Larry Seltzer

Im quoted in April 6s USA Today in its story about Boot Camp, Apples new software support for running Windows on Intel-based Macs. The reporters question to me was whether Windows malware could attack the Macs running Windows. Of course, the answer is, “Of course.” Unless Apple has pulled off some secret miracle, any malware […]

I get burned up when I see public surveillance cameras referred to with the term “Big Brother” as in this news story. Referring to cameras such as those described in the article in this way trivializes actual totalitarianism. I dont buy every factual claim in the story, but its clear that such cameras can do […]

You could see it coming for years: Microsofts entry into the security business will be treacherous for other security vendors. Its been about to happen for years and now it will take a little longer. But eventually it should actually happen. And when it happens independent security vendors interests will be threatened, according to many […]

Its a good time now, in the midst of a “zero-day” attack, to consider the meaning of severity ratings for vulnerabilities. The current Internet Explorer attack is a bad one of course, but just as was the case in the midst of the Windows Meta File vulnerability crisis four months ago, the actual severity is […]

Most people need all the help they can get when they buy a new PC. Give them bad advice and theyre very likely to take it. Lately, Ive been hearing and seeing a lot of advice that home users should use Windows XP Pro. Usually the reasoning is some vague variation of “its more secure.” […]

Theres nothing like credit card ID theft to make computer security relevant to the general public. Weve had a lot of news lately on the subject and it deserves to be big news. Theres a good chance well have more of it in the months to come, and not just the usual “thousands of card […]

I have to say Im glad I dont use McAfees anti-virus products on any of my desktops. My weekend, like so many of yours, would have been ruined. I do use it on my gateway protection box and havent had any problems that I know of. Why do these things always seem to happen over […]

Do you remember the Common Malware Enumeration Initiative? I wrote about it skeptically several months ago and was recently reminded of it by an article by one of my own favorite writers, Rob Lemos of SecurityFocus. CME is an effort to create a simple and centralized naming system for malware. One of the banes of […]

A news fad broke out in February: After the controversy over the sale of U.S. port management rights to a Dubai-owned company, the same agency that had vetted the sale announced an investigation into the sale of SourceFire, a company based in the United States, to Check Point, an Israeli company. Neither sale alarms me […]

Youll find no better example of political demagoguery than the coalition formed to oppose Goodmail and AOLs use of Goodmails services. The Web site announcing their positions is so overflowing with misinformation and presumption that its hard to know where to start in addressing it. The site is filled with cheap, pejorative terms like “email […]

During the announcement of the enterprise Community Technology Preview of Windows Vista Feb. 22, I was struck when the Microsoft rep said that, according to his companys research, 80 percent of enterprise users run as administrator. I just couldnt believe thats true. Wednesday must be Obtuse Day here. I asked around, and I was the […]

The release in the last few days of malware for the Mac and Linux underscore some old issues about how it is possible to have malware on those platforms. I have some new thoughts though. Ive begun to wonder what Apple would do if a real problem developed. To be very clear, a real problem […]