Fahmida Y. Rashid

Hackers and other computer experts willing to collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security to bolster the nation’s cyber-defense are unable to do so because of red tape, according to the former head of the department. Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, two former secretaries of Homeland Security, joined current DHS boss Janet Napolitano to discuss […]

Other World Computing has put together “do-it-yourself” kits to upgrade memory and storage for Apple’s new MacBook Pro computers. Kits are available for the new MacBook Pro 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch models, Other World Computing said Mar. 1. There are kits to upgrade memory, to swap in higher capacity solid-state drives and to install higher-speed […]

Despite the convenience of a cloud-based password management service, a security researcher warned that putting passwords in the cloud may not be the best idea after all. After the Gawker breach revealed the number of people reusing passwords across multiple sites, there was renewed interest in using password management applications such as KeePass and LastPass. […]

There were 205.3 million domain addresses by the end of 2010, 6.3 percent more than the end of 2009, according to the latest numbers from Verisign. A little over half of the registered domains have a .com or .net extension, Verisign said. That number is expected to continue its upward swing. In a research note […]

The “pay for what you use” model may spur cloud adoption among organizations, but IT departments still have to figure out how to charge individual departments for what they use. Cloud Cruiser announced a platform on Mar. 1 that collects machine use data about what storage, networking and cloud applications are being accessed, Dave Zabrowski, […]

The same Chinese hackers who attacked Google appear to have also gone after Morgan Stanley around the same time, according to leaked e-mails from security firm HBGary Federal. Morgan Stanley had a “sensitive breach” in which hackers attacked its network for six months, beginning in June 2009, according to e-mails from Phil Wallisch, a senior […]

Security researchers have discovered a beta version of a new backdoor Trojan that targets Mac OS X. SophosLAbs analyzed the sample and determined that the Trojan is actually a variant of darkComet, a well-known Windows Remote Access Trojan, Chester Wisniewski, senior security analyst at Sophos, wrote on the NakedSecurity blog on Feb. 26. The malware […]

Hey, New Jersey. Instead of “My Congressman IS a rocket scientist!” bumper stickers, it’s time for one that says, “My Congressman beat Watson!” Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey beat IBM’s supercomputer Watson in one round of a mock “Jeopardy!” tournament Feb. 28 in Washington, D.C. Five members of Congress played in a bipartisan “Watson […]

The embattled CEO of HBGary Federal has resigned his post three weeks after Anonmyous hacked into the company’s network and stole thousands of e-mail messages. The ease Anonymous conducted the attack left the company that provides security services to the federal government red-faced. CEO Aaron Barr told Threatpost on Feb. 28 that he’s stepping down […]

In an unexpected move, Apple has invited several security researchers to take a look at the upcoming Mac OS X Lion and provide feedback. Apple has generally been tight-lipped about security vulnerabilities in Mac OS X while gleefully touting flaws in competitor platforms. Sophos security expert Graham Cluley has speculated in the past that Apple […]