Larry Seltzer

As I see it, the biggest question in the security business this year is how well Windows Vista will hold up against what will be the most concerted attack in the industrys relatively short history. The standards for a fair analysis of this question are more complicated than many would have you believe: Vista doesnt […]

Im always annoyed when it comes to the end-of-year retrospectives and predictions, especially the predictions. “More of the same” is never an acceptable answer, even if its true, because its boring. But I do think that the security landscape has been changing over the last year and should accelerate in 2007. The “malware winter” began […]

It seems like every time people get together to do something about a security problem, other people get together to whine about it. Now theyre whining about EV (Extended Validation) SSL Certificates: EV certs are a scheme by Microsoft to screw other browser vendors. Theyre an attempt by certificate authorities to gouge Web site operators. […]

Its largely theory so far, but not entirely. There have already been reports of voice spam using voice over IP systems in Japan. Its hard to imagine a more disruptive and aggravating form of spam than Spam over Internet Telephony, known with tongue in cheek as SPIT. Even on landlines the marginal cost of a […]

As I discussed several weeks ago, everyones seen that there has been a massive surge in spam over the last couple of months. More researchers are weighing in on whats behind it. One point many sources make, and I made in my last column, is that there was a “Christmas Spike” last year too. Spam […]

Theres no question that conventional anti-virus protection has become boring, as well it should be. There should be nothing exciting about it. But I think it goes over the top to say that its “dead.” “Commoditized” might be a better word. Lets recall the arguments for why anti-virus protection is now inadequate. The main one […]

Ive written many columns arguing that things are getting better for the average user over time, and I still feel that way. Its not just that the tools to protect yourself against attacks are becoming more accessible and affordable. The pattern of attacks by the malicious code crowd has changed. Remember the widespread mass-mailer attacks […]

Every holiday season we get stories about the dangers of e-commerce and pitches from vendors about how they address those dangers. It appears that many experts are on the side of recommending against e-commerce altogether. Just too dangerous. I was recently involved in a discussion on the famous Funsec security list with several security experts […]

Its not funny at all, even though I find myself chuckling at it. Every now and then you read stories about how people in the Third World are being paid to perform repetitive tasks to assist in fraudulent Internet schemes. My favorite story is of the Chinese sweatshop video gamers. They play multiplayer role-playing games […]

Just a few years ago Windows users, even responsible Windows users, had good reason to be fearful of the attack that would slip past their defenses or their notice. Things have changed. Nobody should ever be complacent, but a responsible user can be confident that defensive software and good habits will protect them. More interestingly, […]

At a recent gathering of the New York Metropolitan Area chapter of the Internet Society at the Jefferson Market library in Greenwich Village, there was a panel discussion on Whois policy. The panel was top-notch, including people representing the varied interests in the matter. And while there is an interesting proposal on the table for […]

When it first came out in July, Symantecs report “The Mac OS X Threat Landscape: An Overview” revealed a collection of vulnerabilities and potential attacks that rivaled any major operating system (at least in their shipping versions). The updated version, released earlier this week, reinforces these conclusions, and in fact things are getting worse. And […]