Intenet backbone company, Interoute has launched a free tool aimed at providing up-to-date information on security threats. The Internet Barometer draws on information provided by 22 sensors placed at strategic points on the Interoute backbone network and gives accurate information on the volume of threats on the Internet at any one time.

Lots of security topics including software protection and minimizing fraud are on the schedule for the 20th Software Industry Conference July 16-18th in Boston, MA.

Britain warned on Thursday of a growing risk to military and business secrets from computer spies and pledged to toughen cyber security to protect the 50 billion pounds or $82 billion dollars spent a year online in its economy.

Launching Britain's first national cyber security strategy, security minister Alan West said hostile states and criminals were increasingly attacking British interests online and al Qaeda and like-minded groups were seeking the ability to do so.

Implementing RSS or Really Simple Syndication can be aided by an understanding of the terms relating to RSS. Learn the ABCs of RSS....

Online payment fraud is huge problem, and creating a reliable fraud screening system is not only very time consuming, but also requires constant updating and maintenance. Software e-commerce providers invest in top notch fraud screening.

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Perfect for professional Security Presentations. PowerPoint Templates for security topics.

A first-ever public symposium about the dramatic effect high-tech white-collar crime has on society will be held in August to educate the public on how they can prevent becoming a victim of Internet and financial scams.

The event, called Local to Global: Protecting our community and beyond, will give both the public and law enforcement officers a better idea of how white-collar crime affects each and every community, and what law enforcement officers, security professionals and the citizens can do to protect themselves from becoming a victim.

The conference and exhibition, which is being held on Aug. 20 in Fairmont at the Technology Park Research Center, will feature speakers, classroom instruction and demonstrations from members of the West Virginia High Tech Consortium and the National White Collar Crime Center, said Craig Butterworth, communication specialist for the NW3C.

A business that makes the decision to be environmentally-conscious will often promote goodwill among potential customers, while making the world a better place for future generations. Many businesses hesitate to adopt green practices because they fear it will hurt their bottom line and negatively impact profits. But many eco-conscious businesses discover that they can actually save money and bring in new customers who specifically patronize companies that actively make an effort to be environmentally friendly. Many customers may even be willing to pay a bit more for a product or service from a company that is green.

Many businesses already do things that are eco-friendly, not necessarily because they are sensitive to green living, but simply to save money. That does not, however, diminish the value of their green efforts. The trick for businesses is to be eco-friendly without compromising profitability.

Steps Businesses Can Take to Go Green

Just when you think you have got everything under control, a new Internet security problem pops up. This time, it is called clickjacking.

It is legal, so your spyware or anti-virus programs do not block it. It is a common feature of Web programming that in the wrong hands can cause mayhem.

A Webmaster or a hacker can program an invisible box over a legitimate Internet link. The box contains a link. Click on the harmless link and the invisible one executes untoward things. The script opens an invisible frame and does its deed.

The problem with this is your computer is being controlled by somebody else who may be more than a prankster.

At least six men suspected or convicted of crimes that threaten national security retained their federal aviation licenses, despite antiterrorism laws written after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that required license revocation. Among them was a Libyan sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Scottish court for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.

In response to questions from The New York Times, the Transportation Security Administration, which is supposed to root out such individuals, announced that the Federal Aviation Administration suspended the licenses on Thursday.

The two agencies appeared to be unaware that the men were among the nearly one million people licensed as pilots, mechanics and flight dispatchers. They were identified by a tiny family-owned company in Mineola, N.Y., demonstrating software it developed to scrub lists of bank customers for terrorism links.

Happy 4th of July - Freedom to all, especially those in Iran.

Department of Defence sanctions creation of new, united military command focused on protecting America from online attack - and waging information warfare.US defence secretary Robert Gates ordered the formation of the group earlier today, following a period of debate over the best way to defend the country from attacks over the internet.

The command - which will unite a string of organisations run by the army, navy, air force - plans to tie them together into a single, coherent group that is able to both defend the United States from information warfare and strike out at hostile nations if necessary.

The Department of Defence said that the group is set to begin operating later this year, and plans to be fully operation by October 2010.

The move comes amid growing concern over the possibility of and the threat of cyber-espionage - including perceived attacks from inside China and Russia.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has decided to kill a controversial Bush administration program to use U.S. spy satellites to collect domestic intelligence for counter-terrorism, law enforcement and security, a senior Homeland Security official said Monday evening.

The National Applications Office program was established in 2007 to provide up-to-the-minute electronic intelligence to local and state law enforcement. But it has been delayed due to concerns by privacy and civil liberties advocates -- and by some lawmakers -- that it would intrude on Americans lives.

According to figures released recently by the Nemertes Research Group, an Illinois-based research advisory firm, as many as 71 percent of U.S. companies offer full-time or part-time telecommuting to employees. Despite the large number of employees who work out of office, another recent study from The Center for Democracy and Technology found many continue to sideline the issue of telecommuting security in favor of more urgent needs.

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Federal investigators say the governments next generation radiation detectors are only marginally better at detecting hidden nuclear material than monitors already at U.S. ports, but would cost more than twice as much.

The machines are intended to prevent terrorists or criminals from smuggling into the U.S. a nuclear bomb or its explosive components hidden in a cargo container.

The monitors now in use can detect the presence of radiation, but they cannot distinguish between threatening and nonthreatening material. Radioactive material can be found naturally in ceramics and kitty litter, but would be of no use in making a bomb, for instance.

Steve Bierfeldt was standing in the security line at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis when he was detained by TSA officials for carrying too much money.

Bierfeldt was put in a room for a half hour and asked a series of questions about the $4,700 in his possession. He says he had raised the money at a St. Louis event for the Campaign for Liberty—an organization with roots in Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Angry and concerned over being detained, Bierfeldt has filed a federal lawsuit  against Homeland Security for what he calls an unreasonable search and violation of his constitutional rights.

Out of fear that history might repeat itself, the authoritarian governments of China, Cuba and Burma have been selectively censoring the news this month of Iranian crowds braving government militias on the streets of Tehran to demand democratic reforms... In China, political commentators tinted their blogs and Twitters green to show their support ...

The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of the death of Michael Jackson. Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack.

Millions of people who searched for the stars name on Google News were greeted with an error page. It warned users your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application.

When it comes to online security, men are less savvy than women, according to PC Tools.

Research by the security firm revealed that 47 percent of men use the same passwords when signing up to online banking and shopping facilities, compared to just 26 percent of women.

Iranian opposition groups have been using the Internet and social media tools like Twitter to protest the country's recent presidential election. The government has cracked down, but e-dissent is difficult to quell. Which raises the questions: Can Iran simply shut down Internet access and, if so, why doesn't it?

One of the Internets founding fathers and modern evangelists, Vinton Cerf, warned a gathering of government and technology industry leaders that the Internet still lacks many features that it needs, including essential authentication and security tools.

How secure is your Gmail? At the behest of 37 privacy and security experts, Google said Tuesday that it is looking into a process that would encrypt its Web-based e-mail service at all hours, not just during sign-on.

Microsoft says it has adjusted its freshly-launched Bing search engine to make it easier to filter out porn.

Adults-only images and video will be served from a separate domain, explicit.bing.net, so that content can easily be barred from Bing search results, according to Bing general manager Mike Nichols.

A California software publisher will seek an injunction preventing U.S. companies from shipping computers with Chinese anti-pornography software it says was stolen, the companys president said.

Solid Oak Software said it found pieces of its CyberSitter Internet-filtering software in the Chinese program, including a list of terms to be blocked and instructions for updating the software

Get ready for the 2009 Software Industry Conference! This year we will be in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Marriott Quincy from July 16-18, 2009 for another exciting Software Industry Conference.

Presentations can be a great way to attract new business, simply by making yourself more well-known. However, nerves can often get in the way of entrepreneurs who want to use speaking opportunities to develop their business. Follow these steps to overcome nerves and make a powerful presentation during your public speaking engagement...

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The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has ordered that all computers purchased in China after July 1 have a new internet filtering software pre-installed that the regime says targets pornography and other unhealthy information.

A high school computer whiz did not get a high grade for a recent feat: designing software to shut teachers out of the grading system.

A New York State Police spokeswoman says 16-year-old Matthew Beighey has been charged with unauthorized use of a computer and third-degree identity theft. He was ordered to return to court Wednesday.

Managing your time and using it wisely is a journey, and not something that can be easily mastered overnight. Implementing a plan will help, but it is not going to be a sure cure. Time management requires a significant amount of self-discipline.

Here are some tips to assist you with time management...Time Management Tips

If you think the biggest threat to your sensitive information lies in network security, think again. Once a criminal is inside a building, there are limitless possibilities to what that person can access or damage. Take a look at your buildings security. How easy is it to get inside?

We spent an afternoon with social engineering expert Chris Nickerson, founder of Lares, a security consultancy based in Colorado, to get an idea of some of the key vulnerabilities a criminal looks for in building security. more

Jeff Moss, founder of the Black Hat and Defcon hacker and security conferences, was among 16 people sworn in on Friday to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

The HSAC members will provide recommendations and advice directly to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Moss background as a computer hacker aka Dark Tangent and role as a luminary among young hackers who flock to Defcon in Las Vegas every summer might seem to make him an odd choice to swear allegiance to the government.

The live website critique covers subjects covered include the initial impression created by a website, structure, navigation, communication, SEO setup and more. Tuesday June 23rd at 12:00 EST. More on Website Critique

The governments inadvertent and red-faced Internet posting of a 266-page list of U.S. nuclear sites provided a one-step guide for anyone wanting details about such sensitive information. Obama administration officials said Wednesday the document contained no classified material about nuclear weapons. They contended the locations and other details already were available from public sources.

Wikipedia has blocked the Church of Scientology from editing entries at the communally-crafted online encyclopedia due to an unrelenting battle over the groups image.

The document takes users through more than 20 simple recommendations for system settings, Safari settings and iPhone Configuration Utility settings, a spokeswoman said. Using the recommendations is designed to help reduce the the chance of a remote attack, with instructions on securely erasing data and setting up strong passwords.

Web 2.0 is a perceived transition of the Web to web-based applications. Web 2.0 is the next generation of technology solutions where interactive content is the norm.

There is no agreement on exactly what Web 2.0 means. Depending on who you are speaking with, you may receive different explanations. At it's heart, Web 2.0 is about the maturity of the Web. While many refer to Web 2.0 as companies that employ powerful web technologies, the key components of Web 2.0 are said to include: the Web as a platform, collaboration, and syndication.

ABCs of Web 2.0

China will launch a four-month crackdown on unapproved Internet cafes, state media said Thursday, signalling heightened vigilance ahead of two politically sensitive anniversaries.

Student Discount for Software Industry Conference in Boston MA July 16-18th. Only $50.00 with student ID normally $249.00! Educational sessions for software developers and marketers.

How would you react if one million of your customers were suddenly stopped from coming into your shop? Matt Mullenweg just shrugged.

The 25-year-old American is the founder of Wordpress, software that allows computer users worldwide to easily create their own websites, or blogs.

The simplicity of Wordpress has made it one of the worlds top blogging platforms six years after it was set up.

But in 2006, as the site was growing from strength to strength, Chinese authorities suddenly blocked it.

Overnight, one million Chinese visitors to the various blogs disappeared, accounting for about a quarter of all traffic to the site.

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FeedForAll
Used daily for updating RSS feeds.

The Bat!
Used hourly for managing email.

FTP Voyager
Used for FTPing up new web design layouts and images.

Dreamweaver
Used for Web Design.

MS Office
Used for correspondents and administrative tasks.

PaintShop Pro
Used for graphic editing and image enhancement.

RecordForAll
Used occasionally for recording audio files for podcasts.

RSS Submit
Used weekly to submit RSS feeds to RSS directories and search engines.

FeedDemon
Used to manage reading of RSS feeds on a regular basis.

GroupMail
Used for sending email newsletters.

PDF995
Used regularly for converting documents to PDFs.

TNT Screen Capture
Used occasionally for capturing screen shots

TopStyle
Used occasionally for making changes to Cascading Style Sheets -CSS

SureThing CD Labler
Used occasionally for designing CD inserts and labels.

FireFox
Used hourly for navigating the web, also use plug-ins for search marketing research.

1. Protect your personal information. It is valuable.
2. Know who you are dealing with.
3. Use security software that updates automatically.
4. Keep your operating system and Web browser up-to-date and learn about their security features.
5. Keep your passwords safe, secure and strong.
6. Back up important files.
7. Learn what to do in an emergency.

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Spyware refers to computer software, programs, that are installed, usually without the computer users knowledge and gather information about how the computer is being used and the websites the user visits.

The simplest and most insidious form of spyware are so-called cookies although not all cookies are bad. These tiny pieces of computer code are loaded into your browser when you visit a site. They are usually required to let you login to an ecommerce site, such as Amazon, or a social networking site like Facebook. They are a necessary evil in such cases, without them login would not necessarily work, but they also allow the owners of various sites to track your browsing on that site.

At worst, however, a cookie might be planted by a less than ethical site that traces your activity across different sites. Modern browsers have built in controls that allow you to control which sites can install cookies. They also let you automatically delete cookies when you close your browser and retain the ones you need on an ad hoc basis.

Spyware, however, is more than crumbling cookies. When the term was first coined in the 1990s it usually referred to a small program that was installed on your computer when you installed another program, such as a freeware or shareware drawing package, text editor, or other application.

President Obama directed his national security adviser and senior Cabinet officials yesterday to examine whether the government keeps too much information secret.

In a memo, Obama acknowledged that too many documents have been kept from the public eye for years and affirmed that he remains committed to operating with an unprecedented level of openness.
Obama asked national security adviser James L. Jones to canvass executive branch officials about their procedures for handling classified information and to make recommendations about better information sharing.

The president also said that turf battles and problems with technology continue to pose obstacles to disseminating unclassified national security information among federal agencies with their partners in states and the private sector.

VeriSign Inc. said Tuesday that it is selling its security services unit.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company, which runs some of the key directories that computers need to find Web sites and route e-mail, is selling Managed Security Services to SecureWorks Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

In an effort to help prevent misidentification of passengers on the Transportation Security Administrations no fly or "watch list, the government agency is making a few security changes.

Effective immediately, when making airline reservations, you will be asked to enter your full name as it appears on a license, passport, or government identification card.

The name on the identification card must match exactly to the name of the passenger.

Large collection of security powerpoint templates. Works with any version of Microsoft PowerPoint.

For decades piracy numbers have been freely quoted by studios, software companies and intellectual property lobbyists, yet few have questioned the accuracy of these numbers, how they were obtained or how they were interpreted.

This now looks set to change thanks to Dr. Michael Geist, a Canadian law professor who holds the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottowa.

After asking some tough questions and doing some investigating, Geist discovered that the piracy numbers quoted by the Canadian Business Software Alliance were based on a hunch rather than any actual surveys of the Canadian public.

Diminishing supplies of oil and natural gas will push countries into violent competition, the Kremlin predicted in a long-awaited national security strategy paper released this week. The document foresees these struggles playing out in the Arctic as well as the Middle East, the Barents Sea, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia — and states that Russia is prepared to fight for its share of the worlds resources.

The National Archives has lost a computer hard drive containing sensitive data from the Clinton administration.

Congressional officials say the information includes Social Security numbers, addresses and Secret Service and White House operating procedures.

The chairman and ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee disclosed the security breach Tuesday after receiving a briefing from the inspector general of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Pakistan on Thursday said it would maintain the security of its nuclear deterrence especially in the light of changing regional environment.

What if you reached to grab a newspaper out of a news stand and you found a rock in your hand instead? How about opening the front door to a grocery store and ending up on a boat?

This sounds like a Matrix movie, but the virtual equivalent of this is real and poses one of the most serious new risks on the Internet, according to Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer and co-founder of Whitehat Security.

Most exploits like worms and attacks that take advantage of holes in software can be patched, but clickjacking is a design flaw in the way the Web is supposed to work, Grossman said. The bad guy is superimposing an invisible button over something the user wants to click on...It can be any button on any Web page on any Web site.

The technique was used in a series of prank attacks launched on Twitter in February.

Companies are cutting jobs or slashing pay to cope with the sagging economy but there is money to be made of you have a government security clearance.

ClearanceJobs.com, an online career management resource company, reports workers holding security clearances are enjoying an average pay increase of nearly 2 percent to $73,961.

Software vendors fed up with software piracy have responded by beefing up their licensing and activation procedures, only to have pirates crack their code again.

A company called V.i. Laboratories Inc. is proposing a new approach called CodeArmor Intelligence, which embeds stealth algorithms inside programs that phone home with information about the unauthorized usage of software, including their Internet domain and even a company location on a Google Map.

A federal judge in Madison has sentenced an Iowa woman to prison for pirating software.

U.S. Attorney Erik Peterson said Kelly Garcia, 39, of Dubuque, posted online advertisements selling software at reduced rates in March 2003.

The Business Software Alliance bought several titles and discovered they were pirated copies of Macromedia software programs. In November 2003, federal investigators searched a home in Boscobel, Wis., where Garcia lived at the time, and uncovered records showing she made about $85,000 selling pirated programs.

One in five teenagers are able to used advanced internet-distributed hacking tools, says Panda Security.

Research by the security firm revealed that casual hacking is as much a part of teen life as downloading music to an iPod.

Two thirds of those surveyed revealed they had succeeded in hacking instant messaging or social network accounts of people known to them, with 20 percent admitting to having published embarrassing photographs or videos of acquaintances on the internet.

Should you use WEP or WPA encryption with your wireless router? WEP is now considered obsolete, as it contains security flaws and is much more easily hacked. It is still used widely, however, because some older devices still do not support WPA. Most recent routers, however, do offer WPA data encryption, which is far more secure.

Facebook has been working to clean up its site after its 200 million members were targeted by hackers.

Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt would not comment on how many accounts had been hit but he did confirm it was blocking any that had been compromised.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster pointed out Saturday there are plenty of places in South Carolina other than his Web site to find prostitution ads and obscene photos, saying in a blog that he wants to know why the states top prosecutor is targeting his company.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has threatened to prosecute Craigslist executives for aiding and abetting prostitution if an ad on the Web site leads to a prostitution case in South Carolina.

In the post on his companys blog, Buckmaster linked to a publication in Greenville he said has a larger number of adult ads and more explicit content than his Web site. He later updated the post to point out a publication in Charleston that listed 19 adult ads on Friday.

An approach based on the mathematical theory of elliptic curves may pave the way much more efficient cryptography — which underpins privacy, confidentiality, and identity to provide the fabric for e-commerce and secure communications — that will be capable of strengthening security against cyber crime and any terrorist attacks via the Internet.

Thousands of boxes of Washington cherries will be loaded onto passenger planes in coming weeks, bound for Pacific Rim countries like Japan and Korea.
Or so farmers hope.

Growers and shippers of highly perishable crops like cherries worry that a new requirement that all cargo on U.S. passenger flights undergo a security scan could create huge delays, leaving crops to rot in hangars as they await inspection.

The World Health Organisation warned on Friday against a false sense of security from waning and apparently mild outbreaks of H1N1 flu, saying the worst may not be over. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who raised the United Nations agencys pandemic alert to the second-highest level, said there remained great uncertainty about the strain that could pose particular threats in Southeast Asia.

The scale of the threat posed by cybercriminals has been revealed after researchers took over a network of computers for 10 days, gaining unrestricted access to thousands of bank and credit-card accounts.

They showed how a botnet, a network of 180,000 compromised or zombie computers, allowed thieves to steal thousands of bank account and credit-card details and computer passwords and to spy on the browsing habits of the users.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he believes the U.S. has become more vulnerable to a potential terrorist attack since the Obama administration took power.
Cheney cites interrogation and surveillance policies put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks. He says those policies kept the U.S. safe, but the Obama administration is now critical of them — and raising the possibility of prosecuting government lawyers who signed off on some policies.

A new cyberbullying bill aims to punish those who intend to cause emotional distress online with fines, jail time, or both. The problem—as usual—is the vague language used in the bill, which leaves many critics concerned that it could be used to censor speech on the Internet.

Googles unabashed success as an Internet search and advertising juggernaut has placed it in the crosshairs of regulators worried the firm will trample free market competition.

Bruce Schneier, author and computer security expert, wrote a good reality-check essay on the subject of online privacy, or the lack thereof.

In it, he points out how using Webmail or an online document service like Google Docs not only allows for more easily snagging your information, but also severely waters down legal privacy protections. For example, he points out that the courts have ruled that the police can search your data without a warrant, as long as others hold that data. If the police want to read the e-mail on your computer, they need a warrant; but they don't need one to read it from the backup tapes at your ISP.

Applications I Can not Live Without!

FeedForAll
Used daily for updating RSS feeds.

The Bat!
Used hourly for managing email.

FTP Voyager
Used for FTPing up new web design layouts and images.

Dreamweaver
Used for Web Design.

MS Office
Used for correspondents and administrative tasks.

PaintShop Pro
Used for graphic editing and image enhancement.

RecordForAll
Used occasionally for recording audio files for podcasts.

RSS Submit
Used weekly to submit RSS feeds to RSS directories and search engines.

FeedDemon
Used to manage reading of RSS feeds on a regular basis.

GroupMail
Used for sending email newsletters.

PDF995
Used regularly for converting documents to PDFs.

TNT Screen Capture
Used occasionally for capturing screen shots

TopStyle
Used occasionally for making changes to Cascading Style Sheets -CSS

SureThing CD Labler
Used occasionally for designing CD inserts and labels.

FireFox
Used hourly for navigating the web, also use plug-ins for search marketing research.

Last week, the Pentagon embarked on a yearlong review of its strategic priorities. In the months to come, defense officials will be facing some exceptionally painful choices about where to focus their limited resources in the wake of the economic crisis and the ever-rising tab for seven years of war. The Defense Department got used to being on the receiving end of blank checks to fight tough military campaigns on two fronts, but money is tight now.

Indeed, budget constraints are making it increasingly difficult for the U.S. military to project power to hot spots around the globe, with an alarming and growing effect on national security, some longtime military analysts say.

The Supreme Court on Monday took away one of the governments tools for prosecuting and deporting workers in this country illegally, ruling that the crime of identity theft was limited to those who knew they were using another person's Social Security number.

People who use false documents can be jailed, the court said. But they cannot be convicted of the more serious crime of aggravated identity theft without proof that they knew the identification number belonged to someone else, the court ruled unanimously.

Software companies could be held responsible for the security and efficacy of their products, if a new European Commission consumer protection proposal becomes law.

Commissioners Viviane Reding and Meglena Kuneva have proposed that EU consumer protections for physical products be extended to software. The suggested change in the law is part of an EU action agenda put forward by the commissioners after identifying gaps in EU consumer protection rules.

Leaving children unsupervised on the internet is like giving them the keys to a Porsche and letting them loose on the motorway, Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff says.

Privacy Awareness Week began yesterday, with events focused on two privacy hotspots: the security of official information and internet awareness for young people.

Shroff said cases like that of Kaiapoi man Malcolm Spark who last week was jailed for 2 1/2 years for offences that stemmed from his prowling through internet chatrooms and enticing underage girls into discussions about sex highlighted the dangers the internet posed.

Worried about Swine Flu? If so, do not let your fear and anxiety dupe you into clicking dubious links in emails. Spammers are increasingly using Swine Flu in subject lines and messages to take advantage of people's fears of the rapidly-spreading Influenza strain, according to McAfees Advert Labs Blog.

Doctors have confirmed 898 cases of the H1N1 flu virus in 18 countries and, for the first time, a sick farm worker has infected pigs, according to the World Health Organization.

A farm worker who had recently traveled to Mexico has infected a herd of pigs in Alberta, Canada, said Peter Ben Embarek, a food safety scientist at the WHO at press conference Sunday morning. The worker returned to the farm in mid-April and the animals began getting sick eight to 10 days later, Embarek said. The infection was mild, however, and the farm worker and pigs have recovered.

The Pan American Health Organization Sunday said there are cases in Colombia, but this in not reflected on the WHO site.

The White House took a major leap into the Web 2.0 world, launching pages on social networks MySpace and Facebook and sending its first tweets on hot micro-blogging service Twitter.

Among the suggestions for improving federal cyber security that were proposed at a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday, one that appeared to garner a fair amount of interest from lawmakers had to do with the use of government buying power to boost security.

The suggestion from Alan Paller, director of research at the Bethesda, Md.-based SANS Institute is one that is shared by several others within government and outside it as well. The basic premise is that the government which purchases over $70 billion worth of IT products a year can use its enormous buying power to force vendors to make their products more secure.

