VIRUS HOAXES

Jan 3, 2003 | security

CNET has an article reminding people to be cautious about phony virus alerts – e-mail messages insisting that you delete some file, or forward the message, or avoid some other message. They’re likely to be hoaxes, and forwarding them amounts to sending spam to all...

PERSPECTIVE ON SECURITY HOLES

Dec 30, 2002 | security

You’ve probably read some of the articles about security holes in various operating systems and programs, each one describing a theoretical possibility that hackers might do pernicious things to your computer. Most of the articles in the mainstream press are focused...

NEW HORRORS IN POPUP ADS

Dec 21, 2002 | security

Although some services are backing away from popup ads – America Online has promised to behave itself better, for example – but there are still some ways for things to get worse. Orbitz has just begun inundating popular sites with popup ads that include an...

SOFTWARE SECURITY FLAWS

Nov 26, 2002 | security, software

Every so often I feel compelled to respond to the incessant coverage of the security flaws in Microsoft products. It’s easy to get the impression that Microsoft products are inherently insecure and that alternative systems are better. Analysts from the Aberdeen Group...

ATTACK ON THE INTERNET

Oct 22, 2002 | Internet, security

Here’s one that didn’t get reported widely. Yesterday afternoon, the largest and most sophisticated attack ever was launched against servers worldwide that play a crucial role in running the entire Internet. The Internet is enormously resilient and users never noticed...