Computer Safety & News

While most users avoid these scams, the bad guys can still take advantage of others.  All free offers should be avoided or carefully evaluated to ensure there is no danger. http://www.threattracksecurity.com/it-blog/the-bill-gates-lottery-winning-ticket-scam-is-amazing/ QUOTE: A friend of mine had this sent to them by an elderly relative earlier today. Unfortunately they didn’t keep the sender’s email address, […]

Facecrooks security reports a recent proof-of-concept test allowed phone numbers set to the “public everyone” status to be collected.  Users should lock down privacy settings in social networking sites. http://facecrooks.com/Internet-Safety-Privacy/Hacker-Collects-Thousands-of-Phone-Numbers-Using-Graph-Search.html QUOTE: On March 5, Copley reported a tip to Facebook pointing out the security flaw in Graph Search. Facebook wrote him back acknowledging the problem, though […]

PC Magazine evaluated several AV products recently and results can be found in link below http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/security-software/313198-the-best-antivirus-software-new-winners-and-losers QUOTE: Those malware coders who cobble together all the Trojans, viruses, and other nasty programs are constantly working on new creations, hoping to get past existing antivirus defenses. Security vendors are likewise constantly working on new technologies to foil […]

Latest best practice links for corporate and home security are noted below: Microsoft Security – Best Practices Home Page http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd366071.aspx Microsoft Best Practices Authentication for Administrative Authority Best Practices for Applying Service Packs, Hotfixes and Security Patches Best Practices for Enterprise Security Best Practices for Preventing DoS/Denial of Service Attacks Best Practices for Mitigating RPC […]

There are approximately two dozen beneficial links that tie into the four broad disciplines below: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd277328.aspx QUOTE: To help you evaluate and plan the security of your network, Microsoft has compiled a list of best practices for securing an enterprise. This list is not meant to replace a full security assessment of your infrastructure, but […]

PC Magazine shares two worthwhile privacy settings that will enhance both privacy and security in using Facebook … and most importantly always use an “air of caution” in entering any sensitive information into this environment in account settings or public comments http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/security/313078-double-lock-your-facebook-profile QUOTE: Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that an app developer had scraped around […]

Facebook plans to further strenghten network message encryption beyond current HTTPS standard processing as reflected below: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/facebook-strengthen-security-old-school-crypto-technique-6C10476610 QUOTE: Many websites support what’s called HTTPS, an encrypted version of the normal HTTP protocol used to weave together the World Wide Web. But the way it’s implemented, there’s the possibility that a hacker (or the NSA) could […]

Trend Labs documents multiple and extensive cyber-attacks, including Government web sites http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/south-korean-government-dns-servers-targeted-by-ddos-attacks/ http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/compromised-auto-update-mechanism-affects-south-korean-users/ QUOTE: Our investigation of the June 25 South Korea incident led us to the compromise of an auto-update mechanism attack scenario. As part of our continuous monitoring, we documented another scenario (presented in this blog entry) pertaining to a DDoS attack scenario […]

F-Secure shares a Google Security team blog post, reflecting a new summarized malware analysis by location http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002571.html http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.fi/2013/06/transparency-report-making-web-safer.html QUOTE: Yesterday, Google announced on its Online Security Blog that it will now include Safe Browsing statistics in its Transparency Report.  The Safe Browsing Malware Dashboard is fascinating. Here’s last week’s Malware Distribution by Autonomous System, using […]

Facebook has closed a recently discovered privacy glitch where sensitive fields were being sent when other users sought contact information. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/21/net-us-facebook-security-idUSBRE95K18Y20130621 QUOTE: Facebook Inc has inadvertently exposed 6 million users’ phone numbers and email addresses to unauthorized viewers over the past year, the world’s largest social networking company disclosed late Friday. Facebook blamed the data […]