Sean Michael Kerner

Microsoft has issued its advanced notification for the upcoming Patch Tuesday update cycle, set to be released on Aug. 13. I personally have never been a big fan of the advanced notification because, quite frankly, the information is somewhat vague and I prefer to just wait for the real deal and all the related important […]

When one company buys another, a lot of things are in motion, and one area that is often overlooked in my experience is security. In the case of Microsoft’s acquisition last year of enterprise social networking vendor Yammer, that apparently does not seem to be the case. Microsoft acquired Yammer in July 2012 for $1.2 […]

Google’s Android mobile operating system has emerged to become a dominant force in the smartphone landscape. Sitting at the core of Android is Linux as well as a long list of open-source technologies. Many people mistakenly think that Android itself is all open source, but the harsh reality is that from a usable handset perspective, […]

Twitter is aiming to improve security for its users with an improved two-factor log-in verification system that goes beyond the SMS-based system that the company first deployed two months ago. Security experts eWeek spoke with have mixed opinions on whether Twitter’s latest attempt at user security will really make a difference. Two-factor authentication refers to […]

For almost as long as there have been Web browsers, there have been Web browser mechanisms to help users store passwords for the sites they visit. The benefit of the password managers is ease of use for users, but inevitably in my experience, at one point or another, those browser-based password management systems fail in […]

The open-source Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is out this week with the Flex 4.10.0 update, which I consider to be a major new release of the Flex project. Flex is what was once referred to as an RIA (rich Internet application) Framework, and it enables developers to build modern expressive Websites, leveraging Adobe’s Flash technology. […]

Approximately two and a half years ago, Tor (The Onion Router) Web anonymity project announced that was was going to build its own Web browser, to be known as the Tor Browser. The Tor network provides a way for users to anonymize their online activities by running data packets through a number of “onion routers” […]

Linus Torvalds, the founder and creator of the open-source Linux operating system, releases a new Linux kernel every 10 to 12 weeks, but not all Linux kernels have a long life and not all kernels are stable enough for enterprise or consumer electronics usage. The kernel is the heart of a Linux operating system, and […]

The open-source Mozilla Foundation is out today with its Firefox 23 Web browser for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and Android devices. The new release comes just six weeks after the last major Firefox release, and brings a number of feature and security updates to the browser. Firefox 23 debuts new sharing features that […]

Black Hat, DEF CON Put Spotlight on Major Security Issues, Hacks by Sean Michael Kerner Black Hat on Caesar For the past 16 years, the Black Hat Security conference has been held at Caesars Palace. That will change in 2014, as organizers have scheduled to hold the conference at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. […]