pcsecurity

  Department of Defense Crackdown on Security   The top commander of the department of Defense network operations   just ordered a crackdown on security. According to a recent article by NetworkWorld on January 16,2006,   Lt. General Charles Croom is quoted as saying, “The attacks are coming from everywhere and they’re getting better.” His talk was the keynote address at the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Conference held on   January 9 - 14, 2005   in Clearwater, Florida.   The event is sponsored by the Defense Cyber Crime Center and the Joint Task Force .   Over 500 computer crime specialists from the FBI and the military attended the event. The crackdown was related to a recent arrest of a “Computer Virus Broker” named   Jeanson James Ancheta.   On further investigation, a Department of   Justice press release from Nov 3 rd , 2005 offered the   following information on this incident, “ In the first prosecution of its...

  Fighting off Viruses:   Advancements in Antivirus Software Suites   Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day.   While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second.   Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.     Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs?   Life was simple then in terms of computer viruses.   With the primary way in which a virus could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier.      By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system.   The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage.   Add...

  Fighting Spam How prevalent is Spam?   According to Scott McAdams, OMA Public Affairs and Communications Department (www.oma.org): “Studies show unsolicited or “junk” e-mail, known as spam, accounts for roughly half of all e-mail messages received. Although once regarded as little more than a nuisance, the prevalence of spam has increased to the point where many users have begun to express a general lack of confidence in the effectiveness of e-mail transmissions, and increased concern over the spread of computer viruses via unsolicited messages.” In 2003, President Bush signed the   “Can Spam” bill, in December of 2003 which is the first national standards around bulk unsolicited commercial e-mail.   The bill, approved by the Senate by a vote of 97 to 0, prohibits senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from using false return addresses to disguise their identity (spoofing) and the use of dictionaries to generate such mailers. In addition, it prohibits the u...

  Finding the Security Suite that meets your needs   Before proceeding to read this article, it is important that we state something up front.     It is essential for the reader to understand and appreciate that there is no such thing as a secure operating system or web browser .   While the use of security suites and other complementing products can significantly reduce your risks, they are not magic wands that you can wave to eliminate 100% of your risk.   Any product claiming they can do this should be viewed with great skepticism.     With that being said, let’s talk computer security and security suites.   There are numerous ways in which the security of your computer can be breached.   The most common threats come from worms, viruses, Trojans, phishing, hackers and crackers.   Potential security breaches can come in the form of downloading unfamiliar email attachments, being monitored by spyware, maliciously attac...

  How many spyware items are infecting your computer?     I just had, by mistake, a plug-in called Intelligent Explorer attach to my browser. What a nightmare!   I have another article on this topic, but this brings home a point.   Spyware or adware items are continually infecting computers. Most computers have no protection from them. Most frightening is the frequency of them.   From the InfosecWriters web site, "According to a 2004 survey by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance, 91% of users questioned were familiar with the term spyware. Only 53% believed their computers were infected, but a scan found that 80% of their PCs had some type of spyware installed on them."   It goes on to say,   "...The average number of spyware components per computer was 93 with one computer having well over a thousand."   What is Spyware?   Butte College   ( www.bctv.butte.edu/support/spyware.html ) offers this defi...