Most often, cyber criminals and foreign adversaries are able to penetrate systems and networks because of common programming errors and insecure configuration issues that are pretty well understood at this point but which vendors keep repeating all the same in their products. So getting them to fix these issues before they are permitted to sell into government is a surefire way to improve security and reduce costs, says Paller.

An example of where this approach has worked is the U.S. Air Force which has deployed over 500,000 desktops with a secure, standard Windows desktop configuration, Paller says.

CBS News has learned of another data breach potentially compromising the personal information of thousands of people. Companies Lexis Nexis and Investigative Professionals have notified up to 40,000 people whose sensitive and personally identifiable information may have been viewed by individuals who should not have had access.

Facebook has brought in some soldiers to fight the war against malware and phishing Relevant Products - Services scams on the social-networking site. After two different malware attacks this week, Facebook announced it would begin using San Francisco-based MarkMonitors antifraud services as an additional layer of protection against attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security and several technology giants are launching a nationwide volunteer program to put tech pros in kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms to make the younger generation aware of Internet dangers.

Two brothers from Missouri and two of their cohorts have been charged with conspiracy and violations of the CAN-SPAM Act thanks to their $4 million e-mail scheme targeting university and college students across the US. The scheme originated out of the University of Missouri, but the group took numerous measures to obscure the origins of their e-mails.

Send network alerts to pagers and cell phones immediately.

Software piracy refers to the unauthorized duplication and use of computer software. Software developers work hard to develop solid software programs. If those applications are pirated and stolen, the software developers will often be unable to generate the revenue required to continue supporting and expanding those applications. The effects of software piracy impact the entire global economy. The reduced revenues often divert funding from product development, and result in less research and less investment in marketing. In 2007, economists indicated that software piracy cost the industry $39.6 billion.

What Is Software Piracy?

The Software Industry Conference is scheduled for July 16-18th, 2009 in Boston MA. Sign-Up now.

Headache pills made of rat poison and Viagra made of chalk, the truth about internet drugs. They cause hundreds of thousands of deaths per year.

Large collection of security logos.

The Pentagon is completing plans for a new military command that would coordinate the security of the nations computer networks. It would also develop new offensive cyber-weapons, U.S. officials said.

It comes as hackers, criminals and spies have increased attacks on the countrys utility grids, stock markets, airline systems, military networks and other government computer systems that contain sensitive information.

China insisted on Thursday it was opposed to Internet crimes, following a US media report that said Chinese hackers may have been behind a cyber attack on computers linked to a new US fighter jet.

In virtual worlds like FusionFall, one moderation executive says, the greatest risks are bullying and young users own efforts to share personal information.

VIRTUAL worlds for children and teenagers — Web sites like Neopets, Club Penguin and Habbo — are a big business. On these sites, children create an avatar and, with it, explore an imaginary universe. They can play games, chat and decorate virtual rooms or other spaces.
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By the end of this year, there will be 70 million unique accounts — twice as many as last year — in virtual worlds aimed at children under 16, according to K Zero, a consulting firm. Virtual Worlds Management, a media and trade events company, estimates that there are now more than 200 youth-oriented virtual worlds live, planned or in active development.

As the number of these virtual worlds grows, so, too, does the demand for sophisticated monitoring software and people, called moderators, who can act as virtual playground monitors.

Register for the 2009 Software Industry Conference is scheduled July 16-18, 2009 and will be held in Boston, MA.

The National Security Agency has been campaigning to lead the governments rapidly growing cybersecurity programs, raising privacy and civil liberties concerns among some officials who fear that the move could give the spy agency too much control over government computer networks.

The number, scale and sophistication of data breaches fueled by hackers last year is rekindling the debate over the efficacy of the credit card industrys security standards for safeguarding customer data.

All merchants that handle credit and debit card data are required to show that they have met the payment card industry data security standards, a set of technical and operational requirements designed to safeguard cardholder information from theft or unauthorized access.

US looks to hackers to protect cyber networks

Wanted: Computer hackers. Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nations networks.

General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could think like the bad guy. Applicants, it said, must understand hackers tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.

And in the Pentagons budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates hung out his own help-wanted sign, saying the Pentagon will increase the number of cyber experts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.

Some schools have banned backpacks. Others have locked doors, installed cameras, bought metal detectors, and started disaster drills.

Ten years ago, two teenagers killed 13 people and wounded 23 others inside Columbine High School in suburban Littleton, Colo., a massacre that forever altered the nations school-security landscape.

A court in Sweden has jailed four men behind The Pirate Bay, the worlds most high-profile file-sharing website, in a landmark case.

What does a software pirate look like? Anyone. And that's the new message of the Business Software Alliance, which asked five convicted software pirates to tell their stories.

As part of the BSAs new Faces campaign, the BSA asked five people who were convicted of software piracy to tell their stories via videos posted to YouTube. Four of them were found guilty of criminal software piracy, while the fifth, a grandmother from Georgia, was found guilty in a civil suit, said Jenny Blank, the BSAs senior director of legal affairs, in an interview.

We wanted to put a human face on the issue of software piracy

RSS is a standard for syndicating content on the Internet. RSS feeds are used in a variety of ways to distribute all types of content via the Internet. The benefits for individuals subscribing to RSS feeds have resulted in a rapid growth and adoption rate.

Create RSS | Make RSS Feeds

Web 2.0 is a perceived transition of the Web to web-based applications. Web 2.0 is the next generation of technology solutions where interactive content is the norm.

There is no agreement on exactly what Web 2.0 means. Depending on who you are speaking with, you may receive different explanations. At its heart, Web 2.0 is about the maturity of the Web. While many refer to Web 2.0 as companies that employ powerful web technologies, the key components of Web 2.0 are said to include: the Web as a platform, collaboration, and syndication.

ABCs of Web 2.0

Foreign investors in Internet companies pose a potential threat to national security, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned members of the United Russia political party at a meeting on Wednesday.

With the objective to create awareness on the usage of authentic products and to put a check on the business of software piracy, Kaspersky, a Russia-based anti-virus software and Internet security software solution provider is taking action against resellers propagating pirated software.

Zoom Technologies, importers of Kaspersky in India, has gone ahead and taken legal action against the dealers who are involved in selling counterfeit and pirated software.

The FBI has now ranked cyber crime as the third-greatest threat to U.S. national security, after nuclear war and weapons of mass destruction.

The Department of Defense said it has spent $100 million in the past six months responding to cyber attacks.

Macs were more secure than Windows machines, but the tables have turned. Macs are safer than PCs because they are not targeted as much, but the latest versions of OS X are inherently less secure than the latest versions of Windows, says Rich Mogull, the Mac security expert who provided tips this week.

Chinese national living in northern New Jersey has been accused of stealing a software program from his former U.S. employer and selling a modified version to the Chinese government after being fired.

Purdue and Rutgers universities will co-lead a U.S.-Canadian research group in a six-year, $30 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security study.
The researchers said they will create methods and tools to analyze and manage data in preparing for, preventing, detecting, responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks as well as natural and man-made disasters.

Companies offering to protect consumers from identity theft tout their ability to shield your personal financial information from fraud.

But some consumer groups caution you to think twice before shelling out money for those services because in many cases, they say, identity theft protection services fall far short of being a financial security blanket.

The Consumer Federation of America recently examined 16 identity protection firms and found that, in most cases, they gave unclear, confusing or misleading information about the services they provide and the extent of the protection consumers were buying.

French politicians have rejected a bill which proposed that people caught downloading music illegally three times should be cut off from the internet.
The legislation, backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, would have set a tough global precedent in cracking down on internet piracy.

Here is a collection of what we consider must have tools for webmasters. These tools will benefit any webmaster, both novices and experts alike. Arm yourself with these tools in order to achieve a more professional online presence.

Webmaster Toolbox

The Cloud Security Alliance, whose founding members include eBay, PGP Corporation and Qualys, is seeking to promote the best ways to secure cloud computing and outline how to use cloud computing for the protection of other types of computing.

Web 2.0 is a perceived transition of the Web to web-based applications. Web 2.0 is the next generation of technology solutions where interactive content is the norm.

ABCs of Web 2.0

A new bill presented to Congress would see mandatory computer security standards imposed on government and private companies that control the critical infrastructure of the US.

The bill, sponsored by senators John D. Rockefeller IV and Olympia J Snowe, would see the creation of a National Cybersecurity Advisor with direct access to the president.

Microsoft on Thursday issued a security advisory concerning a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint.

If a user can be convinced to open a maliciously crafted PowerPoint file -- contained in an e-mail message or via a Web site link -- the vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute code remotely.

Internet-based rip-offs jumped 33 percent last year over the previous year, according to a report from a complaint center set up to monitor such crimes.

The discovery of a Chinese-based cyber spy network that infiltrated government computers around the world exposes the need for the federal government to take Internet security more seriously, a team of Canadian researchers said Monday as they discussed their findings.

2008 was the busiest year yet for online fraudsters according to an annual Internet Crime Report released Monday by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Staff who have lost their jobs are reporting their former bosses for using unlicensed software, figures released from the Business Software Alliance show.

That at least is the suspicion of the BSA, which is reporting about 100 leads a week coming from the public, in addition to those caught in raids.

The number of leads rose 8% in January and February, compared to the same period last year.

Nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked and have become part of a computer espionage network apparently based in China, security experts alleged in two reports last week.

Russias leading computer security labs have warned of a new software virus which infects Automatic Teller Machines ATM to steal money from bank accounts of their users.

Two leading anti-virus software producers Doctor Web’and Kaspersky Lab claimed to have discovered a new virus, in the networks of several bank ATMs, which is able to collect information from bank cards.

An elected California official wants the state known for Internet technology to blur images of schools, hospitals, government buildings and houses of worship in online maps.

Southern California assemblyman Joel Anderson, a Republican, is backing a bill that would call for Internet mapping services to obscure such images or face daily fines of 250,000 dollars.

The fast-moving Conficker computer worm, a scourge of the Internet that has infected at least 3 million PCs, is set to spring to life in a new way on Wednesday — April Fools Day.

That's when many of the poisoned machines will get more aggressive about phoning home to the worms creators over the Internet. When that happens, the bad guys behind the worm will be able to trigger the program to send spam, spread more infections, clog networks with traffic, or try and bring down Web sites.

Nearly 60 people have been arrested in what Canadian police said on Thursday was the countrys largest investigation into child pornography on the Internet.

AT&T Inc., the nations largest Internet service provider, will start sending warnings to its subscribers when music labels and movie studios allege that they are trafficking in pirated material, according to an executive.

The phone company thus joins other major ISPs that either go beyond legal requirements or interpret their duties under the law to mean that they have to forward such notices.

An Energy Department investigation has alleviated fears that a significant amount of plutonium was missing from a national laboratory, but it has also heightened concerns about flaws in the system for controlling the U.S. stockpile of weapons materials.

The investigation began in February, shortly after a routine inventory at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico found a plutonium shortage estimated at 2.2 pounds, setting off a frantic national effort to determine what happened to the material.

The confidential investigation concluded this week that statisticians at the lab had miscalculated the amount of plutonium at its facility and that none was actually missing.

An outcry is growing in Alexandria over a prospect no one seems to like: terrorist suspects in the suburbs.

The historic, vibrant community less than 10 miles from the White House markets itself as a federal friendly zone. But it has turned decidedly unfriendly to news that the Obama administration might move some detainees from their highly controlled military fortress at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Alexandria to stand trial at the federal courthouse.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday extended the United Nations presence in Afghanistan for another year, while recognizing the key role played by the world body in coordinating international efforts in the country and in supporting upcoming elections.

An electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, Canadian researchers say.
They said the network had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries.

Large collection of security powerpoint templates.

Security flaws have halted work on the internet database designed to hold the details of 11 million children and teenagers.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) admitted last night that it had uncovered problems in the system for shielding details of an estimated 55,000 vulnerable children.

These include children who are victims of domestic violence, those in difficult adoptions or witness protection programs and the children of the rich and famous, whose whereabouts may need to be kept secret.

A weekend riot by hundreds of ethnic Tibetans was a spontaneous response to tough Chinese security measures, activists and an expert said on Monday, and more destabilising outbursts are likely in coming months.

Beijing has flooded Tibet and ethnic Tibetan areas in neighbouring provinces with security forces, cut off some Internet and mobile phone services and closed the region to almost all foreigners in March, a month of sensitive anniversaries and a controversial new holiday.

New Zealand Monday withdrew a controversial law which could have forced firms to disconnect Internet users accused of illegal use of material such as music or films.

American International Group is warning employees to take protective measures given the publics outrage over the companys retention-bonus payments.

The company also provided some rather obvious safety and security guidelines, including advising against wearing apparel emblazoned with the companys insignia, making sure AIG corporate badges are not readily visible when exiting the office and to be aware of individuals who appear to be out of place or spending an inordinate amount of time near an AIG facility.

A long-overdue internet early warning system for Europe could help the region avoid deliberate or inadvertent outages, reduce the spread of new computer viruses, and ensure continuity of services.

Social networking already has passed through the firewall of every company on the planet. Now CIOs need to ask, What else snuck in with it?

Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace already are a part of employees lives. They are also one of the greatest tools for hackers to gain entry into the corporate enterprise, no matter how impenetrable a company thinks it is from the bad guys. And it's not just the 20-something employees. With workers of all ages showing growing angst over their jobs, they have been flooding onto LinkedIn to build up their contact lists in case they get laid off.

The operator of Liver4you.org is facing wire fraud charges for an alleged scheme to use the Web site to entice people needing organ transplants to wire tens of thousands of dollars to the Philippines in exchange for nonexistent surgeries, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Thursday it has launched a crackdown on several groups who had set up anti-Islamic and pornographic Internet sites.

Early bird discount is available only until April 1st, 2009 for the Software Industry Conference. The conference is designed for Software Developers and Software Marketers it is scheduled for July 16-18th, 2009 in Boston, MA.

It likely came as no surprise that when software developers began disabling software functionality, their sales increased significantly.

Protecting software and limiting its usage beyond a specified trial period has become a necessity and protecting software from cracks can be critical to an applications success. In fact, some statistics suggest that a software crack can impact software sales by as much as 30%!

How to Protect Software

Halfway into a 60-day review of U.S. cybersecurity policy, lawmakers and tech industry experts are expressing alarm about the state of the nations cyberdefenses and hunger for leadership in the unacknowledged cyberwar against America.

Here is a collection of what we consider must have tools for webmasters. These tools will benefit any webmaster, both novices and experts alike. Arm yourself with these tools in order to achieve a more professional online presence.

Churches can stop a shooter or anyone else intent on harming church members with the proper security measures in place, an expert on protecting places of worship said Monday.

A church is not helpless when they have a plan.

If you comment on a blog, should your identity be fair game if that bloggers post becomes the subject of a lawsuit? That is the question facing Virginia blogger Waldo Jaquith, who runs cvillenews.com.

Jaquith is scheduled to appear in a Buckingham County court Thursday after being hit with a subpoena that requests he reveal any and all information he has on the people who left comments on a December blog post.

French bloggers and high-tech experts scorned Tuesday plans to punish illegal downloaders by cutting off Internet access, saying the move was unfair, unworkable and would not stop online piracy.

One in three of Frances 30 million web users admit to downloading music, films or video games on the Internet, a recent poll showed, with some 450,000 movie copies a day downloaded in France last year.

In schoolyards across the country, all it takes to attract a crowd are the words Fight! Fight! Fight!

But students are increasingly showing up with cameras to record the brawls, then posting the footage on the Internet. Some of the videos have been viewed more than a million times.

Now school officials and cyberspace watchdogs are worried that the videos will encourage violence and sharpen the humiliation of defeat for the losers.

The U.S. governments director for cybersecurity resigned on last week, criticizing the excessive role of the National Security Agency in countering threats to the countrys computer systems.

Social media is the Internets version of viral messaging and marketing. Social media can be used to disseminate news or information, as well as to attract attention. There are a wide variety of social media channels and networks available.

Social networks and social media websites are community-driven websites that allow visitors to submit items of interest. Visitors also decide what items appeal to them by voting or tagging; the more popular an item is determined to be by the visitors, the more exposure the item is given.

Social Media Primer

According to the security firm, four hoax applications have become available on the social network along with a new variation of the Koobface virus, which was first detected at the end of last year, and directs users to a fake YouTube page where they are encouraged to install malware.

Two of the hoax applications that have been downloaded by Facebook users include F a c e b o o k - closing down!!! and Error Check System. By downloading the app, users are giving hackers access to their profile and personal information, and also unwittingly forwarding fake messages to their friends, also encouraging them to download the programs.

Cisco is planning to offer a new set of managed, hosted and hybrid e-mail security services to give businesses more choice in defending their networks. Ciscos approach puts them on a path similar to the one vendors such as Symantec and Google are walking.

Cisco Systems has hopped aboard the cloud security train with a set of new managed, hosted and hybrid e-mail security services.

Three things in life are certain; death, taxes and loss of data.

This is a good question, and raises an issue that many PC users do not fully understand: Deleting a file from your system does not permanently remove it from your hard drive.

When you delete a file in Windows, it gets moved into the Recycle Bin -- a sort of second drive reserved for deleted files, from which documents can be easily recovered. Once you're sure files are no longer needed, you can empty the Recycle Bin to make them unrecoverable by Windows -- but in truth, they're still ripe for recovery.

Fact is, when you delete a file or folder, it is not erased from the disk media: Instead, the operating system simply removes the reference to the file from the file system table, marking its space as free to be occupied or overwritten by another file. And even after a new file is created over it, it's still possible to recover the original data by analyzing the magnetic fields on the disk surface.

The only way to truly eradicate your data is to have the system overwrite old files sectors of the hard drive with new data -- and then do it again and again. In fact, modern recovery technology is so through that even when you employ extreme measures such as reformatting the drive or removing the system partition, experts can still salvage the data.

3Coms security branch, TippingPoint, says that the 2009 edition of the Pwn2Own challenge will ask security experts and others attending the Vancouver, Canada event to hack smartphones, not just computers, in an attempt to find exploits that would allow arbitrary code.

Garnering publicity by way of Fortune, the two-day contest -- which begins along with CanSecWest on March 18th -- will give participants the opportunity to breach the safeguards of any one of five mobile platforms, each represented by a single device. Apple's iPhone will have to compete against the other heavyweights of the cellular world, including a BlackBerry as well as representative models for Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

The contestants will have to depend solely on remote access and are thus forced to use techniques that are more likely to be seen in the wild, such as dangerous websites visited through the mobile web browser, harmful e-mail contents, or deliberately malformed SMS text messages.

The Obama administration on Friday lost its bid to halt a lawsuit charging that President George W. Bush broke the law when he authorized warrantless spying on terrorism suspects, the only such case to make it to federal court.

A federal appeals court rejected the Justice Departments bid to halt the lawsuit by a now-defunct Islamic charity over warrantless wiretapping.

Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater Worldwide security firm, announced Monday he has resigned as head of the company, recently renamed Xe.

Late Monday, President Obama said he would nominate veteran prosecutor John Morton to become the next assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Homeland Security Department. John P. Torres, a career law enforcement official, now holds that position on an acting basis. Morton is acting deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division and has extensive experience in immigration enforcement.

Despite the popularity, Twitter still a lot to do when it comes to securing the platform. Just days after popular social networking tool Twitter was hit was a phishing scam, the company is now trying to clean up a mess surrounding a separate hacking attack.

Over the weekend, some Twitter users received scam tweets, or direct messages, to visit certain sites or blogs. The URL in the message redirected users to a bogus login page in an attempt to steal login credentials for a phishing scheme. Monday, thing got worse as Twitter officials revealed several high profile accounts, such as those of Britney Spears and Barack Obama were hacked.

Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an undocumented worker from Mexico, made a curious and undeniably bad decision. After working under an assumed name for six years, he decided to use his real name and exchanged one set of phony identification numbers for another.

The change made his employer suspicious and the authorities were called in. The old numbers were made up, but the new ones he bought happened to belong to real people. Federal prosecutors said that was enough to label Flores-Figueroa an identity thief.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on prosecutors aggressive use of a new law that was intended to strengthen efforts to combat identity theft. In at least hundreds of cases last year, workers accused of immigration violations found themselves facing the more serious identity theft charge as well, without any indication they knew their counterfeit Social Security and other identification numbers belonged to actual people and were not made up.

A third-party add-on for eBay used by thousands of sellers is being flagged by Google as potentially malicious, after it became infected with a trojan.
Auctiva provides tools for sellers on the popular auction website.

The company confirmed a virus had attached itself to files on its servers but remedied the problem soon after.

It is always interesting to watch what little hooks and schemes the malware industry has cooked up in an attempt to better bait the public and the new Anti-Virus-1 package does not disappoint. AV-1 is a cute mixture of scareware and malware, and while we've seen XP Antivirus playing this turf for years, AV-1 adopts a few new tactics of its own. Once run, the program installs its particular Trojan of choice (Zlob and Vundo are apparently popular options), then makes certain modifications to the hosts file.

BleepingComputer.com has assembled a list of these changes, a sample of which is included below. If a user attempts to visit any of the links listed, he or she is directed to a site under the control of the botnet controllers.

a1.review.zdnet.com
www.reviews.download.com
reviews.download.com
reviews.pcadvisor.co.uk
reviews.pcmag.com

Once redirected, users are served up with what appears to be an actual, legitimate review of Anti-Virus-1 from a reputable source.

A Romanian hacker who has spent the past few weeks exposing a common, but dangerous, Web programming error on security vendors Web sites says he has found a SQL injection flaw on Symantecs Web site. But Symantec says it is not a security issue.

The Secure Enterprise 2.0 Forum has just released its 2009 industry report outlining the top Web 2.0 security threats. These security threats are not so much specific to Web 2.0 companies as much as they are to browser-based applications.

List of Top Security Threats

President Obamas recent order of an immediate two-month review of the federal governments cybersecurity plans apparently ca not come fast enough. The federal government, dogged by computer security issues over the years, was hit by two more incidents this week.

One occurred at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where data of 49,000 people were stolen during a data breach. The other occurred at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, which is undergoing a security shakeup following the discovery that a total of 90 computers were reported missing or stolen over the past year.

Experts have been calling for an overhaul of federal computer security practices.

According to Facebooks terms of service they can use any photos posted to Facebook in any way they deem appropriate....

Firefox has a great add on called NoScripts that locks it down and prevents malicious website scripts from infecting computers.

Apple last week issued security updates to plug more than 50 security holes in its OS X operating system and other software. The patches, which affect Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5, Java for the Mac and Safari for Windows systems, are available through Apple Downloads or via the companys automatic update program.

At a time when incidents of drug and weapon possession are on the rise, at least 15 Long Island school districts have been adding four-legged operatives to their security forces.

The Sachem district is the latest to use dogs to periodically sniff hallways, lockers and classrooms in an effort to keep schools safe and drug-free. Officials have been introducing the canines to students in its four middle schools and two high schools in a series of assemblies. Mount Sinai has set aside funds in its 2009-10 budget for dog patrols.

Registration is open for the Software Industry Conference in Boston, MA July 16-18th. Early bird registration is discounted for a limited time. The conference attracts software industry experts, developers, internet marketers, software publishers and software marketers for 3 days!

Security practitioners used to be seen as propeller-hat wearing introverts hunched over computers in dark, cold basements for weeks on end, shunning daylight and anyone who tried to start a conversation with them. But times have changed.

Thanks to the blogosphere, social networking sites and podcasting made easy, many security pros are taking on a much more public persona, becoming near-rock stars. Evidence of this can be seen in abundance at the ShmooCon 2009 security gathering in Washington DC this month.

One example was a lunch gathering of the Security Twits — a growing group of security pros who communicate with each other and the rest of the world via the Twitter micro blogging site. Another example was an evening meet-up of security podcasters.

High-tech surveillance cameras introduced by government organisations are liable to being hacked by cyber criminals unless top security precautions are made, internet experts have warned.

Web Elements is a premier collection of resources for webmaster, search engine marketers and others interested in online marketing.

Web Elements is designed to help both beginner webmasters and experienced search marketers. We have compiled lists of useful resources and submission sites.

We have compiled a collection of resources from Search Engine Optimization, Press Release Submissions, DoFollow Lists, Webmaster Scripts, Webmaster Blogs, and Forums.

Webmaster Tools and Resources

Barack Obama has been warned by the CIA that British Islamist extremists are the greatest threat to US homeland security.

Kansas State University says personal information of 45 students was inadvertently exposed on the Internet.

Check out security logos with a romantic flare!

Downtown Washington resembled a militarized zone last week for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, but some major contributors who had direct contact with Obama said they were surprised to find what they viewed as porous security surrounding the president-elect and vice president-elect.

