Archive

2006 Stories

• December 26, 2006 26Dec2006 News

  Looking back at information security in 2006

  In this special edition of Security Wire Weekly, senior news writer Bill Brenner reviews his top interviews of 2006. Continue Reading

• December 25, 2006 25Dec2006 News

  Top 10 storage stories of 2006

  SAN and NAS converged and shook up the industry, iSCSI went mission-critical, users conquered tiered storage and more. Continue Reading

• December 21, 2006 21Dec2006 News

  Skype Trojan: Much ado about nothing?

  This week in Security Blog Log: A Trojan horse has captured headlines by targeting Skype users. But some believe the threat is being blown out of proportion. Continue Reading

• December 21, 2006 21Dec2006 News

  Microsoft investigates Windows Vista flaw

  Local users could gain elevated system privileges and run malicious commands by exploiting an error within the Windows server library. Vista is among the OS versions affected. Continue Reading

• December 20, 2006 20Dec2006 In Depth

  Top client security tips of 2006

  A network user without the proper know-how is a ticking time bomb when it comes to security. Check out our top five client hardening tips of 2006 to get a head start on protecting yourself from potentially dangerous users. Continue Reading

• December 20, 2006 20Dec2006 News

  Top 10 storage acquisitions of 2006

  Industry consolidation was fast and furious this year. We rank the deals by quality, not quantity. Continue Reading

• December 20, 2006 20Dec2006 News

  Seagate to acquire EVault for $185M

  The disk drive maker has plans to tuck the online backup and archiving service provider into its services group. Continue Reading

• December 19, 2006 19Dec2006 News

  Microsoft releases Vista APIs to security vendors

  Microsoft released a draft set of programming interfaces allowing security vendors to develop software using the Windows kernel on 64-bit systems. Continue Reading

• December 19, 2006 19Dec2006 In Depth

  Cleversafe envisions a new world of storage

  An organisation led by the inventor of the wireless thin client aims to combine storage and the Internet, and change how we think of both storage and computing. Continue Reading

• December 19, 2006 19Dec2006 News

  Mozilla fixes multiple Firefox flaws

  Digital miscreants could exploit flaws in Mozilla's popular Firefox browser to bypass security programs, access sensitive information and conduct cross-site scripting attacks. Continue Reading

• December 19, 2006 19Dec2006 News

  Check Point gets big IDS boost from NFR deal

  Analysts say Check Point would gain much-needed intrusion detection and prevention capabilities through its acquisition of NFR Security. The deal should erase bad memories of the aborted Sourcefire deal. Continue Reading

• December 18, 2006 18Dec2006 In Depth

  Top network security tips of 2006

  The top Windows networking security tips of 2006 cover a range of topics, including network isolation, open source Windows security tools, VPN security and more. Continue Reading

• December 18, 2006 18Dec2006 News

  VoIP hacking exposed in new book

  VoIP hacking is a reality, and in a new book, two VoIP security experts outline the tools and tricks to avoid a system-crushing hack. Continue Reading

• December 18, 2006 18Dec2006 News

  Cisco WLAN design best practices

  Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology has built-in security features, but a one-size-fits-all approach won't ensure adequate security for your organization. This tip provides best practices for designing your security architecture, including user community... Continue Reading

• December 18, 2006 18Dec2006 News

  WLAN interference and clogged pipes -- happy holidays!

  WLAN interference caused by decorations and slowed traffic due to online shopping are just some of the network woes of the holidays. Continue Reading

• December 18, 2006 18Dec2006 Tip

  What are the fundamentals of ATM and ISDN?

  Lisa Phifer explains the fundamentals of ATM and ISDN and why they are used. Continue Reading

• December 17, 2006 17Dec2006 News

  Criminals find safety in cyberspace

  A new report from McAfee shows how criminals are enjoying a sense of safety and anonymity in cyberspace that they never had on the street. And they're making more money. Continue Reading

• December 17, 2006 17Dec2006 In Depth

  Enterprises are open to Asterisk

  Organisations have become so comfortable with VoIP and standards that open-source technologies like Asterisk are being given serious consideration over big iron PBX platforms. Learn all about Asterisk here. Continue Reading

• December 17, 2006 17Dec2006 In Depth

  Top storage tips 2006

  What's on the minds of storage techies. What's hot, what's not, what works, what doesn't work. These expert tips cover the storage issues that take top honours when it comes to disaster recovery, NAS, SAN, backup and storage management. Continue Reading

