IT security

Network access control learning guide

From PDAs to insecure wireless modems, users have myriad options for connecting to -- and infecting -- the network. Created in partnership with our sister site SearchSecurity.com, this guide offers tips and expert advice on network access control. Learn how unauthorized users gain network access, how to block and secure untrusted endpoints, and get Windows-specific and universal access control policies and procedures. Continue Reading

Microsoft NAP-TNC compatibility won't speed adoption, users say

Users hail the new compatibility of Microsoft NAP and the Trusted Computing Group's TNC architecture. But they say it won't speed up their adoption timetables. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner and Dennis Fisher, SearchSecurity.com Staff

McAfee launches IPS for 10g networks, but is IT ready?

McAfee unveiled a new IPS offering for 10-gigabit Ethernet networks and announced the upgrade and integration of several other products. One analyst offers a mixed assessment. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft fixes Office 2007 patch issues, releases MOICE

The Microsoft Security Response Center acknowledged that some of the company's May 8 security updates didn't make it to machines running Office 2007 on Windows Vista. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Sourcefire, Nmap deal to open vulnerability scanning

Sourcefire and Insecure.org have inked an agreement to develop open source vulnerability scanning tools based on Insecure's Nmap scripting engine. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

IETF approves new weapon to fight spam, phish

DomainKeys Identified Mail specification (DKIM) gained approval as an official IETF standard. The approval is seen as a major step in the fight against spam and phishing attacks. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

Microsoft investigates new Office zero-day flaw

Attackers could exploit a newly-discovered zero-day flaw in Office 2000 to run malicious code on targeted machines, Symantec warned. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft unveils unified communications devices

Microsoft unveils unified communications devices. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Cisco warns of new IOS flaws

The new flaws are classified as "low," but if exploited they could result in a sustained DoS condition, Cisco said. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt and Bill Brenner, SearchSecurity.com Staff

VoIP security fundamentals

VoIP security is a challenge for IT staff because IP telephony brings with it not only the security problems of data networks but also new threats specific to VoIP. In this fundamentals guide, learn about network security threats and emerging IP telephony threats, and how to secure your VoIP systems and endpoints from them. Continue Reading

Screencast: How to configure a UTM device

In this exclusive screencast, expert David Strom demonstrates the configuration options available in SonicWall's unified threat management product. Continue Reading

When signature based antivirus isn't enough

Zero-day exploits, targeted attacks and increasing demands for endpoint application controls are driving the rapid metamorphosis from signature-based antivirus and antispyware to HIPS-based integrated products. Continue Reading

By

• Neil Roiter, TechTarget

Cisco fixes fresh flaws in IOS

Attackers could exploit two flaws in Cisco's IOS to cause a denial of service or tamper with data in a device file system. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

PayPal security measures help stamp out fraud

PayPal's 133 million online customers are the biggest ocean phishers have to plunder. CISO Michael Barrett wants to make it safe to be in the water; and he's not going at it alone. Continue Reading

By

• Michael Mimoso, TechTarget

ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card specifications

Key specifications for a cross-section of popular iSCSI TOE cards. Continue Reading

Symantec fixes flaws in Norton, pcAnywhere

Attackers could exploit flaws in Symantec's Norton AntiVirus and pcAnywhere to launch malicious code or compromise a user's session credentials. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Companies plug FTP holes with secure FTP servers

Some companies are investing in secure FTP suites to give employees and business partners the ability to transfer large files such as large documents, audio, video and photos. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

The trouble with Google hacking techniques

Some IT security professionals say the threat posed by Google hacking techniques is overblown and that companies can easily avoid it with a layered security program. One skeptical expert is Ira Winkler, founder of the Internet Security Advisors Group (ISAG) and author of such books as "Spies Among Us." In this Q&A, he talks about how Google hacking is not new and why he thinks IT pros who aren't aware of it should go back to security school. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Quiz: Preventing data leaks

A six-question multiple-choice quiz to test your understanding of the content presented by expert Richard Bejtlich in this lesson of SearchSecurity.com's Data Protection Security School. Continue Reading

Quiz: Enterprise strategies for protecting data at rest

A five-question multiple-choice quiz to test your understanding of the e-discovery content presented by expert Perry Carpenter in this lesson of SearchSecurity.com's Data Protection Security School. Continue Reading

Quiz: Demystifying data encryption

A five-question multiple-choice quiz to test your understanding of the data encryption content presented by expert Tom Bowers in this lesson of SearchSecurity.com's Data Protection Security School. Continue Reading

Microsoft users sticking with third-party security vendors

IT pros are pleased with Microsoft's security advances, including those found in Forefront. But don't expect them to drop their third-party security vendors. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft to release DNS patch Tuesday

