September 2010
1 post
12 reasons why we're losing the identity theft...
1. Zero Liability has made consumers feel they have nothing to lose. The notion of zero liability came from a blend of federal law (the FACT Act or FACTA) and marketing savvy by financial institutions, to shift losses to identity theft from consumers and victims to the financial industry. The financial industry has often seen absorbing identity theft and fraud losses as the cost of doing...
October 2008
2 posts
Clickjackers Could Hijack Webcams
Adobe Systems warned users Tuesday that hackers could use recently-reported “clickjacking” attack tactics to secretly turn on a computer’s microphone and Web camera.
Flash on all platforms is susceptible to clickjacking attacks, Adobe said in an advisory posted Tuesday. By duping users into visiting a malicious Web site, hackers could hijack seemingly-innocent clicks that, in...
Windows and security
Rogue security apps strike again: Fortinet 5 October, 2008 By Vanessa Ho
For the second consecutive month, rogue security applications topped Fortinet’s top 10 most reported high-risk threats for September 2008.
For the month, rogue security applications made up 61.5 per cent of total activity. In particular, the W32/Inject.GZW!tr.bdr was the most prolific variant of the rogue security...
September 2008
1 post
Twelve Unnecessary Vista Features to Disable
Vista, thy name is bloat!
The latest Windows packs a lot of code—more than any version of Windows ever—and some of it is just plain unnecessary. All of that excess code has a way of slowing down an operating system. Resellers can regain some PC performance for their customers by removing unneeded features.
I’ve identified a dozen Vista features that you can turn off right now....
July 2008
1 post
Websense Discovers Worm Proclaiming WWIII
Source: http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=5912
Websense Security Labs ThreatSeeker Network has recently discovered another Storm worm spam campaign that centers on the start of World War III because U.S. forces have allegedly invaded Iran. The messages offer a video of this alleged recent drama.
However, instead of clicking on a video, users would download an executable that...
June 2008
1 post
Firefox Downloads Exceed 1.6 Million on First Day
http://www.e-channelnews.com/ec_storydetail.php?ref=416399
According to Mozilla, Firefox 3 reached 1.6 million downloads by early Tuesday evening. The Web site saw almost 9,000 copies of the free, open-source software downloaded every minute in the opening hours of its availability.
The release of Firefox 3 kicked off Download Day, the Mozilla community’s campaign to set a new Guinness...
May 2008
2 posts
What's the best format for my pictures
http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/a225b73e0a0104080036ef21e94a0a30/pg0.htmDave Johnson PC World Monday, July 24, 2006 Why is JPEG so popular? When is it better to use TIFF or RAW formats? PCworld.ca gives you all the information you need to choose the right format and make sure your memories get digitally immortalized without loss of quality. The next time you start pining for the good old days of...
Clean Machine. Does one exist?
http://www.infoweek.ca/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=2241&option=com_virtuemart&vmcchk=1 by Thomas Claburn Since Friday, more than half a million Trojan horse programs disguised as media files have been detected on consumer PCs, according to McAfee Avert Labs. “This is one of the most prevalent pieces of malware in the last three...
April 2008
4 posts
Web becoming the distribution point for malicious...
http://www.echannelline.com/canada/story.cfm?item=DLY040808-1 8-April-2008 by Vanessa Ho Volume XIII of Symantec’s Global Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) reports that the Web has quickly become the attack vector of choice. Symantec’s Global ISTR provides a six-month update of Internet threat activity and includes analysis of network-based attacks, a review of known...
Growing Crimeware-as-a-Service (CaaS) industry...
http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=55727 April, 2008 By Erin Bell Crimeware-as-a-Service (CaaS) is the latest business model for cybercriminals, according to Finjan Inc.’s Q1 2008 Web Security Trends Report. The report, which outlined the findings of Finjan’s Malicious Code Research Center, said that criminals have started to use online cybercrime services...
New Threat Report reveals infected websites remain...
http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=55552 April, 2008 By Vanessa Ho In ScanSafe’s recent Global Threat Report, the web security-as-a-service company revealed that web threats including viruses, Trojans, password stealers and other forms of malware are becoming more prevalent and that compromised websites remain live for a longer period of time than before. ScanSafe scanned...
