Brian Prince

LAS VEGAS-Perhaps more than any other flaw in the last several years, the DNS protocol vulnerability discovered by security researcher Dan Kaminsky has shown that the circle of trust on the Internet can be broken more easily than we feared. After listening to Kaminsky’s talk Aug. 6 at the Black Hat conference here, it is […]

After delays and speculation, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is being released to manufacturing Aug. 6. Microsoft officials did not give a definitive general availability date, but a spokesperson said it is expected to be within two weeks. Pricing for SQL Server is expected to remain the same, which Microsoft officials have said will help the […]

Microsoft has signed on to the concept of industry-coordinated security disclosure with a new initiative it will launch in October. Dubbed the Microsoft Active Protections Program, the move will make information on Microsoft’s monthly security updates available to a select group of software security vendors before Patch Tuesday. The idea is to give the vendors […]

IT security pros, analysts and researchers are coming together for the meeting of the minds that is Black Hat 2008. The popular security conference officially kicked off Aug. 2 in Las Vegas with a series of training sessions that wrap up Aug. 5. However, the real buzz for many attendees will be the technical briefings […]

Open-source database users can expect the final version of MySQL 5.1 to be ready for general availability in a few weeks, after Sun Microsystems makes sure any major bugs have been squashed. “We’re just drilling into a couple more areas, just to double-check. My expectation is that that will be GA in the next couple […]

Security giant Symantec has no plans to get into the encryption business, regardless of what competitors Sophos, McAfee and SafeBoot have done to acquire the technology themselves. Symantec is committed to its OEM arrangement with GuardianEdge Technologies to provide the encryption technology customers require, despite moves by some of its rivals, Symantec CEO John Thompson […]

McAfee is making a play in the data loss prevention space with its July 31 buyout of Reconnex. The $46 million deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008. McAfee’s move comes after a number of prominent acquisitions in the DLP space in 2007. These include Symantec’s purchase of Vontu, Trend Micro’s […]

Corporate IT security managers are confronting the reality that the sheer volume of both malicious and unmalicious software programs is growing explosively, prompting them to look for more effective tools to deal with the situation. But with some research reports showing that the amount of malware being created is actually outstripping the number of legitimate […]

Oracle officials are issuing a red alert regarding a flaw affecting the Apache plug-in for Oracle WebLogic after exploit codes for the vulnerability were posted in public forums. The flaw affects a number of versions of Oracle WebLogic Server–formerly BEA WebLogic Server–and can be exploited remotely by a hacker without authentication to execute code or […]

As the race to put more security technologies on the endpoint continues, Sophos needs to add strong encryption and data loss prevention technologies to its portfolio if it wants to continue building momentum. Enter Utimaco Safeware. Sophos announced plans July 28 to pursue the German data security vendor as part of its strategy for challenging […]

Sophos announced plans July 28 to make a roughly $340 million bid to buy German security vendor Utimaco Safeware. Utimaco focuses on data loss prevention and endpoint encryption technologies through its SafeGuard product line. According to Sophos officials, the acquisition would extend Sophos’ security and control strategy, which is aimed at protecting data and computers […]

Symantec has opened up a beta program for Norton Safe Web that puts the company on course to challenge a similar offering from security rival McAfee. According to Symantec, Norton Safe Web is available starting today, July 28, as a plug-in for the beta version of NIS (Norton Internet Security) 2009. Safe Web functions as […]