the "it takes a thief to catch a thief" mentality, and using the same tools employed by malicious attackers to test and fortify networks rather than compromising them. However, when the blackhats start selling "whitehat" hacking tool kits there is good reason to be skeptical.
Tony Bradley |
15 Jan |
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It is almost mind-boggling how much data can be stored on a portable drive or USB thumb drive. As convenient as it is it to be able to carry 1TB of data in your pocket, though, portable drives are also easily lost or stolen, and gallivanting about can take its toll on the data. It is important to protect the portable drives and the data they contain.
Tony Bradley |
11 Jan |
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One of the easiest ways for attackers to lure victims is by planting malware on seemingly innocent-looking Web sites, or actually compromising legitimate Web sites. Google is doing its part to help users make informed decisions about the sites they visit, and avoid having their PCs infected with a new hacked site identification feature being added to Google search results.
Tony Bradley |
18 Dec |
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A new report from NSS Labs studies how various Web browsers perform when it comes to blocking socially-engineered attacks. The startling results show that Internet Explorer isn't just better than rival browsers like Chrome and Firefox -- but leaves competitors completely in the dust.
Tony Bradley |
15 Dec |
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Unless you've been leading a Luddite existence -- off camping in the Rockies or something -- you are probably aware that Gawker was the victim of an attack which exposed passwords and led to a deluge of Twitter spam. The silver lining of this incident is that it gives us yet another opportunity to examine real-world passwords and hopefully learn a lesson or two...but don't hold your breath.
Tony Bradley |
16 Dec |
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McDonald's is warning customers to be on guard against identity theft, phishing attacks, or other scams thanks to a data breach. What makes the data compromise more concerning is that it is indicative of a growing hacker strategy to go for the low-hanging fruit rather than staging a direct attack.
Tony Bradley |
14 Dec |
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In recent weeks WikiLeaks has been targeted by denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, had its hosting service shutdown, been bounced off of Amazon hosting, had its funding through PayPal, MasterCard and other sources shut down, and its leader arrested on sexual assault-related charges. The fact that WikiLeaks remains stubbornly and defiantly online holds some lessons for other sites when it comes to resilience and survivability.
Tony Bradley |
09 Dec |
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With all of the hype and furor over WikiLeaks exposing sensitive government documents, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that WikiLeaks is bad, and is obviously doing something wrong. The reality, though, is that WikiLeaks is just a symptom, not the cause of the problem, and that silencing WikiLeaks is not really a solution.
Tony Bradley |
08 Dec |
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WikiLeaks has been experiencing some issues lately ranging from having its Web hosting services shutdown to having its accounts frozen and the flow of money cut off. Some cheer those actions, while others see them as an attack on liberty and free speech and are coming to WikiLeaks' defense.
Tony Bradley |
08 Dec |
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WikiLeaks is making as many waves as it is headlines these days -- challenging the balance between the right to free speech and the need to defend national security interests. In a recent Forbes interview Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, revealed that the site is expanding beyond government intelligence to begin unveiling corporate secrets as well.
Tony Bradley |
03 Dec |
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Trend Micro announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mobile Armor -- a company that specializes in endpoint data protection. The move strengthens Trend Micro's data protection capabilities and positions it to address the growing concern of securing data on mobile devices that are easily lost or stolen.
Tony Bradley |
30 Nov |
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Apple has finally released the highly-anticipated iOS 4.2. While the attention around iOS 4.2 has been focused on the enhancements and new features -- particularly for the iPad, the update also fixes more than 80 vulnerabilities in the iPhone, iPod, and iPad.
Tony Bradley |
24 Nov |
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