Adware biggest offender for computer infections
From http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=5549 Adware was the worst offender for causing malware infections in the first quarter of 2008, but Trojans were close behind the as the second most active category. According to the Panda Software’s PandaLabs Q1 malware analysis and detection report, adware was the cause of 28.58 per cent of all infections, making it the leading cause...
March 2008
3 posts
Botnet scams are exploding
http://www.e-channelnews.com/ec_storydetail.php?ref=415753 Two days after actor Heath Ledger died, e-mails began moving across the Internet purportedly carrying a link to a detailed police report divulging “the real reason” behind the actor’s death. Ledger had been summarily drafted into the service of a botnet. Bots are compromised computers controlled by profit-minded crooks....
Spyware the real cost
From Connect IT News. http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=5538 Spyware a barrier to productivity 30 March, 2008 By Patricia Pickett Small businesses are facing huge problems when it comes to spyware infections —.but their troubles could open up doors for channel partners to offer managed services in order to help alleviate the issue, says the Computing Technology Industry...
Little Red Riding Hood Fights Online Fraud
http://www.e-channelnews.com/ec_storydetail.php?ref=415698 Online fraud is on the rise, and fraudsters have developed sophisticated means of accessing consumers’ sensitive personal information over the Internet. Canadians are being caught by malicious phishing emails and spoof websites, and it’s getting harder to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not. March is...
February 2008
6 posts
McAfee notes malware becoming localized
http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=5429 A new report released by McAfee Inc. notes that malware attacks are becoming more regionalized where attacks are being tailored to different cultures and technologies as well as in a person’s own language. “Two years ago we couldn’t have this conversation, as 98 per cent of threats globally were written in the English...
Apple Introduces New MacBook and MacBook Pro... →
Multi-Touch Trackpad Comes to MacBook Pro MARKHAM, Ontario—February 26, 2008—Apple® today updated its popular MacBook® and MacBook Pro notebook lines with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard in most models. In addition, MacBook Pro includes the latest NVIDIA graphics processors, now with up to 512MB of video memory, and Apple’s innovative...
Website categories that cause the most damage to...
Web of Trust (WOT), an online reputation rating community, has unveiled the findings of its study that looked at the categories of websites that are the most dangerous for Internet users. These website categories can cause major financial damage and damage to computers. Based on an analysis of 17 million websites rated by the WOT users community, three categories emerged as causing the most...
New crimeware toolkit infects over 10,000 U.S....
http://www.echannelline.com/canada/story.cfm?item=DLY021108-3 Finjan Inc. says its Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC) has identified yet another significant new Web attack — the latest in a genre of crimeware that threatens to turn highly trusted Websites into insidious traps for unwary visitors. The attack, which Finjan designated as “random js toolkit”, is an extremely...
What's old is new again in malware
http://www.connectitnews.com/canada/story.cfm?item=5396 MX Logic, a managed security service provider (MSSP), has noted two incidences where malware writers are starting to re-use old tricks with some new ones to evade detection and remediation. The first incident uncovered by the MX Logic Threat Center involved a virus targeting the Master Boot Record (MBR) of a PC, a tactic that hasn’t...
Taming the data monster
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080206.wgtdatacentre07/BNStory/GlobeTQIan Harvey February 6, 2008 at 10:00 PM ESTGeorgian College’s technology had hit the wall – literally.The community college in Barrie, Ont., had no room to add more servers to meet the growing demand. IT staff at the college faced a familiar challenge: In the past few years, the cost of storage has...
January 2008
9 posts
Apple Announces Major Software Upgrade for iPod...
http://www.e-channelnews.com/ec_storydetail.php?ref=415277 iPod touch customers already have the most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari, and now Apple is adding five more great mobile applications—Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes. The iPod touch software upgrade also includes new features such as Web Clips, a customizable home screen and beginning today, the ability to...
New crimeware toolkit infects over 10,000 U.S.... →
Finjan Inc. says its Malicious Code Research Center (MCRC) has identified yet another significant new Web attack — the latest in a genre of crimeware that threatens to turn highly trusted Websites into insidious traps for unwary visitors. The attack, which Finjan designated as “random js toolkit”, is an extremely elusive crimeware Trojan that infects an end user’s machine...
