Security

  • Microsoft DRM: A Blunt Knife

    Microsoft DRM: A Blunt KnifeWhat a blunt knife Microsoft’s DRM is. We don’t know if you’ve noticed before, but some time in the last, Microsoft made change to their Media Player, stopping screen grabs of videos that are playing.

    Clearly Microsoft thought this would be something that would appeal to content owners in fear of their work being taken without payment – even if it was only a single frame of it.

    (more…)

  • Cash For Your Life Insurance: New Spam Attack

    Cash For Your Life Insurance: New Spam AttackThere appears to be a new type of spam attack, the focusing of an email blitz for a limited period of time – with a potentially high return for the spammer.

    (more…)

  • Smartphones “Bigger Security Risk” Than Lappies

    Smartphones Smartphones have become a bigger security risk for businesses than laptops and mobile storage device according to new research.

    Conducted by the ‘endpoint data protection supplier’ (a wha’?) company, Credant Technologies, the survey quizzed 300 senior IT staff and found that 94 per cent of them reckoned that PDA/smartphones presented a bigger security risk than the traditional ultra risky USB mobile storage devices, which registered a 88 per cent risk. (more…)

  • Keeping Your Passwords Private Part Two

    Following the recent list of what PC Magazine claim are the 10 most commonly used passwords by computer users, in part one we started to look at how you can protect your passwords and keep your booty safe.

    Microsoft Password Checker
    Microsoft offers a handy Password Checker application that lets you input text to test the strength of your passwords, from weak, medium to strong to best (it’s not that we don’t trust Microsoft, but we still changed our passwords around a bit when were testing them).
    (more…)

  • Beware: Charity Disaster Phishing Scams

    Beware: Charity Disaster Phishing ScamsIt’s a sad reflection on today’s society that at times of human suffering there are those who will try to take advantage of the situation for their own gain.

    The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and other IT security organisations are warning that there are a number of phishing scams that are using donation appeals for the recent major disasters in Burma and China.

    (more…)

  • Keeping Your Passwords Private

    Keeping Your Passwords PrivatePasswords are a necessary evil in the online world. We’re going to give you some tips on keeping your all important passwords private.

    PC Magazine recently released a list of what they claim are the 10 most commonly used passwords by computer users.

    (more…)

  • Your Laptop Is Open Season When Flying To SF, USA

    Your Laptop Is Open Season When Flying To The USWe’re still reeling after reading this story last week that a federal appeals court in the US ruled that it was fine for US customs agents to go through the content of an airline passengers laptop with no evidence of wrong doing – just because they felt like it.

    (more…)

  • BT Statement on Home Hub Wireless Security

    BT Statement on Home Hub Wireless SecurityFollowing our story on the vulnerabilities of the BT Home Hub, the most widely used DSL wireless router in the UK, BT sent us this statement last week after we requested it.

    (more…)

  • BT Home Hub: Wireless Security Vulnerabilities Discovered

    BT Home Hub: Wireless Security Vulnerabilities DiscoveredThose with a BT Home Hub — and there’s a lot of them, as it’s currently the most popular DSL router in the UK — might be sleeping a little less soundly tonight following the claims of an ethical hacking group, GNUCitizen, to have found a way to past its Wireless security.

    Rather than getting all hardcore and going into details of how it came about, we’ll give you the overview.

    (more…)

  • Adobe Media Player Launched

    Adobe Media Player LaunchedAdobe have launched a stand-alone Media Player (AMP).

    Using Adobe Air, the AMP plays back high quality video both on PCs and Apple computers at standard def and 1080p.

    (more…)