Blog Entries for caragarretson

Spam Levels Drop, Then Rebound

caragarretson@gmail.com — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:00:00 +0100

Security researchers had a nice, quiet beginning to the 2011 year thanks to a significant drop off in spam volumes. But as of this week, that peace is over.

Researchers noticed over the Christmas holiday and into the new year that spam circulation had dropped dramatically - Symantec's MessageLabs Intelligence group reported on January 4 that unwanted email levels were at their lowest since November of 2008, when rogue ISP McColo that had been responsible for a significant portion of [...]

Sourcefire Scoops Up Immunet

caragarretson@gmail.com — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:00:00 +0100

This appears to be the week of security acquisitions; following Dell's announcement that it intends to buy managed security provider SecureWorks on Tuesday, Sourcefire announced on Wednesday it has purchased antimalware maker Immunet for $21 million in cash.

Sourcefire, the creator of open-source intrusion prevention system (IPS) Snort, will add Immunet's cloud-based antimalware technology to its portfolio, company officials said. The acquired products will round out Sourcefire& [...]

Gartner Predicts Rise in Enterprise Social Software Sales

caragarretson@gmail.com — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:00:00 +0100

To answer the question whether or not social media software has a place in corporations, Gartner recently released a report predicting that enterprise social software revenue will surpass $769 million in 2011.

The report, called Market Trends: Convergence Restructuring the Enterprise Social Software Market, Worldwide, 2010 and available for purchase here, attributes this 16 percent growth over the $664 million expected to close out 2010 mostly to the same factor that has driven social s [...]

Get Ready for Microsoft's Big Patch Tuesday

caragarretson@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 22:00:00 +0100

Microsoft on Thursday issued an advance notice for its December security bulletins, which will be released on December 14 and will include 17 updates designed to address 40 vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, SharePoint, and Exchange.

Microsoft issues these advance notifications every month before the updates themselves are released, so that users can prepare for testing and deployment of the patches. December's release sets a record number of patches from M [...]

Forrester Finds Link Between Corporate Tech, Advocacy

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0100

The results of a recent study conducted by Forrester revealed a great reason for companies to provide technology tools that their employees can get excited about.

According to Forrester's research, described by analyst Matthew Brown in a blog post earlier this month, employee attitudes in North America toward advocating for their company are tied to their view of the technology that they use at work.

Forrester determined this by surveying more than 5,000 information wor [...]

Security Company Awards Cash to Bug Finders

caragarretson@gmail.com — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Security vendor Barracuda Networks is jumping on the ‘bug bounty' bandwagon, offering rewards to researchers who can identify vulnerabilities in the company's firewall and Web filtering products.

The company says its Bug Bounty Program is "an initiative that rewards researchers who identify and report security vulnerabilities in the company's security product line," adding that it is the "first security vendor to offer such a bold program.&q [...]

IT Security Professionals Suddenly Earn Less

caragarretson@gmail.com — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0100

According to a recent study, the extra pay given to IT workers with security certifications saw a slight decline in the third quarter of 2010, for the first time since 2006.

Foote Partners, which publishes research on IT salaries and skills/certification market demand, on Friday released its most recent IT Security Skills and Pay Index. This decrease in pay for IT workers with security certifications came as a surprise, according to the firm.

"Gains in market values for i [...]

Botnets: Strength in Numbers

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Microsoft recently released its latest Security Intelligence Report, this time focusing on the power of botnets and what enterprises can do to defend against them.

Like many security vendors, Microsoft releases a periodic report (this one covering the first half of 2010) that details which security threats it has found particularly menacing of late. The goal is to help IT managers make risk management decisions and, if necessary, adjust their security postures based on the changing [...]

EU Warns of Stuxnet's Strength

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100

According to the European Union (EU), Stuxnet is a very big deal.

Stuxnet, a computer worm that emerged over the summer and is said to be the first piece of malware that can spy on and reprogram industrial systems, was the topic of a brief published last week by the EU's cybersecurity agency. Called the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), this group published its thoughts on recent attacks by Stuxnet and on what the malware means for Europe. Overall, the [...]

Google buys BlindType

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Last Friday software developer BlindType announced in a blog post that it has been bought by Google.

BlindType makes software that it plans to sell to mobile device manufacturers and mobile OS makers. The software aims to bring tactile feedback back to typing on mobile devices, which was lost with the introduction of the touch screen that doesn't offer such feedback, the company explains.

