Computer Safety & News

Firefox version 17 was just released and two new innovations are available. http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/11/20/mozilla-firefox-social-api-facebook-browser/ http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/11/20/firefox-17-launches-with-click-to-play-plugin-blocks-for-old-adobe-reader-flash-and-silverlight/ QUOTE: In its continued attempt to help influence the Internet, Mozilla on Tuesday released an update to Firefox that integrates social features into the browser. With this update comes two important things to note: first, the browser now has a social […]

The new “Cool Exploit Kit” appears to be a new and improved variant of Blackhole Exploit kit http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002458.html QUOTE: Exploit kits are still making rounds, nothing new there. But in addition to the popular Blackhole Exploit Kit, a new kid on the block emerges which has been dubbed as Cool Exploit Kit. It’s very interesting […]

Google will offer a new malware scanning service that can help identify malicious applications as documented below. http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/305131-google-to-verify-android-apps-in-jellybean-update QUOTE:  Users with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) devices will have the option of scanning apps installed on their devices to identify malicious apps, Google engineer Michael Morrissey wrote in a Google+ post on Wednesday. The new mechanism […]

Almost every month, new online password breaches are reported.  In this case, a relatively small group of users were impacted.  As noted, strong passwords and periodic changes are best practices that can help mitigate these attacks https://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=14515 https://blogs.adobe.com/adobeconnect/2012/11/connectusers-com-forum-outage-following-database-compromise.html http://arstechnica.com/security/2012/11/adobe-breach-reportedly-spills-easy-to-crack-password-hashes/ QUOTE: Adobe has revealed that apparently a password database was compromised via a SQL injection attack. […]

High school students seeking college admission or employment should be always be careful with content posted on Facebook http://facecrooks.com/Internet-Safety-Privacy/Over-25-of-Colleges-Now-Prying-Into-High-Schoolers%e2%80%99-Facebook-Profiles.html QUOTE: According to a recent Kaplan Test Prep survey, which polled 350 admissions officers from colleges all over the country, over 25 percent said they had looked up applicants on Facebook and Google. Many high school […]

This article shares alarming statistics on how large identity theft has become in our nation: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/14/15144350-10000-id-fraud-gangs-active-in-us-especially-the-southeast-study-finds?lite=obinsite QUOTE: There are 10,000 active identity theft crime rings across the United States, with the greatest concentration in a “ring of fraud” that stretches across the Southeast from Virginia to Mississippi, according to a new report by fraud-fighting firm […]

As the Holiday shopping season officially starts this weekend, please be careful as scams and malware attacks are actively circulating http://www.technewsdaily.com/15546-black-friday-scams.html QUOTE: Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the start of the American holiday shopping season. Brick-and-mortar retailers gear up for it by offering gargantuan sales to get shoppers in the doors. But they’re […]

This new scanning tool can evaluate and measure the completeness and strength of workstation security http://www.opswat.com/products/security-score QUOTE: OPSWAT Security Score is a free tool that scans your computer for the status of your installed security applications and provides a score along with recommendations on how to improve both the score and the security of your […]

Home users should note these symptoms that might point to a possible malware infection as documented by Avira security http://techblog.avira.com/2012/10/30/security-101-october-2012/en/ QUOTE: Usually, if your computer is performing strangely, this is a good sign of being infected with malware. “Strange” can mean one or more of the following symptoms: – Heavy CPU processing – Too much […]

These links document how to find the largest messages in cleaning up GMAIL history to regain space. http://lifehacker.com/5958583/find-the-large-attachments-eating-up-your-gmail-space-with-a-simple-search http://www.techsmog.com/index.php/2012/10/31/finding-large-attachments-and-emails-in-google-mail-gmail/ QUOTE: This may come as a surprise, but Google is known for its search capabilities and offers many useful search shortcuts. It’s no wonder that Gmail does the same. Network administrator Josh Gilmour points out on […]