• December 17, 2006 17Dec2006 News

  NAS gateway purchase considerations

  NAS gateways overcome the inherent limitations of scale and flexibility by utilizing externally connected storage as external standalone disk arrays. NAS storage capacity is typically expanded by simply adding more disks to the appliance, but this ... Continue Reading

• December 17, 2006 17Dec2006 News

  Top 10 VoIP tips of 2006

  Echo and latency issues top the list in 2006, as seen in our top 10 list of most popular tips. If you have missed any of these tips, now is the time to catch up before the end of the year. Continue Reading

• December 15, 2006 15Dec2006 News

  Cardiff launches intelligent document system

  Cardiff, a division of Autonomy Corporation, has launched a new system to allow firms to get more out of their on-screen documents. Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 In Depth

  Review: Prevx1 not ready for prime time

  Prevx1 will require significant improvement in management and detection capabilities before it can be considered a serious contender for enterprise deployments. Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 In Depth

  Review: Reconnex's iGuard needs improvements

  Reconnex's iGuard is maturing, though it still needs some usability improvements such as wizards, customisable reports and the ability to drill down on the graphs. Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 In Depth

  Review: Deep Security is a solid IPS

  Third Brigade's Deep Security is a well-designed, effective product with strong configuration and policy control capabilities. Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 News

  Employers to seek more security talent in '07

  Learn what certifications are growing in demand and how employers are looking at the job market in 2007. Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 News

  NAS gateway specifications

  A NAS gateway offers file-based accesses to external storage on a disk array -- or a SAN, where users can take advantage of superior performance and reliability while maintaining a level of simplicity. Since storage is moved off of the NAS device, ... Continue Reading

• December 14, 2006 14Dec2006 News

  Schneier: Data breach at UCLA barely newsworthy

  This week in Security Blog Log: Security luminary Bruce Schneier and others sound off on the UCLA data breach that exposed 800,000 people to identity fraud. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 In Depth

  Microsoft Vista could improve Internet security

  Two new Microsoft Vista features -- Kernel Patch Protection and User Account Control -- could prove especially useful in preventing serious malware infections. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 In Depth

  Review: Lancope StealthWatch 5.5 offers more than IDS

  Hot Pick: StealthWatch goes far beyond traditional intrusion detection, with powerful network-monitoring features. The optional IDentity-1000 is an essential addition. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Review: Sky's the limit with Skybox View 3.0

  Hot Pick: Skybox View 3.0 offers a unique and flexible approach for assessing and managing specific threats and overall risk to your digital assets. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 In Depth

  Hot technologies for 2007

  "Storage" magazine's editors reviewed technology developments, product introductions and storage standards to come up with this short list of must-have technologies for 2007. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Hosted VoIP eliminates cost, complexity

  Hosted VoIP is being adopted at increasing rates as more and more companies look to avoid the excess costs and complexities of on-premise solutions. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Third zero-day found in Microsoft Word

  For the third time in a week, a zero-day flaw has been found in Microsoft Word. Users should be cautious when opening attachments from unknown sources. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Host-based replication

  While the lines of distinction among data protection technologies such as backup, continuous data protection and replication have blurred, host-based replication can play a key role in your overall data protection strategy. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  VoIP management tools: Calculating ROI

  Before purchasing management tools for VoIP, you may need to calculate the return on investment (ROI) to justify the cost of those tools. In this tip, Gary Audin explains how to calculate ROI and provides specific checklists for calculating the ROI ... Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Hosted VoIP eliminates cost, complexity

  Hosted VoIP is being adopted at increasing rates as more and more companies look to avoid the excess costs and complexities of on-premise solutions. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Sun updates Java Standard Edition

  Sun Microsystems has launched version six of its Java Standard Edition platform, which supports the integration of Java technology with other programming languages Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Eclipse adoption rate on the increase

  The adoption rate of the open source Eclipse integrated development environment has more than doubled in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, industry analysts have revealed. Continue Reading

• December 13, 2006 13Dec2006 News

  Swindon is broadband capital

  Swindon is still the broadband capital of Britain, research on coverage has revealed. Continue Reading

• December 12, 2006 12Dec2006 News

  Expert offers tips to bolster messaging security

  In this edition of Security Wire Weekly, Burton Group analyst Diana Kelley explains how to lock down messaging programs as part of our three-day special report on the subject. Continue Reading

