Brian Prince

Microsoft has introduced changes to its anti-piracy features for its operating system in Windows 7, starting with a new name. Formerly known as Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), the anti-piracy technology has been rebranded Windows Activation Technologies in Windows 7. But in addition to the name change, the company has tweaked the technology to improve the […]

Security researchers have made available for download the source code for a “bootkit” that allows hackers to take control of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. Dubbed Vbootkit 2.0, the software was first presented by researchers Vipin Kumar and Nitin Kumar at the Hack In The Box security conference in Dubai in April. At the conference, […]

Microsoft has only one fix on the menu for this month’s Patch Tuesday: a security bulletin aimed at its PowerPoint software. According to the Microsoft security advisory, the bulletin covers a situation that could allow hackers to remotely execute code. The list of affected software includes editions of Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2000, 2002, 2003 and […]

A 21-year-old Swedish national was hit with a five-count indictment accusing him of hacking Cisco Systems and NASA in 2004. Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka “Stakkato,” was indicted May 5 on intrusion and trade secret theft charges after allegedly swiping Cisco Interwork Operating System code from the networking giant and then breaking into computers at the […]

It has been a rough two weeks for online community bulletin board Craigslist. First came reports that alleged murderer Philip Markoff met his victim using Craigslist, which sparked a wave of outcry from attorneys general throughout the country. Now, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has issued an ultimatum stating that the site must either […]

Security researchers at multiple vendors have reported finding a new piece of malware targeting Macs. The good news for Mac users – it is not quite up to snuff, according to Sophos. Dubbed Tored, the malware is actually a worm that installs a backdoor on infected systems and attempts to steal e-mail addresses from infected […]

IBM has acquired data discovery vendor Exeros in a bid to help customers draw more value from data. Exeros’ technology is aimed at automating the discovery of relationships between disparate databases to simplify data quality and data integration efforts tied to data warehousing and master data management. The technology fits into IBM’s Information on Demand […]

The PC Cyborg Trojan appeared on the scene back in 1989, encrypting files on the C drives of infected users. It then prompted them to contact the PC Cyborg Corporation and pay a fee to have their files decrypted, marking what is considered to be the first piece of ransomware in the wild. Roughly 20 […]

Security may be among the last items in an IT budget to get slashed, but it is still not totally recession-proof. Sometimes, staffers are shown the door, leaving laid-off security professionals with the need to stand out in a crowded field with potentially fewer opportunities. New research from ISC2 (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium), […]

Microsoft is looking for customers interested in participaintg in an incubator project for online synchronization of databases. Microsoft has dubbed the effort -Project Huron.’ Part of Microsoft’s growing focus on the cloud, Project Huron is aimed at making data synchronization easier within SQL Data Services. “The goal is to remove the typical complexities (configuration, scalability, […]

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have published a paper saying they turned up a treasure trove of stolen data after seizing control of a notorious botnet. The team of researchers hijacked the Torpig botnet, (PDF) which they linked to the theft of some 10,000 bank accounts and credit card numbers during a […]

Adobe Systems is planning to release a patch for a zero-day flaw affecting Adobe Reader and Acrobat next week. This is the second zero-day flaw known to have been found in Adobe’s Reader and Acrobat products since March. On May 12, Adobe will push out a fix for versions 7, 8 and 9 on Windows […]