Brian Prince

Fighting botnets can’t just mean updating antivirus. After all, the amount of malware on the scene is not shrinking. In the past 18 months, security researchers have repeatedly set their eyes on rogue ISPs such as McColo and 3FN/Pricewert. However, the drop off in spam levels after the takedowns was short-lived, as botnet operators shifted […]

The White House has made an unclassified version of a document describing the Obama administration’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) available online. The announcement was made March 2 at the RSA Conference in San Francisco by recently appointed White House Cyber-Security Coordinator Howard Schmidt. In addition to describing the CNCI, the document also outlines 12 […]

Researchers at Damballa have uncovered evidence that the botnet behind the now infamous attack on Google in 2009 was active months before the search engine giant was hit. In a 31-page analysis of a botnet described as “amateur,” the researchers traced the botnet’s activity back to July, when its operators first began testing it. By […]

Microsoft has proposed a number of mitigations for a recently disclosed zero-day that could be used to take control of older Windows machines. News of the vulnerability spread last week when Maurycy Prodeus of iSec Security Research posted information about the vulnerability on the Web. According to Microsoft’s advisory, the vulnerability is due to the […]

From data protection to cloud computing to application development, this year’s RSA Conference is keeping an eye toward practical strategies for dealing with today’s cyber-threats. The conference, which will run from March 1 to March 5 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, has expanded this year to include 250 sessions across a total of […]

Phishers targeting Twitter have had a long week. In the past several days, a series of the scams have hit the microblogging service, snaring among others British energy minister Ed Miliband and House of Commons leader Harriet Harman, whose account was used to send a bogus message to fellow U.K. politician Alan Duncan. In Miliband’s […]

Database Security Tips for Enterprises No Title Scope of the ProblemA recent study from Forrester Research highlighted the hurdles enterprises have to face when it comes to securing their databases. Eighty percent of the businesses surveyed said they did not have a database security plan, which should contain information such as the business’ approach to […]

Microsoft is using the law as a weapon to take down the Waledac botnet. According to the company, a federal judge in Virginia issued a temporary restraining order Feb. 22 to cut off 277 Internet domains associated with Waledac in response to a complaint filed by Microsoft. The legal maneuver was the culmination of months […]

The Webcam spying allegations that have rocked Pennsylvania’s Lower Merion School District turned into a verbal sparring match Feb. 24 when a high school administrator offered an emotionally charged rebuttal that the family suing the district said does not constitute a denial of relevant facts. The parents of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins filed […]

Adobe Systems has issued a patch for a critical vulnerability in its Download Manager feature that could be exploited to potentially hijack Windows machines. Adobe’s Download Manager is used to push security patches to Windows computers. It is intended for one-time use and removes itself from the computer after the machine is restarted. However, according […]