Mac News: Security

Droid Lurches to Life
November 06, 2009

Today is the day of the Droid. The Motorola smartphone touches down today in what's shaping up to be one of the biggest handset launches in recent memory. Of course Verizon is going all-in as far as advertising is concerned, but there's more to the Droid's story than a marketing campaign.

Cyber-Meltdown: Managing the Message When IT Hits the Fan
November 06, 2009

It started as an act of Web site defacement by some anti-capitalist zealots, attacking one of Canada's largest multinational corporations. You know the kind -- they've got their fingers in all kinds of business pies, from airplane parts to media content to their own very popular brand of hand sanitizer.

Let's Give the iPhone Hackers a Big Round of Applause
November 06, 2009

I'm the kind of guy who rarely bothers to hack my devices. By "hack," I mean use the hacks and instructions of those who are much more intrepid than I. Tinkering with a device that I shelled out hundreds of dollars for, if not more, isn't something I take lightly. If I break it, I've not only lost usage of the device, I'm out of the money, too. If I had a bigger bank account, I might be more cavalier about it all.

Google Dashboard Lights Up User Access to Privacy Controls
November 05, 2009

Google on Thursday announced the launch of Google Dashboard, an online utility that offers one view into all Google products a customer uses. This is intended to give users more transparency and control over their data, the Internet search giant claimed. Dashboard is really an information aggregator.

Secure, Real-Time UC: Safe Connections While on the Move
November 05, 2009

Unified Communications holds enormous promise as a coherent, integrated approach to incorporating the full spectrum of business communications modalities, and as direct path to cut through "communications clutter" resulting in accelerated time-to-action. It also offers a cost-effective way to more directly connect the company to its customers.

ISF Panelists Spar Over Security vs. Anonymity
November 03, 2009

Can the Web's big-time masters of malware really be tracked down? How risky is cloud computing to network security? And what challenges await the Obama administration's plans to lock down the nation's electronic infrastructure -- while at the same time creating a "smart grid?"

Is AES Encryption Crackable?
November 03, 2009

In the field of computer technology, some topics are so frequently and fiercely disputed that they almost resemble religious feuds -- Mac vs. PC, for instance, or open source vs. proprietary software. Other topics, though, don't see nearly the same level of high-profile debate. Take the invulnerability of AES encryption, for example.

Tech Futurist Sees Rosy Prospects for Net Security
November 02, 2009

Sometime between now and the year 2019, Comcast will start going after botnets and will stop sending malicious Web traffic to its customers. Google will send up more alarms if your search results include possibly infectious links. Microsoft and Apple will get better at plugging holes in their software.

McAfee Gives Enterprise Macs a Bodyguard
November 02, 2009

If you believe those ads from Apple, malware should be the farthest thing from the mind of a Mac owner. Chances are, though, you're not going to find a lot of believers among IT professionals. That's why a major malware fighter like McAfee has released a new security product to protect Macs in corporate networks from black hat attacks.

Keeping Your Secrets Safe in a World Gone Social
October 28, 2009

Social networking platforms allow both anonymous and open communications with the world, giving us a voice and a forum to share our thoughts publicly and privately. However, with the growing threat of identity theft and other cybercrimes, social networks also present a new set of risks.

The Google Voice Choice: Keep Your Number or Get More Features
October 27, 2009

Google announced on Monday that Google Voice users can retain their existing mobile phone numbers when setting up an account instead of having to receive a new phone number for the service. "Google Voice is all about enabling choice," product manager Pierre Lebeau said in a post on the Google Voice blog.

Why It Pays to Second-Guess Your Technology Assumptions
October 20, 2009

As a resident of New Hampshire, I can tell you that the Old Man of the Mountain is a very tender topic for Granite Staters. If you've never heard of it, the Old Man is -- or rather was -- a natural rock formation that was the spitting image of an old man's face. It was carved out of granite on the slope of Mt. Cannon, and if you've never seen it you can check out what it looked like on the back of the N.H. state quarter.

Firefox Locks Out Microsoft's App Dev Tech
October 19, 2009

Microsoft technology used to program applications that can be accessed through a browser continued to be blocked for Firefox users Monday. Mozilla had been blocking two Microsoft plug-ins after the discovery that Microsoft's .Net 3.5 SP1 install silently adds a plug-in to Firefox allowing the surreptitious launch of a malicious AML browser application that could take over infected machines.

Ridding the Web of the XSS Scourge
October 19, 2009

Cross-site scripting/SQL injection attacks have been blamed for numerous data breaches, perhaps most notably the nightmare of the Heartland Payment Systems data breach. This type of attack has been around for at least a decade. However, the tendency for programmers to continue with old, insecure code writing techniques make XSS one of the most deadly methods for hackers.

Apple Tweaks iPhone 3GS to Lock Out Jailbreakers
October 14, 2009

Apple has begun shipping new units of the iPhone 3GS that reportedly cannot be jailbroken using common methods. These new units have a new boot ROM that apparently can't be touched by the exploit, 24kpwn, from the iPhone Dev Team. The news comes just days after jailbreaking icon George Hotz released his blackra1n jailbreak.

Is the Internet Falling Apart?
October 13, 2009

How secure and dependable is the Internet? The Great Twitter Outage of 2009, which shocked the microblogging community and amused many other observers, called into question the reliability of Web-based communications and transaction capabilities that are easy to take for granted.