Sean Michael Kerner

A vulnerability in Microsoft’s Active Directory could enable an attacker to change user passwords without detection, according to a new report from security firm Aorato. The flaw could potentially leave millions of users at risk, though Microsoft claims the issue is not new and there are best practices to limit risk. Active Directory is widely […]

The OpenStack Swift storage project’s new release defines a new era of cloud storage policies. Swift 2.0’s storage policies enable cloud administrators to be more flexible with their storage back end. Swift administrators can now choose on which hardware data is stored. That choice can be geography-based, with storage located in the United States or […]

Not all Chinese hackers are actually in China. Case in point is a newly revealed case against Su Bin, who is alleged to have been stealing secrets from U.S. defense contractors, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. According to a Canadian media report in The Province, Su was arrested in Richmond, British Columbia, on June 28 […]

CentOS 7 Comes on the Heels of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 by Sean Michael Kerner Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Is the base for CentOS 7 CentOS 7 takes the core open-source code from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and repackages it, removing all Red Hat trademarks. CentOS Has Support for Multiple Languages English […]

In yet another step toward making Bitcoin a fully accepted part of the monetary landscape, the Bitcoin Foundation announced on July 9 that it has hired a lobbying firm. Representing the Bitcoin Foundation on Capitol Hill will be the Thorsen French Advocacy. The Bitcoin Foundation is the group that helps lead the development and organization […]

Hackers from China are no strangers to American IT infrastructure. According to a New York Times report published on July 9, Chinese hackers were able to infiltrate the Office of Personnel Management, which is the U.S. government agency that houses information on federal government employees. According to the report, the attack occurred in March of […]

In a new twist on retail payment security, researchers at security firm FireEye have uncovered a botnet that is specifically trying to brute-force its way into point-of-sale (POS) systems. FireEye has named the botnet BrutPOS because it uses a brute-force technique to gain access to POS systems. In a brute-force attack, the attacker tries to […]

In 1999 and 2000, Microsoft macro viruses such as Melissa and ILOVEYOU wreaked havoc on the Internet. In 2007, new features in Microsoft Word brought the macro virus to the edge of extinction. Now in 2014, macro-based malware is making somewhat of a comeback, once again proving to be a successful tool for attackers to […]

Microsoft came out today with its monthly Patch Tuesday update, this time patching a total of 29 common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs). Of the 29 CVEs, 24 are attributed to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) Web browser. All of the IE vulnerabilities are detailed in the MS14-037 security bulletin. While the 24 fixed IE CVEs in […]

Linux Desktop Comes to China With Deepin 2014 by Sean Michael Kerner Deepin 2014 Available in Many Languages Though Deepin 2014 is a Chinese Linux distribution, other languages are also supported, including English, French and Italian. Mac OS X-Type Dock Defines the Deepin Desktop In the Ubuntu 14.04 Linux distribution, the Unity interface provides a […]

Enterprise Linux vendor Red Hat today announced the general availability of its Red Hat OpenStack Platform (OSP) 5.0 release. The new release follows the OSP 4.0 release by seven months and is based on the recent OpenStack Icehouse cloud platform that debuted in April. Among the biggest changes in the new Red Hat release is […]

While Google and Apple don’t always see eye-to-eye, when it comes to security, Google is one of Apple’s biggest benefactors on that front. Case in point is the Apple Mac OS X 10.9.4 and iOS 7.1.2 updates, which were released June 30. The Mac OS X 10.9.4 update provides fixes for 21 security vulnerabilities of […]