Sean Michael Kerner

Unmasking the Tails Linux Distro by Sean Michael Kerner Tails Users Have Lots of Choices The first choice that a Tails user gets to make is whether or not they want to make configuration choices or just run with the default setting. MAC Address Spoofing Is an Option Among the options that users can choose […]

At the end of February, Mt. Gox, the one-time leading exchange for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, collapsed, declaring bankruptcy and leaving the future of Bitcoin itself in doubt. Two months after the Mt. Gox debacle, there are multiple signs in the market that demonstrate continued enthusiasm and support for Bitcoin. On April 30, financial services market […]

Oracle is a late-comer to the OpenStack ecosystem, but it has now jumped in with the beta release of the Solaris 11.2 operating system this week. Oracle isn’t just bolting on OpenStack as an afterthought; it’s thoroughly integrating it as a core component of the operating system itself. OpenStack is an open-source cloud technology platform […]

The Heartbleed security vulnerability that was first disclosed in early April has dominated technology security headlines in recent weeks, but that doesn’t mean that all Internet users have actually taken steps to protect themselves. A new study published on April 30 by the Pew Research Center reveals that less than half of the Internet users […]

Microsoft isn’t quite yet ready to abandon its Windows XP users to security threats. Today Microsoft is releasing an emergency out-of-band update for a zero-day vulnerability, identified as CVE-2014-1776, that was first publicly disclosed on April 26. The Internet Explorer flaw impacts versions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Web browser with […]

For the last five months, retail giant Target has had its security practices under a microscope as it has struggled to recover from a devastating data breach at the end of 2013. Now Target has found itself a new CIO and is outlining significant new steps to reinforce its security to help prevent another data […]

Linux vendor Red Hat today announced the acquisition of privately held open-source storage firm Inktank for approximately $175 million in cash. The deal is Red Hat’s first major acquisition of 2014 and is the second major storage vendor acquisition for Red Hat in the last three years. Inktank is the lead commercial vendor behind the […]

Modern enterprises today face many security risks, and getting a grasp on the big picture isn’t always easy. Hewlett-Packard is now aiming to help make it easier for organizations to understand their security risks with the new HP Security Metrics Service. Richard Archdeacon, chief technologist, HP Enterprise Security Services, explained to eWEEK that HP has […]

Verizon Puts Data Breaches, Attack Patterns Under Microscope by Sean Michael Kerner Attack Patterns Vary by Industry The Verizon 2014 DBIR illustrates that attack patterns vary by industry. In the accommodation industry, for instance, 75 percent of attacks came by way of point-of-sale (POS) intrusions. Server Breaches More Common Than User Device Breaches The Verizon […]

Mozilla officially released Firefox 29 today, providing users with the first major overhaul of the open-source browser’s user interface since Firefox 4 was released in March 2011. The interface overhaul has been developed under the code name “Australis” and has been available in testing branches of Firefox since August of 2013. Firefox 29 with the […]

AOL, which admitted today that its network and systems were recently breached, has not publicly disclosed a timeline on when the breach occurred or how long its systems were at risk. “AOL’s investigation is still under way; however, we have determined that there was unauthorized access to information regarding a significant number of user accounts,” […]

Adobe came out with an emergency update for its Flash Player software today, fixing a critical vulnerability that is already being exploited by attackers. The vulnerability is technically identified as CVE-2014-0515 and is a buffer overflow condition. “Adobe is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2014-0515 exists in the wild, and is being used […]