Larry Seltzer

When users run into trouble using Internet Explorer its not often with innocent and standard HTML functions, but with fancier features like ActiveX controls and scripting. This is why, as we have reported, Microsoft is planning to default IE 7 to a lower rights configuration. The company isnt going into details, but its an easy […]

Its taken so long for e-mail authentication to get to this point that you might assume the whole idea had failed and been forgotten. Not true. The really important work has gone on, out of the spotlight. Yahoo and Ciscos announcement that they will merge their similar public key cryptography-based specs for authentication is a […]

An Israeli industrial espionage scandal that erupted over the weekend really shouldnt be surprising, tempting as surprise might be. In fact, while its impossible to know how much of this sort of thing is going on, its safe and responsible to assume its common. Executives at several large companies were arrested, as well as private […]

It seems like forever since the great battles of the standards bodies last year when the effort to institutionalize SMTP authentication broke down. Since then, just as beforehand, there has been no serious work done in the standards community to address spam, mail worms and other abuse. The only option left has been for private […]

Ive been beating a steady drum for a while now for the cause of getting ISPs to block unrestricted use of TCP port 25. Its not world peace, but its more important than most people recognize. Now the FTC has taken up the cause of fighting “spam zombies,” including port 25 blocking as a means. […]

Theres a lot of confusion out there over VOIP and 911 services. In the wake of Thursdays FCC order to the VOIP industry to provide E911 services within 120 days, I have to count myself among the confused. First, I hope to clear up some confusion. There are a lot of people who think that, […]

Most of us got some of that weird German nationalist spam recently. The spam barrage was performed through a new bot network created by a new mail worm, a variant of Sober. It had been some time since a major outbreak of any of these mail worms and a very long time since a major […]

Sometimes its amazing to see how Microsoft can take their time with things that others view as a crisis, and theres no better example than security. Nearly two years after Microsoft bought an anti-virus company, they have finally decided what to do with it. Windows OneCare, the “Automated, All-in-One PC Health Service for Consumers” that […]

New versions of the Firefox and Mozilla browsers have been released that address three security problems, including one that was made public last week. The first fix addresses the bug that was publicized recently, in which an attacker can execute code by using a javascript: URL as the IconURL property. Mozilla is partly vulnerable to […]

The last few days have been embarrassing ones for Windows alternatives. Apple released a series of vulnerability disclosures and updates rivaling any put out by Microsoft and the Mozilla Group had to contend with a leaked “highly critical” vulnerability disclosure. The mainstream press, not just the trade press, has been advising users to move to […]