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Virii & Spyware & Worms … oh my! It seems like not a day goes by we don’t hear about some new kind of threat aimed at wreaking havoc across machines connected to the internet. While products other than Microsoft’s are certainly vulnerable, due to anti-Microsoft sentiment coupled with the massive installed base, Microsoft products [...]
Card theft is technically not the same as identity theft. Card theft occurs when an unauthorized person uses your credit card number from an existing account to make purchases. True identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information — such as your Social Security number, birth date, mother’s maiden name — to impersonate you [...]
The term spyware covers a wide range of threats: nearly mainstream services that display ads, programs that co-opt search results, keyloggers that steal your passwords, even Trojan horses that open your system to hacking. But in two ways spyware is all the same – you didn’t knowingly ask for it, and it uses your system’s [...]
Unwanted software slithered into Patti McMann’s home computer over the Internet and unleashed an annoying barrage of pop-up ads that sometimes flashed on her screen faster than she could close them. Annoying, for sure. But the last straw came a year ago when the pop-ups began plugging such household names as J.C. Penney Co. and [...]
Freelancing for an extra thick wad of greenbacks to pad your back pocket is every Web designer’s dream. Wrangling up your own clients, managing the entire creative process and collecting your due reward is a great accomplishment, and the process can be more fulfilling than the daily grind of a full-time job. Yet, it can [...]
Good passwords are essential for PC security. Even the world’s strongest encryption algorithms or logon procedures won’t protect you if you use the wrong kind of password. And even if you once were safe, you may not be today: Passwords that were fine even just a few years ago may now be vulnerable to attack [...]
Inadequate security at credit card processor CardSystems Solutions Inc. is being blamed for a break-in that has exposed more than 40 million credit card accounts to potential theft. The company says the system compromise was discovered May 22, after a MasterCard inquiry into a wave of fradulent transactions. MasterCard International said it “worked with CardSystems [...]
A computer hacker may have accessed more than 40 million credit card accounts in what could be the largest in a series of recent security breaches involving consumer data, officials said. MasterCard International Inc. announced Friday that the breach was traced to Atlanta-based CardSystems Solutions Inc., which processes credit card and other payments for banks [...]
Malicious, malcontent, maladapted, maladjusted, malaprop, maleficent, malodorous, malevolent … they’re all bad things. So is malware–software that can infect your computer and wreak havoc on your programs and data. Common types of malware include viruses, Trojans, and worms; some notorious examples of these nefarious entities are Mydoom, MSBlast, Sasser, and Netsky. Antivirus software usually prevents [...]
JUNE 14, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) – Microsoft Corp. today announced three critical security updates to repair vulnerabilities in Windows and Internet Explorer as part of its monthly update report. The release also included four “important” updates to repair other newly-discovered vulnerabilities. In its monthly security bulletin update, Microsoft said the three critical patches [...]
On June 1, 2005, the Federal Trade Commission enacted new rules regarding proper data destruction relating to personal information such as names, addresses, and social security numbers. It’s yet another provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), an act which among other things allows everyone in the United States and [...]