Security News


Spam More Creative, Better Targeted

Thirty years after the first unsolicited e-mail advertisement was sent, the phenomenon now known as spam is continuing to grow -- and becoming more sophisticated, creative and malicious.

Discovery of Crimeware Server Exposes Breadth of Data Theft

Last month researchers at online security company Finjan uncovered a 1.4 gigabyte cache of stolen data from North America, Europe, the Middle East and India on a Malaysian server that provided command and control functions for malware attacks in addition to being a drop site for data harvested from compromised computers.

In Search of Trust

Microsoft's end-to-end trust initiative is long on vision, but short on developer details.

Open Source Search Site Acquired by Black Duck

Koders.com is slated to become another asset in Black Duck's software compliance toolset.

Glitch Postpones Windows XP SP3 Availability

The availability of new service pack for the Windows XP operating system has been postponed until Microsoft fixes an application compatibility problem.

Web Developers Left Holding the Bag on SQL Injection Attacks

Poor security practices are to blame, Microsoft says.

Experts Focus on Future of U.S. Cybersecurity

Whoever becomes our next president will inherit a cyber infrastructure under almost constant attack and at greater risk than eight years ago, and a handful of experts and legislators have come together to ensure that cybersecurity has a high priority in his or her administration.

Web Attacks on the Rise; E-mail Attacks Decline

According to a recent study from security and anti-virus specialist Sophos, servers in the U.S. and China host the lion's share of malware-infected Web sites. Meanwhile, Web attacks surged to an all-time high in the first quarter of this year, according to Sophos -- with no sign of dropping off any time soon.

Bugs Are Up, Microsoft Security Report Says

Report, covering late 2007, found a 300 percent increase in Trojan bugs.

Q&A: Cyber Crime's Chief Investigator

Howard A. Schmidt has used technology to thwart crime since his early career as a policeman and pioneer in computer forensics.

Microsoft Investigating LocalSystem Access Bug

The bug reportedly allows authenticated users to elevate privileges on networks using some Windows operating systems.

Hoax Subpoena E-Mails Shine Light on 'Spearphishing'

Hundreds of executives at some of America's most well-known companies received e-mails that they probably didn't want to get -- even if those messages weren't a hoax.

Council Publishes Guidelines for Securing Customer Data Online

The PCI Security Standards Council this week announced plans to issue new guidelines that it hopes will give transaction application developers and security specialists a clear direction to the path of least resistance when it comes to assessing risks surrounding customer and vendor data -- most notably, credit card and payment information.

SQL Server 2005 SP3 Expected in Summer '08

Microsoft releases an incremental update in the mean time, Cumulative Update 7.

Vista SP1 Expands Language Support, but Hits USB Snag

Microsoft has rolled out Vista Service Pack 1 in all supported language versions, but some existing SP1 users have had problems with USB-based devices after applying a security patch.

Borland Debuts Silk 2008 Test Suite

Company releases testing and quality assurance tools for development teams.

Assess Security and Boost Innovation, Says RSA Exec

RSA Conference opening speech emphasized that innovation can be facilitated by considering security as a form of risk assessment.

'Stirling' Beta Security Solution Released

Microsoft's integrated security solution, code-named "Stirling," is currently available as a public beta release.

Microsoft Rolls Out Eight Patches for 10 Vulnerabilities

Fixes are for client-side vulnerabilities.

Microsoft Rolls Out 8 Patches for 10 Vulnerabilities

Microsoft rolled out five "critical" and three "important" patches for Windows Server 2008, Vista, Office, IE and other software.