Brian Prince

Microsoft Debuts -Morro’ Security Software The Beginning Microsoft Security Essentials comes with certain settings configured out of the box. That includes a regularly scheduled weekly scan and automated scanning of downloaded files and attachments. User Interface Pictured here is the user interface. When the PC requires user action, the look of the homepage will change […]

A Michiganman called “the world’s most notorious illegal spammer” by a federal prosecutor has pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. As part of his plea, Alan M. Ralsky, 64, of West Bloomfield, Mich., admitted to overseeing a spam operation that sought to manipulate stock prices for profit. Ralsky was one of five defendants […]

Sometimes a little publicity doesn’t hurt. Case in point is the Facebook security issue publicized today on the FBHive blog. Fifteen days ago, the authors of the FBHive blog pulled Facebook’s coat to point out a security hole that could be exploited to reveal private information. They say it “received little attention.” So it was […]

The market for security software made a strong showing in 2008, jumping nearly 20 percent to $13.5 billion, according to Gartner. The figure represents a roughly $2 billion increase for the market over 2007. Of particular note was an increase in demand for appliance-based products within e-mail security and secure Web gateway segments of the […]

Google has relaunched its Anti-Malvertising site to help its ad network partners fight malware in the online advertising ecosystem. The company breathed new life into the site June 18, adding new educational content to supplement the custom search engine Google launched in February. The search engine is designed to allow users to perform a quick […]

China has ordered Google to clean up its act when it comes to porn, and has begun blocking some Chinese-language search results, according to a report by China’s official news agency. The move by the government is the latest chapter in its assault on Internet porn, and follows weeks of controversy over its mandate that […]

Forrester Research expects the market for firewall auditing tools to jump 25 percent this year on the back of compliance regulations. Right now the market is relatively small, standing at about $30 million today, Forrester analyst John Kindervag said. But the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard are forcing enterprises to pay […]

Say hello to Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft plans to let the newborn brother of its Windows Live OneCare product come out to play next week. Starting June 23, Microsoft will make a beta version of Security Essentials-code-named Morro-available for download. The offering is slated for general availability later in 2009. Under the hood, the software […]

Researchers at Finjan have put the spotlight on a one-stop shop in the marketplace for malware-infected machines. In Finjan’s latest Cybercrime Intelligence Report for 2009, the company outlines the operations of the Golden Cash network, a one-stop shop trading platform for cyber-criminals trafficking in compromised PCs. While the sale of bots in the cyber-criminal underground […]

Apple quietly plugged nearly four dozen security holes when it pushed out an upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0 on June 17. With iPhone OS 3.0, users are getting fixes for several critical flaws, a number of which could be exploited by an attacker to execute arbitrary code. The WebKit and CoreGraphics components were the most […]