Larry Seltzer

Most of us got some of that weird German nationalist spam recently. The spam barrage was performed through a new bot network created by a new mail worm, a variant of Sober. It had been some time since a major outbreak of any of these mail worms and a very long time since a major […]

Sometimes its amazing to see how Microsoft can take their time with things that others view as a crisis, and theres no better example than security. Nearly two years after Microsoft bought an anti-virus company, they have finally decided what to do with it. Windows OneCare, the “Automated, All-in-One PC Health Service for Consumers” that […]

New versions of the Firefox and Mozilla browsers have been released that address three security problems, including one that was made public last week. The first fix addresses the bug that was publicized recently, in which an attacker can execute code by using a javascript: URL as the IconURL property. Mozilla is partly vulnerable to […]

The last few days have been embarrassing ones for Windows alternatives. Apple released a series of vulnerability disclosures and updates rivaling any put out by Microsoft and the Mozilla Group had to contend with a leaked “highly critical” vulnerability disclosure. The mainstream press, not just the trade press, has been advising users to move to […]

Did you ever wonder what happens to those domains, like [BigCompanyname]sucks.com, that some guy registers to criticize BigCompany? Turns out theres a procedure for these things. Ive given ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) a hard time in the past, but there are certainly positive aspects to its Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. […]

The main job of all state Attorneys General is to grandstand as part of a campaign for the Governorship, and Elliot Spitzer of New York is the king of this technique. There have been many cases where, IMHO, he has gone way overboard. But give credit where credit is due. Its about time someone with […]

Whos the phishiest hosting service on the Internet? According to Netcraft, an Internet security research and consulting firm, its Inktomi, part of Yahoo. That last link is a dynamic page, but Ive been following it a little while, and it hasnt changed much. Most of the other players are a United Nations subcommittee of countries […]

Theres reason to be optimistic about many security problems, but others are less encouraging. One of the worst is the problem of spyware and adware, which, in the year since the FTC held a workshop on it, has metastasized badly. As detailed by spyware hunter Eric L. Howes, use of misleading and illegal techniques has […]

In some ways, network worms are the scariest of Internet attacks. The idea that your computer can be attacked while just sitting around minding its own business is rightly considered a greater threat than one that requires the user to perform some affirmative action. There have been a few major worm attacks over the last […]

The Mozilla Foundation has released new versions of the Firefox browser and Mozilla suite of programs to address several security vulnerabilities. As previously reported, the updates—Firefox 1.0.3 and Mozilla 1.7.7—patch a known JavaScript Engine flaw. The vulnerabilities addressed by the new versions include three critical bugs in Firefox, two of which are also present in […]

For the thousandth time I have just seen a mainstream media tech writer tell users that “ActiveX controls [are] the prime conduit hackers use to subvert computers” and that users can make their browsing safer by disabling ActiveX. Old myths die hard! Theres no doubt that Internet Explorer has more than its fair share of […]

Do you run a mail server on your home Internet account? If you do, its probably without your knowledge, such as in a mail worm or a zombie spambot. Few if any people running these programs intend to do so, and its time for ISPs to close the door through which they operate. I think […]