Three contributors who raised $300,000 or more for the inauguration said they were never asked to show identification to retrieve dozens of tickets, including VIP passes that allowed them and their guests to meet privately with Obama. One of the three said ticket checks were so lax that no one noticed when, after a breakfast for contributors, a friend whose name had not even been submitted for a background check tagged along into a VIP room to take pictures with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.

A group of U.S. companies, led by technology giants Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and eBay, is set to outline recommendations for new federal data-privacy legislation that could make life easier for consumers and lead to a standard federal breach-notification law.

The recommendations, which were developed by a group of industry players called the Consumer Privacy Legislative Forum, are set to be released at an upcoming privacy conference six weeks from now, according to Peter Cullen, Microsofts chief privacy officer.

The companies have been working for the past three years to encourage the adoption of federal consumer data-privacy laws and to answer the question of what federal legislation should look like, Cullen said in an interview. Other forum members include Google, Oracle, Procter & Gamble and Eli Lilly.

Chinese authorities have shut down 1,507 pornographic websites in an online clean-up that has included ordering Internet giants like Google to sever links to vulgar sites, state media said Wednesday.

The campaign was continuing despite week-long Lunar New Year celebrations, Chinas biggest holiday, with authorities blocking another 55 sites since Monday, Xinhua news agency said.

Anti-malware company AVG has released research that indicates the number and volatility of web sites serving malicious code is increasing dramatically.
In the last three months the number of new malicious sites they observe has increased from 100,000 to 200,000 per day to 200,000 to 300,000. AVG also shows a surprising velocity of change in the compromised sites. Part of the effect is that they are being cleaned up quickly, but the attacks are also changed frequently to redirect to different sites, Almost 60% of these sites are up for less than one day. The goal of these techniques seems to be to defeat blacklist-based protections. AVG calls them transient threats.

The overseer of the Internets addressing system is soliciting ideas for how to fix a problem that is enabling spammers and fraudulent Web sites to flourish.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICANN has issued an initial report on fast flux, a technique that allows a Web sites domain name to resolve to multiple IP - Internet protocol addresses.

Fast flux allows an administrator to quickly point a domain name to a new IP address, for example if the server at the first address fails or comes under a denial-of-service attack. It is legitimately used by content distribution networks such as Akamai to balance loads, improving performance and lowering data transmission costs.

Do not look now, but you are being watched. And now that I have signed up for Spokeo.com, I could be the one watching you.

Spokeo is a search engine that uses email addresses to find people across the social Web. Give the site your log-on info for Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or AOL -- or just upload your personal address book; Spokeo will scour 41 social networks and collect all information associated with each email address.

Blog entries, Linked In profiles, Flickr photostreams, Twitter tweets, Digg comments, Amazon wish lists -- and a whole lot more -- all on one tidy little Web page. And every time they add new content, Spokeo lets you know.

It looks like Google is marking all of its search results with this warning: This site may harm your computer.

If you click on a Google result link in spite of the warning, you get an interstitial page with an additional warning: Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!

Clicking the warning itself will take you to this page, which explains: This warning message appears with search results we have identified as sites that may install malicious software on your computer.

Needless to say after about 45 minutes the problem was resolved.

Iraqis voted Saturday for local representatives, on an almost violence-free election day aimed at creating provincial councils that more closely represent Iraqs ethnic, sectarian and tribal balance.

By nightfall, there were no confirmed deaths, and children played soccer on closed-off streets in a generally joyous atmosphere.

The UKs Intellectual Property minister David Lammy has said the government will not force internet service providers to pursue file sharers.
There had been mounting speculation about government legislation on the issue as the music industry steps up its fight against the pirates.
Other countries, such as France, have supported tough action on file-sharers, who the industry claims cost them dear.

If you are interested in speaking at the Software Industry Conference, please submit an abstract. The details of speaking requirements can be found in the following paper. The Software Industry Conference is scheduled July 16-18, 2009 in  Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Marriott Quincy.

Last year, the Department of Defense suffered an estimated 80,000 network attacks. On government networks alone, a new software vulnerability is exploited every 82 minutes. Meanwhile, attacks on US federal agencies computer systems are increasing at alarming rates. Furthermore, utilities are being hit by an estimated 500 to 1000 attacks from hackers and malicious code every year. The financial and economic impact of a one day cyber sabotage effort that disrupts US credit and debit card transactions is estimated at being about $35 billion USD. For 2009, the national cyber budget will exceed $6 billion USD.

Apple has issued a critical security update for QuickTime media player, aimed at resolving vulnerabilities that could potentially allow a malicious attacker to take control of a persons computer, according to an Apple advisory released this week.

People running QuickTime 7 for Windows and for Mac OS X, are affected, as well as those who are using Mac OS X 10.4 or Mac OS X 10.5, according to Apple.
Apple is advising people to update to QuickTime 7.6 for Windows, QuickTime 7.6 for Leopard, or QuickTime 7.6 for Tiger.

VeriSign Inc., the largest manager of computers that direct Internet traffic, agreed to buy security- software maker Certicom Corp. three days after Research In Motion Ltd. withdrew its bid.

Imbed critical security updates in software applications using FeedForDev. The security alerts are sent via RSS feed imbedded in the application.

Internet scammers are becoming more creative, experts say.

From duplicating eBay pages or mortgage company Web sites to customizing e-mails that claim their target is the sole beneficiary of a large sum of money, scammers are doing their homework, said Capt. Tony Wickersham with the Macomb Sheriffs Department.

The U.S. Supreme court announced its refusal to hear appeals against the banning of the Child Online Protection Act COPA, effectively killing the bill. The American Civil Liberties Union called it a clear victory for free speech, having fought the bill for ten years claiming it infringed on a websites freedom of speech.

COPA was first passed in 1998, and made it illegal to display any pornographic material on a Web site without an access code or proof of age message. However, state courts began challenging the bill immediately, claiming it was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment. Instead, it was ruled that parental controls should be used by individual families to block unwanted content, rather than the government determining what can and cannot be seen by all.

A computer virus is continuing to affect the Ministry of Defences systems but it insists no classified or personal data is under threat.

Up to 70 sites, including several Royal Navy ships and RAF bases, have been affected by the bug, which has shut down computers and knocked out e-mails.
The virus first hit systems a fortnight ago but the MoD says operations have not been affected.

It is still trying to discover how the virus breached its security software.

Collection of resources for webmasters. Webmaster tools, domain tools and security tools.

Twenty members of the MBTAs Transit Police Department will join the thousands of law enforcement officials heading to Washington to help provide security for the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday.

The MBTA officers were set to leave Boston on Sunday on an Amtrak train bound for Washington for the largest-ever security operation for a presidential inauguration.

Governments in a number of countries are raising concerns over the way in which the Internet is allowing unlimited access to all sorts of pornography.

China recently warned a number of online portals and search engines that are making it easy for Internet users to come into contact with porn, CNN reported Jan. 6.

CNN revealed that the move comes as several Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Security, launched a month-long campaign to clean up the Web.

The U.S. federal government is accelerating its efforts to secure the Internets routing system, with plans this year for the Department of Homeland Security to quadruple its investment in research aimed at adding digital signatures to router communications.

A computer virus that may leave Microsoft Windows users vulnerable to digital hijacking is spreading through companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia, already infecting close to 9 million machines, according to a private online security firm.

Check out this Huge List of RSS Tools. Great collection, highly recommend it!

Terrorists increasingly are using the Internet as a means of communication both with each other and the rest of the world. By now, nearly everyone has seen at least some images from propaganda videos published on terrorist sites and rebroadcast on the worlds news networks. Western governments have intensified surveillance of such sites but their prosecution of site operators is hampered by concerns over civil liberties, the Internet's inherent anonymity, and other factors.

complete article

Internet telephone services pose a serious threat to Britains security, the head of MI5 has said.

The danger with online calls, said spy chief Jonathan Evans, was that they do not result in telephone bills, which are key evidence documents in prosecutions. This meant it would be much easier for terrorists to make the calls and eventually escape prosecution if they are tried for criminal offences.

At the CES show in Las Vegas this week, Yoggie Security Systems launched the new HyPC, a hybrid computer solution that provides complete browsing security by running the browser on its own internal CPU.

Top 10 Winners for 2009

1. Personal Responsibility
2. Financial Diversification
3. Mobile Malware
4. Weight Loss
5. Going Green
6. Social
7. Cloud Computing
8. Virtual Collaboration
9. Video
10. RSS

Top 10 Losers for 2009

1. Global Economy
2. Republicans and Conservatives
3. Hollywood
4. China
5. Somali Pirates
6. Financial Services Industry
7. Corrupted Politicians
8. Security or Securities
9. Outsourcing
10. Gasoline

Winners and Losers for 2009

2008 was a year filled with great triumphs and a year scarred by deep sorrow. What 2008 was not, was a peaceful year, and whether the world is a better place, for having endured is unclear.

Russia's invasion of Georgia has chilled Russia's relations with the West, a resurgence of the Cold War may be on the horizon. The Tibetan monk's protests being crushed in the streets demonstrate that freedom of speech, is not a God given right for all. The continued unrest in Middle East is no longer news, but simply part of daily life in the region.

Close calls with Hurricane Gustav in New Orleans and the water lapping at the edge of overburdened levies caused concern that the lessons of Katrina have still not yet been fully learned. The heartbreaking destruction of Hurricane Ike in Galveston and the Texas coast shows that while the US has made progress, she is still no match for mother nature. Natures wrath still wields a heavy hand. As horrific as the despair in Galveston, it paled in comparison to the cyclone that hit Burma/Mynamar, taking the lives of more than 100,000 people in the region. China, widely thought to be a rising world power, was no match for the 8.0 earthquake that collapsed buildings like tinker toys.

Reflections for 2008, Predictions for 2009

U.S. lawmakers are concerned that the terror attacks on Mumbai, India in November, which killed some 170 people, could happen in the United States. They heard from U.S. homeland security and law enforcement officials at a Senate hearing.

With an estimated two million people likely to attend the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, authorities here are facing a logistical challenge to put in place fool-proof security arrangements for the January 20 event.

Unprecedented security is being put in place in the US capital as it gears up for the inauguration of its first black President, with police in riot gear and military troops patrolling the streets.

Ratings champion American Idol will face serious competition when it returns next month: the Department of Homeland Security.

Homeland Security USA, an ABC reality series debuting Tuesday, tracks the daily efforts of the federal workers responsible for safeguarding the nations airports, borders, waters and anyplace else threats might arise.

While viewers see the mechanics of agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration, absent is discussion of such hot-button issues as post-Sept. 11 security programs or immigration policies.

China has launched a crackdown against major websites that officials accused of threatening morals by spreading pornography and vulgarity, including the dominant search engines Google and Baidu.

Warner Music Group ordered YouTube  to remove all music videos by its artists from the popular online video-sharing site after contract negotiations broke down.

2008 was a year filled with great triumphs and a year scarred by deep sorrow. What 2008 was not, was a peaceful year, and whether the world is a better place, for having endured is unclear.

Russias invasion of Georgia has chilled Russia's relations with the West, a resurgence of the Cold War may be on the horizon. The Tibetan monk's protests being crushed in the streets demonstrate that freedom of speech, is not a God given right for all. The continued unrest in Middle East is no longer news, but simply part of daily life in the region.

Close calls with Hurricane Gustav in New Orleans and the water lapping at the edge of overburdened levies caused concern that the lessons of Katrina have still not yet been fully learned. The heartbreaking destruction of Hurricane Ike in Galveston and the Texas coast shows that while the US has made progress, she is still no match for mother nature. Nature's wrath still wields a heavy hand. As horrific as the despair in Galveston, it paled in comparison to the cyclone that hit Burma/Mynamar, taking the lives of more than 100,000 people in the region. China, widely thought to be a rising world power, was no match for the 8.0 earthquake that collapsed buildings like tinker toys.

Reflections for 2008, Predictions for 2009

The US recording association said Friday that it will stop suing people who download music illegally and focus instead on getting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to take action.

Three Texas men have been sentenced to prison terms for their role in selling counterfeit software worth US$2.5 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Thomas Rushing III, 24, of Wichita Falls, Texas; Brian Rue, 29, of Denton, Texas; and William Lance Partridge, 24, of Royse City, Texas, were sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on criminal copyright violations. The three were accused of operating Web sites including Valuesoftwaresales.com and Allsoftwaredownload.com to sell pirated software, the DOJ said in a news release.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend the investigation into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The vote came after the chief investigator, Daniel Bellemare of Canada, asked that his commission's mandate be pushed ahead to Feb. 28, from years end.

The U.S. military will be on high alert during Barack Obamas inauguration, increasing air defenses and deploying chemical attack experts and medical units, a general said Wednesday.

Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., who heads the military command that oversees security for North America, said the Defense Department had not been told of specific Inauguration Day threats. Nonetheless, he said, the armed services must be ready

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize nations to conduct military raids, on land and by air, against pirates plying the waters off the Somalia coast even as two more ships were reportedly hijacked at sea.

The vote represented a major escalation by the worlds big powers in the fight against the pirates, who have disrupted commerce along one of the world's most active sea routes and acquired tens of millions of dollars in ransom.

Apple has released software updates to fix at least 21 security vulnerabilities in its Mac OS X operating system and other software for the Mac. The patches are available via Software Update or Apple Downloads.

Users of Microsofts Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.

The flaw in Microsofts Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of peoples computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.

Paranoid types with trust issues have reason to celebrate, as Mobile Spy--a hybrid software/service that spies on smart phones--has finally infiltrated the iPhone.
Mobile Spy allows the account administrator to implant an undetectable rat inside the iPhone. It then squeals to a server, which is accessible via the Web.

Mobile Spy records SMS messages and inbound and outbound call info, including call duration. That means if you want to see what your employees are texting in real-time, or how long your teenaged daughter gabs with that kid from down the street, you can now do so for $100 per year.

This week the U.S. District Court in Maryland ordered two fly-by-night companies to stop promoting scareware through online advertisements. These pop-up ads would warn Web surfers that their systems had been compromised by viruses, spyware, and even illegal pornographic content. They were even so brazen as to suggest that users could be investigated or outed as some type of degenerate porn addict. Of course, they were happy to sell you software and services to alleviate the problem.

Unfortunately, there will always be a population of low-down dirtbags willing to take advantage of peoples fears and hardships. After September 11 they pitched gas masks; they sold bottled water for $10 a piece following Hurricane Katrina. Given the cybersecurity activity out there, we are bound to see more and more of these security scams. The difference here is that security con artists are preying on fears that users really don't understand. Consumers may get scammed or become cynical--neither of which is good.

We need a focused effort to pull together as a security community, educate consumers, and push for strict punishment of these flimflammers. If not, things can only get worse.

Security experts are warning Internet users to be aware of a disturbing evolution in malicious software that can turn a single infected computer into a vehicle for stealing data from nearby systems, regardless of what operating system or security software those computers may be running.

The evolution comes compliments of the DNSChanger family of malware, which usually comes disguised as a codec or browser plug-in that a user is told he or she needs to install in order to view Web-based videos.

Two years ago, Microsoft rankled computer-security software vendors by jumping into their market. Now the company is again creating waves by pulling out of it.

The Chinese government is stirring trade tensions with Washington with a plan to require foreign computer security technology to be submitted for government approval, in a move that might require suppliers to disclose business secrets.

Rules due to take effect May 1 require official certification of technology widely used to keep e-mail and company data networks secure. Beijing has yet to say how many secrets companies must disclose about such sensitive matters as how data-encryption systems work. But Washington complains the requirement might hinder imports in a market dominated by U.S. companies, and is pressing Beijing to scrap it.

The Department of Homeland Security has failed to ensure the nations cybersecurity, a new report to be released Monday concludes, because the threat of cyberattacks is too vast for any one agency to tackle and must be addressed by a new White House office, as well as revised laws and government practices.
As President-elect Barack Obama fills the remaining cabinet positions in his administration, a Center for Strategic and International Studies commission is recommending Obama create a new office in the White House: the National Office for Cyberspace, headed by an Assistant to the President for Cyberspace.
The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, an independent, nonpartisan group, releases its final report Monday after more than a year of exploring how to address the countrys cybersecurity threats.

Symantec Corp. announced today that Norton Internet Security 2009 received a perfect score and was named the top-rated product in a comprehensive analysis of protection in security suites conducted by third-party testing organization Cascadia Labs.

The Internet is becoming an increasingy important tool for extremist groups, also in Norway. Head of the Security Police, Joern Holme says they are following developments closely.

Extreme web sites trying to influence young people to associate themselves with terrorism as a tool, is a global phenomenon which is also available to young people in Norway, Holme says.

IBM said that based on data from its 3,700 managed security services customers worldwide, the number of security events had risen from 1.8 billion to 2.5 billion per day over the past four months, and noted that a significant proportion of clients logging in to the security centre had not done so in the previous six months.

Microsoft has launched 63 separate lawsuits against people peddling counterfeit software on auction sites.

The legal action targets sellers in 12 nations including the US, UK, Germany and France.

Most of those Microsoft has targeted have been selling fake Blue Edition versions of Windows XP.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to halt the extradition to the US of computer hacker Gary McKinnon.

Mr McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London, faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty in the US of breaking into military computers.

Supporters held a vigil and delivered a letter to Downing Street calling for him to be tried in the UK instead. Campaigners said the fact that Mr McKinnon has Aspergers Syndrome should be taken into account.

Governments and banking institutions are still failing to pay enough attention to internet security, and allow too much responsibility to rest on the shoulders of consumers, according to Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab. Skip related content

Eugene Kaspersky, the anti-malware firms chief executive, argued that governments are more likely to pay attention to the current financial crisis than internet crime, despite figures from consultancy Deloitte released this week predicting that online spending will reach £4.7bn this year.

In its End-of-Year Data Security Wrap-Up for 2008, F-Secure today announced that 2008 has been another record year of explosive growth in the amount of malicious software (malware) on the Internet. F-Secures detection count tripled in one year, which means that the total amount of malware accumulated over the previous 21 years increased by 200% in the course of just one year.

Scientists have proposed a new method to estimate the approximate time of death, based on the analysis of several substances from the vitreous humour of the eye of cadavers.

A team at the University of Santiago de Compostela has developed a piece of software which in fact makes it possible to establish precisely the post mortem interval, information that will make the work of police easier, the Statistics in Medicine journal reported.

To apply this technique, the researchers analysed potassium, urea and hypoxantine concentrations present in the vitreous humour of the eye of the human cadaver, and then introduced the figures into a computer programme.

Authorities in a southern Chinese city require that Internet cafes pay close attention to the operating systems used on their computers, saying the rule should promote wider use of legitimate software. But is it really a way to help the authorities snoop on users?

The new rules that went into effect Nov. 5 in the city of Nanchang require operators of Internet cafes to remove unlicensed software and replace it with legitimate copies of either Microsoft Windows or China's homegrown Red Flag Linux operating system. The goal is to cut down on pirated software, said Hu Shenghua, a spokesman for the Culture Bureau in the city of Nanchang.

Online attacks will be dominated by smarter malware and bots targeting Web users ranging from gamers and social network users to the elderly and unsuspecting parents.

This is according to IT management software company CA, maker of the CA Internet Security Suite, which was recently updated to the Plus 2009 version.

Sophisticated security-related electronics are expected to flood the domestic market after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Detection and surveillance solutions — from biometrics to video surveillance to explosive or hazard sensors — continue to gain momentum, while background screening, data analytics, biometrics, digital video, and sensor-based detection will continue to be major security investments over the next three to five years. The market is currently growing at 30 per cent annually.

The IT security vendor community came out in force today to warn consumers and corporate web surfers that internet criminals are likely to double their efforts over the Christmas season to infect machines and steal sensitive data. Skip related content

Content security firm Websense released a five-point plan to help users avoid scams, which includes taking steps to ensure that all systems are protected with the most recent patches.

Many companies use monitoring software to watch temperature control, systems, or other processes. By using alerting software in conjunction with the monitoring software you can receive instant notification of any system anomalies on a cell phone. PageGate easily integrates with monitoring applications to send alerts to individuals who need to be notified.

It used to be that when hackers raided a corporate computer system, they would perform the digital equivalent of a ransacking, messing up files, infecting anything and everything with viruses, and turn the machines into spam-spewing zombies they could use to infect other computers. But not today. Modern hackers slip silently into a small security hole and without disturbing any other records, patiently wait for their chance to strike.

Digital River Software Deal of the Day is offering HUGE discounts on some security products for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Buy one Norton 360 and get on FREE! Recieve $ 20.00 Off of Bit Defender Total Security 2009. These are great deals.

Have a secure and Happy Thanksgiving!

The University of Texas at San Antonio launched a new incubator that will help commercialize security technologies.

The Institute for Cyber Securitys (ICS) new incubator will provide start-ups access to seed capital, business advise, and office space and infrastructure on the campus. It is getting $5.5 million in funding from the state of Texas.

The first two start-ups being incubated are Denim Labs, which developed technology that protects PHP-based Web sites against certain types of intrusions, and SafeMashups, which enables Web mashup applications to authenticate with each other before exchanging data.

Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman will remain as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, after Democrats voted overwhelmingly to let him to stay despite his support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

NetWitness, a vendor of networking threat-analysis software, is offering a free version of its NetWitness Investigator package by download, the company said Monday.

NetWitness Investigator is different from most other network-scanning software in that it uses forensic tools to examine applications and changes on content on the network, as well as attacks coming from outside the network, said Amit Yoran, NetWitness chairman and CEO. The software package gives users detailed analyses of malicious activity on their networks, he said.

NetWitness Investigator is designed to address gaps in other cybersecurity products, he said. It can help users identify cybersecurity problems, insider attacks and sophisticated outsider attacks, and it can help with IT audits and antifraud investigations, the company said.

Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security – thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols – to safeguard President-elect Obamas swearing-in. People attending the ceremony and parade Jan. 20 can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both.

Microsoft said that the anti-malware tool it pushes to Windows users as part of Patch Tuesday removed fake security software from nearly a million PCs during nine days this month.

Internet addiction is on the rise in the world's largest Net market, and now Chinese doctors have officially defined it as an ailment.

Users who spend six hours or more per day online, and exhibit at least one symptom including difficulty sleeping or concentrating, yearning to be online, irritation, and mental or physical distress are classified as meeting the definition of addiction.

Being hooked on the Internet has been considered a problem in Chinese society as early as 2005, when the first clinic dedicated to Internet addiction opened in Beijing. It began accepting patients who exhibited dependency symptoms for those of substance abuse.

A U.S. Internet service provider suspected of aiding cybercriminals in online scams and hosting child pornography was at least partially cut off from the Internet on last week.

The ISP, McColo, had been under the watchful eye of computer security analysts for years. It is one of a handful of so-called bulletproof hosting providers that provide safe haven online for cybercriminals selling Viagra and fake security software.

Internet fraudsters sell complete financial identities for just £80, according to an online safety group.

The details packaged and sold online include names, addresses, passport numbers and confidential financial data such as credit card numbers.

Global spam levels have dropped by as much as 75 percent following the shutdown of a US web host that provided the backbone for most of the worlds spam.
The bust has sent spammers scrambling and, although it occurred on last week in the US, spam volumes remain down, security companies say.

Intelligence officials are warning that the deepening global financial crisis could weaken fragile governments in the world's most dangerous areas and undermine the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to a new wave of security threats.

U.S. government officials and private analysts say the economic turmoil has heightened the short-term risk of a terrorist attack, as radical groups probe for weakening border protections and new gaps in defenses. A protracted financial crisis could threaten the survival of friendly regimes from Pakistan to the Middle East while forcing Western nations to cut spending on defense, intelligence and foreign aid, the sources said.

The dramatic security increase around Obama since the election has made a sizable impact in the Loop, where the president-elect is running his transition office at the Kluczynski Federal Building, straining an already-stretched Chicago police force and city budget.

The Chicago Police Department Union that represents police officers, has been told that in addition to the dozens of officers detailed to the perimeter near the Obama home, about 60 officers are being temporarily assigned to protect the transition headquarters.

Googles recent announcement that it may have found a way to predict U.S. flu trends has led to the inevitable expressions of concern from some privacy groups.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center and Patient Privacy Rights sent a letter this week to Google CEO Eric Schmidt saying if the records are disclosed and linked to a particular user, there could be adverse consequences for education, employment, insurance, and even travel. It asks for more disclosure about how Google Flu Trends protects privacy.

IT professionals surveyed worldwide said they think their own employees pose a more serious security threat than outsiders, and often it is because of personal use of corporate assets, according to the third and final report based on a 2008 survey commissioned by Cisco Systems and released Wednesday.

