Ryan Naraine

Microsoft Preps Five Windows Patches

Microsofts monthly patch day for December will produce security updates for five vulnerabilities affecting Windows users, the company said Thursday. In an advance notice, the software giant said the maximum severity rating for the five updates is “important.” Some of the security updates may require a restart. The prerelease of basic information ahead of the […]

Vonage Adds Video to VOIP Service

Buoyed by a recent FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ruling that its services are exempt from state and local regulation and tariffs, VOIP upstart Vonage plans to enter the video telephony market. In a partnership with broadband videophone maker Viseon, Edison, N.J.-based Vonage Holdings Corp. plans to add video calling services to its SIP (Session Initiation […]

Spyware: The Next Real Threat

NEW YORK—Spyware will replace the mass-mailing worm as the biggest nuisance—and security threat—facing businesses in 2005. Thats the chilling assessment from Roger Thompson, director of content research security management at Computer Associates International Inc. Thompson used the spotlight of the InfoSecurity 2004 conference here to highlight the growing threat from spyware and adware “pests” and […]

Trend Micro Offers Virus Scanning for Smart Phones

Amid reports of Trojans and worms squirming through mobile devices, Trend Micro Inc. says it will roll out anti-virus and anti-spam protection for users of data-centric smart phones. The companys Trend Micro Mobile Security suite, which is available for free through June 30, 2005, will provide automatic, real-time scanning to protect wireless devices against malicious […]

Group Enlists Honey Pots to Catch IM Threats

IMlogic Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to use so-called honey pots, or vulnerable machines, to track malicious virus activity on instant messaging and peer-to-peer networks. In partnership with a slew of big-name IM and anti-virus vendors, the Waltham, Mass.-based IMlogic is heading up the establishment of a Threat Center to gather intelligence and provide early […]

No XP SP2 Security Fixes for Win2K: Instead An SP2-Less Rollup

Microsofts decision to scrap plans for Windows 2000 Service Pack 5 has effectively killed all hopes that security enhancements built into Windows XP SP2 will be back-ported to Windows 2000. Following a spate of recent analyst reports warning of long-term security problems with the platform, some enterprise customers anticipated that Redmond would reconsider the Service […]

Lycos Pulls Anti-Spam Vigilante Campaign

Just days after Lycos Europes launch of an anti-spam DDoS tool raised eyebrows in the security space, the company appears to have scrapped the campaign. Earlier this week, the company released a downloadable screensaver programmed to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against known spam sites, but the move sparked a shooting war with spammers and attracted […]

Apple Zaps 16 Mac OS X Holes

Apple Computer Inc. late Thursday rolled out a monster update to correct 16 potentially serious vulnerabilities in the Mac OS X operating system. According to an advisory from Apple, the update corrects flaws that could lead to security bypass, spoofing, exposure of sensitive data, privilege escalation, DoS (denial of service) attacks and unauthorized system access. […]

Microsoft Tests Brown Wrapper Porn Rule with Spam Suits

Microsoft on Thursday fired off seven lawsuits against a band of unknown spammers who allegedly sent millions of sexually explicit e-mails to Microsofts MSN Hotmail user base without proper labeling, as required by the CAN-SPAM Act and FTC (Federal Trade Commission) rules. The seven “John Doe” lawsuits filed in Washington State Superior Court in King […]

Wozniaks Wheels of Zeus Tackles Enterprise Data Encryption

Steve Wozniaks Wheels of Zeus is beginning to roll, and enterprise data protection is one destination on the Apple Computer Inc. co-founders mind. Wozniak offered a peek into his vision for the company on Ziff Davis Medias Security Virtual Tradeshow, where he introduced “wOz Location-Based Encryption,” an application that uses GPS tracking within a wireless […]