Windows users without a hefty dose of technical knowledge always have a tough time getting help. If you don't have a geeky friend handy, PC problems often mean dragging your computer down to the Geek Squad or local PC shop, where you'll be charged a crazy amount of money to have malware removed or speed up a slowing PC.
Computers may have become a lot more user-friendly over the past decade, but they're still far from perfect--PCs require a certain amount of configuration and maintenance to operate at their full potential. Unfortunately, because we humans are also far from perfect, we frequently don't put in the work we should, and we end up with a slower, sloppier, less secure machine as a result.
Alex Castle | 05 Apr | Read more
Microsoft has launched a new anti-piracy campaign in China, which intends to highlight the security risks of buying counterfeit software.
Michael Kan | 13 Dec | Read more
Change in any industry involves conflict. Evolution and revolution in tech this year took place not only in the marketplace but also in the courtroom, the factory, and on the Web. Here are the top news stories of 2012 as selected by the editors of the IDG News Service.
Marc Ferranti | 10 Dec | Read more
Only about 20 percent of Americans think Macs are vulnerable to viruses, compared to more than half who describe PCs as "vulnerable" or "very vulnerable" to attack by viruses, according to Alex Stamos, a security analyst at iSec Partners.
Kevin Fogarty | 07 Sep | Read more
Although Mac users are more likely to experience virus-free computing than Windows PC owners, there is nothing inherently more secure about Apple's operating system, and in certain respects Mac OS X is more vulnerable than Windows, a security expert tells Network World.
Jon Brodkin | 07 Jun | Read more
Mac users and those who offer administration and support to them find themselves in the security rat race for the first time, as MacDefender scareware has rapidly adapted to avoid Apple's detection.
Robert Dutt | 03 Jun | Read more
Speaking at the All Things Digital D9 conference, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said in a wide-ranging Q&A session that the best workstation security is offered by a Mac, coupled with Google's Chrome browser. Additionally, he suggests users of Google's services should activate two-step authentication -- introduced earlier this year -- which requires users to enter a code that's texted to their phone each time they log in on a new computer.
Keir Thomas | 02 Jun | Read more
I like to think that most of us who use computers are reasonably bright and responsible. So I get really irritated by the mindset of some technology vendors who insist that treating us like children is not only okay, but also the responsible thing for them to do.
Bill Snyder | 29 Mar | Read more
After over 10 years of active participation in the honeypot community, I was surprised not to have heard of MicroSolved's HoneyPoint Security Server before I started planning this roundup. HoneyPoint runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, and offers some useful features -- such as "defensive fuzzing" and the ability to track alert status -- that KFSensor and Honeyd don't. But HoneyPoint is neither as easy and complete as KFSensor, nor as flexible and scalable as Honeyd.
Roger A. Grimes | 18 Nov | Read more