Fahmida Y. Rashid

SOPA, PIPA Still Threaten Internet Operations Even Without DNS Filtering

Despite recent changes to anti-online piracy bills under consideration in Congress, opponents still say the bills would make it impossible for Websites to block offending domains and won’t actually stop piracy.Stop Online Piracy Act is an anti-piracy bill currently under debate before the House Judiciary Committee. The bill was written to target Websites run by […]

Manage Authorized Devices

Manage Authorized Devices Device-level management software helps IT staff track who is connecting USB devices to the network, what kind of data is being transferred and when the activity is happening. If IT staff is not monitoring device activity, sensitive data can be copied and shared with unauthorized outsiders. Block Unauthorized Devices Sometimes, there is […]

Oracle Accused of Downplaying Database Flaws, Severity

Even as Oracle fixed numerous flaws across multiple products in January’s Critical Patch Update, security experts criticized the company for the low number of database fixes and claimed the company is downplaying the severity of a flaw in its flagship relational database. Only two patches were for the Oracle Database out of the 78 security […]

Oracle Patches 78 Bugs in January’s Critical Patch Update

Oracle released 78 security fixes across its database and other products in its portfolio as part of its Critical Patch Update. January’s Critical Patch Update contains two fixes for the Oracle Database Server, 11 for Oracle Fusion Middleware, three in Oracle e-Business Suite, one in Oracle Supply Chain, six in Oracle PeopleSoft, eight in Oracle […]

New Sykipot Variant Targets Defense Sector Smart Card Credentials

Researchers uncovered a new variant of the Sykipot Trojan that targeted smart cards used by a number of high-security companies and public agencies, including the United States Department of Defense. The new variant of the Sykipot malware family is capable of stealing PIN codes used with smart cards to gain access to restricted systems, Jamie […]

Zappos Breach Illustrate the Need for Stronger Password Rules

The latest breach with online clothing and apparel retailer Zappos.com highlights the importance of password security, according to security experts. Cyber-attackers breached one of the company’s servers in Kentucky and accessed “one or more” pieces of personal information, including customer names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers, the last four digits of credit […]

White House Opposes DNS Blocking in SOPA

Opponents of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act circulating in the House of Representatives got a boost after the White House said it would not support any legislation that would result in online censorship or posed cyber-security risks to the Internet’s infrastructure. The Obama administration was concerned about proposed legislation that sought to “tamper” with […]

Major Microsoft, Adobe Patches Lead Week’s Security News

Software patches dominated the week with Adobe’s scheduling its quarterly update for Reader and Acrobat software while Microsoft delivered its Patch Tuesday updates for January. Oracle also released the preview for its quarterly Critical Patch Update for next week. Microsoft released seven bulletins addressing eight security vulnerabilities in January’s Patch Tuesday, but only one was […]

Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing, Security Still Priority 10 Years Later

In 2002, then-CEO Bill Gates wrote a letter to every Microsoft employee stating that product security was a top priority for the software giant. While the fight against attackers is not over, the company has advanced significantly in making it harder to compromise the operating system and associated software, according to security experts in and […]

Cyber-Squatting Less of a Risk With ICANN’s Dot-Brand gTLDs: Gartner

Despitestrong opposition from government officials, industry trade groups and companies, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has begun the application process to expand the Domain Name System. As of midnight UTC Jan. 12, applicants were able request a generic top-level domain (gTLD) from ICANN. The suffixes can be the company name, such as […]