Virus, malware, and security in general
We recently posted on the forum warning our readers about a telephone scam which has been doing the rounds and proliferating: The scam starts with a phone call from someone claiming to be a Microsoft representative. They will tell the consumer that they have received […]
Well, not quite, but there is one fundamental thing about passwords that I and almost every other security expert has overlooked. For a long, long time, we in the security business have been thinking about maximal strength, maximum entropy, minimal length passwords; we have been
Everything I’ve ever said about passwords was wrong Read More »
Agnitum Software’s free security suite has been around a little while now so I thought it was about time to check it out. Please note; I have not installed and tested the software, merely collected and perused a heap of reviews to gain an overall
I’ve written on this subject several times, but the message bears repeating. Email is the main source of all virus and Trojan horse infections on the Internet. This was true in 1996 when email was not nearly as widespread as it is today and it’s
Sometimes, a program or utility becomes such a part of the computing experience that we take it for granted. Such is the case with LastPass; it seems so “there” that I don’t even remember how long I’ve been using it. What I do remember is
It isn't getting any better out there on the Wild, Wild, Web and now there's an even more sinister criminal tactic that affects every graphical browser in use today; it's called “clickjacking” and it's a nasty one. In fact, unless you're using a text-based browser
TrueCrypt is a very powerful program that you use to create virtual encrypted disks (which are basically just files on your hard drive that can be mounted as if they’re disks, complete with unique drive letters). You can also encrypt entire partitions or hard drives
You’ve never heard the term before? Well, here’s what it is according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): “Locational privacy (also known as “location privacy”) is the ability of an individual to move in public space with the expectation that under normal circumstances their location
For years now the traditional security programs have relied heavily on a definition data base to identify malware. This method, also known as signature based detection, is still being widely employed today. New viruses and malware variants are being created daily and this system of
The email preview pane in Outlook Express and other email clients allows you to quickly review a lot of messages just by moving through them in the inbox. This is certainly convenient, but it can make your PC vulnerable to infection by worms or viruses.
Disable message preview in Outlook Express for added security Read More »
A weak password, one that can be easily guessed, is almost as bad as no password at all. For example, if you use a password that conforms to common patterns that most people tend to use, it can be easily guessed. According to Wikipedia, repeated
In past article, I’ve stressed the importance of having a NAT router between your PC and the Internet (by the way, any router you buy for consumer use is a NAT router, so you don’t have to tell the salesperson at Best Buy or wherever
Why you should change the default username and password on your router Read More »
Do a search on “strong password” and you’ll get a couple of million hits, everything from definitions to tools and websites with password generators. You’ll even see some sponsored ads for people trying to sell password strength-related services. It’s a hot topic and opinions vary
Some background information Once upon a time, in Computerland, there was a nasty villain named ‘Virus’ who delighted in inflicting damage and generally being a nuisance, so Computerland introduced ‘Anti Virus’ to aid in warding off the attacks. After a while Virus realized that merely