In addition to a fix for the DNS Server Service flaw, Microsoft plans to patch critical flaws in Windows, Office, Exchange, CAPICOM and BizTalk. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

IM slang glossary

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By

• Jessica L. Dempsey, Assistant Editor

New image spam sneaks into inboxes

Researchers at Secure Computing Corp. have discovered a new form of image spam that is sneaking into corporate systems and clogging inboxes. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Websense to acquire SurfControl

Websense says its planned $400 million acquisition of SurfControl will allow it to better compete in the global security market. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Scaling storage networks demands careful consideration

In the Fibre Channel world, scaling often means adding more and faster switch ports to extend the fabric's bandwidth and connectivity. But IP storage (mainly iSCSI) is a growing area of SAN expansion, using ubiquitous Ethernet network technology to pass storage data between storage devices. This requires the use of IP switches and routers, and can involve the deployment of iSCSI TOE host adapters to offload iSCSI traffic from the local server's CPU. This Buying Guide is intended to help clarify the principle considerations involved scaling storage networks and each chapter offers a set of buying points and product specifications that can help readers identify prospective new scaling products. Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: WAN acceleration and WAFS technology overview

One important avenue of storage consolidation is the consolidation of remote office storage; this is where WAN acceleration and WAFS technology comes into play. Continue Reading

IP storage switch and router specifications

Key specifications for a cross section of popular IP storage switch and router products. Continue Reading

Apple fixes 25 Mac OS X flaws

Attackers could exploit about two dozen flaws in Mac OS X to cause a denial of service, bypass security restrictions, disclose sensitive data and run malicious code. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

Weekly compilation of storage news:Dell LTO-4 drive, new Sun array

Dell is first out of the gate with the new LTO-4 drive, which offers native encryption; Sun unveils new array and deepens its relationship with FalconStor. Continue Reading

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• SearchStorage.com Staff

Disaster Recovery Planning Podcasts

DR expert Jon Toigo explains how the new realities of business make DR planning an essential element of daily IT process, procedure, product development and procurement. Continue Reading

By

• Jon Toigo

SNW: Users wary of outsourcing backup

Symantec unveiled plans for outsourced, online data backup services this week, but users at Storage Networking World are more cautious than ever about letting go of their data. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

Storage consolidation: Disks and disk subsystems overview

Any storage consolidation effort must involve a serious consideration of disk subsystems and the specific disk types that those systems will contain Continue Reading

DNS worm strikes at Microsoft flaw

A new worm called Rinbot.BC exploits the Microsoft DNS flaw by installing an IRC bot on infected machines and scanning for other vulnerable servers. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

Inside MSRC: Windows Vista security update explained

Microsoft's Christopher Budd details the first Windows Vista security updates. Continue Reading

By

• Christopher Budd, security program manager for the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)

Malware outbreak 'largest in almost a year'

Security firm Postini and the SANS Internet Storm Center said they are tracking a significant malware outbreak. Postini calls it the biggest email attack in almost a year. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft investigates DNS server flaw

Attackers could exploit a DNS flaw in Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 and run malicious code on the system. A workaround is suggested until a patch is issued. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

Microsoft DNS server flaw called dangerous

UPDATE: Microsoft said Sunday that attacks are still limited, but a proof of concept code to exploit the vulnerability is publicly available. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Instant messaging threats become more sophisticated

Instant messaging faces greater threats as more enterprises begin to utilize it, making it a more appealing target to hackers. Continue Reading

By

• Kate Dostart, Associate Editor

Architectural firm swaps online data backup service providers

As online data backup services take off, one early adopter slashed costs dramatically by switching to a newer service on the market. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Capacity planning software specifications

Gauging storage needs over time is one of the biggest challenges faced by IT administrators, and a new generation of capacity planning tools is emerging to help forecast growth and utilisation of storage resources. Continue Reading

The changing threat of email attacks

In this Messaging Security School lesson, expert Mike Rothman details the state of next-generation email threats, explores reputation systems and uncovers threats AV can't catch. Continue Reading

How data deduplication eases storage requirements

Storage administrators are struggling to handle spiraling volumes of documents, audio, video, images and large email attachments. Adding storage is not always the best solution, and many companies are turning to data reduction technologies such as data deduplication. This article explains the basic principles of data deduplication, and looks at implementation issues. Continue Reading

Spam campaign uses Storm-like attack technique

Spammers used an attack technique much like last January's "Storm" assault to dupe people into downloading malware over the weekend. This time, they used fake WWIII headlines. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Symantec fixes 'high-risk' flaw in Enterprise Security Manager

Attackers could hijack machines from remote locations by exploiting a flaw in Symantec Enterprise Security Manager (ESM). Kaspersky Lab users also have a flaw to deal with. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Data security breach at UCSF may have exposed thousands

The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) acknowledged Wednesday that a security hole in a computer server may have exposed 46,000 people to potential identity fraud. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

When disaster recovery and data classification collide

Attendees at a disaster recovery seminar discussed the complex application dependencies when disaster recovery and data classification combine. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Microsoft releases patch for Windows ANI flaw

Security companies are seeing massive attacks against the Windows ANI zero-day flaw, prompting Microsoft to rush out a fix a week before Patch Tuesday. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Will data breach be the end of TJX?

