On the heels of Microsoft’s last Security Intelligence Report there have been a number of articles like this one on vnunet.com positing that applications rather than the OS (read Microsoft) are the primary culprits for software vulnerabilities. Research by vulnerability specialist Secunia suggests that third-party applications are increasingly being used by malware writers in preference [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Keeping those apps updated
Posted: April 27, 2009 in general, professional, securityTags: Apple, bloatware, crapware, Microsoft, Microsoft Genuine Advantage Validation Tool, patch, Personal Software Inspector, PSI, Secunia, Security Intelligence Report, update services, Vista
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Adverse Inference
Posted: April 17, 2009 in general, professional, securityTags: adverse inference, electronic discovery, Electronically Stored Information, ESI, forensics
I’ve mentioned before that I’m an avid follower, albeit not a practitioner, of electronic discovery and forensics. One of my favorite concepts – in the sense that it is usually invoked in response to some truly ham-fisted effort to scam the court – is adverse inference. Essentially it says that if you fail to produce [...]
Strange week for Microsoft
Posted: April 14, 2009 in general, professional, securityTags: end of support, Microsoft, Security Intelligence Report, Uniloc, Windows XP
Last week was a strange week for Microsoft. In the news anyway. First we have this story in eWeek’s Microsoft Watch. Today, April 8, a jury found that Microsoft infringed on Uniloc patents for product activation. Microsoft uses the technology to protect its software from theft. Who’s stealing from whom? So Microsoft (allegedly) stole their [...]
Computers everywhere
Posted: April 7, 2009 in general, professional, securityTags: computer, NetFlix, personally identifiable information, PII, TiVo
Branden Williams at the Security Convergence Blog has this outstanding article about places your personal data can reside that you rarely consider. Folks, don’t forget, that every one of these devices that you plug into the wall or has a battery is basically a computer. Sure, it may not be the one that you are [...]
Meaningless but amusing security surveys
Posted: April 6, 2009 in general, securityTags: hacker, marital infidelity, security study, security survey, Symantec, teenager hacking, Trend Micro, weapons of mass destruction, wmd
They are coming fast and furious now. Maybe it’s because they missed the April fools deadline or figured we needed a break from usual perpetrators of newsworthy stupidity. Whatever the reason, a new survey conducted by Trend Micro and published in Metro.co.uk sports this provocative headline: 40% of teenagers have hacked More than 40 per [...]