• December 12, 2006 12Dec2006 News

  Symantec issues NetBackup security alert

  Symantec issues an alert and patch to vulnerabilities in NetBackup 6.0, 5.1 and 5.0. Continue Reading

• December 12, 2006 12Dec2006 News

  Mixing SAS and SATA disk drives can cause problems

  Mixing SAS and SATA disk drives in the same enclosure can cause interoperability issues, but vendors are finding workarounds. Continue Reading

• December 12, 2006 12Dec2006 News

  Data breach at Boeing exposes 382,000 employees

  The third theft of a Boeing laptop in the last 13 months has exposed the data of nearly 400,000 employees and retirees. Continue Reading

• December 12, 2006 12Dec2006 Tip

  Intrusion detection systems -- introduction to IDS and IPCop

  This article, excerpted from the book ""Configuring IPCop Firewalls: Closing Borders with Open Source,"" explores how intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) including Snort and IPCop protect the network from ... Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 News

  Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Executive Track (LV 2006)

  Our "Executive track" sessions give C-level technology executivesan idea of where their storage should be and ideas on where it's headed. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Smart Shopper Track (LV 2006)

  Very few storage managers have carte blanche when it comes to storage spending. Sessions in our "Smart Shopper track" help managers get the most bang for their storage buck. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Architecture Track (LV 2006)

  More than 70% of the attendees of Storage Decisions say they are setting up or evaluating a tiered storage architecture. Featured in this track are Tiered Storage School sessions along with other sessions that can help any manager set up or ... Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Storage IPOs, brilliant or brainless

  Just when we thought the fast and loose spending of the dot-com bubble was well behind us, a few recent storage company IPOs remind us that we really haven't gotten a lot smarter. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 News

  Microsoft fixes two zero-day flaws

  The December security update from Microsoft includes patches for zero-day flaws in Visual Studio and Windows Media Player, but two zero-day flaws in Word remain unfixed. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 Podcast

  Podcast: Mobile device threats are real, white-hat hacker says

  Learn how easy it is for a hacker to gain access to a mobile device, whether employees are aware of security for their devices and why Bluetooth headsets should be turned off. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Inside MSRC: Visual Studio flaw, tool extensions explained

  Christopher Budd of the Microsoft Security Response Center sheds detail about a flaw in Visual Studio 2005 and explains that support for Software Update Services 1.0 will be extended. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 News

  IT pros look for ways to lock down IM

  Special Report: To control growing IM threats, administrators are trying to limit which programs can be used or ban the technology altogether. But that's not always possible. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Infrastructure security: Remote access DMZ

  An excerpt from Chapter 7: Infrastructure security from "How to Cheat at Managing Information Security," by Mark Osborne. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 News

  Vendors to crank up SaaS offerings to SMBs next year

  SMBs will outpace enterprises when it comes to IT spending in 2007 -- and vendors will delve deeper into SaaS to reach them. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 In Depth

  Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Engineering Track (LV 2006)

  Managers need to engineer the most flexible and complete storage network. This track looks at SAN and NAS issues, distance demands, remote offices and how to build out systems. Continue Reading

• December 11, 2006 11Dec2006 News

  SIP desktop phone blends functionality, style

  VoIP desktop phones are no longer the clunky hunks of plastic that take up space on your desk. Siemens yesterday launched a new family of SIP phones that are as slick as they are functional. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Zantaz buys data classification partner Singlecast

  Email archiving player Zantaz has purchased data classification startup Singlecast, which can categorise and apply policies to data before an email takes up storage space. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 In Depth

  Storage Decisions Session Downloads (NYC 2006)

  Take a look at the sessions that floored at the Storage Decisions conference in New York City, September 27-29, 2006. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Inside the numbers: Messaging (in)security

  In August, SearchSecurity.com surveyed 250 IT pros from a variety of industries about messaging security programs. Here are some of the questions we asked and their responses. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Messaging insecurity fuels data leakage fears

  Special Report: The proliferation of messaging technology means more opportunity for malware to take root and sensitive data to be lifted. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Microsoft suffers third zero-day in a week

  A second zero-day flaw in Word has been uncovered, Microsoft said Sunday. It's the software giant's third zero-day in a week. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Hitachi, BlueArc announce OEM partnership

  What had been rumored to be an acquisition has turned out to be an OEM deal, but HDS has also made an investment in BlueArc, indicating an acquisition could be the next step. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Storage Decisions in the wild, wild west