This week in Security Blog Log: Industry experts say companies can learn from a data breach and even prosper from it. But is TJX following the right example? Continue Reading

By

• Senior News Writer Bill Brenner

IT pros eye Windows Server 2003 SP2 with caution

Despite its security and stability enhancements, IT pros say they are in no rush to deploy Windows Server 2003 SP2 Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

What are some of the best practices for managing the growth of unstructured data?

It starts with corporate policies around data management... Continue Reading

Web 2.0: CIOs want it their way

A new study found CIOs want Web 2.0 technology, but they're a little insecure about getting it from emerging specialized vendors. Continue Reading

By

• Shamus McGillicuddy, Enterprise Management Associates

Metasploit Framework 3.0 released

Brief: Metasploit Framework 3.0 contains 177 exploits, 104 payloads, 17 encoders and 30 auxiliary modules that perform such tasks as host discovery and protocol fuzzing. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

How can a company set retention policies with such a glut of unstructured data?

It depends; there are no easy answers to this. There are a number of initiatives that a company should undertake, including disaster recovery, business continuity planning, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and data security... Continue Reading

Are there regulatory compliance issues related to unstructured data?

The most important issue is legal discovery. You may not know what you have or how to find it, so it can be very difficult to find the files that may be required by a court of law... Continue Reading

Microsoft investigates Windows Vista Mail flaw

Attackers could exploit a flaw in Windows Vista Mail to compromise PCs by tricking the user into opening a malicious email attachment. Microsoft is investigating. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Flaws haunt protocol tied to national infrastructure

Also: A weakness is found in Windows settings, Microsoft investigates a new Vista flaw, and flaws are addressed in OpenOffice.org and Firefox. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

Mozilla releases Firefox fix

One newly-discovered flaw and several glitches introduced in the last update have been fixed with Mozilla's release of Firefox 2.0.0.3 and 1.5.0.11. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Midrange storage array specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of midrange storage array products. Continue Reading

Symantec threat report under the microscope

This week in Security Blog Log: Infosec professionals dissect Symantec's latest threat report and express a range of views in the blogosphere. Continue Reading

Hackers broaden reach of cross-site scripting attacks

An explosion of AJAX-based applications has increased the damage that cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks can inflict on machines. A new tool uses XSS flaws to create a botnet. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

Measuring Vista's true security muscle will take time

Researchers are digging through the Windows Vista code right now, and when they find flaws we'll hear about it. But it's the ones we don't hear about that should keep us up at night. Continue Reading

NAC panel says technology may not add up

A panel discussing the potential of using network access control (NAC) says the technology may not be worth the price of deploying and maintaining it. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Internet complexity, insecurity could stifle innovation, expert says

Security threats are driving vendors to produce software and devices that automatically update and run only proprietary software with no effort from the end user. The result could be less flexibility and innovation, one expert says. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Symantec: Data thieves thrive on zero-day flaws

According to Symantec's threat report for the second half of 2006, attackers exploited misplaced USB drives and zero-day flaws to steal vast amounts of data. Expect more of the same in 2007. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Hacker techniques use Google to unearth sensitive data

Those who know where to look could use Google to dig up all sorts of sensitive company information, including intellectual property and passwords, one security expert warns. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

LexisNexis fights crime with storage

The document search company is offering a new data forensics service staffed by former federal agents and powered by commodity NAS. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

NEC reveals HydraStor grid storage

NEC announces its HydraStor array for secondary storage, touting its grid storage architecture, automated policies for data management and scalable deduplication. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

What are some best practices for retaining data in a highly regulated business environment?

Have a good information retention policy. I see a lot of organizations where they retain backups or copies of databases, but they don't know why they're retaining it or for how long... Continue Reading

Review: eGuardPost a B+ overall

eGuardPost is a well-designed and highly capable product that meets an important need. It has strong security and great forensics capabilities. Continue Reading

By

• Steven Weil, Point B

Review: Sun Java System Identity Manager 7.0 'impressive'

Hot Pick: Sun Java System Identity Manager 7.0 excels with agentless connectors, scalability and amazing auditing. Continue Reading

By

• Brad Causey

Microsoft cancels Patch Tuesday as DST looms

IT administrators who are struggling to apply all their daylight-saving time (DST) patches will get a break from Microsoft next week, as no new security fixes will be released. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Symantec acquires automated risk assessment firm

