Brian Prince

MySQL founder Monty Widenius is warning enterprises to take a cautious approach to Version 5.1 of the MySQL database. Sun Microsystems has officially given MySQL 5.1 generally available (GA) status and made the latest version of the open-source database available for download. In a Nov. 29 blog post, however, Widenius urged enterprises to take it […]

Even with all the good news lately regarding spam, with Thanksgiving days away and Christmas around the corner, we can all safely assume cyber-criminals will be hard at work. For the rest of us, that means having up-to-date security software and malware protection. But with the popularity of smartphones such as the BlackBerry and Apple […]

Spammers aren’t taking the holiday off, so end users shouldn’t either. For those interested in doing some holiday shopping, here is a short list of products to consider for that security-minded someone. The products span a number of technologies, from anti-virus to Web security. Norton Internet Security 2009 Symantec’s latest Web security product targets known […]

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If you haven’t patched the Windows Server Service vulnerability fixed by Microsoft last month, it’s time to make it a priority. Though Microsoft issued a rare out-of-band patch for the issue in October, a number of exploits taking advantage of the vulnerability continue to be a problem. This past weekend, Microsoft began receiving customer reports […]

Spam levels appear to be rising again after a steep decline. According to researchers at MessageLabs, now part of Symantec, spam volumes have doubled since last week. Spam levels dropped off dramatically with the shutdown of Web hosting company McColo on Nov. 11. Though the firm briefly gained new life the weekend of Nov. 15, […]

Google officials have challenged the assertion that a Google Gmail security flaw was at the center of an issue described on the GeekCondition.com blog. A posting on GeekCondition.com Nov. 23 warned of a flaw allowing attackers to force Gmail users to create a malicious message filter without their knowledge. As a result, the post said, […]

Gangs of phishers are stepping up their abuse of specific top-level domains, according to a survey by the Anti-Phishing Working Group. The study, “Global Phishing Survey: Domain Name Use and Trends in 1H2008,” (PDF) which covers the first half of 2008, surveyed 47,324 unique phishing sites located on 26,678 unique domain names. The researchers found […]

Big bucks are being made in the black market for stolen data, according to a report from Symantec. Researchers at Symantec turned the spotlight on the underground market for stolen data in a new year-long study that uncovered black market traders advertising stolen data at prices totaling more than $276 million. In its “Report on […]

Security researcher Stephan Chenette opened up to eWEEK about a new Web attack vector that could potentially render desktop and gateway anti-virus products useless. Chenette, manager of security research at Websense, calls the attack script fragmentation. Similar to TCP fragmentation attacks, it involves breaking down Web exploits into smaller pieces and distributing them in a […]

Between the shutdown of Web hosting company McColo Nov. 11 and the death of ISP Intercage, aka Atrivo, in September, we may be entering a new phase of Internet security-one where every part of the Internet’s ecosystem takes a more proactive role in securing Web users. But attackers always adapt to the times, and security […]

Researchers at Symantec are noting an uptick in USB-based malware as reports surface of a U.S. Army ban on USB devices and portable media. According to reports on Wired, the U.S. Army has banned the use of USB sticks, flash media cards, CDs and other removable storage due to security concerns and the proliferation of […]