  Dedupe, iSCSI, backup, virtualisation and cowboys in Stetson hats -- Storage Decisions Las Vegas 2006 had it all. Continue Reading

• December 10, 2006 10Dec2006 News

  Windows Vista security settings

  Microsoft's Windows Vista is here. Here, Current Analysis senior analyst Andrew Braunberg discusses what network admins need to know about tightening up Vista security. Continue Reading

• December 09, 2006 09Dec2006 News

  Storage IQ: Key technologies for 2006

  We keep a close eye on what technologies our readers are most interested in. Here are the year's 25 most commonly searched terms. Do you know them all? Continue Reading

• December 07, 2006 07Dec2006 In Depth

  Zero-day tracker a hit, but IT shops need better strategy

  This week in Security Blog Log: Reaction to eEye's new zero-day tracker is positive, but some experts say it won't help unless IT shops have a layered defense to start with. Continue Reading

• December 07, 2006 07Dec2006 News

  Dell, Microsoft tout joint NAS product

  The new NX1950 product is vastly more expensive than its counterparts from HP and NetApp, but it scales higher, supports clusters and has redundant controllers. Continue Reading

• December 07, 2006 07Dec2006 News

  NAS management software specifications

  Network attached storage (NAS) appliances and gateways must be configured and managed using NAS management software that allows administrators to allocate space, manage RAID and storage behaviors, perform routine maintenance, and other tasks. ... Continue Reading

• December 06, 2006 06Dec2006 News

  Microsoft to fix Visual Studio, Windows flaws

  Microsoft plans to release five security updates to address vulnerabilities in Windows and a flaw in Visual Studio as part of its monthly security bulletin release cycle. Continue Reading

• December 06, 2006 06Dec2006 News

  Zero-day flaw found in Windows Media Player

  Attackers could exploit a new zero-day flaw in Windows Media Player to cause a denial of service or launch malicious code. The threat is Microsoft's second zero-day flaw in a week. Continue Reading

• December 06, 2006 06Dec2006 In Depth

  MySpace, YouTube successes open door to Web 2.0 dangers

  Web 2.0, and Ajax in particular, are introducing new threats to life on the Web. Many people are rushing to add interactive features to their Web applications using Ajax, but as columnist Mike Cobb explains, security has often been overlooked. Continue Reading

• December 06, 2006 06Dec2006 News

  MP3 search site pushes spyware, watchdogs say

  A Web site that gives users the ability to search for MP3s contains programs that behave like spyware, according to the Center for Democracy and Technology and StopBadware.org. Continue Reading

• December 05, 2006 05Dec2006 News

  New zero-day affects Microsoft Word

  Microsoft confirmed reports of "limited" zero-day attacks and warned customers to be cautious when opening unsolicited Word attachments. Continue Reading

• December 04, 2006 04Dec2006 News

  IBM to acquire compliance software firm

  IBM plans to acquire Consul Risk Management Inc., a Delft, Netherlands-based firm whose software tracks non-compliant behavior of employees. Continue Reading

• December 04, 2006 04Dec2006 News

  Spam -- stop it at the network edge

  Spam has become much more than just a nuisance; it can slow or crash the network. F5 recently added a module to its Big IP platform to stop spam at the network edge. Continue Reading

• December 03, 2006 03Dec2006 News

  Security Bytes: Phishing worm spreads through MySpace

  Round up of security news Continue Reading

• December 03, 2006 03Dec2006 Tip

  Access your ISA and Exchange Server from outside the office

  Learn how to configure your Linksys router so that you can access your ISA and Exchange Server from outside the office in this expert response by Lisa Phifer. Continue Reading

• November 30, 2006 30Nov2006 News

  Terrorists may target financial sites

  The U.S. government is warning of an al-Qaida call for a cyberattack against online stock trading and banking Web sites Continue Reading

• November 30, 2006 30Nov2006 News

  Symantec blames piracy for Veritas licensing snafu

  Weekly compilation of storage news: Symantec says that software counterfeiting is throwing a wrench in tech support ; FRCP rules take effect. Continue Reading

• November 30, 2006 30Nov2006 News

  Oracle responds to security critics

  Security Blog Log: Oracle takes on researchers who have criticised its security procedures in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Symantec warns of new zombie malware. Continue Reading