Chinese computer users have become chief targets for online criminals, according to a security report released by Microsoft.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Googles increasing dominance of Internet search and advertising is the rising fear, justified or not, that Googles broadening reach is giving it unchecked power.

This scrutiny goes deeper than the skeptical eye that lawmakers and the Justice Department have given to Googles proposed ad partnership with Yahoo Inc. Many objections to that deal are financial, and surround whether Google and Yahoo could unfairly drive up online ad prices.

Creating a security related website? Keep it simple, use a security web template.

Innovative Security PowerPoint Backgrounds and Themes for Professional Presentations.

Can, and will, the next generation of politicians exploit the communication mediums available to them? Will the new communication mediums have the power to influence public opinion? Will politicians be the victims of technology, or will they use it to their benefit? Will one party benefit from the use of the technology more than another? All reasonable questions, considering the role technology plays in todays society.

Technology is Influencing Politics

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands have managed to crack the so-called McEliece encryption system. This system is a candidate for the security of Internet traffic in the age of the quantum computer - the predicted superpowerful computer of the future.

The attack succeeded this month by means of a large number of linked computers throughout the world.

No one knows for sure, but auditors think the United States has paid well over $6 billion to private security companies who have been guarding diplomats, troops, Iraqi officials and reconstruction workers in Iraq.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the federal government is monitoring dozens of potential terrorists in the U.S.

Chertoff tells The Record of Bergen County the government has quietly blocked dozens of potential terrorists from entering the country in recent years.

Chertoff says there is a risk that some would see opportunity during the transition between administrations.

Chertoff says he doesn't want to stay with Homeland Security after a new president is in office and the lawyer says he does not have a job waiting.

IBM was set to unveil on Wednesday a prototype USB device designed to protect people doing online banking from having their data stolen or compromised.
The device, which looks like a memory stick with an integrated display, creates a secure channel to a banks online transaction server. The connection bypasses the user's PC, which could be infected with viruses and other malware that make sending financial information over the Internet unsafe.

Recent findings show that only 51% of internet users have current up-to-date internet security on their computers, and only 55% have anti-spyware software installed.

All eyes are on the US presidential election. If you feel security is an issue be sure that you vote if you are able to.

Comodo Security Solutions, Inc, the computer security company has released Comodo Internet Security, a complete antivirus and firewall security package free to all PC users. Among its many powerful features, this security software detects and prevents malware such as viruses, adware, spyware, Trojans, bots and rogue software, and includes always-on, real-time protection against threats.

Rate the safety of websites using http://safeweb.norton.com enter the URL of the website and then you can rate the security of the website based on your experience.

Just days after the T-Mobile G1 smartphone went on the market, a group of security researchers have found what they call a serious flaw in the Android software from Google that runs it.

One of the researchers, Charles A. Miller, notified Google of the flaw this week and said he was publicizing it now because he believed that cellphone users were not generally aware that increasingly sophisticated smartphones faced the same threats that plague Internet-connected personal computers.

European Union governments agreed to set up a common platform to fight illegal activities on the Internet and said they would cooperate more closely to block narcotics imports via West Africa.

Interior ministers of the 27-member EU agreed today at a meeting in Luxembourg that the platform would be managed by Europol, the European police agency. It would allow any cyber criminality alert to be instantly shared among police forces across the continent.

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A 19-year-old Tennessee resident is claiming that he hacked into entertainer Miley Cyrus Gmail account.

According to the blog Wired.com, Josh Holly admitted to several bloggers and a radio station in Arizona that he hacked into Cyrus' e-mail account and retrieved suggestive pictures of the teen singing star. The pictures soon began circulating on the Internet.

According to Holly, there were plenty of photos of Cyrus, but only the most provocative ones were published. He told a Phoenix radio morning show in August he held on to the pictures for a while.

Chinese Users are furious at Vole for daring to launch a version of its Windows anti-piracy tool which targets Chinese computer users to ensure they buy genuine software.

Microsoft has released its glorious Windows Genuine Advantage program into China where the software is often pirated.

The Chinese version turns the users screen black if the installed software fails a validation test.

Three out of four children have seen images on the internet that disturbed them, an NSPCC poll suggests.

The charity is renewing its call for computer manufacturers and retailers to install security to stop children finding violent or sexual content.

The NSPCC, which polled visitors to its children's website There4me.com, said it was alarmed by the accessibility of potentially disturbing material.

A website used by criminals to buy and sell credit card details and bank log-ins has been shut down after a police operation.

A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his wife to death over a posting she made on the social networking site Facebook.

Wayne Forrester, 34, told police he was devastated that his wife Emma, also 34, had changed her online profile to single days after he had moved out.

Savvy Internet users know that downloading unsolicited computer programs is one of the most dangerous things you can do online. It puts you at great risk for a virus or another time bomb from a hacker.

But even some sophisticated surfers could get taken in by a sneaky new attack in which criminals create fake YouTube pages — dead-on replicas of the real site — to push their malicious software and make it look like it's safe stuff coming from a trusted source.

A program circulating online helps hackers build those fake pages. Users who follow an e-mail pointing them to one of the pages would see an error message that claims the video they want will not play without installing new software first. That error message includes a link the hacker has provided to a malicious program, which delivers a virus.

Internet and Web browser security experts are sounding the alarm about a new type of malicious attack called clickjacking, a technique that can be used to dupe Web surfers into revealing confidential information while clicking on seemingly innocuous Web pages. Among other things, a clickjacking attack can be used to take control of a computers Webcam and microphone without the knowledge of the user.

Clickjacking has been identified as a vulnerability for the Adobe Flash player, as well as for every major browser, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari and even the newly released Google Chrome.

Some of the most vicious Internet predators are hackers who infect thousands of PCs with special viruses and lash the machines together into botnets to pump out spam or attack other computers.

Now security researchers say cell phones, and not just PCs, are the next likely conscripts into the automated armies.

Two former software executives have been arrested and charged with wire fraud. Prosecutors say the men falsely inflated their companys revenue to attract venture capital.

US anti-virus software firm Symantec has agreed to buy web security firm MessageLabs for $695m

Software piracy refers to the unauthorized duplication and use of computer software. Software developers work hard to develop solid software programs. If those applications are pirated and stolen, the software developers will often be unable to generate the revenue required to continue supporting and expanding those applications. The effects of software piracy impact the entire global economy. The reduced revenues often divert funding from product development, and result in less research and less investment in marketing. In 2007, economists indicated that software piracy cost the industry $39.6 billion.

What is Software Piracy

The son of a Democratic politician has been indicted over the hacking of US Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palins e-mail account.

At a court in Knoxville, Tennessee, David Kernell, 20, pleaded not guilty to gaining unauthorised access to Mrs Palins Yahoo account.

Prosecutors say he posted some of the messages and her password online.

Online bullying could be more pervasive than you think.

Three out of four teens were bullied online over the last year, according to a study released this week by psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles. And while that number may seem high at the outset, only 1 in 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it, the study showed.

The anonymous Web-based study surveyed 1,454 kids between the ages of 12 and 17. Of those, 41 percent reported between one and three cyberbullying incidents during the year; 13 percent reported four to six incidents; and 19 percent reported seven or more. In other words, no longer are victims of bullying relegated to the geeks and nerds of yore when it comes to the Internet.

An Internet security expert says posting a family tree online can be a dangerous move that sometimes results in identity theft.

Linda Criddle told attendees at the Utah Attorney Generals Economic Crime Conference on Thursday that family trees can be dangerous because a mothers maiden name is a common security question for online accounts.

Criddle says criminals also frequently check birth announcements, wedding registries and obituaries for information that might be useful.

A Chinese-language version of Skype scans users chat messages for keywords such as democracy, and sends a copy of the offending message to the companys servers, according to a report released Thursday by a Canadian online human rights group.

The Business Software Alliance continues to battle distribution of pirated software on peer-to-peer and auction sites.

The trade group served more than 48,000 takedown notices related to BitTorrent files in the first half of this year and says BSA members lost an estimated $525 million in sales as a result of peer-to-peer piracy, according to a new BSA report called Online Software Scams: A Threat to Your Security.

During the first half of this year BSA asked auction site providers to shut down more than 18,000 auctions in which 45,000 products, worth $22 million, were being sold, the report says.

The piracy problem on auction sites is so bad that the Software and Information Industry Association has said it was considering suing eBay.

Skype, the online text messaging and voice service, said Thursday it was "extremely concerned" by monitoring of Internet chat by its Chinese partner reported by Canadian researchers.

Citizen Lab, a group of computer security experts at the University of Toronto, revealed Wednesday that China was spying on Skype users, censoring politically sensitive messages and storing them on computer servers.

Sharing information and technology is crucial in the ongoing battle against Internet child predators, says an expert with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Supervisory special agent Terri Campbell said working together, forming partnerships and sharing information on a national and international level has helped the FBI combat predators who target children online.

The Federal Trade Commissions Website that helps senior citizens and other consumers stay on guard against Internet fraud is revamping – with the help of 22 other agencies and groups - to provide extra tools for cyber safety. The FTCs announcement of the newly designed and improved site comes on the first day of October, which is National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Since the September 2005 launch of www.OnGuardOnline.gov and its Spanish-language counterpart, www.AlertaEnLínea.gov, more than 8.1 million visitors have learned about computer security at these sites.

A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc software used to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet allows viewers to copy movies on some Web sites and avoid commercials on others, threatening the financial success of online video.

The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge Web audience.

A travel company based in the north of England has been fined a six-figure sum for using unlicensed versions of Microsoft software, an amount negotiated by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).


The BSA has taken further enforcement action against three other companies - debt recovery firm Philips Collection Services, packaging company Procurasell and online marketing group Webevents - all due to the use of unlicensed software.

Like other airlines, Southwest Airlines will soon let you buy your way to the front of the security screening line.

Southwest says later this month it will set up special Fly By security lines at seven big airports: Baltimore, Dallas, Phoenix, Orange County, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The lines will be for passengers who purchase Business Select tickets, which cost extra for benefits like priority seating, a free drink and extra frequent-flier credits, and for people at the top of Southwests frequent flier program. Southwest says it will add more priority security lines to other airports in the coming months.

A new Harris Poll measures the public's perceptions of which candidate would do better in handling sixteen different policy issues. It finds that John McCain has a sizable lead on defense, homeland security and keeping the U.S. safe from terrorism, and modest leads on Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East, Iran, Russia and gun control.

Deputies securing a clandestine field of cannabis Tuesday found plants tied to stakes by tape bearing the Department of Homeland Security logo and the words inspected.

The tape has Transportation Security Administration written in bold letters, the Corsicana Daily Sun reported for its Tuesday editions. It looks like the kind used by TSA to mark bags and freight that have been inspected, said Navarro County Sheriff Les Cotten. But it was not immediately clear if the tape was authentic or how it ended up in the field.

Egyptian special forces were involved in an operation inside Chadian territory to free a group of kidnapped Western tourists and Egyptians, an Egyptian security official said on Monday.

A new organization is being unveiled Monday in Vienna that seeks to bolster security at thousands of nuclear sites around the world in an effort to block atomic theft and terrorism. Its aim is to promote the best security practices, eliminate weak links in the global security chain and, ultimately, keep terrorists from getting the bomb.

No single organization now does that for the worlds expanding maze of nuclear sites — private and public, civilian and military.

Qantas says it is embarrassed by two security breaches at its Brisbane Airport terminal in one week.

The top floor of the Brisbane domestic terminal was evacuated last night after a number of people walked through a Qantas screening area without being checked.

Passengers who had already boarded planes were forced to disembark and return to the security screening areas.
Flights were delayed by up to two hours.

The deadly attack on Marriott Hotel last Saturday has left a question mark on police performance as to how a truck loaded with explosives entered the Red Zone.

The explosion in which 53 people were killed and dozens injured not only mirrored poor performance of the police but also created a sense of insecurity among the citizens as well as foreigners in the federal capital.

The truck that exploded at the main gate of Marriott Hotel apparently hinted that neither the traffic police, nor intelligence officials had noticed the vehicle moving towards a sensitive area, said a senior police official seeking anonymity. He said the incident was a result of a security lapse.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a new resolution last Saturday reaffirming previous sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program and offering Tehran incentives to do so.

The speedy vote followed a compromise between the United States and Russia to lead a new council effort to condemn Irans nuclear program, without introducing any new sanctions.

The brief resolution reaffirmed the three earlier Security Council sanctions resolutions, which imposed progressively tougher sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Sonoma State University officials are investigating a security breach that exposed the Social Security numbers of about 600 former students.

University officials say they are not aware of any criminal or inappropriate activity linked to the breach, which was discovered on Sept. 2.

Officials say a former student accessed the roster of names and Social Security numbers through a networking Web site for students previously enrolled in computer science classes.

Since being released from prison eight years ago, Kevin Mitnicks brushes with the law have consisted of a few parking tickets and a citation for driving without a front license plate--that is, until he returned from a trip to Colombia two weeks ago.

After landing at the Atlanta airport for a security conference, Mitnick was detained for four hours for reasons still not fully explained. To make matters worse, while customs officials in Atlanta were busy inspecting his cell phone, laptop, and luggage, police in Bogota were ripping open a package he had mailed to his U.S. address on suspicion that it contained cocaine.

Web surfers can feel more secure about their clicks and Web purchases now that three of the nations four largest Internet service providers have pledged to stop tracking users behavior unless given permission by the user.


AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable officials testified Thursday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that they would not deliver ads based on consumer Web surfing.

Amid an economic crisis, Congress found some time this week to address online threats to children.


The Protect Our Children Act, introduced by Sen. Joe Biden, made it through the Senate on Thursday. Separate bills authored by Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton were folded into the legislation, which authorizes more than $320 million for the Justice Department over the next five years for, among other things, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The bill would affect how Internet companies report online child pornography to authorities, and it approves funds for law enforcement to focus on online child exploitation.

A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc software, used to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet, is giving users free access to record and copy from Amazon.com video streaming service.


The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge Web audience.

The bevy of personal information on the internet is making the use of personal security questions a far less effective protection method, according to one expert.


Gary Warner, director of computer forensics research at the University of Alabama, Birmingham outlined the new risks which had surfaced in the aftermath of the Sarah Palin e-mail attack.

Warner said in a blog posting that the attack shows just how simple it can be to obtain information to foil the personal information questions used by many web services.

State public higher education officials will consider whether to implement proposed safety and security measures at each of the 29 public campuses beginning this fall.

In a report released earlier this year by the Department of Education, the agency called for its colleges and the University of Massachusetts to respond to the potential of serious violence on public school campuses.

Though tragedies like the campus shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University are rare - 13 incidents since 1990 - bolstering campus security is needed for more prevalent crimes, such as sexual assaults and other violence, according to the department's report.

An al Qaeda video marking the anniversary of the September 11 attacks has appeared on the Internet more than a week late due to technical problems.


The delay of the much-touted 87-minute video, caused in part by the main Islamist websites crashing, has thwarted al Qaedas yearly celebration of its attacks on U.S. cities in 2001.

Parts of the video -- a compilation of documentary footage and messages by al Qaeda leaders -- were aired on September 8 by Al Jazeera television, which did not say how it obtained it.

But the full version hit websites on Friday, eight days after the anniversary.

Cybercriminals are getting more and more business-like. The latest examples involve a tool that automates the creation of fake YouTube Web sites that can be used to deliver malware and password-cracking services for sale.


Panda Security said it has uncovered a tool circulating in underground hacking forums, dubbed YTFakeCreator, that enables anyone to easily create a fake YouTube page that surreptitiously installs a Trojan, virus, or adware on a visitor's computer, said Ryan Sherstobitoff, chief corporate evangelist of Panda Security.

A brokerage firm has agreed to pay a $275,000 fine following a series of alleged online hacking incidents into customer accounts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that LPL Financial Services failed to protect its customers personal information, leaving at least 10,000 clients vulnerable to identity theft.

The company, which has headquarters in Boston, Charlotte, N.C., and San Diego, will pay the fine without admitting or denying the allegations.
An SEC order against the firm claims hackers accessed customers' accounts between July 2007 and early 2008, and attempted to place more than 200 unauthorized trades worth more than $700,000.

Countrywide Financial Corp. is notifying mortgage holders of a possible security breach that could compromise the privacy of customer information.

The FBI arrested a former Countrywide employee in August, accusing him of selling personal and financial data belonging to the lenders customers.

The FBI contends Rene Rebollo Jr., 36, of Pasadena sold consumer data for as much as $70,000.

Google was keeping mum about a three-day-old security fix to its Chrome browser, but now the company has revealed details of two critical-risk vulnerabilities and some lesser issues it says are fixed.

The critical patches relate to buffer overrun vulnerabilities that could have let a remote attacker execute arbitrary software on a Chrome users computer, said Mark Larson, a Google Chrome program manager, in a mailing list posting Monday afternoon. The first patch fixed a vulnerability in handling long file names, called the SaveAs vulnerability, and the second a vulnerability in dealing with the Web site addresses displayed in Chromes status area when the user hovers over a link.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs often repeat the same mistakes. If you are an entrepreneur, the following is a list of critical mistakes to avoid in your new venture:

1. Promising The World
Entrepreneurs will commonly make bold promises that are often impossible to actually deliver. It is important that you stay grounded in reality, and only agree to things that you know you can actually deliver.

2. Lack Of Discipline
Owning a business takes commitment and self-discipline. Since you are "the boss" you probably won't be disciplined for things like not showing up for work on time... but such things will have a negative impact on your business. It is important that entrepreneurs treat their business just like a real business, and not like a personal hobby. Act professional, charge for your services, and be accountable for the product or service provided. Self-discipline is critical to being self-employed.

Business Mistakes to Avoid

There have been a whole bunch of new security logos:



All the security logos come in a wide variety of formats .gif, .jpg, .tif, .png, .bmp all for only $ 9.99

Can, and will, the next generation of politicians exploit the communication mediums available to them? Will the new communication mediums have the power to influence public opinion? Will politicians be the victims of technology, or will they use it to their benefit? Will one party benefit from the use of the technology more than another? All reasonable questions, considering the role technology plays in today's society.

The staggering distribution numbers, through channels like iTunes, YouTube, or podcasting websites, indicate that technology could play a critical role in the upcoming elections. Technology could be the deciding factor in the 2008 US Presidential race, and while distribution has never before been as accessible as it is to todays politicians and political candidates, politicians have far less control over the news and media than their counterparts in previous years.

The curious need not look any further than YouTube to find the latest political constituents being haunted by their own words and dogged by their past missteps. Todays politicians have far less control of the news media and messages associated with their candidacy.

The Internet and technology is positioned to play a huge role in elections. Politics and Technology.

If you are presenting at a security conference or need material for an educational presentation on security check out these Security PowerPoint Templates. Each theme includes 18 slides and the templates work with any version of PowerPoint.

We found this new website focussed on Preparing for Emergencies.

As Hurricane Gustav approached the southern Louisiana coastline last weekend, an estimated 10,000 hospital, nursing home and home-based special needs patients were moved by plane, helicopter, bus, car, ambulance and train to areas farther north. Local, state and federal officials coordinated with each other and with private groups to accomplish the evacuation. It was the largest pre-storm medical evacuation in American history.

But when anticipated safe harbors such as Baton Rouge were hit harder than New Orleans, all that planning hit a snag. Dozens of hospitals and nursing homes lost power and are still being partially or fully evacuated. Some patients found themselves being transferred twice.

9-11-2001
Never Forget

Police in San Francisco is strengthening security in a downtown district, where a surge of violence has left at least six dead in the past two weeks.
More uniformed and plainclothes officers will be deployed in downtown San Francisco's Mission District, especially in areas where drugs are sold and gang members are known to gather, police chief Heather Fong said Friday.

Vietnamese security company Bach Khoa Internet Security (BKIS) has found a flaw in Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 and posted details on its Web site. The company says the problem is a critical buffer-overflow vulnerability that could allow a hacker to perform a remote attack and take complete control of the affected system.

Airport officials and federal authorities said Thursday that they have tightened security at Los Angeles International Airport because of the recent arrest of an elevator mechanic suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States.

Officials for LAX and U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the measures included security adjustments at the federal inspection area inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

This handbook has been designed to help you prepare your family and your home for the potentially devastating effects of a hurricane or tropical storm.

By planning ahead you can minimize the dangers of these storms. By planning now you also reduce the discomforts of recovery and the time required to return your life to normal.

Prepare for Hurricanes

A father has told how he installed spy software on his 15-year-old daughters computer to find out her ice hockey coach was having sex with her.

Nicholas Lovell, 38, from Guildford, Surrey, was convicted of five counts of sexual activity with a child and jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Barclays has become the first UK bank to offer all its two million online banking customers free internet security software covering not only anti-virus software but also spyware, adware, firewalls, parental controls and spam filters.

The offer is available to all Barclays customers who sign up for its online banking .

Mercedes-Benz China has decided to recall vehicles that might be given incorrect software calibration number (SCN) coding in recent visit to workshops.
The error could cause various problems in different automobile models. It might disable fuel pumps reaction to car crash, when it was designed to cut off fuel supply. Other problems include ineffective speed limit and fuel meter mistakes.

A forensic science graduate and her father caught his terminally ill mothers care assistant stealing by putting a camera in a teddy bear's eye.
Robert Sampson, 46, and Emma, 21, fixed the tiny camera in the Liverpool home of his mother Thelma Sampson, 75.

The Ministry of Defence today announced the winners of its Grand Challenge, a contest to identify promising battlefield robot technologies.

The contest began in 2006, with a shortlist of seven contestants battling it out 16-18 August.

The final phase included sniffing out a range of threats placed in a mock battle theatre.

Saturn, the winner, included integrated ground and aerial robots with visual, thermal, and radar sensors.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has blamed a private contractor for losing the details of thousands of criminals, held on a computer memory stick.
Ms Smith said the government had held the data securely but PA Consulting appeared to have downloaded it, contrary to the rules of its contract.

One of the biggest risks of shopping online is clicking on a link to what appears to be a legitimate site that turns out to be a forgery run by criminals interested in your credit-card number. An estimated $3.2 billion was lost to such phishing sites in the U.S. last year, according to a survey by Gartner Inc.

Watching for fraudulent sites is the crucial first step in a secure online-shopping experience. The key in most cases is to type in the Web sites address independently, and not to follow links sent in e-mails, as those often can be malicious spam sent by the creators of the bogus sites.

Most Web browsers will alert you when you are navigating to known phishing sites or those serving up viruses, but the key word there is known. Many harmful sites are set up and dismantled within 24 hours, so it's often a cat-and-mouse game to identify and block them before the criminals have a chance to inflict too much damage.

Three defendants pleaded guilty today to selling counterfeit computer software on the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Johnny Sutton and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent-in-Charge in San Antonio Jerry Robinette announced.

Thomas C. Rushing III, 24, of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Brian C. Rue, 29, of Denton, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal copyright infringement before U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks in Austin, Texas. William Lance Partridge, 24, of Royse City, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew W. Austin, in Austin. Rushing, Rue and Partridge each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Sentencing for all three defendants is scheduled for Dec. 19, 2008.

The federal government is telling emergency managers to be on the lookout for fake emergency and commercial vehicles, as security tightens in the two cities hosting this years presidential conventions.

Terrorists could used these cloned vehicles to conduct surveillance or to carry out an attack, according to an Aug. 21 bulletin from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Just over a week ago, security researcher Mike Perry presented information at the DEFCON security conference about a vulnerability that affects many SSL-secured Web sites, including Amazon, Facebook, Gmail, addons.mozilla.org, most Drupal sites, and many online merchants and banks.

The attack works something like this: As Perry explained at DEFCON, a Gmail user might login to Gmail using the ostensibly secure URL. If subsequently surfing CNN.com, for example, via an open wireless connection, an attacker could inject a Gmail image URL and prompt the users browser to transmit an unprotected Gmail GX cookie in conjunction with the image fetch operation. The attacker could then sniff the unprotected cookie and later use that file to access the victims Gmail account.

A hacker broke into a Homeland Security Department telephone system over the weekend and racked up about $12,000 in calls to the Middle East and Asia.

The hacker made more than 400 calls on a Federal Emergency Management Agency voicemail system in Emmitsburg, Md., on Saturday and Sunday, according to FEMA spokesman Tom Olshanski.

At least eight American blogger-activists and several other foreigners have been detained in Beijing as the government intensifies a crackdown on pro-Tibetan protests in the home stretch of the Olympics, rights groups said on Wednesday.


Students for a Free Tibet earlier said authorities detained five self-styled citizen journalists who were in Beijing to promote Tibetan freedom on Tuesday. The New York-based group said activist-artist James Powderly had also been nabbed.

