Web Security Review

BitDefender was an excellent performer among security suites, but it’s best for experts who don’t need guidance regarding security extras and pop-up alerts and who don’t mind through interface.

BitDefender Internet Security 2008 ($40 for one PC, $50 for three PCs) pairs shining success with disappointing failure. It outperformed every other suite in crucial malware detection tests, unmasked every rootkit sample, and finished second among the eight suites evaluated for our “All-in-One Security Suites: Tried and Tested” roundup on a separate spyware and adware detection test.

But this stellar performance behind the scenes was seriously marred by an unpleasant user experience. From aggravations with the initial installation to difficulties with warning pop-ups, BitDefender’s flaws are hard to brush off.

Continue reading more from: PCWorld.com

It is apparent that support costs will continue to increase in direct proportion to the concurrent services offered still as carriers look to add more and more services to their portfolios. The number of support calls increases in proportion as the number of services increases. For the communications providers these increased problems come at a time when call centers are trying to increase service levels and first call resolution ratios. Using a web conferencing solution is one simple way to achieve these goals.  Through the use of Web Conferencing, I learned what Motorola is doing to help service providers and call centers of various sizes with the support issues.

The society ranges from prehistoric times to the fall of Rome (476 C.E) and it includes Western and non-Western cultures and civilizations. There is sixty-nine articles that cover the wealth of relevant topics such as art, economy, government, military, religion, scandals and writing.  With an introductory survey, each well-crafted piece begins, and then views developments in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. Meticulous cross-references and further-reading lists that include accurate Web sites should be appended in the Articles. The additional highlights are the primary-source documents, sidebars with supplementary instructive material, numerous black-and-white photos and illustrations, and clear maps.

According to Websense, there are a lot of reasons for spammers to favor using GMail:

“…that from the spammers’ perspective, there are four main advantages to this approach. First, signing up for an account with Google allows access to its wide portfolio of services. Second, Google’s domains are unlikely to be blacklisted. Third, they are free to sign up. And fourth, it may be hard to keep track of them as millions of users worldwide are using various Google services on a regular basis.”

There are actions made by GMail to fix this problem as they come up with different methods in preventing such scam. GMail has invited certain users to have their closed beta test to intensify their security system

By Ryan Narain

A hacker finds a way to use a booby-trapped Web page to trick Google Toolbar users into adding malicious buttons to the browser.

A dialog spoofing vulnerability in the popular Google Toolbar could be exploited by malicious hackers to execute malicious files or launch identity theft attacks, according to a warning from security researcher Aviv Raff.

Raff, a well-known hacker who regularly finds and reports software vulnerabilities, figured out a way to use a booby-trapped Web page to trick Google Toolbar users into adding malicious buttons to the toolbar.

In an IM interview with eWEEK, Raff said multiple versions of the toolbar allows spoofed information to be presented to the user when adding a new browser toolbar icon/button.

Read more from eweek.com

Mi5 Networks’ Webgate appliance provides URL filtering, antivirus scanning, malware protection, and limited file leakage protection.

By Adam Ely

The internet can be a great productivity tool. It’s also a prime source of trouble. From Web-based malware to inappropriate use of the Internet at the office, today’s enterprises need to protect themselves from Internet misuse.

Mi5 Networks, named after Britain’s domestic security service, offers a single-appliance approach to solving the problems the Internet creates. Providing URL filtering, antivirus scanning, malware protection and cleaning, and limited file leakage protection, the Webgate Web security appliance advertises zero latency while protecting systems and company data. We tested the Webgate 005 model.

Webgate is a competent URL and malware filter that does its job without adding latency to network traffic. It detects and blocks inbound threats. It’s also useful for blocking outbound traffic, such as botnet or spam activity. And it includes a malware cleaning tool to remove infections.

Continue reading from  InformationWeek.com

The US government may be hardening it’s stance against the growing threat from cyber-attacks and guess what they did to make it known? They got a hacker to provide them with an insight to act as adviser to the government, a move that would surely get him on every cyber-hit man’s roster or possible targets. They say he’s only on as an adviser but for the world of Black Hats, this is seen a s treachery, a move that counters all beliefs on which they function, to deny his own people. “Dark Tangent” as he was known during his hacking days, was hired by the new and fortified Cyber-Security command which is to try and bolster the ability of the US government to fend of attacks hopefully armed with his insight on how they work. Continue Reading »

Scareware, or a form of malware that tricks customers with bogus messages that leads users to sites that install fake security software for a fee. These tactics have long been used by hackers to get hard earned cash from people’s pockets for nothing. The software you install in turn asks you to get more and more software till you finally get it that the whole thing was a sham, with your cash long gone and the errors they were reporting. Many of these sites have been targeted by law enforcement in the past few years but there are still some persistent ones that manage to survive the best efforts of law enforcement agents. Continue Reading »

Twitter has received blow after blow in terms of attacks to the micro-blogging site that has been rendered useless on several instances, finally a free plugin from FinJan that protects you from attack when using your favorite micro-blogging site. The free browser plug-in dubbed SecureTwitter allows users to get a message saying if the site they are about to enter contains a malicious URL. This systems works much like the way Google blocks suspected attack sites, displaying a message to state their reason for blocking the site through detailed analysis results. Continue Reading »

A long standing botnet was closed with it’s manager arrested and subsequently charged with cyber-crimes leaving him to deal with a 5 year sentence of which he is to serve 2 in jail and the rest on conditional release. He will be allowed out on the conditions he would have limited access to computers and the internet, seemingly to follow the movie “Hackers”. This victory comes after a hosting firm based in California was ordered shut by the FTC and FBI after it was proven to have hosted malware spreading sites and spamming botnets. He even when as far as selling the services of his botnet, using “bots4sale” as a catch phrase to people he knew were going to use it for spamming of close to half a million computers the world over. Continue Reading »