Computer Safety & News

The FBI has just announced improved support to combat fraud on an international basis. http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/march/fbi-establishes-international-corruption-squads/fbi-establishes-international-corruption-squads The FCPA, passed in 1977, makes it illegal for U.S. companies, U.S. persons, and foreign corporations with certain U.S. ties to bribe foreign officials to obtain or retain business overseas. And we take these crimes very seriously—foreign bribery has the […]

This informative article and slide presentation from Information Week shares key features that will implemented for Windows 10 coming later this year http://www.informationweek.com/software/operating-systems/windows-10-vs-windows-8-10-differences/d/d-id/1319410 Microsoft has gone back to the old days with the inclusion of the Start menu, which was missing from Windows 8. Another significant boost is that the company plans to include the […]

Kim Komando features some protective advice in this security alert.  Users should also not respond to any unexpected calls from IRS, as the US Mail still remains the primary means of communication (and they do not contain by email or phone initially) http://www.komando.com/tips/300138/protect-your-tax-return-from-crooks-and-hackers In its most basic form, a crook uses your Social Security number […]

While technically bankruptcy courts may see customer data as an asset for sale, this action could be potentially blocked due to privacy concerns. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-24/radioshack-s-bankruptcy-could-give-your-customer-data-to-the-highest-bidder The phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and shopping habits of more than 100 million customers are part of RadioShack’s bankruptcy auction.  RadioShack’s customers—even those whose most recent purchase came years ago—could also […]

The latest Firefox updates fix Pwn2Own and other recently discovered security issues https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/36.0.4/releasenotes/ * 36.0.4: Security fixes for issues disclosed at HP Zero Day Initiative’s Pwn2Own contest * No longer accept insecure RC4 ciphers whenever possible * Phasing out Certificates with 1024-bit RSA Keys * 36.0.3: Security fixes for issues disclosed at HP Zero Day […]

The Internet Storm Center shares interesting and humorous design found in recent mass mailing to bypass SPAM filters where a salad recipe was also present within the spammed email message itself. https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Interesting+Home+Depot+Spam/19499/ At first glance it looks like yet another run of Home Depot Spam. It isn’t very sophisticated and isn’t likely to fool many.  […]

All browsers were compromised by expert security testers as documented below and users should be lookout for updates in coming weeks as vendors patch these vulnerablities http://thehackernews.com/2015/03/browser-hacked-pwn2own.html The Annual Pwn2Own Hacking Competition 2015 held in Vancouver is over and participants from all over the world nabbed $557,500 in bug bounties for 21 critical bugs in […]

This new malware attack is starting to circulate.  It features a new capability to export data externally, so that attackers no longer need to log in locally to retrieve compromised credit card details http://blogs.cisco.com/security/talos/POSeidon http://www.computerworld.com/article/2900310/new-malware-program-poseidon-targets-pointofsale-systems.html Retailers beware: A new Trojan program targets point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, stealing payment card data that can then be abused by […]

In an evaluation of 50 smart home based devices, this Symantec research report reveals a number of gaps in security that must be improved upon in future. http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/iot-smart-home-giving-away-keys-your-kingdom http://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/media/security_response/whitepapers/insecurity-in-the-internet-of-things.pdf The Internet of Things (IoT) market has begun to take off. Consumers can buy connected versions of nearly every household appliance available. However, despite its increasing […]

Both Windows 7 and 8 provide advantages in terms of support, reliability, performance and improved security as noted below: http://images.globalknowledge.com/wwwimages/whitepaperpdf/WP_MS_WhichWindows.pdf This “Crossroads for Windows XP Users: Windows 7 or Windows 8?” white paper is sponsored by Global Knowledge.  It explores the pros and cons of each option – including your options for staying with XP.  […]