The Defense Department has further tightened the rules for its almost 6,000 armed security contractors in Iraq, a move that appears to shift more risk to hired guards and is intended to avoid shooting incidents that could jeopardize U.S.-Iraqi relations.

The issue is crucial to negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq over the continued presence of American forces in the country. The Pentagon relies on security contractors to augment U.S. forces in Iraq, assigning them roles that range from protecting supply convoys to manning checkpoints.

The poll show that a majority of Americans thought McCain would be better than Barack in handling the Georgian situation. Even a large minority of Dems thought McCain would be better.

A federal judge Tuesday lifted a gag order on three MIT students who were barred from talking publicly about security flaws they discovered in the state' automated mass transit fare system, even as a lawyer for the agency acknowledged the system was compromised.

U.S. District Judge George OToole Jr. rejected a request by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to impose a five-month injunction blocking the students from revealing anything about the security system. OToole also dissolved a temporary restraining order that had prohibited the students from speaking about their findings this month at DefCon, an annual computer hackers convention in Las Vegas.

The MBTA plans to continue with its lawsuit against MIT and the three students, who are all undergraduates and did not attend the hearing Tuesday. The MBTA claims the students violated the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.

Russia has rejected a draft resolution circulated at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate withdrawal of its forces from Georgia, which Moscow said goes against the terms of a previous cease fire agreement.

Russia has insisted its forces began leaving Georgian territory on Tuesday, following a cessation of fierce fighting that started on Aug. 7. But Moscow said any UN declaration should include the initial six-point plan brokered by France last week.

Georgian officials have accused Moscow of ignoring its obligations under a French-brokered agreement that both sides withdraw to positions held before fighting began 11 days ago when Georgian forces moved to retake control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

With the economy in a questionable state, everyone is looking for a good deal. Savvy business owners have jumped at the opportunity to carve out a niche for themselves in the struggling economy. Coupon and Deal-Of-The-Day websites have become extremely popular. Everyone is getting into the action, from large conglomerate websites to small specialty shops, and many now have some sort of Deal-Of-The-Day special where an item is offered at a significant discount for a specified and limited period of time. While the Deal-Of-The-Day websites were originally designed to capture impulse purchasers, many financially-conscious penny-pinching shoppers are now monitoring these sites regularly, in search of good deals on products they might need.

Everybody loves a bargain! Where should you look for a bargain?

Deal of the Day Websites

Experts are encouraging those that visit China to encrypt their data. A computer security expert said that visitors to Beijing also needed to protect their data from prying eyes.

People who are going to China should take a clean computer, one with no data at all, said Phil Dunkelberger, chief executive of security software firm PGP Corp.

Staying ahead of the competition can be an on-going struggle. While it is not healthy for a company to focus too much time and attention on the competition, it is important to stay abreast of what your competition is doing. When evaluating the competition, assess the industry giants and companies closest to your space. But be sure that you don't exclude the small companies in your assessments. Sometimes a small competitor can have innovative ideas or marketing concepts, but may lack the capital to really benefit from the concept. This may present you with an opportunity.

When evaluating the competition pay attention to the following:

Tips to Stay Ahead of the Competition

The Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIFC) announced that its anti-censorship software tools are ready to help journalists and tourists during the Olympics, to circumvent Chinas Internet blockade.

The software, which is available free of charge, can be downloaded onto a hard drive or USB drive to safely and effectively overcome the Internet censorship in China.

U.S. lawmakers are questioning the biggest U.S. Internet companies about whether they track their customers visits online and use the information to tailor Internet advertisements for them.


Senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to broadband Internet providers and other online companies on Friday, asking whether they have tailored, or facilitated the tailoring of, Internet advertising based on consumers Internet search, surfing, or other use.

Security news dominated last week, and that will undoubtedly be the case this week as well, with the Black Hat and Defcon conferences under way in Las Vegas.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge made no deal with Beijing Olympic organisers over Internet censorship, a senior IOC official said.
Kevan Gosper, an IOC executive board member, said he had been personally assured in a meeting with Rogge that no deal to block controversial websites had ever been agreed.

This is a new website with all types of PowerPoint templates, there is even a section on PowerPoint Security Templates. Individual templates are available for $19.95 or a 90 day subscription for all PowerPoint templates can be purchased. The PowerPoint Templates can be used with any version of Microsoft PowerPoint.

The Homeland Security Department will soon tell its employees to review security and emergency plans as the country enters into a period of heightened alert lasting until next summer because of the Olympics and U.S. presidential election.

China has installed Internet-spying equipment in all the major hotel chains serving the 2008 Summer Olympics, Sen. Sam Brownback charged Tuesday.

Brownback, citing hotel documents he received, said journalists, athletes families and others attending the Olympics next month will be subjected to invasive intelligence-gathering by China's Public Security Bureau.

One document said, In order to ensure the smooth opening of Olympic in Beijing and the Expo in Shanghai in 2010, safeguard the security of Internet network and the information thereon in the hotels . . . it is required that your company install and run the Security Management System.

Tourists visiting Beijing Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 violent crackdown on student demonstrators, will have to pass through a security check, a government official said Wednesday.

The boost in security checks at the iconic square comes as more visitors arrive for the Olympic Games, said Jia Yingting, deputy director of the Tiananmen Square management committee. His comments were from a transcript of a news conference posted on the Web site of the Beijing International Media Center.

Security researchers should stop publishing vulnerabilities in the traditional way because cyber-criminals are using the code to generate zero-day exploits at record speeds, says a recent report.

The chain of command of a cybercrime gang is not unlike the Mafia, an evolution that shows how online crime is becoming a broad, well-organized endeavor.


The latest research from Web security company Finjan, outlines a pyramid of hackers, data sellers, managers and malicious programmers, all working in a fluid management structure in order to profit from cybercrime.

Domain Name System, or DNS, administrators around the world are racing to patch their systems for a critical flaw that could leave millions at risk. Although the technology for a more secure DNS has been available for years, it has not yet been widely deployed.

DNSSEC or DNS Security Extensions provides a form of signed verification for DNS information, which is intended to assure DNS authenticity.

Google has given its application security assessment tool that it uses internally its independence. It has made Ratproxy open source code to help developers of Web applications assess their codes security profile.

Ratproxy was developed by Google security expert Michl Zalewski, who will continue to help maintain it. In a July 1 blog posting, Zalewski said Google had made Ratproxy available for free   as an open source code . Unlike some security tools that determine the security of an application by firing test penetrations, Ratproxy operates passively, inspecting the application for security exposures.

Despite being one of the nations core intelligence agencies assigned to protect the country from terror attacks and intelligence breaches, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has not done an adequate job of securing itself, according to a new Senate report. The report, part of the 2009 appropriations bill, says that FBI Headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington DC, lacks adequate security features as well as criteria for handling the massive loads of classified and sensitive material.

Businesses, governments and universities reported a 69 percent increase in data breaches in the first half of 2008 compared with a similar period in 2007, according to a study by a non-profit fraud-prevention group.

The Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego tracked 342 data-breach reports from Jan. 1 to June 27 that involved almost 17 million consumer records. More than one-third of the reports came from businesses in the first half of this year, a 27 percent increase over total breaches in 2007.

The Coast Guard just rolled out the most sophisticated ship it has ever commissioned, packed with new technology to help in the hunt for drug smugglers and terrorists.

The cutter Bertholf — 418 feet from stem to stern — is set to patrol the Pacific from California to Ecuador — a patch of ocean as large as the United States.

China plans to use unmanned security drones to patrol the skies over the Olympic sailing venue of Qingdao, state media reported Friday.

The drones were tested for the first time during a drill Wednesday in Jinan, the capital of eastern Shandong province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. They are intended to scout out suspicious activity and transmit photos and videos back to a command station.

Website usability is more than just a good navigational structure. A large number of people have visual or hearing disabilities, so you should design your website in ways that allow those with either minor or significant impairments to view and navigate your web content.

Taking Website Usability to the Next Level

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Small businesses and entrepreneurs often repeat the same mistakes. If you are an entrepreneur, the following is a list of critical mistakes to avoid in your new venture:

Business Mistakes to Avoid

The Red Sox and Major League Baseball have dispatched security teams to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the next three days due to a recent threat made against the clubs players.

According to sources, the Sox recently received a mailed threat, believed to be postmarked in Memphis, Tenn., which targeted black and Latin players, citing at least two by name. The named players have been informed about the threats and will likely have security accompaniment away from Tropicana Field, including at the teams hotel in St. Petersburg.

Thousands of security personnel checked Beijing subway passengers for explosives and other banned items on Sunday, the first day of a three-month campaign to guarantee Olympic security, state media said.

China has said terrorism is the biggest threat to the Olympic Games opening on Aug. 8, and has introduced a flurry of measures in recent months to boost security.

With the economy in a questionable state, everyone is looking for a good deal. Savvy business owners have jumped at the opportunity to carve out a niche for themselves in the struggling economy. Coupon and Deal-Of-The-Day websites have become extremely popular. Everyone is getting into the action, from large conglomerate websites to small specialty shops, and many now have some sort of Deal-Of-The-Day special where an item is offered at a significant discount for a specified and limited period of time. While the Deal-Of-The-Day websites were originally designed to capture impulse purchasers, many financially-conscious penny-pinching shoppers are now monitoring these sites regularly, in search of good deals on products they might need.

Everybody loves a bargain! Where should you look for a bargain?

Be sure to check out the new Software Deal of the Day Website.

Although a large Internet service provider has backed away from technology that tracks subscribers Web use in order to deliver personalized advertising, two other broadband companies said Wednesday they are still considering whether to deploy it.

The largest U.S. Internet provider that had been actively looking at Web tracking, Charter Communications Inc., announced Tuesday that it had canceled its planned test because customers had raised concerns.

The technology gathers data on the interests of Web surfers by looking at the sites they visit. It passes the information to online advertising companies, without revealing a surfer's identity, so they can display more relevant ads on Web sites. For instance, a surfer who visits sites about dogs might see more banner ads for dog food.

Five of the biggest names in the technology industry have teamed up for a new security initiative.

Known as the Industry Consortium for Advancement of Security on the Internet (ICASI), the group will examine ways in which multiple companies can respond to a single security threat.

Founding members of the nonprofit group include Cisco, Intel, IBM and Juniper Networks.

The aim of the project is to deal with security threats that may affect multiple companies. The group plans to seek out better ways to cooperate with one another and notify users in the event of an attack.

The United States and the European Union are moving toward agreement on sharing personal information on individuals for law enforcement and security purposes.
The agreement would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain information -- including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits -- about most people in Europe and the United States.

Web templates offer webmasters a great opportunity to minimize development time and get new sites on the web sooner rather than later. The structure of web templates allow webmasters to focus on the proprietary content development, and optimizing the website for search engines, rather than struggling with layout and graphics.

Why Use Web Templates

There are 2 educational sessions one about software protection another about online fraud at this years Software Industry Conference.

The Software Industry Conference is coming to Boston July 17th through 19th, 2008. This exciting event, now in its 18th year, will be held at the Boston Marriott Quincy in Quincy MA.

The Software Industry Conference features three days of informative sessions that cover a wide range of subjects of interest to software developers. There will be sessions on marketing, foreign markets, ecommerce, outsourcing development, copyrights and trademarks, and much more.

The Software Industry Conference provides lots of time to network with other attendees. Registration is only $249.00 for the 3 day conference!

Website usability is more than just a good navigational structure. A large number of people have visual or hearing disabilities, so you should design your website in ways that allow those with either minor or significant impairments to view and navigate your web content. The following tips will help expand your websites usability so that all users, regardless of their sensory perception and abilities, are able to take advantage of your web content...

Take Website Usability to the Next Level

Ex-White House security adviser Richard A. Clarke, who became a high-profile critic of the Bush administration, has resigned as chairman of a Massachusetts blank check company that netted $55 million in an initial public offering, but failed to make good on its plans to buy security firms.

Clarke and other key officials at Good Harbor Partners Acquisitions Corp. resigned on June 16, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this year, the company returned nearly all of the money it raised in a 2006 IPO after failing to buy any companies.

The race is on to get businesses and consumers to pay for security for their cellphone the way they do for their PCs.

Tech security companies see a lucrative emerging market for cellphone security products. Researcher IDC predicts businesses and consumers will spend $958 million by 2011, up from $214 million in 2006 spent mostly by corporations. Symantec, Kaspersky Lab, Trend Micro and others have stepped up consumer marketing of anti-virus subscriptions for mobile devices. Typical annual cost: about $30.

An Australian man has discovered security vulnerabilities in his Internet-connected coffee maker that could allow a remote attacker to not only take over his Windows XP-based PC but also make his coffee too weak.

Craig Wright, a risk advisory services manager at professional services firm BDO, found several security holes, including a buffer overflow in the Internet Connection software that links his Jura F90 coffee maker to his PC.

complete article

Many data thieves may not be so sophisticated after all, according to a study to be released today.

At a time when the theft of personal information is a growing problem for companies and consumers, the study by a consulting unit of Verizon Communications Inc. analyzed more than 500 data breaches since 2004 and found 87 percent could have been prevented with commonplace security practices.

Attackers could gain control of water treatment plants, natural gas pipelines and other critical utilities because of a vulnerability in the software that runs some of those facilities, security researchers reported Wednesday.

Experts with Boston-based Core Security Technologies, who discovered the deficiency and described it exclusively to The Associated Press before they issued a security advisory, said theres no evidence anyone else found or exploited the flaw.

Forget that warm and fuzzy slogan about reaching out and touching someone. The biggest U.S. telephone company is increasingly pitching its ability to keep the bad guys away.

Every day, all over the Internet, computers are bombarded with spam and malware, forcing corporate information technology staffs into constant battle, and often overwhelming home users.

But help is emerging from an unlikely source. Telecommunication carriers, who for years have passively transported voice and data communications, are offering to patrol their giant networks - for a price.

More than 4-million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients who do not have bank accounts now have the option of getting a prepaid MasterCard debit card with their benefits instead of a paper check. A pilot project in Illinois last year has been expanded to 10 Southern states, including Florida. Here's a look at it.

Software security breaches add up in recent headlines alone: $13 million in losses; 45.6 million credit cards stolen; recovery costs at $256 million dollars and mounting; and companies driven into bankruptcy or out of business. Financially motivated targeted attacks are becoming more prevalent, and new vulnerabilities continue to be reported, according to industry research firm Gartner.

Censorship practices by governments and other private actors are becoming more increasingly more sophisticated, and their effects are increasingly being felt globally.

A case in point, the YouTube incident in Pakistan was a recent example affecting both users and the DNS at a national and global level. Likely other incidents will occur in the near future. As such, I believe censorship should be considered as a threat to the stability and security of the DNS.

In the context of Internet governance discussions, I believe the issue should be raised both at ICANN and the Internet Governance forum. Do others agree?

The ease of accessing banking services after hours has seen a big jump in New Zealanders embracing online banking.

A Nielsen survey shows a 62 per cent jump in internet banking over the past three years. Telephone banking has also risen, up 13 per cent, while branch visits are down 23 per cent.

Printers and copiers could be the weak link in many corporate cyber defenses, the European Unions information security agency warned Tuesday.


The EU said companies are often unaware of the dangers posed by printers that are connected to the Internet, which can serve as conduits to penetrate networks or a window to stored documents.

The Federal Government kicked-off National E-security week today with the launch of a new security alert service for internet users and small businesses.

The National E-security Awareness Week is a Government initiative aimed at boosting awareness of e-security risks.

The alert service, announced today, is a free subscription-based service that provides vulnerability and threat information while advising users how to manage outbreaks.

Canadian farm-input retailers are looking for government financial help in upgrading security at their facilities to prevent fertilizer from falling into the hands of terrorists and makers of illegal drugs.

The Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers said Friday that its members and Canadian farmers will soon find themselves at an even greater competitive disadvantage compared to their American counterparts, as the new U.S. federal farm bill includes tax credits and grants to enhance security of crop nutrients, herbicides and pesticides.

The association notes that fertilizers have been used for sinister purposes by criminal and terrorist elements, notably in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 which killed 168 people and injured more than 800. Anhydrous ammonia is also used in making methamphetamine.

Airport security has been taken to a whole new level at Denver International Airport with a new passenger imaging technology that gives security officials a snapshot of what's underneath passengers clothes, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced.

TSA started testing the new system -- that scans the body for weapons and explosives -- at DIA security checkpoints Friday.

DIA is the sixth airport in the nation to implement the technology which will be used randomly on passengers traveling through security.

A low-level TJX employee has lost his job for speaking in public about information security problems he uncovered while working for the company.

The employee, Nick Benson, is a University of Kansas student who worked at T.J. Maxx Pine Ridge Plaza store in Lawrence, Kansas. In an e-mail interview, he said he was fired Wednesday for violating corporate policy by disclosing proprietary information.

Muslim gangs are threatening to take control of one of Britain's top security prisons where inmates include Al-Qaeda terrorists, a report reveals. Staff at Whitemoor jail, Cambs, believe a serious incident is imminent as several wings become dominated by Muslim prisoners. There is an on-going theme of fear and instability among employees, says the Prison Services Directorate of High Security report. "There is much talk around the establishment about the Muslims,it says.

Some staff believe the situation has resulted in Muslim prisoners becoming more of a gang than a religious group. The sheer numbers, coupled with a lack of awareness among staff, appear to be engendering fear and handing control to the prisoners, the report says. The situation has become so bad that white prisoners are warned about the Muslim gangs by staff on arrival.

An anti-terrorist special team consisting of engineers and experts will shoulder the security work for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to the General Staff Headquarters of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).

The team from the PLAs engineering troop will be responsible for security checks, emergency rescues and anti-terrorist technology applications during the August Olympiad.

In addition, 10 engineering experts in anti-terrorist technology have been selected to provide technical support and information for the security troops during the Games.  

Olympic security has been the focus of the Chinese armys daily drills. Among them are activities preventing guns and explosives from nearing important targets, searching for and defusing explosives, rescuing victims stranded in damaged buildings and leading emergency evacuations, among others.

While schools in Lynn and across the country are fighting a war against Internet predators and bullying, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a breakthrough safety and security agreement with one of the Internets most successful Web sites this month.

Coakley, along with her 49 counterparts from across the country, reached an agreement with Facebook.com this month to better protect children from predators and inappropriate content on the Web site. As part of the agreement, Facebook.com will also participate in the Internet Safety Technical Task Force that was established under a similar agreement reached between Myspace.com and the attorneys general in January.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has been knocked off the Internet, thanks to a faulty server. However, website measurement company Netcraft said that the problem had now been fixed.

The website was temporarily unreachable because of a problem with the NSAs DNS servers, said Danny McPherson, chief research officer with Arbor Networks. DNS servers are used to translate things like the web addresses typed into machine-readable Internet Protocol addresses that computers use to find each other on the Internet. The agency's two authoritative DNS servers were unreachable last Thursday morning, McPherson said.

After attempting to work with Apple for several months on what it claims are serious security flaws in iCal, security firm Core Security Technologies (CST) published the flaws late on Wednesday. The company published notice of the bugs, and a log of contacts between Apple that debate the severity of the flaws and threaten publication unless Apple commits to a date for fixing the flaws

Use PageGate integrated with existing applications to notify IT staff on wireless devices about outages or system problems. Alerts can be sent to PageGate from network monitoring, HVAC or other systems. There is a free trial version of PageGate available and a step by step tutorial detailing how the software can be integrated to add another layer of notification.

While it may still be debatable whether all the major search engines currently employ a duplicate content penalty, all have made it abundantly clear that they do not have any desire to provide search results that rehash the same content over and over. Actively avoid any potential penalties by taking a proactive approach to building unique content.

Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties in Search

A 23-year-old Oregon man has pleaded guilty to charges that he used identity theft to set up bogus accounts on eBay, where he sold counterfeit software with a retail value of more than US$1 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said.


Jeremiah Joseph Mondello of Eugene, Oregon, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count each of criminal copyright infringement, aggravated identity theft and mail fraud before Judge Ann Aiken in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. He faces up to 27 years in prison and a fine of $500,000, the DOJ said.

Boston-based security firm Core Security has discovered a serious hole in the Suitelink software that is used to automate operations at power stations, oil refineries and production lines, according to a report in New Scientist.

Attackers exploiting the vulnerability could crash the software by transmitting an outsize packet data to a certain port on the computer running Suitelink, the article says.

Fortunately, Wonderware, the company that makes Suitelink, has issued a software patch for the vulnerability. Now it is up to the plants to update their software.

Major elements of the Bush administration's proposed $17 billion cyber security initiative have little to do with protecting government networks, and a lot to do with spying, according to a budget report released by the Senate Armed Services Committee this week.

The so-called National Cyber Security Initiative is also wrapped in unnecessary secrecy, and would spend billions on unproven, embryonic technology, and possibly illegal or ill-advised projects, according to the analysis -- which is part of a broad look at the proposed 2009 defense budget.

Workers in some subway stations in Olympic host city Beijing have started asking passengers carrying bottled drinks to take a swig to prove they are not carrying banned liquids like petrol, local media reported on Friday.

China last year said terrorist attacks posed the biggest threat to the Games and has intensified security measures at airports, train and subway stations after the government said a flight crew foiled an attempt to blow up a plane over the countrys restive northwest region of Xinjiang in March.

Subway workers were asking passengers to take a drink if security equipment was unable to detect the content of the fluids in their bottles, the Beijing News said.

Spanish police have arrested five hackers they describe as being among the most active on the internet.

The hackers, who include two 16-year-olds, are accused of disrupting government websites in the United States, Asia and Latin America.

Police say they co-ordinated attacks over the internet and hacked into 21,000 web pages over two years.

This cyberbullying case could have significant implications:

A Missouri woman who allegedly used a fake MySpace profile to bully a girl who later committed suicide has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury.

Lori Drew, 49, allegedly posed as a boy on the website to befriend Megan Meier, 13, who hanged herself after he broke off the virtual relationship.

Al Qaeda and other radical groups have dramatically increased their use of the Internet in recent years to lure and train recruits worldwide, a U.S. Senate report warned on Thursday.

The report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee found that these groups run production houses and distribution centers that digitally send anti-American messages to thousands of Web sites around the globe.

Top US state attorneys announced Thursday that Facebook has agreed to get tougher on keeping its young website users safe from bullies, porn, pedophiles and other online hazards.

Facebook has agreed to a child protection pact similar to the one sealed with leading social-networking website MySpace in January, according to Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal.

A TorrentSpy lawyer vowed Thursday to appeal a 110-million-dollar legal judgment against the website for directing people to unauthorized online copies of films and television shows.


Valence Media shut down its TorrentSpy website in March and filed for bankruptcy last week in the face of a lawsuit brought against it by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Police officers practice their firearm skills on a shooting range, so why should government computer security experts not have the same kind of training ground?

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, on Monday issued a call for research proposals to develop the National Cyber Range, or NCR, a virtual network environment for cyberwar simulation.

software dealer who Microsoft charged with engaging in the sale of pirated software is vowing to fight back. Next week he plans to file a complaint with the European Commission alleging abuse of power and anti-trust violations.

Microsoft this past Monday filed a legal complaint against Samir Abdalla, an entrepreneur from The Netherlands, claiming that he illegally sold software in the U.S. that was intended for educational markets outside the United States. He is alleged to have made US$3.6 million from the business. The suit was filed in Los Angeles, together with seven complaints against other software dealers from Canada, Egypt and the U.S.

The software maker is asking for damages as well as an injunction that prevents Abdalla from importing software that is intended for students.

Internet security experts say the Web has become so overrun with identity thieves that users have no way of knowing which sites are safe.

The San Francisco Chronicle said last Wednesday that even the largest and most-familiar destinations are vulnerable to thieves who swipe identification numbers, business e-mails and medical records.

The Internet Archive revealed Wednesday that the FBI dropped an effort to secretly obtain information about the online activities of one of the digital librarys users.
The Archive revealed that it had been served a National Security Letter by the FBI last year about one of its patrons. The San Francisco-based nonprofit organization prevailed after enlisting the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

U.S. senator accused the Chinese government on Thursday of ordering U.S.-owned hotels in China to install Internet filters that can spy on international visitors coming to see the summer Olympic games.


Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, made the charge at a Capitol Hill news conference where he and other lawmakers denounced Chinas record of human rights abuses and urged President Bush not to attend the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing.

Even criminal hackers want to protect their intellectual property, and they have come up with a method akin to copyrighting — with an appropriate dash of Internet thuggery thrown in.


Professional virus writers are now selling a suite of software on the Internet with an unusual attachment: a detailed licensing agreement that promises penalties for redistributing the malicious code without permission.