Existing prediction and auto-correction software requires that the virtual keyboard be f [...]

Google Apps Gets Two-Step Authentication

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100

During its Atmosphere conference on cloud computing that's being held in Paris this week, Google announced plans to make its Google Apps offering more secure by adding two-step authentication.

Security is believed to be the No. 1 concern facing businesses that are contemplating moving their data, applications, or both to the cloud. Cloud providers are attempting to quell these concerns by adding security technology to their offerings, hoping to convince customers that data sto [...]

Police warn of social networking link in robberies

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Sometimes it's not such a great idea to let everyone in your social network know where you are, or where you aren't.

According to an article on WMUR.com, criminals in Nashua, N.H., this summer targeted homes to be robbed based at least in part on the location status posted by the home owners on social networking sites like Facebook.

There were fifty home burglaries in the city in August, and Nashua police say suspects' social-networking savvy helped them to determine w [...]

Google Acquires Game Maker SocialDeck

caragarretson@gmail.com — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Google earlier this week made its fifth acquisition for the month of August. The target this time was SocialDeck, which develops social gaming technology for mobile devices and social networks. The company's games include PetHero, Shake&Spell, and ColorConnect, and it also develops a social-networking platform called Spark that connects players across devices.

SocialDeck announced news of the acquisition on its Web site, with very few details.

"We started this company [...]

Microsoft Tool Addresses App Vulnerability

caragarretson@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Microsoft has released a tool designed to close a security hole in Windows applications that could allow for unauthorized access to PCs. The security flaw is created not by a vulnerability in Microsoft code, but in the way some Windows programs are developed, says the company. And while Microsoft is not taking responsibility for the problem, it nonetheless has rolled out the tool and a set of development best practices.

According to a Microsoft Security Advisory [...]

Social Network Ad Spending to Grow

caragarretson@gmail.com — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Market research firm eMarketer estimates that companies will spend $1.68 billion on social networking advertising this year. That's a 20 percent increase over social media ad spending in 2009, and it will account for 6.7 percent of all online ad spending in the U.S. this year, according to a new eMarketer report.

eMarketer attributes this spending to the gradual recovery of the U.S. economy, plus the recent obsession with reaching consumers through social networking. In De [...]

Apple Fixes PDF Flaw in iOS

caragarretson@gmail.com — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Apple on Wednesday released a fix to a security vulnerability in its iPhone OS that allowed for viewing of malicious PDF files.

The fix, available as an update on iTunes, patches a hole in the Safari mobile browser in iOS 4.0.1 and earlier versions for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as iOS 3.2.1 and earlier for the iPad. The software update is for the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 models, and second and third generation iPod Touch.

Apple said the security flaw was caused by [...]

Security Woes Delay LA's Switch to Google

caragarretson@gmail.com — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Thanks to security concerns, it appears Google may have botched what could have been a great feather in its cap.

The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that the city of Los Angeles was set to switch 20,000 employees to Google's cloud-based e-mail system, but is holding back due to concerns by the city's police department over the security of its information.

The new system was to be installed by June 30, according to an article in SFGate.com, but has hit a roadblock b [...]

Facebook: Six More Years?

caragarretson@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100

What a week for Facebook. On Wednesday the social-networking giant announced it has 500 million members. And word has spread about The Social Network, an upcoming movie by producer Aaron Sorkin (of West Wing fame) that will tell the story of Facebook and its founders.

Now the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will guest star on The Simpsons. The 26-year-old executive will be the voice of himself, a billionaire who dropped out of school, on the popular cart [...]

A Good Question to Ask re: Cloud Computing

caragarretson@gmail.com — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Branden Williams, who leads the information security practice at EMC Consulting's RSA Security, recently made a great suggestion about cloud computing: Organizations should employ what he calls the "Should" rule. He makes this suggestion as only a security professional - more concerned with protecting the network and data than getting caught up with the latest IT trend - can.

"The `Should' Rule of Cloud Computing simply requires users to ask the following: `SHOULD [...]

Sourcefire Offers Scholarships to Students Using Snort

caragarretson@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100

Here's a great way to help ensure the future viability of a technology -- offer scholarships to students who use it.

Sourcefire, the Columbia, Md.-based company that created the Snort open-source network intrusion detection and prevention system, on Tuesday announced the winners of its sixth annual Snort Scholarship program. The company gave two scholarships, each valued at up to $15,000, to university students who are using Snort "to further their educations and gain ha [...]