Brian Prince

Concerns about the User Account Control feature in Microsoft Windows 7 have resurfaced. UAC first appeared in Windows Vista as a way to bolster Windows security by limiting standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes a privilege level increase. In Windows 7, Microsoft adjusted the feature to provide the user with four choices for the […]

New research from Click Forensics shows botnets are playing a growing role in the spread of click fraud. Click fraud is a scheme when a person, automated script or computer program mimics a legitimate user clicking on an online ad in order to profit from a pay-per-click arrangement. According to the firm, which tracks click […]

Security testing and vulnerability management vendor Rapid7 has made a bid to deepen its pen testing capabilities with the acquisition of the Metasploit. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition brings the open source penetration testing framework into Rapid7’s portfolio and gives it access to large database of reliable exploits. With […]

Microsoft Windows 7 is on its way tomorrow, Oct. 22, and it is bringing with it a set of security features Microsoft clearly hopes will appeal to enterprises. The Windows 7 security story has three main chapters that have received a fair amount of attention: DirectAccess, BitLocker To Go and AppLocker. With these, as well […]

The Conficker worm may have faded from news headlines, but that doesn’t mean that it has been forgotten. In fact, an ongoing spam campaign is banking on it. According to Sophos, spammers are blasting out messages urging people to download a security tool the messages say comes from Microsoft’s security team. The e-mails actually contain […]

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called on the general public to play a role in improving cyber-security. In a speech Oct. 20, Napolitano said home users have to do their part to ensure the safety of their own computers to prevent them from becoming bots that can be used to launch attacks […]

Symantec shined the light on the massive profits pulled in by rogue security software scams on the Web. Such software, often referred to as “scareware,” has gotten more attention in the past year as scammers continue to enjoy success tricking users into shelling out big bucks. In a report titled “Report on Rogue Security Software,” […]

Gary McKinnon, a hacker charged with breaking into Pentagon computers, has had his extradition to the United States put on hold again as British officials weigh psychiatric evidence. According to the BBC, the British Home Office has agreed to consider the evidence about McKinnon’s medical condition. McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, and has […]

Greenplum Software has released a free version of its database software to appeal to data analysts. The new version shares much of the same capabilities as Greenplum Database 3.3, except it can only be run on a single node. “This product is for the new class of power user data analysts who are pushing the […]

Mozilla has backtracked on its move to disable a Microsoft add-on tied to a security vulnerability. After placing the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant on a block list due to concerns about a Microsoft vulnerability (CVE-2529), Mozilla said Oct. 18 it will re-enable the . NET Framework Assistant for Firefox users. “We received confirmation from Microsoft […]

Mozilla is blocking the use of two Microsoft add-ons installed silently on Windows computers with .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1. Mozilla is blocking the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant and Windows Presentation Foundation components in light of a vulnerability that attackers can use to impact Firefox users. “Because of the difficulties some users have had […]

When it comes to passwords, users are often the weakest link in the chain. According to a survey by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and IT University in Copenhagen found that just four percent of the people surveyed obeyed best practices for passwords. The survey focused on 836 staff members at company handling “very […]