A Woodbury, Connecticut, man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for operating Web sites where users could download unauthorized copies of movies, music and software titles, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

David M. Fish, 26, was sentenced Monday on criminal copyright infringement and circumvention charges in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, the DOJ announced late Tuesday.

Pack up the image of the lone hacker. Internet crime is highly organized -- outsourcing complex work and using sophisticated pricing, like bulk discounts for stolen credit cards.

What should be particularly worrisome to legitimate businesses is a shift in tactics. Rather than targeting computer networks, which have strengthened defenses considerably, Internet criminals now try to get to individual computers and customers of Internet services and sites with Web-based attacks. One reason: Few Web sites address their vulnerabilities, and the few that do, react slowly.

Microsoft Corp. denied the recent incident, in which more than half a million websites were hacked, was caused by vulnerabilities in its Web and SQL Server software, according to U.S. media reports Monday.

Earlier last week, more than 500,000 websites, including several hosted by the United Nations and the UK government, were hacked and modified in order to download malware to visitors computers, according to Finnish anti-virus maker F-Secure, which caused numerous governmental and commercial Web pages were shut down. Security researchers said those websites were hacked by SQL injection attacks.

A dangerous flaw in Hewlett-Packard Software Update, a tool that automatically updates HP software and drivers, could be exploited by an attacker to read sensitive information or gain access to a system.

The tools contain several ActiveX flaws that could be exploited by tricking Internet Explorer users into visiting a malicious website.

Chinese police have seized $750 million worth of pirated computer software and broken up a piracy ring in southern China, state media said as Beijing vows to crack down on a problem which has soured trade ties.

The Internet is slowly inching closer to ratcheting up the security of its Domain Name System (DNS) server architecture: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) plans to go operational with the secure DNS technology, DNSSEC, later this year in one of its domains.

ICANN officials said the organization plans to add DNSSEC to its .arpa Internet domain servers, and that the .org domain servers (run by PIR) as well as the .uk servers also will go DNSSEC soon. Country domains .swe (Sweden), .br (Brazil), and .bg (Bulgaria ) already run the secure version of DNS for their domain servers.

DNSSEC, which stands for DNS Security Extensions, digitally signs DNS records so that DNS responses are validated as legitimate and not hacked or tampered with.

By some measures, China has tied the United States as the online population leader with its government reporting that the number of Internet users there has soared to 221 million.

U.S. company Raytheon announced last week that it bought the software security company SI Government Solutions.

SI Government Solutions has been a major supplier software security expertise to U.S. intelligence agencies. The amount Raytheon paid for the company was not revealed.

Chinese police have seized $750 million worth of pirated computer software and broken up a piracy ring in southern China, state media said as Beijing vows to crack down on a problem which has soured trade ties.

Google engineers have adapted a software program to help track child sex predators and search for patterns in images of abuse on the web.

Google has created the technology for the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

It was originally developed to block copyrighted videos on the company's YouTube division.

The program uses pattern recognition to enable analysts to sort and identify files containing child sex abuse.

Google says its aim in teaming up with the centres Technology Coalition Against Child Pornography is to develop solutions that would make it harder for people to use the web to exploit children or traffic in child pornography.

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Web payment firm Paypal has said it will block unsafe browsers from using its service as part of wider anti-phishing efforts. Customers will first be warned that a browser is unsafe but could then be blocked if they continue using it.

Paypal said it was an alarming fact that there is a significant set of users who use very old and vulnerable browsers such as Internet Explorer 4.

Web designers making very old mistakes are letting malicious hackers hijack visitors to their sites, say experts.
Many of the loopholes left in the code created for websites have been known about for almost a decade say the security researchers.

The poor practices are proving very attractive to hi-tech criminals looking for a ready source of victims.

According to Symantec the number of sites vulnerable in this way almost doubled during the last half of 2007.

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Despite all the antivirus software, all the extra security features in your computers operating system and all the government regulations intended to make the Internet a safer place, your personal computer and your personal data are as threatened as ever.

Cybercrooks Winning Web

Performing and perfecting search engine results can save web surfers lots of time and energy. Understanding the nuances of searching allows researchers to immediately drill down and locate the information they are seeking, without having to wade through a myriad of irrelevant search results in the process. The increasing complexity of search engines has made understanding search engines a necessity for those who spend any amount of time online. The following search tips are standards that will work in most of the major search engines.

Performing Better Searches

HTML Web templates for security firms and online security consultants. This website has a number of web templates specifically for security firms.

While it may still be debatable whether all the major search engines currently employ a duplicate content penalty, all have made it abundantly clear that they do not have any desire to provide search results that rehash the same content over and over. Actively avoid any potential penalties by taking a proactive approach to building unique content.

Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties

Shifting to a hosted software model can cut IT costs and ease administration and upgrades, but managers must prepare users for its significant effect on work processes and job roles, said CIOs sitting on a panel at Computerworld USs recent SaaSCon conference.

Lane said IT managers should hammer prospective hosted software providers with questions about their security tools, datacentre location, backup and recovery capabilities, and how the hosting facility is set up to deal with unexpected outages. He also suggested that the audience look closely at the vendor's service level guarantees.

The former Manhattan hospital employee accused of stealing the records of nearly 50,000 patients sold the information, prosecutors said Saturday.
Dwight McPherson, 38, used his position in the admissions department at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell to obtain lists of patient names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers over a two-year period, according to a complaint filed yesterday.

He confessed to his role in the identity theft scheme when he was arrested Friday night, the complaint says.

The last time a pope visited the United States in 1999, an audiotape of an Islamic extremist that accused the pontiff of leading a crusade against Muslims would not likely have created a huge stir.

But that was before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, after which people worldwide became aware of the murderous threat of Osama bin Laden.

So the release last month of bin Laden's comments about Pope Benedict XVI probably heightened further the awareness of those assigned to protect the pope during his six-day visit to Washington and New York that begins Tuesday, a former Secret Service agent said.

They wear bright blue tracksuits, and Beijing Olympic organizers call them flame attendants. But a military bearing hints at their true pedigree: paramilitary police sent by Beijing to guard the Olympic flame during its journey around the world.

Torchbearers have criticized the security detail for aggressive behavior, and a top London Olympics official simply called them thugs.

They were barking orders at me, like Run! Stop! This! That! and I was like, Oh my gosh, who are these people? former television host Konnie Huq told British Broadcasting Corp. radio about her encounter with the men in blue during Londons leg of the relay last week.

Beijing will have at least 94,000 security staff – but only 10,500 athletes. After the protests that greeted the torch relay, China is getting ready to put on the greatest show of security the world has ever seen. What used to be called the Olympics are likely this summer to become the Paramilitary Games. China is planning to deploy more than 94,000 security personnel at the Beijing celebration in August, which means that uniformed and plain-clothes operatives will outnumber the 10,500 athletes by nearly nine to one.

Nearly $250 million worth of individual losses from Internet fraud was reported by Americans to the FBI last year, the bureau said.

The figures were released by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the non-profit National White Collar Crime Center, in its seventh annual report on Internet crime this week.

The $239 million loss represents a 20 percent growth from fraud losses reported to the center in 2006, and officials say it represents just a fraction of the total costs of cybercrime to the U.S. economy.

Security has been increased at a Simpsonville middle school after a student was arrested and suspended for wearing a T-shirt with a noose and a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

Greenville television station WYFF says some students at Bryson Middle School stayed home yesterday. The students say they feared violence after the T-shirt worn by an eighth-grader angered both black and white students the day before.

The student lifted another shirt revealing the racist T-shirt in the lunchroom.

The student has been charged with disturbing school and recommended for expulsion.

Conventional wisdom is that security spending will be sheltered from economic volatility. But not according to a Goldman Sachs survey of 50 chief security officers.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he plans to meet with the U.S. Secret Service soon about getting body guards.

The Arizona senator, who has won enough delegates to win the partys nomination, has gone without Secret Service protection. However, agency Director Mark Sullivan testified publicly before Congress this week that McCain had no security detail, prompting the candidate to say perhaps the time has come, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.

Businesses are giving users greater freedom with corporate IT systems, according to a recent report, but many of those users lack the necessary security training.
The study, conducted by a consortium, led by PricewaterhouseCoopers, on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), found that firms are placing greater trust in their staff.

Seven out of eight firms now have information security policies in place according to newly released findings from the annual Information Security Breaches Survey (ISBS). Those policies are loosening controls over users.

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Warnings have been issued by a great many online security authorities that Flash has security flaws, yet the warnings have fallen upon deaf ears.

The problems are not with the new versions of Flash files, but with the slightly older ones, made with older authoring programs that were, are full of vulnerabilities. These files are vulnerable to XSS (Cross-site Scripting) attacks.

Shareware Promotions has posted a very important and revealing post about Google and how they want to use Google Analytics data and Adwords!  Anyone with half a brain should have seen this coming.

In fact I wrote a piece about this awhile back, here is an excerpt:

Google Analytics is free, no one can beat the price, but what is the real cost? The cost is your data. While not terribly important when analyzed alone, when aggregated with other information Google has access to, it could be damaging. Data mining has made the collection of data meaningful. It has become easier to find patterns and trends in large volumes of data.

While any of that information independent of other data, might be non-threatening or irrelevant to someone doing analysis, when combined with other data Google has access to, it can paint a very clear picture of how, not only individual companies are performing, but the aggregate data could possibly paint a picture of how entire business sectors or industries are performing.

If you are using Analytics consider yourself warned yet again!

Full Shareware Promotions Blog Post
Full Article Google As Big Brother

The security of the most widely used standard in the world for transmitting mobile phone calls is dangerously flawed, putting privacy and data at risk, two researchers warned at the Black Hat conference in Europe on Friday.

This year, identity thieves are not just trying to gain access to your bank account or to open lines of credit in your name. Scammers are on the prowl for ordinary citizens' identities that they can they can use in filing phony tax returns, and fraudulently claiming refunds, as well as swipe rebates, associated with the 2008 federal economic stimulus package.

The college gossip Web site JuicyCampus.com has criticized a consumer fraud investigation launched by the New Jersey attorney general.

JuicyCampus publishes anonymous, often malicious gossip about college students, with language ranging from catty to hateful and potentially offensive.

Last week the New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram subpoenaed the company as part of a fraud investigation.

Expensive legal battles have caused TorrentSpy, the search engine for the BitTorrent file-sharing service, to shut down.

TorrentSpy was a search engine that helped visitors find torrent files on the Web. Torrent files are often music or movie files stored in an easily shared file format. The search engine came under legal fire from the entertainment industry, which in general does not want licensed content to be distributed royalty-free.

People who use software to breach security measures on the Internet and purchase tickets for profit would be fined as much as $5,000 under a proposal advancing in the Legislature.

A security lapse made it possible for unwelcome strangers to peruse personal photos posted on Facebooks popular online hangout, circumventing a recent upgrade to the websites privacy controls.

The Associated Press verified the loophole Monday after receiving a tip from a Byron Ng, a Vancouver, Canada computer technician. Ng began looking for security weaknesses last week after Facebook unveiled more ways for 67 million members to restrict access to their personal profiles.

Steve Jobs is using Apple Software Update to slip his Safari browser onto Windows machines. And Mozilla CEO John Lilly is peeved.
Presumably, Lilly is peeved because Safari browsers on Windows machines would eat into the market share of Mozilla' very own Firefox browser. But Lilly says he is peeved for different reasons. He says he's peeved because Steve Jobs little Software Update trick undermines the security of the entire internet.

Unauthorized software that was secretly installed on servers in Hannafords supermarkets across the Northeast and in Florida enabled the massive data breach that compromised up to 4.2 million credit and debit cards, the company said.

New Security Web Templates have been added. If you need a new security website have a look at these easy to use HTML templates.

Backup Platinum is easy-to-use and powerful backup program designed for Microsoft Windows. Makes a reserve copy of your critical data to hard or USB drives, CD-R/W, DVD, FTP or LAN with 128-bit file encryption and ZIP compression. Can run in service mode under NT, 2000, XP, and 2003.

Backup Platinum is 40% off on Software Deal of the Day

MySpace said that it has launched a new public service announcement campaign focused on Internet safety. According to the social networking sites security head, Hemanshu Nigam, the firm is stepping up its safety education efforts to promote online safety awareness among parents, educators and teens. MySpaces outreach will include 10, 15, and 30 second video spots on Fox broadcast and cable networks, as well as efforts with nonprofit iKeepSafe for online flash tutorials aimed at parents.

Terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda network are increasingly turning to the Internet to spread propaganda against their enemies and convince sympathizers to join their cause.

Diane Russel Ong Junio, an analyst with the newly-launched Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, said that in the past couple of years, al-Qaeda-funded terrorists have increased the output of videos and other propaganda material on the Internet.

The Pentagon says the Street View feature in Google Maps can compromise military security. It has banned Google vehicles from entering any military installation after detailed images of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Tex., appeared on Google Maps.

We don't have any issues regarding Google and their products, which are very useful tools, said Gary Ross, a public-affairs officer for the U.S. Northern Command. But the Street View provides clear imagery of control points, barriers, headquarters and security facilities that pose a risk to our force-protection efforts.

Computer files with confidential data on about 5,000 employees at MTV Networks were breached by someone outside the company, the network told employees on last week.

MTV later said in a statement that the security breach occurred after an Internet connection in an employees computer was compromised.

PageGate integrates with many monitoring applications, to offer a level of notification. Alerts can be sent directly to cell phones or pagers, signaling individuals of any anomalies. Integration is typically done by passing messages to PageGate using commandline, or PageGate can poll a predetermined directory for messages.

A computer science student at the University of Virginia asserts that he has found a security flaw in the technology behind the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authoritys CharlieCard system.

German-born graduate student Karsten Nohl specializes in computer security. Nohl and two fellow security researchers in Germany say they have cracked the encryption scheme that protects the data on the card. The team warns that their breakthrough could be used to make counterfeit copies of the cards, which are used by commuters to pay for MBTA bus and subway rides.

The 2008 Software Industry Conference  will be in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Marriott Quincy from July 17-19, 2008.

The Software Industry Conference is a three day event, that culminates with the Shareware Industry Awards ceremony. There are also dozens of informative, educational breakout sessions covering a wide variety of topics. And if that is not enough there are three nights jam packed with plenty of time to mingle with other attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors including an Exhibit Night featuring the best software development products and services.

Attendee registration is only $199 if you register before April 1st!

Almost a year after the deadliest shooting on a college campus, Congress is still haggling over legislation that would provide federal dollars to colleges and universities to help pay for improved campus security.

Security is now a top priority at colleges across the nation after a student gunman at Virginia Tech University killed 31 students and a faculty member in April before shooting himself.

Advocates for safer campuses and improved security are frustrated that Congress has not acted to provide federal aid.

College Security

EBay is trying to help chief information security officers (CISOs) build a common front in the war against cybercrime


The company played host to chief security officers and a handful of technology vendors a few weeks ago, holding its annual Red Team security conference at the companies San Jose campus, billing it as a networking opportunity for security professionals where they could discuss areas of common concern.

A large organization decides that blogs cut productivity, provide misleading information and could compromise security. It discontinues access for its personnel, even though information is a key weapon in competition. The question is whether this is a smart policy for a large organization, especially the U.S. Air Force.


According to a report last week in Wired, the Air Force is eliminating access for its troops to virtually any site that uses the term blog. Sites are also being blocked because of a negative review of content by supervising personnel.

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This story presents five mistakes that companies commonly make when writing and implementing security policies. As simplistic as some of these errors sound, they happen often enough and cause heavy damage to companies bottom lines.

Company Security Mistakes

In a move intended to improve the security of its virtualization platform, VMware has provided ways for third-party security vendors to integrate their applications into the platform.

Basically, VMware has provided a set of application program interfaces (APIs) to such security companies as McAfee and Symantec. The APIs, collectively called VMsafe, give the security programs the access needed to monitor and protect the memory, CPU and disk operations, and systems of virtual machines set up with the VMware hypervisor.

AVG Technologies (formerly Grisoft) has released version 8.0 of its security suite, AVG Internet Security. The suite includes AVGs flagship antivirus product as well as spyware protection, personal firewall, antispam, and protection against malicious Web sites.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa is in line for up to $12 million over the next six years to co-manage a research center for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

UH Manoa was selected along with 10 other universities for five new Centers of Excellence. The centers will study such areas as border security, explosives detection, maritime and port security and natural disasters.

MyUSBOnly is a unique product that provides security for USB storage devices that are so prevalent nowadays in any environment. Technically, it acts as something similar to a firewall that monitors the USB ports for any storage device that is connected to the protected computer. The discount offer is only good for a limited time!

Since January, the Bush administration has committed to spending billions to keep the governments computer networks safe from cyber-spies and other malicious hackers. But to keep digital intruders away from sensitive government information, some worry the government will have to do some spying of its own--on the U.S. private sector.

The House Committee on Homeland Security plans to hold the first public hearing Thursday on Presidential Directive 54, a project that could cost as much as $30 billion over seven years as it expands cyber-monitoring of all federal agency networks. Many former officials believe that the plan will go further, extending government surveillance to private companies, such as military contractors, that possess sensitive government information.

Everyone who understands Internet Marketing will tell you to analyze your web logs... but what does that really mean? What particular things should you pay attention to when analyzing your web logs?

Web Log Analysis

Large collection of security related web templates for online security companies. Get a new look for your online security presence!

This years Software Industry Conference will be held July 17-19, 2008 in Boston Massachusetts. The conference attracts industry leaders, software companies, and MicroISVs.

European data privacy regulators confirmed Thursday that Internet search engines based outside Europe must also comply with EU rules on how a persons Internet address or search history is stored.

Lawmakers in the United States and elsewhere should not to try to censor Islamic extremists' use of the Internet, says a new report from a global think tank.

There is no censorship option, Greg Austin, vice president of the East West Institute, told United Press International. Trying to suppress anything (on the Internet) except direct operational use by terrorists is a mistake.

Austin said a careful distinction had to be drawn between extremist sites advocating violent ideologies or asserting the right to use violence in general and terrorist sites that call for or support specific terrorist attacks.

The report urges that, rather than try to close extremists sites, the private sector and religious and community groups should step up, countering extremists propaganda strategy with messages that promote peaceful dialogue and emphasize the human cost of extremist violence.

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These days computer security is very important due to extensive use of Internet. People who use shareware and freeware software and utilities need to be very sure about their computer's security. A firewall is a software package that keeps track of any internet traffic pieces that go in and out of your computer.

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The increasing use of the Internet by political campaigns presents hackers and spammers with growing opportunities for abuse, according to two Internet experts.
Oliver Friedrichs is director of emerging technologies for Symantec.

Oliver Friedrichs, director of emerging technologies for Symantec, a computer security firm, said he has seen attacks of only moderate severity but warns much more damage could be done.Those attacks include: phishing, or e-mails designed to look legitimate but which take respondents to fraudulent sites; adware, or ads that appear through pop-ups or banners on Web pages; and spyware, which secretly monitors computer users. Fraudulent Web sites and plain old lies are also used.

Microsoft Corp. says it will publish more information about how its products work, a move that will help competitors do a better job of building Microsoft-compatible software products. This is a major shift for Microsoft.

The SIIA created a list of titles most pirated by companies last year. They include:

Symantec Norton AntiVirus
Adobe Acrobat
Symantec pcAnywhere
Adobe Photoshop
Autodesk AutoCAD
Adobe Dreamweaver
Roxio Easy CD/DVD Creator
Roxio Toast Titanium
Ipswitch WS_FTP
Nero Ultra Edition

The most frequently pirated software titles on the Internet last year were:

McAfee VirusScan
Symantec Norton AntiVirus
McAfee Internet Security Suite
Intuit TurboTax
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Acrobat
Intuit Quicken Home and Business
Symantec Norton pcAnywhere
Symantec Norton Ghost
Adobe Creative Suite.

A pink MacBook, a computer repair shop, an internationally renowned actor, and eight female pop stars are at the center of what is being described as the biggest Internet sex scandal in China.

It all began last year, when Edison Chen, a star of Infernal Affairs--the movie that inspired Martin Scorseses The Departed, dropped off his custom pink MacBook at a repair shop. Then in late January, thousands of sexually explicit images began appearing on the Internet that showed Chen in rather compromising positions with eight of the regions most popular actresses and singers. Authorities say the images were illegally copied from the computer by repair technicians.

The best anti-virus software is not free. Here are some fee based options, though they are discounted for a limited time:

Norton Anti-Virus - http://www.software-dod.com/2nd-chance-norton-antivirus.htm

BitDefender Anti-Virus - http://www.software-dod.com/2nd-chance-bitdefender-antivirus.htm

Computer Associates Anti-Virus - http://www.software-dod.com/2nd-chance-ca-antivirus-spyware.htm

New York City prosecutors on last Tuesday endorsed the United States first proposed law to ban registered sex offenders from social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, officials said.

The district attorneys from all five of the citys boroughs announced their support for New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's proposal, which would ban thousands of the states sex offenders from communicating with minors online.

CA is seeking beta testers for the 2008 version of its Internet Security Suite Plus, its all-in-one application for protecting against viruses, phishing attacks, spyware, spam and other Web borne threats. The software bundles together CAs other products, including eTrust and the popular PestPatrol program (now known as CA Personal Firewall and CA Anti-Spyware, respectively).

Everyone who understands Internet Marketing will tell you to analyze your web logs... but what does that really mean? What particular things should you pay attention to when analyzing your web logs?

Web Log Analysis

Top 10 Viruses for 2007

According to AVG global security strategist Larry Bridwell, the 10 viruses exhibiting the most staying power in 2007 are:
W32/Detnat
W32/Netsky
W32/Mytob
W32/Bagle
W32/MyWife
W32/Virut
W32/Zafi
W32/MyDoom
W32/Lovegate
W32/Bagz

Business is taking off for a 20-year-old college student who founded an internet security company and the next big plug for his product will soon be here in the heart of Illinois.

Ricky Doyle says portcard.net does basic background checks for people who log onto social networking sites like myspace and facebook.
He says his site verifies the user by asking questions only they know the answers to.

Then it tags the users account on the social networking sites showing they've been approved by his company.

He says it helps increase safety on the internet- especially for teens.

The Web is scarier than most people realize, according to research published recently by Google.

The search engine giant trained its Web crawling software on billions of Web addresses over the past year looking for malicious pages that tried to attack their visitors. They found more than 3 million of them, meaning that about one in 1,000 Web pages is malicious, according to Neils Provos, a senior staff software engineer with Google.

Online auction giant eBay has been implicated in piracy lawsuits. The Software & Information Industry Association is suing several eBay sellers as part of its campaign to stop auctioning of pirated software.

The latest round of lawsuits marks the largest onslaught since SIIA launched its auction-site antipiracy program two years ago. It filed nine separate suits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of members Adobe Systems and Symantec.

Apple last Tuesday issued an update for iPhoto 08 that includes a security vulnerability fix.


iPhoto 08 7.1.2 addresses a flaw in iPhoto 08 version 7.1 that could have allowed an attacker to entice a victim into subscribing to a maliciously crafted photocast -- a sort of RSS feed for photos -- and then to execute malicious code on the victims system

In keeping with its mandate to gather intelligence, the CIA is watching YouTube.


U.S. spies, now under the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), are looking increasingly online for intelligence; they have become major consumers of social media.

A Michigan woman has been charged with using the Craigslist classified-advertisement Web site to find a killer for a romantic rival.

The job title? Freelance. The price? $5,000.

According to authorities, Ann Marie Linscott posted two ads in November and received at least three responses, apparently from people who thought the ad was for a freelance writing gig.

In e-mail exchanges, however, Linscott, 48, told the job seekers that she was looking for silent assassins to eradicate a 56-year-old Oroville, California, woman named Carol, according to an affidavit from the FBI agent investigating the case.

The Web site for Indian antivirus vendor AvSoft Technologies has been hacked and is being used to install malicious software on visitors computers, security researchers said last week.

complete article

Police in Spain have detained 76 people acrosss the country as part of what they described Sunday as their biggest-ever probe into Internet fraud.


The suspects defrauded their victions of over three million euros (four million US dollars), police said in a statement.

Direct Access is a powerful speed typing software to create global text templates, available in any application, and define your abbreviation list only once. You just type the abbreviation and Direct Access automatically expands it into the full phrase for you. With Direct Access, any piece of information is always available just by typing a few keystrokes.

FolderClone Pro lets you make an identical copy of a folder tree from one drive to another. It can be used to synchronize files between a desktop computer and a laptop, or replicate data between a workstation and a server. It can also be used to copy important files from your hard drive to another location. (ZIP drive, CD-RW, removable hard disk, network drives, local hard disk).

