Cameron Sturdevant

Daylight Saving Time resources index: (Feel free to let me know of useful DST links: cameron dot sturdevant shift-2 ziffdavisenterprise.com) Shops that use Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002 and 2003 should download the Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook. The Sun Developer Network DST IBM DST Microsoft provides a labor-intensive set of instructions […]

In a nutshell, Automatic Updates is automatically updating even on Windows XP systems that are set to “no automatic updates.” My colleague Joe Wilcox reported on Windows Automatic Updates and also on Automatic Updates perception problems. Andrew Garcia, one of my eWEEK Lab partners, confirmed the behind-the-scenes-behavior. Now that we’re all up to speed on […]

With the CommandCenter NOC 250, Raritan now provides a virtual version of its hardware appliance-based system, network and fault-management platform. IT managers of small and mid-size shops that primarily run Windows systems will likely get the most out of running the CommandCenter. While Linux systems can be monitored at the most basic levels using ICMP […]

I have access to the best commercial security test tools in the market including Mu Security’s Security Analyzer and Core Security Technologies Core Impact. For a long time, however I’ve been a fan of open source security tool kits including STD. A couple days ago I became aware of Backtrack 2 when I was thumbing […]

Richard Bejtlich has a great review of a Chris Sanders’ Practical Packet Analysis. Rather than look to Sanders’ book, here are my recommendations for getting to know Wireshark and for practical protocol analysis. Wireshark & Ethereal: Network Protocol Analyzer Toolkit from Syngress. I use this book about once a month while testing in the lab. […]

“Virtual Honeypots” is a must-read book that should be added to any security professional’s bookshelf today. It’s my “analyst’s choice” for the month of August and well worth going out to your local bookstore to pick up a copy. Niels Provos and Thorsten Holz provide one of the best reference guides to honeypots currently available. […]

Mistletoe Technologies SlimLine Security Appliance is a run-of-the-mill firewall appliance—with one big exception: Its tiny. A Gigabit-speed multifunction firewall, flow manager, data encrypter and/or antiDoS appliance, the SlimLine Security Appliance measures just 3 inches by 6 3/4 inches by 1 inch. The appliance is also small on power usage—the version I tested can be powered […]

Security consultant Christopher Wells has just written Securing Ajax Applications, $49.99 from O’Reilly. While the book is written for Ajax developers, I think it’s more appropriate for business analysts who are specifying Ajax projects. Security Ajax Applications has a lot more to say to technically literate project managers than to hot shot programmers. Don’t get […]

An apparent “pump and dump” scam has generated nearly 500 million spam e-mail messages in the space of six days. According to Ron O’Brien, security researcher at Sophos, an anti-spam vendor, the company has seen a 30 percent increase in spam related to this scam alone. That’s pretty remarkable. The spam in this scam also […]

Everyone was so focused on Joanna Rutkowska’s Blue Pill VM rootkit it was easy to overlook one of the more low-hanging security problems that she discovered after 2 hours of work and a mere $250. To get a Microsoft certification to sign a driver that can then be loaded into the kernel, Rutkowska showed attendees […]

I’m in Las Vegas for Black Hat but I’m still obsessing over my photo ID. Having an ID let me play my favorite game of chicken…how close can I cut a trip to the airport and make the flight. I got to Oakland International at 3:05 p.m. to make a 4:10 flight. The Southwest security […]

LAS VEGAS—SCAP, the Security Content Automation Protocol now in beta development at the National Security Agency, could streamline the way civilian organizations enable automated vulnerability management and compliance with regulations, including FISMA. Discussed at a full-capacity crowd keynote speech at the Black Hat 2007 briefing given by Tony Sager, chief of the Vulnerability Analysis and […]