• November 30, 2006 30Nov2006 News

  Video conferencing brings desktop VoIP, app sharing

  Voice, video and Web conferencing vendor Genesys adds desktop VoIP and enhanced application sharing to its collaboration lineup. Continue Reading

• November 30, 2006 30Nov2006 News

  Gartner: Existing business continuity plans will fail in a pandemic

  Existing business continuity plans will not protect a company during an avian flu pandemic, says a Gartner analyst. Business continuity plans assume a geographically specific disaster, while a pandemic will strike everywhere nearly simultaneously. Continue Reading

• November 29, 2006 29Nov2006 News

  Video conferencing brings desktop VoIP, app sharing

  Voice, video and Web conferencing vendor Genesys adds desktop VoIP and enhanced application sharing to its collaboration lineup. Continue Reading

• November 29, 2006 29Nov2006 News

  Multiple flaws in Adobe Reader, Acrobat

  Multiple flaws in Adobe Reader and Acrobat could allow attackers to execute malicious commands on victims' computers. Continue Reading

• November 29, 2006 29Nov2006 Tip

  Slow response times from client/server PC's running IFS applications

  How do you find out the culprit of a network delays when you see little bandwidth being used? Read this Q&A to see what our network administrating expert, Lindi Horton, has to say. Continue Reading

• November 29, 2006 29Nov2006 News

  Podcast: Security certifications pay could rebound in '07

  Security certifications pay is languishing, according to skill and certifications pay expert David Foote of Foote Research. Foote examines the state of the IT security job market. Continue Reading

• November 28, 2006 28Nov2006 News

  Symantec fixes NetBackup Puredisk flaw

  An unauthorised user could launch malicious code by exploiting a flaw in Symantec's Veritas NetBackup PureDisk product. But a fix is available. Continue Reading

• November 28, 2006 28Nov2006 News

  Adware targets Mac OS X

  As F-Secure notes what may be the first example of adware designed for Macs, researcher LMH reports more flaws in the operating system as part of the Month of Kernel Bugs. Continue Reading

• November 28, 2006 28Nov2006 News

  Effective wireless security is available, but holes exist

  Specialist vendors offer products that allow even small businesses to run a secure wireless network without paying a high price, but that doesn't mean companies are using it. Continue Reading

• November 28, 2006 28Nov2006 News

  Study: Some firms balk at mobile security

  Companies are failing to safeguard sensitive data on employee mobile devices, according to a survey by the Business Performance Management Forum. Continue Reading

• November 28, 2006 28Nov2006 News

  Apple fixes 22 Mac OS X flaws

  The patches include a fix for a Wi-Fi flaw reported earlier this month as part of the Month of Kernel Bugs. A number of other flaws remain unfixed, however. Continue Reading

• November 27, 2006 27Nov2006 In Depth

  Active Directory security school: Maintenance and testing

  This is lesson three of our Active Directory security school. Continue Reading

• November 27, 2006 27Nov2006 In Depth

  Active Directory security school: Set up and configuration

  An Active Directory security lesson. Continue Reading

• November 27, 2006 27Nov2006 In Depth

  Active Directory security school: Management

  Lesson two of the Active Directory security school. Continue Reading

• November 27, 2006 27Nov2006 In Depth

  Active Directory Security School

  An improperly configured Active Directory can render the rest of your security measures useless. So how can you protect yourself from a hacker with their eyes on your AD? How can you recover from such an attack? Find the answers to all of your AD ... Continue Reading

• November 26, 2006 26Nov2006 In Depth

  Recordless email: magical or menacing?

  A new startup promises recordless email. Is this a stroke of genius that will reward the company with billions of Internet bucks, or is it the end of the world as we know it? Continue Reading

• November 26, 2006 26Nov2006 In Depth

  Managed and hosted VoIP: muddling through

  For companies looking for an alternative to a premise-based phone system, there are plenty available, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Get a clearer understanding of exactly what's available so you can ask the right questions to get the ... Continue Reading

• November 26, 2006 26Nov2006 News

  Static routing for Cisco users [Day Two: The good and bad of static routing]

  What is static routing good for? And what are its shortcomings? Read on to discover how and when to use this technique. Continue Reading

• November 26, 2006 26Nov2006 News

  Managed and hosted VoIP: muddling through

  Managed and Centrex and hosted, oh my! For companies looking for an alternative to a premise-based phone system, there are plenty available, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Get a clearer understanding of exactly what's available so you can ... Continue Reading