Create scripts and record macros to automate and control your Windows applications, automate software processes and assign tasks to schedules, desktop shortcuts or hotkeys. Perform complex tasks with a single mouse click, or schedule your computer to perform tasks while you are away.

Windows automation software deeply discounted on Software Deal of the Day.

Security Logos  large collection of security related logos for web designs and corporate brands..

A group of hackers calling itself Anonymous has hit the Church of Scientologys Web site with an online attack.


The attack was launched January 19 by Anonymous, which is seeking media attention to help save people from Scientology by reversing the brainwashing, according to a Web page maintained by Anonymous.

Sweden plans this week to charge the people running Pirate Bay, one of the worlds most visited Web sites, with being accessories in breaking copyright law.

Pirate Bay helps Web surfers share copyrighted music and film files, which is illegal in many countries, including Sweden.

A thief pilfers a laptop computer from an unsuspecting traveler at an airport departure lounge and flits off, unnoticed.

A few years ago, the laptops rightful user would have had little chance of seeing it again.

But today, a handful of security companies offer software and gadgets to recover stolen notebook computers or, at least, make the sensitive corporate data they hold inaccessible to criminals.

The Chinese government said Friday its Internet population has soared to 210 million people, putting it on track to surpass the U.S. online community this year to become the worlds largest.

A decade after the government said that AT&T and other service providers do not have to police their networks for pirated content, the telecommunications giant is voluntarily looking for ways to play traffic cop.

An Islamist Web site often used by al Qaeda supporters carried updated encryption software on Friday which it said would help Islamic militants communicate with greater security on the Internet.

The Mujahideen Secrets 2 was promoted as the first Islamic program for secure communications through networks with the highest technical level of encoding.

A New York-based publishing firm has agreed to pay $500,000 to resolve a copyright infringement suit filed by the Software & Information Industry Association on behalf of several prominent software vendors.

Whittiker Legal Publishing on Wednesday signed off on settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought against it in federal district court in the Eastern District of New York. In addition to the cash settlement, the company agreed to destroy all unlicensed copies of the Adobe, FileMaker and Symantec applications in its possession.

Check out the latest security software titles at a significant discount! Software Deal of the Day offers software at a significant discount for 24 hours. Also check out the 2nd Chance Software Deals, this is designed specifically for those who miss the 24 hour deals but still want excellent software at discounted prices.

More than 100 schools and colleges have turned to the computer software universities use to combat plagiarism because of growing alarm at sixth-form pupils cheating in their coursework.

Plagiarism Detection

The MacSweeper site purports to scan Macs for security issues, then sell users a software fix--but researchers have their doubts.

Some Macintosh users have encountered a security program whose function and Web site have the tell-tale signs of a scam.
Visitors to the Web site selling the program, called MacSweeper, are offered a free security scan of their computers. The scan, which only works on Macs, highlights supposed security problems with the computers. It offers to remove the problems with the purchase of a US$39.99 lifetime subscription.

But the awkward English on the programs Web site, and the way the program operates, have raised doubts over its legitimacy, users and security researchers say.

more on MacSweeper

A British man who was selling £12,000 software for £12 on eBay faces up to 10 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to copyright infringement and will be sentenced in February.

Michael Walton broke an encryption code in the software which allowed him to make copies of it. He sold the copies on eBay, where he reportedly had 80 identities.

Great selection of security logos!

After looking into my crystal ball, I have made a cluster of predictions about what will be hot, and what will be not so hot in technology for 2008.

1. Video
YouTube has not shown any signs of slowing down. With the increasing popularity of portability and the increase of video-viewing technology, the growth of video is unlikely to slow down.

2. Healthy
Healthy is in. It is not only fashionable, but now cool to be healthy. Maybe this will help counter the rise in obesity in the US. Even those who give in to their cravings and indulge agree that it is cool to be healthy. Organic foods are at an all time high with an increase of roughly 20% per year in the US! This may also be a top New Year Resolution.

3. Long Tail
The Long Tail is still hot. Small businesses and big business are all attempting to capture the famed long tail.

Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2008

A company that sells Internet domain names is facing criticisms for holding some in reserve as a consumer-protection measure, a move that also prevents interested parties from shopping around for better prices.


After weeks of testing, Network Solutions LLC began this week to grab names that people search for on its Web site but do not immediately register.
The name is locked up for about four days, during which the person who made the search can buy it directly from the company for $35 a year — a few times more than what many of its rivals charge. After that, the name returns to the pool and can be registered by anyone through any registration company.

Freehold-based Too Much Media, which sells accounting software for adult Web sites, told its customers last month that a security breach on its computers allowed hackers to access various adult Web sites subscriber lists.

At the beginning of each year I like to talk about what did or did not happen during the past year, and what to expect in the coming year. Unlike past years, I will try not to get too emotionally ramped up on all the failures.

Overall, compliance laws (and years of bad press) finally forced most organizations to encrypt more data and laptops by default. Chances are these days that if a thief steals a laptop it will be password protected and its data encrypted. More developers are utilizing SDL (secure design lifecycle) in their programming, taking into account from the beginning the malicious risks posed to and by their applications.

complete article

A Google security engineer says hundreds of thousands of Flash files are vulnerable and a considerable percentage of major Internet sites are affected.

So say security experts looking back on 12 months in which hi-tech gangs took control of the Internets underground.

The economy supporting these groups has matured so much that now everything from virus-writing kits to spam-spewing zombies are available for rent or hire.

It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social network sites, so are hi-tech criminals.

So say security professionals predicting what net criminals will turn to in 2008 to catch people out.

The quasi-intimate nature of the sites makes people share information readily leaving them open to all kinds of other attacks, warn security firms.

Detailed information gathered via the sites will also help tune spam runs or make phishing e-mail more convincing.

If you do not want to lose your spare lithium batteries for your camera, notebook or cell phone, you might want to pack carefully for your next flight.

New rules from the Transportation and Security Administration that took effect on January 1 ban travelers from carrying loose lithium batteries in checked baggage. Passengers are allowed to pack two spare batteries in their carry-on bag, as long as they are in clear plastic baggies.

Key security websites that are oft overlooked but contain valuable information for security professionals or those interested in security in general:

Security Protection - collection of security RSS feeds.

Alarm Tools - security and alarm directory of related vendors.

Password Software - tools for managing and protecting passwords

Security Software - collection of key security software solutions.

Government Feeds - collection of RSS feeds from government agencies.

Take a look at the above websites, they are worth attention!

Privacy made the list, see where:

Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2008
1. Video
2. Healthy
3. Long Tail
4. Buy USA
5. Rich Internet / Interactive Web / Semantic Web / Web Services
6. Aggregate and Attention Data
7. Power of the People
8. Going Green
9. Biometrics and Big Brother
10. Prosthetics / Bionic

Top 10 Losers Predicted for 2008
1. Lead
2. Squat Toilets
3. DRM
4. China
5. Skinny is Out
6. Blockbuster / Netflix
7. Orbo
8. MySpace fell to Facebook
9. Privacy
10. Piracy

What is Hot and What is Not for 2008

The lens through which viewers receive their news has changed. The images of struggle are no longer frozen in time; technology has helped preserve and personalize these conflicts by producing moving tributes to the conflicts of humankind.

The strife and internal conflicts that marred the globe in 2006 continued into 2007: Mynamar (Burma), Palestine and Lebanon all continue to struggle with internal conflicts in their borders. The differences between 2006 and 2007 are not obvious; however, under close examination, it is evident that several external struggles have been transformed into internal conflicts. In 2006, many countries attempted to influence their neighbors. This was evident with Iran attempting to influence the turmoil in Iraq, and Syria attempting to control Lebanon. Both struggles have evolved into internal personal conflicts in 2007.

2007 Reflections, 2008 Predictions

Nearly 30 years after its passage, a once-obscure wiretapping law, and the secret federal court created by it, roiled the waters in Washington, D.C. And the debate is far from over.

The 1978 law in question is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was enacted in the post-Watergate era as a way to rein in abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. After September 11, 2001, President Bush authorized his administration to bypass FISA when conducting wiretaps--a mechanism that he defended as necessary but that a chorus of opponents said amounted to a violation of the law, and perhaps the U.S. Constitution itself.

complete article

Threats to personal privacy got more severe in 2007, a report has claimed.

Compiled by Privacy International and the Electronic Privacy Information Center the report details global trends in privacy protection and surveillance.

It found that in 2007 more nations than ever ranked as places where surveillance had become endemic.

The move toward greater surveillance had left the fundamental right to a private life fragile and exposed, the report said.

Six years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, airport security remains a theater of the absurd. The changes put in place following the September 11th catastrophe have been drastic, and largely of two kinds: those practical and effective, and those irrational, wasteful and pointless.

The first variety have taken place almost entirely behind the scenes. Explosives scanning for checked luggage, for instance, was long overdue and is perhaps the most welcome addition. Unfortunately, at concourse checkpoints all across America, the madness of passenger screening continues in plain view. It began with pat-downs and the senseless confiscation of pointy objects. Then came the mandatory shoe removal, followed in the summer of 2006 by the prohibition of liquids and gels. We can only imagine what is next.

The city of Brussels has cancelled its traditional fireworks display to see in the New Year on Monday night due to an ongoing state of heightened security.

The loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007, and the trend is not expected to turn around anytime soon as hackers stay a step ahead of security and laptops disappear with sensitive information.

You know the drill when it comes to safeguarding your identity. Do not give out your Social Security number, do not lend your credit card to anyone and do not surf the Internet with abandon.

But with more credit cards in circulation now than at any other time of the year and online shopping increasingly seen as a better alternative to marching through the crowds, a refresher course in ID protection is in order.

Despite secure Internet networks and the growing availability of insurance coverage for identity fraud, a survey of 500 adults by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found 57 percent of Americans are worried about becoming a victim of identity theft this holiday season.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that about 3 percent of Americans are victims of identity theft each year.

Four out of every five children receive inappropriate spam e-mail touting get-rich-quick schemes, loan programs, and pornographic materials, according to a study released by Internet security provider Symantec Corporation. Parents want their children to experience the information and communication channels the Internet provides, but want to make sure they are protected from many of the hazards that are present.

Apple, Inc. has filed for a patent in the U.S. for a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system for controlling where software runs. The method described in the application is one that allows for the injection of code into an applications run-time instruction stream that checks to see if the application is being run on a specific hardware platform, and then repeats that check to see if it is still being run on that authorized platform.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff plans soon to unveil a cyber-security strategy, part of an estimated $15 billion, multiyear program designed to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure. The program has been shrouded in secrecy for months and has also prompted privacy concerns on Capitol Hill because it involves government protection of domestic computer networks.

The SIIA charged in a lawsuit that law firm Fox Rothschild is stealing software made by Adobe, Corel, Sonic Solutions, and Symantec.

In a lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the vendors by the Software Information Industry Association, the firm of Fox Rothschild is alleged to have "engaged in the unauthorized reproduction and use" of software made by Adobe, Corel, Sonic Solutions, and Symantec.

The vendors claim that Fox Rothschild's alleged copyright infringement is causing them repeated and irreparable injury. The suit, filed in federal court in Northern California, does not specify which specific software products the firm is alleged to be using without authorization, or their estimated value.

Microsoft today filed 52 lawsuits in 22 countries against resellers who allegedly sold counterfeit Microsoft software online.

Some 15 of the 52 lawsuits filed involved software traced to the largest-ever commercial counterfeit syndicate, which was broken up earlier this year by Chinese authorities, the FBI and Microsoft. Through its investigations, Microsoft reported it had found that the counterfeit software produced by the Chinese syndicate was distributed in some markets through domestic online sellers.

The head of Britains domestic spy agency has warned that China is spying on the computer systems of British corporations, The Times of London reported.

The MI5 chief, Jonathan Evans, sent a letter last week to 300 executives and security chiefs at banks, accountancies and legal firms, warning them that they were under attack from Chinese state organizations  over the Internet, the newspaper reported Saturday.

A cyber attack launched on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee could have compromised the personal records of thousands of lab visitors, leaving them susceptible to potential identity theft.

ORNL Director Thom Mason issued an all-staff e-mail earlier this week warning employees that the institution had been a target of a sophisticated cyber attack that appeared to be part of a coordinated attempt to gain access to networks at Oak Ridge laboratories and other institutions across the country.

Those entering online dating forums risk having more than their hearts stolen.

A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.

Complete Article

Internet service providers would be given specific responsibilities to report child pornography on their sites and face tough penalties for not doing so under a bill passed Wednesday by the House.


The House also approved a bill to double spending for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private, nonprofit group created in 1984 with a congressional mandate to act as a clearinghouse for child abduction and sexual exploitation cases.

House Ups Porn Penalties

409 to 2 -- the U.S. House of Representatives passed new legislation on Thursday aimed at making the Internet safer for children. The Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online (SAFE) Act was sponsored by Texas Democrat Nick Lampson, one of the founding members of the House Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.


Among other things, the legislation imposes significant fines on Internet service providers that fail to report evidence of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to a press release from Rep. Lampson's office, ISPs would be fined $150,000 per incident per day for first offenses, and $300,000 per incident per day for second and succeeding offenses.

complete article

A security breach has exposed the confidential information of some patients who were tested for such infectious diseases as HIV and hepatitis.
The breach, at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory, occurred Tuesday.

It involved the exposure of files containing patient information through an open Internet connection. Information held by the lab included names, health card numbers, age, sex, physician and test results for infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis.

Internet users in France who frequently download music or films illegally risk losing Web access under a new anti-piracy system unveiled on Friday.

The three-way pact between Internet service providers, the government and owners of film and music rights is a boon to the music industry, which has been calling for such measures to stop illicit downloads eating into its sales.

Young people are compromising their career prospects and opening the door to online fraud by posting personal information on social networking sites without thinking about the consequences, a U.K. privacy watchdog warned Friday.

More than 1,000 Internet specialists from government agencies, universities, nonprofits and the private sector are meeting in Brazil this week.
Security is one of the top agenda items at the second U.N. Internet Governance Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, running until Thursday.

Other issues include freedom of expression, the fight against cyber-crime, privacy, multilingualism and diversity, and measures against the dissemination of child pornography and child sexual exploitation, according to a statement from the organizers on the forum's Web site, where most sessions can be monitored live over the Internet.

complete article

The PCI Security Standards Council, the body managing the Payment Card Industry data security initiative, on Wednesday announced that it will anoint a set of best practices developed by Visa Inc. as the new security standard for third-party application software in the payment industry.

The new standard is called the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) and is based on Visas Payment Application Best Practices (PABP).

Over the next few months, the PCI Security Standards Council, together with participating organizations, security auditors, and vulnerability scanning vendors, will offer comments and suggestions relating to the PA-DSS. The security council will then incorporate this feedback and publish a final version of the application security standards in the first quarter of 2008, said Bob Russo, general manager of the security standards council.

Easily find security and protection RSS feeds, by searching or navigating the directory. Security Feeds.

Recent revelations that China-based hackers may have penetrated U.S. computer networks -- including those operated by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security as well as by major U.S. defense firms -- has heightened concerns about Chinese spying in the United States.

Computer experts believe that the extensive scale of the information operations means they probably involved, to some degree, the Chinese military or intelligence services.

Although U.S. authorities remain concerned by the espionage operations conducted in the United States by Russia, Iran, and Cuba, they consider Chinese spying the most serious in terms of size.

It is a common refrain dashed off in response whenever anyone writes about the sorry state of PC security. In fact, you have probably seen it countless times on this blog alone: Get a Mac!

Well, the times they are a changing. As the Macintosh becomes more popular with users, the inevitable has begun: Macs are increasingly being targeted by malware creators, as the sheer size of that pool becomes more and more tempting.

Just as in earlier times a man was only as good as his family name, today we are defined by the social networks we belong to. So imagine my horror when I learned that I have become a virtual bastard. Earlier this week I logged into Facebook and discovered that without warning my account had been deleted. According to Facebook, I am a fake, a charlatan, a nonperson and all of my more than 200 Facebook friends are the victims of a cruel hoax.

complete article

According to a recent AP article, the Whois service, a series of databases with information about the individuals that register domains, has come under fire from privacy advocates and a new proposal seeks to do away with the service altogether.

Such a move would be a tremendous blow to law enforcement, lawyers and researchers that regularly use the database. However, it may also alleviate some of the spam and privacy concerns that come with the database in its current format.

more information

Over the past two years, data leaks have compromised more than 150 million personal-data records, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

These breaches come with a high price tag. Forrester Research says that a security breach can cost anywhere between $90 and $305 per record, meaning that the cost of a single, significant breach may run into millions or even billions of dollars. The problem is certainly not going away, and it is no surprise the federal government is considering laws to mandate how sensitive data is handled.

Microsoft took another incremental step in its long-standing anti-piracy program this week when it filed lawsuits against 20 vendors in 13 states for allegedly selling pirated copies of its software.

The company also launched a new educational site, HowToTell.com to help teach buyers tell the difference between legitimate and counterfeit or pirated software.

As the Internet matures, users and governments are struggling to manage controversial issues. Lets face it, the Internet did not exist when the US copyright laws were written;let us not forget, while many countries respect copyright laws, the Internet is global without a governing body. There are not only different laws, rules and regulations, but also jurisdiction issues. RSS didn't exist when copyright laws were written either. While ardent supporters feel any content in a feed can be syndicated, other equally fervent publishers contend that original works are just that--original works, and in many countries protected by copyright laws.

Much of the Internet is uncharted territory. There is no single agencies that has complete control over content or censorship, and it is unlikely that there will ever be a recognized body that regulates and agrees to terms and conditions to govern the online world. At this point, the location of webhosts and companies owning domains dictate what laws that are observed. In other words, if a company in the US or UK is violating a copyright and their host is in the US or UK, it will be easy to enforce copyright laws in the event of a violation and have the website content pulled. If the website is located on a server in a region that does not recognize or acknowledge the rights of a copyright holder, the web host will be less likely to cooperate in removing the offending content.

What is Fair Use?

The possibility that the nation's food supply could be targeted by terrorists has existed since at least the anthrax letters of October 2001, but recent events have underlined just how real the threat is. Suspects in last month's failed car bombings in London and Glasgow, for instance, include physicians, a reminder that terrorists can have biomedical know-how. And imports of contaminated food from China—pet food laced with the chemical melamine, toothpaste with the poisonous compound diethyl glycol and seafood with carcinogenic antimicrobials—show how vulnerable the food supply is to intentional acts of terrorism, too, says Frank Busta, codirector of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the mission of private security contractors guarding individuals in Iraq is fundamentally at odds with the broader U.S. military objective of stabilizing Iraq, and that changes would be required to reconcile them.

Israels security services foiled a plot by Palestinian militants to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before a summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

The reports said Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, told Olmerts cabinet that militants planned to attack the Israeli leader's convoy as it sped to a meeting with Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho in August.

A new commission should be established to help balance the need for scientific openness and security concerns in a world facing terrorism, the National Research Council urged Thursday.

The new Science and Security Commission should be co-chaired by the presidents national security adviser and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. It should include representatives from academic research institutions and national security agencies.

Panda Security has launched Panda Security for Internet Transactions, an antifraud service for online transactions to protect clients of e-banking, pay-platforms and e-commerce against active malware.

Banks and businesses will be able to scan PCs to ensure that users launching transactions on their websites are not affected by any malicious code, Panda Security said. This eliminates the risk of passwords being stolen or other fraudulent operations, the company said.

Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.


The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users.
complete article

The RIAA, which has apparently dedicated itself to the mission of searching out copyright violators no matter where they might hide, has chosen for its next well-publicized target a Usenet access provider called Usenet.com. Now, keep in mind that the RIAA is not going up against the Usenet itself -- there's nobody really to sue in that huge decentralized tangle. It is going up against one of those companies that offer users access to the vast library of Usenet newsgroups.

In need of a website for a security company? Check out these security templates ! Search on keywords to expand the templates you are viewing.

Myanmars ruling junta restored Internet access but kept foreign news sites blocked, partially easing its crackdown as a U.N. envoy arrived in Thailand on Sunday to rally neighboring governments around demands for democratic reforms in the country.

With 385,000 American workers in the call center industry, competition is intense for the most desirable positions. If you are fortunate enough to be called in for an interview for one of these posts, how can you prepare yourself so that you stand out from the crowd?

Land that Job Part 2

An Internet business based in St. Petersburg has become a world hub for Web sites devoted to child pornography, spamming and identity theft, according to computer security experts. They say Russian authorities have provided little help in efforts to shut down the company.

Cyberspace may become a more active battlefield in the Bush administrations war on terrorism.

The new National Strategy for Homeland Security, issued earlier this week by the White House, places a greater emphasis on the uninterrupted use of the Internet and the communications systems, data, monitoring, and control systems that comprise our cyberinfrastructure.

An Internet business based in St. Petersburg has become a world hub for Web sites devoted to child pornography, spamming and identity theft, according to computer security experts. They say Russian authorities have provided little help in efforts to shut down the company.

Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet, Russian spammers are alive and well.


A blog post on Thursday by someone writing under the name Alex Loonov claimed that Alexey Tolstokozhev, a Russian spammer, had been found murdered in his house near Moscow. Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet, Russian spammers are alive and well.

complete article

New computer software to tackle cyber-bullying is being rolled out across schools in London.

The software monitors computer activity on the internet, instant messaging, e-mail and other applications for inappropriate behavior.
If improper activity is detected, the program stores details of the offending material for review

Four out of every five children receive inappropriate spam e-mail touting get-rich-quick schemes, loan programs, and pornographic materials, according to a study released by Internet security provider Symantec Corporation.

McAfee has released the 2008 editions of its security suite -- McAfee Total Protection, Internet Security, and VirusScan Plus -- plus a new product for mobile phones.

The office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has stepped up its warnings against social-networking site Facebook, with a representative from the office saying the company may face a consumer fraud charge for misrepresenting how safe the site is for minors. The problem, according to an Associated Press story, is that Facebook claims its closed-site model makes the service safer for minors than other social networks, and that privacy and harassment concerns receive prompt responses.

The attorney generals office says those asserations simply are not true.

Score one for the skeptics on the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

Under fire from politicians citing privacy worries, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is delaying plans--previously slated to kick in Monday--to begin making detailed spy-satellite images available to a wider range of government agencies.

A top homeland security lawmaker has called for an investigation into possible cyber attacks on computer systems at the Homeland Security Department. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he believes Unisys Corp - the company that holds the $1.7 billion contract to build parts of the Homeland Security Department's computer network - is at fault for these network break-ins.

Asia Pacific financial institutions are the worlds worst when it comes to information technology security threats,a new study by business consultants Deloitte says.
The top three breaches were through email attacks such as spam, viruses and phishing (where data was illegally collected from a persons email or internet).

But there was some good news - the 2007 Global Security Survey found the regions finance houses were global leaders in privacy compliance.

Because of a software glitch, the first high-tech virtual fence on the nation's borders remains inoperable, three months after its scheduled debut.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he is withholding further payment to the prime contractor, Boeing Co., until the success of the pilot project stretching 28 miles near the border southwest of Tucson.

Nine 98-foot towers laden with radar, sensors and sophisticated cameras have been built in an area heavily trafficked by illegal immigrant and drug smugglers. The towers, each a few miles apart, are intended to deter or detect border crossers and potential terrorists and enhance the ability of Border Patrol agents to catch them.

The biggest threats to the security of financial institutions electronic systems are the mistakes that people make according to a survey of banks. No big surprise there.

The TJX Companies, Inc., a discount retailer, said Friday it settled customer class action lawsuits in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico stemming from a massive security breach of customer data that affected at least 45 million credit and debit cards.

The announcement did not specify the settlement cost, but noted that its estimated costs were included in a $107 million reserve included in its second-quarter report for fiscal 2008 and its estimate of $21 million in costs expected in fiscal 2009. The $107 million figure includes costs from other lawsuits not included in the customer class actions, the Framingham, Massachusetts based company said.

State officials say a plan to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants with valid foreign passports will enhance security by creating records of their identities. But critics say those records could compromise security instead.

New York has between 500,000 and 1 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom drive without licenses and car insurance or with fake licenses, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in announcing the plan Friday. He said it would bring people out of the shadows into American society.

In need of a website for a security company? Check out these security templates ! Search on keywords to expand the templates you are viewing.

More trouble for private US security contractor Blackwater as it denies illegally shipping automatic weapons and military goods to Iraq.

The denial by the company comes after a report that federal prosecutors are investigating it.

The alleged probe follows Iraqi government accusations that the company killed eleven innocent people in Baghdad this week.

