Sean Michael Kerner

Approximately two and a half years ago, Tor (The Onion Router) Web anonymity project announced that was was going to build its own Web browser, to be known as the Tor Browser. The Tor network provides a way for users to anonymize their online activities by running data packets through a number of “onion routers” […]

Linus Torvalds, the founder and creator of the open-source Linux operating system, releases a new Linux kernel every 10 to 12 weeks, but not all Linux kernels have a long life and not all kernels are stable enough for enterprise or consumer electronics usage. The kernel is the heart of a Linux operating system, and […]

The open-source Mozilla Foundation is out today with its Firefox 23 Web browser for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and Android devices. The new release comes just six weeks after the last major Firefox release, and brings a number of feature and security updates to the browser. Firefox 23 debuts new sharing features that […]

Black Hat, DEF CON Put Spotlight on Major Security Issues, Hacks by Sean Michael Kerner Black Hat on Caesar For the past 16 years, the Black Hat Security conference has been held at Caesars Palace. That will change in 2014, as organizers have scheduled to hold the conference at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. […]

Security researchers often walk a very thin line between what is legal and what is illegal, and knowing the difference is not all that easy, especially given the current state of the law. So what do security researchers need to know about the law? Attorney Marcia Hoffman addressed that question during a pair of speaking […]

Many good open-source software tools are freely available for penetration testers (and hackers) for testing the security of WiFi networks and their users. Getting those tools to run on a given computer isn’t always easy, and walking around with a notebook running WiFi penetration tools isn’t exactly the right approach if you’re trying to be […]

Working in the bits and bytes software world of IT security, it’s often easy to forget that the world around us still very much relies on physical security. It’s a reminder I was served this past week when I spent far more time than I care to admit inside the Lockpick and Tamper Evident Villages […]

A security researcher speaking at the Black Hat conference last week has exposed the malicious underworld of Booter services that offers paying customers distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack capabilities on demand. Lance James, chief scientist at Vigilant, explained to eWEEK that he got pulled into an investigation into the world of Booter services by […]

LAS VEGAS—Industrial control infrastructure that is used to monitor and manage devices and sensors can be remotely exploited, potentially leading to a cataclysmic failure, according to at least two sets of researchers speaking at the Black Hat security conference this week. Researchers from security firm IOActive detailed their findings in a session provocatively titled “Compromising […]

LAS VEGAS—The annual Def Con Hacking Conference is in full swing this weekend and with it comes all the events and competitions that are core to its existence. This year one competition in particular really caught my eye is the Crack Me If You Can contest, which is sponsored by KoreLogic Security. Love them or […]

LAS VEGAS—Phishing is about to get a whole lot more personal, thanks to ethical hackers at Trustwave. A new tool that is being released at the Black Hat security conference by security researchers from Trustwave aims to improve social engineering attacks with more targeted and convincing spear-phishing messages. The tool uses online activity as a […]

LAS VEGAS—The chief engineer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab shared his wisdom Aug. 1 at the Black Hat security conference here on the key steps and best practices that IT people can take to help insure they innovate successfully. Brian Muirhead is quite literally a rocket scientist who helped lead an era in technology that […]