McAfee notes spammer abuse of Microsoft online... →
Last week, McAfee’s Avert Labs began to notice spammer abuse of Microsoft’s online storage service called Skydrive, where spammers uploaded links to the service that redirects people to an online pharmacy service once clicked on, all in an attempt to circumvent e-mail filters. Windows Live Skydrive is an online storage service, launched in beta by Microsoft in August. Users can upload...
PandaLabs Detects Trojans That Use New Form of... →
PandaLabs, Panda Security’s malware analysis and detection laboratory, has detected the appearance of Trojans that include rootkits (MBRtool.A, MBRtool.B, MBRtool.C, etc.) designed to replace the master boot record (MBR), the first or zero sector of the hard disk, for one of their own. A rootkit is a program designed to take fundamental control of a computer system, without authorization by...
McAfee warns of pyramid schemes →
Researchers from McAfee’s Avert Labs are warning people not to fall for get rich quick schemes that are starting to come into their e-mail inboxes. These schemes are basically chain letters that are based on the age-old pyramid scheme of having people send a certain amount of money to a person at the top of a list of names and addresses, to which they add their own name to the bottom, in...
Apple introduces new Xserve and eight-core Mac Pro →
Apple has announced two new products that take advantage of Intel’s quad-core Intel Xeon processors. Apple’s sixth generation Xserve is a 1U rack-optimized server that has up to two 64-bit Quad-Core 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon “Harpertown” 5400 series processors for eight-core performance. The Xserve also includes a new server architecture, faster front side buses, faster...
Wacom Bamboo and Bamboo Fun Tablets
Bamboo Tablet (small) $74.95 + taxes Each Bamboo package includes: 1. Bamboo pen tablet 2. Bamboo pen 3. Pen stand 4. USB cable 5. Quick start guide 6. Installation CD (includes tablet driver and electronic user manual) Bamboo Fun Tablet (small) $99.95 + taxes Bamboo Fun Tablet (medium) $199.95 + taxes Each Bamboo Fun package includes: 1. Bamboo Fun pen tablet 2. Bamboo Fun mouse 3. Bamboo Fun...
AMD unveils ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 chips →
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2008 in Las Vegas, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has unveiled the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series, a new line of discrete graphics chips for high-definition gaming and video in notebook PCs. The initial offerings consist of ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 series and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3600 series. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series bolsters the power of...
December 2007
11 posts
WiFi, why it drives support techs nuts
Wi-Fi is still the Wild, Wild West. The challenge of configuring laptops for wireless connectivity, and keeping them up to date, is probably the single biggest nightmare IT professionals face daily. IT must decide which air cards to use, and if they’re going to employ encryption or set up a VPN, and if so, for which employees/students and under what circumstances. Should the company support...
Websense's top 10 security predictions for 2008 →
Websense Inc. has released its top 10 security predictions that it believes we will see in 2008 with content-based threats topping the list. “The basic theme out of all of these [predictions] is the continued evolution of the web as an attack vector versus e-mail,” said Dan Hubbard, senior director of security and technology research with Websense. Here are Websense’s top 10...
Apple’s computers have long been overlooked by malware writers, who tend to craft threats for maximum possible penetration. As a consequence, security applications haven’t really been must-have. But as many security companies have observed recently … that’s starting to change. Apple’s growing share of the PC market, the success of its iPhone, and the popularity of...
Five tips for a secure Vista experience →
With Christmas only a few weeks away, PC sales are expected to increase and with these new machines, Microsoft’s Windows Vista will now almost certainly come installed. To ensure that users are protected against threats to their new PC, BeyondTrust, a provider of enterprise security software for Windows, has created a list of five key steps new Vista users should take: 1. Do not log into...
New Arrival: Joby Gorillapod Original
Joby Gorillapod Original $29.95 + taxes
Three tips for Photoshop fans →
Adobe Photoshop® is one of the most robust and effective tools you can choose for creating, editing, and managing images. While its interface is intuitive, and its tools easy to use, it can take a while to master all of Photoshop’s features. Here are three particularly useful capabilities you might not be familiar with that can make your image editing more successful and more efficient. ...
