Author Archive
Spring Brings Tax-related Scams, Spams, Phish, Malware, and the IRS
By Stephen Cobb at 26 March, 2012, 12:17 am
Spring is here and that means scam artists are thinking about income taxes and the IRS. Not that scam artists pay income taxes, they just know taxes and any mention of the IRS is a good way to get your attention, which explains a steady stream of deceptive emails targeting tax-paying Americans who now have … Read More…
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Loading ...Facebook logins toxic for employers, violate security and privacy principles
By Stephen Cobb at 24 March, 2012, 11:06 am
Attention CEOs and HR Managers: Facebook login credentials belonging to current or prospective employees are not something that any employer should request, use, or posses. Why? Apart from the violation of security and privacy principles? The risks far outweigh any benefit you imagine you could gain by logging into a social media account that does … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...AMD Opteron 3200 Launches
By Stephen Cobb at 20 March, 2012, 7:00 am
AMD, today, announced its new Opteron 3200 chip. This new chip is made for servers. However, the one interesting thing is that this chip will be sold closer to a desktop chip price point.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Google’s data mining bonanza and your privacy: an infographic
By Stephen Cobb at 14 March, 2012, 12:19 am
Do you use Google? These days the question sounds almost absurd. If you use the Internet, or an iPhone, or an Android phone, or a Kindle or an iPad, then of course you use Google in some shape or form. And if you take a keen interest in how your personal information is used, you … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Changing how people see the malware threat: images can make a difference
By Stephen Cobb at 6 March, 2012, 1:18 pm
This is a just a short post to make available the security awareness slides that I was using at the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week. Several people asked me for copies to use in their own awareness efforts and I am more than happy to oblige. I believe these slides can be effective … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Information Security Disconnect: RSA, USB, AV, and reality
By Stephen Cobb at 5 March, 2012, 1:06 am
The world's largest information security event, the annual RSA Conference, is over for another year. Most of the more than 18,000 people who attended the 2012 gathering are probably back home now, getting ready to go into the office. What will be top of mind for them, apart from "How did I manage to survive … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Security awareness, security breaches, and the abuse of “stupid”
By Stephen Cobb at 20 February, 2012, 1:42 pm
Computer security is not created, nor is it improved, by calling people stupid. That's the conclusion I have arrived at after more than two decades in computer security and auditing. To put it another way, we should stop dropping the "S" bomb, especially when it comes to people who don't know any better.
Consider the phenomenon … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Cookie-stuffing click-jackers rip off Victoria’s Secret Valentine’s giftcard seekers
By Stephen Cobb at 13 February, 2012, 10:04 am
Thinking of going online to get a Victoria's Secret giftcard for your Valentine? Be careful where you look! Some Google search results are rigged, especially image results. And some innocent-looking links are part of fraudulent activities such as cookie-stuffing and click-jacking. Below is a short video that shows what happens when you click on one … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Endpoint Security Webinar: Protecting your network at the sharp end
By Stephen Cobb at 8 February, 2012, 5:20 pm
I have a theory that says improving information system security–the security of our operating systems, network connections, and applications–just means the bad guys will focus more attention on our endpoints, the digital devices we use to access the information and systems we need to do our work.
Furthermore, as we improve endpoint security technology, the people … Read More…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Valentine’s Day Scams: For the love of money
By Stephen Cobb at 7 February, 2012, 2:24 pm
Scam artists and cybercriminals are looking to turn romance into profit now that Valentine's Day approaches, possibly taking over your computer in the process. According to ESET researchers in Latin America, we can expect the quest for love to be leveraged as an effective social engineering ploy to enable the bad guys to infect unsuspecting … Read More…
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