I want my Windows Update Rollup!
When you set up a new Windows system, especially an XP system, you may be faced with a titanic load of updates to apply to it in order to bring it up to date. If you don't have a loaded-up WSUS server or similar system this means pulling potentially hundreds of megabytes over your Internet connection, and multiple reboots. Microsoft could make it a lot easier.
F-Secure just brought this up by asking for an "update rollup" for Windows XP SP3. A perfectly reasonable request if ever there were one. When they set up a minimal install of XP SP3 (e.g. no calc.exe) in a VM they have to apply 157 updates after SP3. As they point out, SP3 itself was basically just an update rollup. So why doesn't Microsoft do more?
SSDownloader: 50 security apps in just a few clicks
Your friend's PC has been hit by malware, and you're trying to help him out. He doesn't have any security apps installed, though, and so normally that means a lengthy browsing session around your preferred vendors, locating and downloading the tools they need.
Unless, that is, you've a copy of the free, portable SSDownloader to hand. It's a small and easy-to-use download manager that can grab your choice of 50 security applications in just a few clicks.
Microsoft offers quarter-million in prizes to improve Windows security
If the security of your system depends on users making intelligent security decisions then you're basically doomed. After all these years of experience with end users on the Internet we know that they can't be trusted to make those decisions correctly. At least not often enough.
That's why the best security technologies are the ones that happen in spite of the user. These have been a focus for Microsoft over the last 10 years and remain the last, best hope of userdom.
Study: Mobile apps frequently disclose sensitive user data
Despite all the attention as of late on mobile security, a majority of mobile apps still have security flaws that should be of concern, warns security firm ViaForensics. The results come from comprehensive security tests for 100 apps on both the Android and iOS platforms.
Each app was given one of three possible ratings -- pass, warn, or fail -- depending on whether or not ViaForensics was able to access data it stored in each of the apps. A "pass" rating was given if the data could either not be found or was stored encrypted. For apps where the data was found but did not pose an immediate risk, a "warn" rating was assign.
Network Stuff: More Internet tools than you'll likely ever use
Network management can be a complex business, often requiring a whole suite of tools to carry out properly. Or you could just download a copy of the free, open-source Network Stuff, which crams much of what you'll need into a 1.3MB portable executable.
There are graphical Ping and Traceroute tools, for instance. You're able to run TCP, UDP, ICMP or CGI scans on the IP address and ports you specify. And a Stats tab displays everything from the currently open network and Internet connections, to assorted TCP, IP, UDP and ICMP statistics, and a real-time graph charting the current activity on whatever network interface you specify.
Got Lion but feel insecure? Symantec releases two compatible beta security apps
Security firms are always keen to release new versions of their products, and the unveiling of a new operating system is as good a reason as any. Mac users who jumped on OS X Lion the moment it was released have found that there are a number of applications that do not work correctly, or at all, and this can be a serious issue when it comes to security software. Symantec has just released two Lion compatible security products in the form of beta versions of Norton Internet Security 5 and Norton AntiVirus 12 for Mac.
Lion support is one of the main reasons for the existence of both of these new versions, but there are also a number of changes and additions. Performance improvements are always something of a subjective claim, but the new Norton software takes advantages of some of Lion's new underlying features to help speed things up.
Is your website secure? Netsparker can tell you
If you manage a website that has anything more than basic personal details, then it's vital to make sure it's secure. There are plenty of free tools around that promise that they can help, but which really delivers?
Netsparker's Community Edition is one popular solution, as it offers a strong core set of features with minimal restrictions (you can use it on as many sites as you like, for instance).
Hulu, Spotify, Etsy, accused of using invasive 'shadow tracking mechanisms'
Website analytics company KISSMetrics licensed out a technology to dozens of companies, including streaming media companies Hulu and Spotify, that let them implant a tracking tag in a user's browser history that could "respawn" if deleted. Now, the company and its licensees are being sued.
UC Berkley School of Law posted a study at the end of July that revealed the use of these persistent cookies.
Symantec: fragmentation prevents Androids from recording phone calls
The disclosure of potentially serious malware affecting Android smartphones seemed to be tempered on Wednesday, with two security firms at odds over its threat to users. What's saving everyone from a Trojan that can record phone calls and apparently send them to a remote server? Hardware fragmentation.
CA had warned on Tuesday of the potential threat from this phone call recording app. That firm's findings caused Symantec researcher Irfan Asrar to take a second look.
McAfee: 'State actor' behind massive global espionage ring
With hacking becoming an increasing concern as of late with the work of decentralized groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec making headlines, concerns over state-sponsored intrusions has abated. McAfee has brought those fears back to the forefront thanks to a whitepaper released on Wednesday.
McAfee says that it has uncovered a massive hacking operation that has targeted at least 72 government agencies, companies, and organizations in 14 countries since 2006. Worse yet, McAfee has reason to believe a single foreign government may be behind the attacks.
SUPERAntiSpyware 5: Big changes in a small package
SUPERAntiSpyware 5 has just been released, in what the authors are calling "our most significant update ever". This isn't just marketing hype, either, just about every area of the new build has been enhanced and improved.
This starts with the revamped interface, which no longer hides its functionality behind a host of buttons. Easier access to key features means you can now launch the scan you need in a couple of clicks.
Android malware can record and upload phone conversations
With the focus lately being on the security holes within iOS, media attention on flaws within Android has subsided. That ended Monday as security firm CA revealed a new Trojan, aimed at the mobile OS, that records the details of incoming and outgoing calls as well as the actual audio itself.
There are already Android Trojans in the wild that have the capability to store call information. This Trojan in particular however stores the audio of the phone call in .amr format on the SD card within the device. Worse yet, it appears to store a configuration file in the phone's memory, complete with remote server details.
AVG Premium Security 2011: New features could offer more
AVG's Internet Security 2011 offers all the major components you'd expect from a security suite: antivirus, a decent spam filter, effective capable firewall, browsing protection, identity protection and a range of interesting extras. Sounds great, and it's just as good in real life.
Plainly AVG wasn't satisfied, though, and the company has now released an enhanced version, AVG Premium Security 2011, which extends the original suite with a couple of additional functions. And the most important of these, by a considerable distance, is AVG Identity Alert.
This is leadership? US cybersecurity is a revolving door of exiting officials
Personally, I never understood what got people so excited about Barack Obama. But back in 2008 people were positively gooey about him, and one of the lesser reasons was "cybersecurity". Obama "got it". He understood the deadly seriousness of this business.
In July, 2008 then-Senator Obama told a gathering at Purdue University: "As President, I'll make cybersecurity the top priority that it should be in the 21st century. I'll declare our cyber-infrastructure a strategic asset, and appoint a National Cyber Advisor who will report directly to me. We'll coordinate efforts across the federal government, implement a truly national cyber-security policy, and tighten standards to secure information - from the networks that power the federal government, to the networks that you use in your personal lives".
Apple left default passwords in batteries, making them vulnerable to hacks, explosion
Are our computers too smart for our own good? That's the question I'm asking myself after reading Charlie Miller's "Battery Firmware Hacking" paper. Miller showed how you can write programs to render an expensive notebook battery worthless. You might even be able to blow one up.
How could this be? What design error in the system made it possible? None. Miller wrote programs based on published documentation for chips conforming to a popular standard. But there is one key mistake by Apple that makes the whole thing a lot worse.
© 1998-2026 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.