The secret life of JPEGs, GIFs, and PNGs →
During the course of a normal business day you may be sent images that are in a JPEG, GIF or PNG format. Alternatively you might have to decide which format is best for compressing an image that you need to professionally print. If you need to create a company brochure or web page, you will probably have to deal with one of the image formats. So, what is each format, and when should you choose to...
Solid State Hard Drives
Toshiba to start manufacturing solid state hard drives for notebooks These hard drives use NAND flash memory instead of the rotating magnetic storage discs. Toshiba said that the initial models would be available in capacities of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. The company added that they would begin production of module SATA drives in the first three months of next year. They are also going to showcase...
Cyber espionage a growing trend →
According to McAfee’s “Virtual Criminology Report,” the rise of international cyber spying will pose the single biggest security threat in 2008. “It is not just [the U.S.] that is on the incoming end of a lot of scams, penetration and attacks,” said David Marcus, security research and communications manager with McAfee. “It is easier and easier to engage in...
Malware for the holidays →
Malware is increasingly arriving in the form of phony pop up advertising on the web or suspicious email attachments designed to steal personal information for financial purposes, reports Derek Manky, security research engineer at Fortinet, which recently released its most current list of the top 10 malware threats. “Hacking legitimate site content to host malicious code has become very...
Spyware the top threat: CompTIA survey →
Spyware has become the biggest security threat to organizations, a survey from the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has discovered. That’s a big change from a few years ago, when spyware was barely even considered a threat. In this, the fifth annual study, CompTIA surveyed organizations of all sizes from a variety of industries, and 55 per cent of respondents said the...
November 2007
6 posts
U Of T Professor Named Top Researcher to Change... →
Ron Deibert, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto is being recognized as a world changer by Esquire magazine. Deibert specializes in media, technology, and world politics, and is a Ford Foundation Research Scholar of Information and Communication Technologies (2002-2004). He was named as a “world-changer” by Esquire for his work...
McAfee predicts top 10 security threats of 2008 →
McAfee’s top 10 predictions for security in 2008 show some signs of tough times for things like instant messaging (IM), online gaming and VoIP, but there’s good news in the adware space. Researchers at McAfee Avert Labs expect an increase in threats related to the Web and Windows Vista, but at the same time, the amount of adware in the wild is expected to decrease. (click on the...
Fraud and scam attacks increased 18% in October →
Symantec Corp.’s November spam report indicated that fraud and scam spam accounted for 18 per cent of all spam in October, an increase from the 13 per cent that was noted in September. “It points to the fact that spammers are actively trying to engage in dialogue with end users to defraud people and taking tactics that could be more damaging financially to people,” said Doug...
PCs Losing Their Relevance in Japan →
Masaya Igarashi wants $200 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he’s torn between Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV. There’s one conspicuous omission from the college student’s shopping list: a new computer. The PC’s role in Japanese homes is...
Computer Joke of the Day
At a recent software engineering management course in the US, the participants were given an awkward question to answer. “If you had just boarded an airliner and discovered that your team of programmers had been responsible for the flight control software how many of you would disembark immediately?” Among the ensuing forest of raised hands, only one man sat motionless. When asked what...
Ten tips to protect your identity while shopping... →
Online holiday sales are projected to increase 21 percent in 2007, according to Forrester Research. But while consumers continue to increase their use of holiday shopping, there is also widespread fear that they will be the victims of identity theft. That’s why Huntington Bank has developed ten tips that shoppers can follow to make for a safe and secure holiday season. (click on the title...
October 2007
8 posts
Eight cyber security tips from EDS →
Corporations and governments have long known an effective IT security program requires dedicated resources - people, processes and technology. Investing wisely in cyber security is a fundamental cost of doing business in the relatively new wired world. “The big business and government approach to cyber security contrasts sharply with many small business and home computer users who can...
Easy ways to boost your notebook’s battery lifeasy... →
You’re sitting comfortably on a flight. You’ve got your notebook PC in front of you, and you’re working on a presentation for an important meeting. Isn’t mobile technology great? But then, your battery dies – and your work abruptly comes to a halt. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-familiar scenario for many notebook users. While notebook batteries become a little more efficient each year, we’re...
Whitenoise Security Challenge →
Register for the Whitenoise Security Challenge. If you are the first to decrypt the Whitenoise Security Challenge File while in compliance with the official promotion rules, you will win C$100,000. (click on the title to read the full article)