Symantec has acquired Reston, Va.-based 4FrontSecurity, a maker of automated risk analysis and security management tools. An expert says it's the latest sign that the security risk assessment market is heating up. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Tape restoration firm accelerates restores

National Data Conversion uses Index Engines technology to speed up tape restores for litigation. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, TechTarget

Unified communications translates to intelligent communications

Unified communications and its business benefits were the underlying themes of the keynote presentations yesterday at VoiceCon Spring 2007. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew R. Hickey

Expert: NAC not a network security cure-all

According to an expert at Black Hat DC, NAC success demands careful planning and a good understanding of the company network; otherwise, implementations can quickly go awry. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Police force secures data with biometrics

Humberside Police has issued biometric USB drives among staff to maintain data security. Continue Reading

By

• John-Paul Kamath

Linksys, Gateway launch low-end NAS

Cisco subsidiary Linksys and PC maker Gateway launch new NAS products for small businesses and consumers. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com

PING with Mark Odiorne

Mark Odiorne, CISO at Scottish Re, provides insights on pen testing procedures, prioritising security for senior management and keeping compliant. Continue Reading

RFID cloning presentation moves forward despite legal threats

Chris Paget, director of research and development at IOActive spoke mainly about the science behind RFID tags and readers and the inherent security issues of the technology. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

RFID dispute: Vendors still hostile toward full disclosure

Many vendors still believe that security by obscurity is still the best policy and make it a priority to silence vulnerability researchers. Continue Reading

McAfee fixes flaw in Mac antivirus software

Attackers could exploit the hole in McAfee's Virex 7.7 antivirus program for Mac OS X to bypass the malware scanner, but a fix is available. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

'Worm' targets Sun Solaris Telnet flaw

Security researchers have found evidence that a worm is trying to exploit the recently patched Telnet flaw in Sun Solaris. Experts say it's another reason to stay away from Telnet. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Wireless security: IT pros warily watching mobile phone threats

Security experts have warned repeatedly that mobile phone attacks will grow as the devices become more sophisticated. IT administrators are starting to believe them. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

RFID privacy, security should start with design

Companies planning to deploy radio frequency identification technology (RFID) must demand that privacy and security issues are addressed early. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Westervelt, TechTarget

Storm rages again: Self-morphing Trojan uses blogs to spread rootkits

A new variant of the Storm Trojan that changes with each download is infecting blog sites with malicious URLs, intercepting traffic when visitors try to post comments. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

HP announces iSCSI VTL for SMBs

HP's new iSCSI VTL devices include automated backup capabilities for users with fewer than four servers. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

PatchLink acquires STAT Guardian tool

PatchLink says it will add more muscle to its vulnerability management portfolio by acquiring the STAT Guardian tool from IT vendor Harris Corp. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft takes a blogosphere beating over Vista UAC

This week in Security Blog Log: Industry experts take Microsoft to task over a "very severe hole" in the design of Vista's User Account Controls (UAC) feature. Continue Reading

Google offers 10 GB inbox

The search engine giant is offering an email application on a subscription basis with five times the storage capacity of the free version. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Flaws haunt Symantec, IBM, Cisco and IE

Bug Briefs: Security holes plague Symantec Norton products, IBM DB2; Mozilla Firefox; Trend Micro ServerProtect; Cisco IP phones; Google Desktop; IE and Snort. Continue Reading

By

• SearchSecurity.com Staff

Cisco warns of IP phone flaws

Attackers could circumvent security restrictions by exploiting flaws in certain Cisco IP phones, the networking giant warned Wednesday. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Data breach: If customers don't act, data will remain at risk

To make enterprises take data security seriously, customers must take control of their personally identifiable information and stop handing it out to businesses. Continue Reading

Cisco routers threatened by drive-by pharming

Millions of Cisco routers in circulation could be compromised by a newly-discovered attack technique Symantec calls drive-by pharming, the networking giant warned in an advisory. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Microsoft confirms new IE flaw

Attackers could exploit a new flaw in Internet Explorer (IE) to access local files on targeted systems, Microsoft confirmed Tuesday. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

TJX data breach worse than initially feared

Hackers had access to a larger amount of customer data, TJX executives said in a statement. Continue Reading

By

• Dennis Fisher

Sourcefire fixes Snort flaw

Attackers could exploit a flaw in the popular open source Snort IDS tool to cause a denial of service or launch malicious code. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

When security firms merge, some users are losers

Some users see their services improve when IT security vendors merge with other companies or get acquired. Others say they've been left out in the cold. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Brenner

Quiz: Compliance improvement -- Get better as you go forward

A five-question multiple-choice quiz to test your understanding of the content presented by expert Richard Mackey in this lesson of SearchSecurity.com's Compliance School. Continue Reading