As the Bush administration embarks on an intensive week of diplomacy over Irans nuclear programs, it faces formidable obstacles in winning a consensus at the United Nations Security Council for tough sanctions with enough bite to, perhaps, persuade Iran to halt its suspect nuclear work. Russia and China are opposing new sanctions for now. And keeping all of the traditional U.S. allies—Britain, France, and Germany—fully on board could prove difficult.

On Friday at the State Department, the No. 3 U.S. diplomat, Nicholas Burns, convened a gathering of counterparts from all six countries involved in the Iran effort, both to take stock of current U.N. sanctions and, for his part, to lobby for a new round of stronger ones. Next week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with foreign ministers from the same countries to look for a way forward.

It is essential for any business to have a structured security policy with clear language to address all levels of employees, a Gartner analyst has warned.

Many businesses failed to learn from actions that hurt the development of successful policies, he said. These included a low focus on business requirements, risk and implementation, alongside too much focus on pleasing managers and on fitting in with audit requirements -- all to the detriment of building policies specific to the business.

Schools are being given guidance urging them to take firm action against pupils who use mobile phones and the internet to bully other children and teachers.

More than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have faced some kind of cyberbullying, according to a government study.

European Union Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini has called for ISPs to censor internet searches in an effort to stop terrorists gathering information.

Frattini said in a telephone interview with Reuters that freedom of information should take second place to denying terrorists access to bomb making instructions or other information that could be useful.

Big brand online retailers are increasingly targets for internet attacks, but they lag behind the finance sector in addressing vulnerabilities, according to Symantecs latest security threat report.

The financial services sector still bears the brunt of e-crime, accounting for 72% of all attacks. But the sector that experienced the greatest increase in the number of attacks was e-commerce. Attacks in this sector have risen by 15% since 2006.

Guy Bunker, chief scientist at Symantec, said that hackers targeting e-commerce websites see them as an easier target for stealing credit card details than banking websites, where security is getting better.

China has suffered massive losses of state and military secrets through the internet, a senior official said, urging sweeping controls and new security agencies to fight computer threats and uncensored news.
Vice Minister of Information Industry Lou Qinjian's claims come as China faces reports that it has raided the computer networks of Western powers.

He did not address those allegations, but depicted his country as the target of a campaign of computer infiltration and subversion and he proposed new investment and censorship controls to counter the threat.

Need a new security logo? Check these out! Security Logos

Search giant Google Inc. will propose on Friday that governments and technology companies create a transnational privacy policy to address growing concerns over how personal data is handled across the Internet.

The Web site for the U.S. Consulate in Russia was hacked into earlier this week, infecting pages with malware that would attack visitors.


Researchers at security company Sophos told InformationWeek that the consulates IT team cleaned up the infection within a matter of days. They also reported that the break in was part of a widespread attack that resulted in more than 400 Web pages around the world being infected over the last week by what appears to be the same hacker group.

Mastering the art of managing customer complaints can seem like a thankless job, but keep in mind that for every customer that shares their worries, concerns or complaints, there are likely more that did not express their dissatisfaction, and instead simply moved on to a competitor. Customer complaints can, and should be treated as opportunities.

Customers that are willing to communicate can help provide information on how your product or service is being used in a specific market segment. Complaints give you the opportunity to see how your company is falling short of customer expectations.

Listen to Your Customers

More than 700 genetic syndromes affect facial traits, but some are difficult to spot because few cases exist.
Now new software that compares an individual's face with a bank of 3D images of people with known conditions is aiding diagnosis.

A new report says that RFID implants have been linked to cancers in animals, raising the question of RFID safety. We takes a look at the biology at the center of the concerns.

Never Forget...

Add one more reason to the list to tread carefully while using file sharing services—not only could you contract a virus or end up writing a four-figure check to the RIAA, you could also have your identity stolen. A Seattle man was arrested this week for doing just that, using popular P2P programs LimeWire and Soulseek to search for personal documents on other users' computers that were running the same software.

In recent weeks, the Chinese have been accused not only of hacking the Pentagon, but also several German ministries and key sites in the UK, as well. In doing research for an upcoming story on the Pentagon attacks, I stumbled upon recent reports in Germany of surprisingly similar activity.

Germanys Federal Office for Information has identified malicious trojan-based attacks on government computers, attacks which some members of the German government say appear to originate from within the Chinese Army.

China has denied reports that its military hacked into the computer network of the US Department of Defense in Washington. The Financial Times quoted US officials as saying the Chinese army made the attack, which crashed part of a system for the defence secretary's office.

By now, the perils of securing online data with little more than user names and passwords should be well known. Monster.com learned that lesson late and the hard way, prompting this week's disclosure that the Web jobs board will spend millions of dollars to improve its security.


Monster Worldwide Inc. recently discovered that con artists had grabbed contact information from resumes for 1.3 million people — and likely many more, since Monster now says this was not an isolated incident. Files were pilfered not only from Monster.com but from USAJobs.gov, the federal-government career-listing service operated by Monster.

In PC Authority magazine, we do not often speak with CEOs of software security companies, especially ones based in Moscow. It is even rarer that such people will give you candid answers to questions, but Eugene Kaspersky was a welcome exception. In a fascinating hour, he gave us the inside track on how good Microsoft security really is, leading-edge artificial intelligence, shootouts in Moscow, and what it’s like standing in the path of history is largest electronic crime epidemic, which is going on right now.
We sought to speak with Eugene because he is a seasoned engineer, he is a straight shooter, and his company, Kaspersky Labs, creates some of the most respected Anti-Virus software in the world.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Czar

A burglar robbed a house and stole money and valuables. Later that day he returns, bringing back every single stolen item and other items which he bought using the money. Read the actual letter that he wrote! Firstly and foremostly you will never know how sorry I am that I violated the safety and security of your home. - Started the of Burglar Note

If you have decided that working in a call center is the right career path for you, you should realize that you are not alone. The U.S. Department of Labor reported in 2006 that more than 385,000 workers across America find employment in call centers. How can you stand out from the crowd and secure the job of your choosing?

Call Center Job Security

Reading the stories at Science Fiction Corner it is evident that security and sci-fi are really not that different. Our society has grown to adopt much of what was once considered a scientific fantasy. I am still waiting to eat like the Jetsons though!

The powerful Intrusion Detection System (IDS) built into Outpost protects your PC from both known and unknown types of hacker attacks. It screens inbound data and determines its legitimacy, either by comparing it against a set of known attack fingerprints or by performing behavior evaluation analysis.

Electronics giant Sony has confirmed a recently discovered security flaw in some of its products that could leave PCs vulnerable to attack by hackers. The firm said that the fault, which affected software packaged with memory sticks, was developed by a third-party.

Researchers at Stanford have created a new secure input system that watches your eyes scan a visual keyboard to determine what text to input into secure fields, such as a password field or an ATM PIN. The benefits of such an approach come chiefly from defeating two common ways of snagging PINs and passwords: keylogging and good old-fashioned over-the-shoulder snooping, also known as shoulder surfing.

The Australian government Monday admitted no Internet child safeguards were foolproof after a teenager claimed he was able to break through its multi-million dollar pornography filter in minutes.

Israeli and Belgian security experts have discovered a flaw in the algorithm used to protect anti-theft digital key systems in a wide range of cars, including cars from Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar.

Earlier this month Yahoo! announced it was including merchants' Hacker Safe security seals within Yahoo! Shopping pages. Now PriceGrabber has announced the same deal- and there are rumors that other comparison shopping sites are soon to follow, creating a sea-change in the web site trust mark business.

Nearly a year after Congress passed legislation calling for the construction of 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, about 15 miles have been built, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Web site for the institution charged with safeguarding the safety and integrity of the U.S. nuclear arsenal has been inadvertently hosting advertisements and blogs that link to illegal prescription drug sites hawking everything from generic painkillers to erectile dysfunction medication, Security Fix has learned.

Police officers in London arrested a 39-year-old man using his laptop to access someone elses wireless Internet connection on Tuesday. His actions could potentially breach the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act, according to a Metropolitan Police Service statement.

Skype has not been attacked, eBay Inc. said Friday, dispelling rumors that Russian hackers took down its popular online telephony service.

EBay attributes the outage to a problem in a Skype networking algorithm, but code has been posted to a Russian security discussion forum that could supposedly be used to knock the service offline in a DOS (denial-of-service) attack.

Google has unveiled a Web site resource center focused on the thorny issue of click fraud, which many consider a potential threat to the Googles main source of revenue: Pay-per-click advertising.


Google developed the new Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center primarily to give its advertisers a single place to find Google information about click fraud, said Shuman Ghosemajumder, business product manager for trust and safety at Google, on Friday.

A US hackers homemade program to pinpoint origins of Wikipedia edits indicates that alterations to the popular online encyclopedia have come from the CIA and the Vatican.

The Wikiscanner Identities Revealed

Australia will provide a free Internet filtering service and access to a hotline in a bid to thwart perverts seeking to contact children, Prime Minister John Howard said.

A new report on Internet safety has concluded ISPs should take more responsibility for online security since end users are often lax.


But the 121-page Personal Internet Security report, published on Friday by the U.K. House of Lords, stopped short of suggesting that the Office of Communications, the U.K. communications regulator -- should impose new rules on ISPs.

Internet hackers have stolen confidential data on 60,000 Norwegians, including the head of the agency for safeguarding them, the agency itself revealed Friday.

The gap is widening between what kids do online and what their parents think they do.

A new study shows that children are online twice as much as their parents think they are and nearly one-quarter are getting away with forbidden online activities, according to security company Symantec, which commissioned Harris Interactive to do the poll.

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A law that makes it a crime to host online or otherwise provide software that could be used in cyber attacks went into effect in Germany. While the reaction from Germanys hacker culture has been somewhat muted, the measure is already prompting changes within one of the worlds most active computer security research and hacking communities.

The trouble with this kind of law is that it is awfully difficult to pin down the definition of a computer program designed for malicious purposes. But the forensic tools that are needed to find and close software and network security holes become a double-edged sword because they can almost always also be used by criminals to probe for or exploit potential weaknesses in a target.

Jolly Technologies announces the availability of Lobby Track, a new secure tracking, access control and visitor management software system; ID Flow, the next-generation software for ID card design, data and production.

These innovative new technologies will allow organizations to track employees and equipment with detailed activity logs by individual or groups; set access control policy; and provide visitor management functionality, including data entry, advanced ID card and badge design and printing.

Intense circumstances create high amounts of stress, not only for adults, but children also. Whether it is a fire, flood or earthquake, children need to know what to do and how to do it in order to minimize stress and anxiety. Have you heard stories on the news about a child who saves a family by staying calm, calling 911, and following directions? Being prepared to help in an emergency saves lives. What makes it possible for a child in a high stress situation to be ready to help?

Preparing Children for Emergencies

California released the results of the states extensive testing of electronic voting systems. State-sanctioned teams of computer specialists were able to break through the security of every model of voting machine and change results or take control of some of the systems' electronic functions.

Some county elections officials in the state voiced concerns about the study, saying they worry that they could be forced to junk millions of dollars in voting machines if the California Secretary of State decertifies them for the February election.

If you're like me you do not like any one reading your shit. The following links and instructions will show you Windows users how to route your IM connections through three other computers around the world and how to use encrypted IM. Not only will your IM be near impossible to trace but people in the middle wont be able to sniff your traffic either.
complete article

Evidence of gang culture and gang activity in the military is increasing so much an FBI report calls it a threat to law enforcement and national security. The signs are chilling: Marines in gang attire on Parris Island; paratroopers flashing gang hand signs at a nightclub near Ft. Bragg; infantrymen showing-off gang tattoos at Ft. Hood.

It's obvious that many of these people do not give up their gang affiliations, said Hunter Glass, a retired police detective in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the home of Ft. Bragg and the 82nd Airborne. He monitors gang activity at the base and across the military.

Students who were in the 10th grade in the St. Mary Parish School System in Louisiana between 2001 and 2003 may have had their Social Security number appear on the Board of Regents Web site for a couple of hours earlier this month.

Muslim hardliners are becoming more savvy at dodging national security scrutiny as they increasingly ditch the mosque for the internet to reach their followers and disseminate messages of hate.

Counter-terrorism experts warned yesterday that Islamic radicals were developing a greater interest in secretly spreading their beliefs and ideologies through internet chat rooms to maximize their potential audience and make it more difficult for authorities to trace them.

State restrictions on use of the Internet have spread to more than 20 countries that use catch-all and contradictory rules to help keep people off line and stifle feared political opposition, a new report says.

Reports indicate that sexual predators are targeting Moms and their online dating habits as a way to prey on children!

Security researchers are reporting a public exploit has been designed that could take advantage of critical security flaws in the LinkedIn Internet Explorer Toolbar.

The vulnerabilities do not apply to the Linkedin.com Web site, only the LinkedIn IE toolbar.
Users of the LinkedIn social-networking site that have the IE toolbar installed on their computers could be at risk of a remote attack, should they visit a malicious Web site.

After years of insisting that they should be trusted to keep user search histories indefinitely, search engines are suddenly competing to limit data retention.


In March, Googles announcement that it would anonymize user data after 18 to 24 months was met by silence from the rest of the industry. But after further announcements last week from Google and No. 4 search engine Ask.com, Microsoft on Sunday announced it would be matching Googles 18-month policy. And Monday, Yahoo announced it would leap-frog both companies and anonymize data after 13 months.

Lauren Nelson, the current Miss America, asked Congress to mandate Internet safety classes for children to educate them about online predators and other threats.

MySpace.com has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders with profiles on the popular social networking Web site — more than four times the number cited by the company two months ago, officials in two states Tuesday.

The WINNERS for the 2007 Shareware Industry Awards have been announced! Take a look at the best software for 2007 in each category! Security Software does not really fare well in the competition.

Best Overall Utility
FolderMatch by Salty Brine Software
TuneUp Utilities 2007 by TuneUp Software GmbH - WINNER
WinRar by win.rar GmbH
WinZip by WinZip International LLC.

Best Application
ClipMate by Thornsoft Development - WINNER
CSE HTML Validator by AI Internet Solutions
Open Office by Sun Microsystems

Best Graphics Program or Utility
Easy Imager by Fookes Software
IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan
PaintShop Pro by Corel Corporation - WINNER

Best Desktop Enhancement
Microangelo Toolset by Eclipsit Corporation - WINNER
MBSS Fireworks by Patrick D. Grengs II
Window Blinds by Stardock Corporation

Best Photo Program or Utility
ACDSee Pro Photo Manager by ACD Systems
ALSee by ESTsoft
Life Poster Maker by Lincoln Beach Software - WINNER

Best Sound Program or Utility
ALSong by ESTsoft
D'Accord iChords by D'Accord Music Software
RecordForAll by NotePage, Inc. - WINNER
Winamp Pro by NullSoft

Best Vertical Market Program or Utility
Guitar and Drum Trainer by Renegade Minds
Help & Manual by EC Software GmbH
Vmware Workstation by VMware Inc. - WINNER

Best Business Application or Utility
Microsoft Office 2007 by Microsoft Corporation - WINNER
PayWindow 2007 by ZPAY Payroll Systems
Time & Chaos by Chaos Software

Best Educational Program or Game
AceReader Pro by StepWare Inc.
WinFlash Educator by Open Window Software
WISCO Word Power by Wisco Computing - WINNER

Best Hobby or Personal Interest
Auction Sentry Deluxe by Auction-Sentry.com
Google Earth by Google Inc. - WINNER
MyLife Organized by My Life Organized

Best Internet Enhancement
Cute FTP Professional by GlobalSCAPE
FlashGot by InformAction
FTP Voyager by Rhino Software, Inc. - WINNER
WS_FTP Professional by Ipswitch, Inc.

Best Internet Communication
Miranda by Miranda IM
Pidgin by Softare Freedom Law Center
Skype by Skype Limited - WINNER
Trillian by Cerulean Studios

Best Web Enhancement
Mozilla Firefox by Mozilla Foundation - WINNER
Mozilla Thunderbird by Mozilla Foundation
RoboForm by Siber Systems
SPAMFighter by SPAMFighter

Best Non-Action Game
Ant War 1 by Anarchy Enterprises
Pocket War by MetalShard, Inc.
Pretty Good MahJongg by Goodsol Development, Inc. - WINNER

Best New Game
Addictive Football by Addictive 247 Games  - WINNER
Golf King by NHN USA
Titan Attacks by Demand Entertainment

Best Program for PDA's
Journal Bar by Omega One
Resco Explorer by Resco, sro.
Spb Mobile Shell by Spb Software House - WINNER

Stay current on the latest security products, news and information on Security Info. RSS feeds are also available that detail top security feeds.

The FBI said Tuesday that a joint effort with the Chinese authorities had led to the arrest of 25 people and the seizing of more than $500 million worth of counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec software that was being made in China and distributed worldwide.

The arrests, according to industry executives, represented the most significant crackdown on software piracy.

Forensic software used to investigate computer crime is not as secure as it should be, according to researchers with Isec Partners.

The security company spent the past six months investigating two forensic programs, Guidance Software EnCase, and an open-source product called The Sleuth Kit. It discovered about a dozen bugs that could be used to crash the programs or possibly even install unauthorised software on an investigator machine, according to Alex Stamos, founding partner with Isec Partners.

It likely came as no surprise that when software developers began disabling software functionality, their sales increased significantly.

Protecting software and limiting its usage beyond a specified trial period has become a necessity and protecting software from cracks can be critical to an application's success. In fact, some statistics suggest that a software crack can impact software sales by as much as 30%!

How to Protect Software from Hacks

Security analysts spotted a gaping security hole in Fox News Network Web site on Monday, revealing file directories and sensitive content, although it appears the problem has been fixed.


Several directories were visible on a server for Fox News that should normally not be accessible by a Web browser over the Internet. The Fox News site runs on the Apache Web server software on Ubuntu Linux.

Hackers could take control of an iPhone if its owner visits a doctored Web site or Internet hotspot, security researchers reported Monday.


The vulnerability of the vaunted device, Apple Inc first cell phone, is only theoretical for now. There are no reports of criminals actually taking advantage of the security glitch to remotely access an iPhone.

But if it were exploited, hijacked iPhones could be very useful to the same gangs that take over personal computers and use them to disseminate spam, said Charlie Miller, principal security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators, which discovered the flaw.

complete article

Wireless messaging communication is important in todays fast paced environment. PageGate allows critical alerts to be sent instantly to wireless devices regardless of the recipient's locations. PageGate supports group messaging and preprogrammed alerts, so that with the press of a single button notification can be sent to defined groups of individuals.

To ensure delivery even in the event of connectivity loss, PageGate version 5 supports failover options and redundant connectors. Messages that cannot be delivered to their intended recipients can be automatically redirected to a backup recipient or group, or the message can be sent to the same recipient via an alternative delivery method.

For some security researchers who uncover flaws in leading computer programs, a nod of appreciation from software companies is no longer enough.

Now they want money.

Critics say the purity of research is in jeopardy as discoveries are shopped around instead of submitted directly to software vendors so they can quickly develop fixes.

In a survey of servers run by agencies or companies involved with the military and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Associated Press found dozens of documents that officials refused to release when asked directly, citing troop security. Such material goes online all the time, posted most often by mistake.

complete article

Today online shoppers may be more cautious than they were two years ago. Some are waiting up to 35 hours before completing a shopping cart transaction. A study of consumers Internet buying habits suggests that online merchants face stiffer competition and new hurdles in closing sales over the Web.

The anonymous researcher who claims to have crafted a Mac OS X worm said Tuesday that he or she will report his findings to Apple Inc., but added that the Apple has a very long way to go on security.

It seems like a list without end -- thousands of student names, addresses, ZIP codes, birthdays -- and Social Security numbers.

In all, more than 80,000 names and Social Security numbers were accessible for perhaps as long as two years on an internal Internet site run by the Louisiana Board of Regents, the body that has oversight over the states institutions of higher education.

The FBI used a novel type of remotely installed spyware last month to investigate who was e-mailing bomb threats to a high school near Olympia, Wash.

Federal agents obtained a court order on June 12 to send spyware called CIPAV to a MySpace account suspected of being used by the bomb-threat hoaxster. Once implanted, the software was designed to report back to the FBI with the Internet Protocol address of the suspect's computer, other information found on the PC and, notably, an ongoing log of the users outbound connections.

complete article

Most teenagers are taking steps to protect themselves online from the most obvious areas of risk, according to the report. Many actively manage their personal information as they try to maintain important information confined to their network of trusted friends while at the same time creating content for their profiles and making new friends. The report indicates that most teens believe that some information should be shared while other information needs to be protected.

Google said on Monday it has agreed to acquire e-mail security company Postini for $625 million expanding its package of online applications to compete with Microsoft Office software.

A U.S. appeals court has ordered that a lawsuit against the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for a wiretapping program be dismissed because the plaintiffs haven't been hurt by the agency's actions.

Test your PHP for security with PHP Validator.

NotePage, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of PageGate version 5. PageGate is a complete wireless messaging solution that incorporates a wide variety of messaging protocols for sending messages to mobile phones, wireless devices, fax machines and pagers.

Wireless messaging communication is important in todays fast paced environment. PageGate allows critical alerts to be sent instantly to wireless devices regardless of the recipient's locations. PageGate supports group messaging and preprogrammed alerts, so that with the press of a single button notification can be sent to defined groups of individuals. .

To ensure delivery even in the event of connectivity loss, PageGate version 5 supports failover options and redundant connectors. Messages that cannot be delivered to their intended recipients can be automatically redirected to a backup recipient or group, or the message can be sent to the same recipient via an alternative delivery method.

Messages can be sent into PageGate via: a Windows client, web page, email, commandline, text file, serial port, modem, wireless modem, wireless phone or the Internet.

Good news for hackers and software security experts.

Wabisabilabi, a Swiss security firm has created an online auction house called WabiSabiLabi to bring together people who can find loopholes in the software used by companies and can find a solution.

Many criminal hackers rely on loopholes in widely used software, usually Windows, to get access to the valuable information on computers.

Security researchers who find holes in such software can sell their findings to the highest bidder in this new online platform, said the online edition of BBC News.

Internet security company Symantec claims that Internet fraudsters are donating money to charities as a way to check the validity of stolen credit cards prior to resale.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is investigating allegations of an extensive illegal music filesharing ring at a Honeywell plant in Scotland.

Investigators from the BPI raided the plant in Motherwell with police officers at 0840 BST yesterday morning.
The investigators made copies of the contents of computers for detailed forensic analysis.
Honeywell said that it was cooperating fully with both the police and the BPI over the investigation.
Legal boundaries

The BPI says the raid follows a two-month investigation prompted by a tip-off from a Honeywell employee.
The BPI said the information from the insider pointed to thousands of music files being shared illegally.

A political battle is raging in Russian cyberspace. Opposition parties and independent media say murky forces have committed vast resources to hacking and crippling their Web sites in attacks similar to those that hit tech-savvy Estonia as the Baltic nation sparred with Russia over a Soviet war memorial.


While they offer no proof, the groups all point the finger at the Kremlin, calling the electronic siege an attempt to stifle Russia's last source of free, unfiltered information.

The victims, who range from liberal democrats to ultranationalists, allege their hacker adversaries hope to harass the opposition with the approach of parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections in next March.

The U.S. Department of Homeland security will host a invite-only conference  that will bring together security experts from law enforcement, Internet service providers, and the technology industry.


The Internet Security Operations and Intelligence (ISOI) workshop will be held on August 27 and 28 at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington D.C.

Free Security Report to help keep kids safe online, from Web Root. The Online Parent Safety Report contains a review and analysis of online habits of children, the risks and tips on how to keep kids safe online.

South Korea on Thursday started enforcing a new law aimed at curbing the country's notorious cyber bullying by preventing Internet users from hiding behind false IDs.


Under the Internet real-name system, the country's major portals and news media websites will be compelled to record the real IDs of users when they post entries.

Portal operators will be obliged to disclose personal information such as names and addresses of cyber attackers when their victims want to sue them for libel or infringement upon privacy.

Nearly a third of online teens say they have been harassed on the Internet, with girls and participants of social-networking sites more likely to be targets, a study finds.

The manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones has assured the French government that their products are not vulnerable to espionage.

Canadian phone maker RIM said after Frances national defense agency banned many government officials from using the devices for sensitive government purposes that the communications are protected by sophisticated encryption codes that would take billions of years to crack, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

The US House of Representatives on Friday approved significant increases in funds next year for domestic security and veterans care in a challenge to President George W Bush's more limited budget requests.

A deputy director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States on Wednesday said the FBI is willing to offer its expertise to China on security issues relating to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says that it received its 1 millionth complaint earlier