SecGuru -

ISS blasts security rival Trend Micro over bugs

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:46 -0800

In an unusual move, a security company owned by IBM has publicly blasted a rival for not patching reported bugs in its enterprise-grade, server-side antivirus software.

On Monday, David Dewey, a researcher at IBM Internet Security Systems, explained why his company had released several advisories that covered multiple vulnerabilities in Trend Micro Inc.'s ServerProtect software, even though Trend Micro has not fixed the flaws, according to IBM.

X-Force, the research arm of IBM's security group, reported the first bugs to Trend Micro two years ago, said Dewey, and it followed up with additional vulnerability reports through January 2008. But Trend's response was unsatisfactory. "Each time, Trend would assure us that fixes would be provided in the next scheduled patch," he said in a post to the X-Force blog. "We have worked with them through four security patches, and in all cases, the reported vulnerabilities were ignored or the solution they implemented was inadequate."

BBC hit by a DDoS attack

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:37 -0800

ALL BBC WEB services including its most useful iPlayer were subjected to a DDoS attack last night. According to a missive we have seen, all its sites were slowed down considerably last night. For a while the BBC home page was either not responding or opening extremely slowly.

In a statement to the INQ, the BBC said the attack originated in a number of different countries but didn't specify which. When the Beeb's techies blocked international access to a limited subset of servers, it resulted in a marked improvement of the serving of bbc.co.uk. Service supplier Siemens was forced to block addresses and prevent the attack using other methods like changing the DNS settings.

Hackers Target China, Microsoft Says

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:33 -0800

Chinese computer users are the major targets of online attackers, according to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report released last week.

The report revealed that the most common system locale for victims of browser-based exploits was Chinese, accounting for 47 percent of all incidents, followed by US English with 23 percent of incidents, in the first half of this year.

China is dominated by potentially unwanted software that targets the Chinese-language market, notably pop-up advertisement toolbars, like Win32/Sogou, and browser modifiers, like Win32/BaiduSobar and Win32/CNNIC, the report said. Many of the most common families in China are Chinese-language threats that don't appear in the list of top threats for any other location, the report added.

Nearly 4,000 new viruses recorded in October

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:28 -0800

Up to 3,910 new types of computer viruses were recorded in Vietnam in October, including 3,905 of internationalorigin and 5 of domestic origin.

According to the leading networks security agency in Vietnam, BKIS Network Security Centre, the bugs attacked more than 6.2 million computers in Vietnam during October. The most popular virus is X97M.XFSic, which infected over 73,000 computers.

BKIS said in October, 50 websites of Vietnamese companies and agencies were hacked. Of them, 24 sites were attacked by Vietnamese hackers and 26 by foreign hackers. BKIS also unveiled serious errors in websites of 11 businesses and government agencies.

The hottest IT skills survive a cool economy

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:23 -0800

The vast majority of individuals who enter the high-tech workforce come to their jobs with a natural curiosity and interest in the latest gadget, device or technology. This curiosity typically doesn't go away -- it only increases as the IT professional gains more experience.

In Computerworld 's 2008 Salary Survey , 84% of the individuals queried said that they're either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with their decision to pursue a career in IT. A big part of IT worker satisfaction comes from the opportunity to work with the latest and greatest innovations the industry has to offer. Those employees also gain satisfaction from being able to broaden and deepen the skills they use to stay current with the fast-changing world of IT.

That's a good thing. Because as we head into 2009, IT professionals will be asked to do a lot more even if they're not paid a lot more.

Apps More Vulnerable than OS, Report Says

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:46:18 -0800

While the Windows platform has become much more resistant to malware attacks, Microsoft-based applications have now become the focus of vulnerabilities, according to research firm Ovum.

"Microsoft's work in improving its Windows platform has been paying off and attackers are turning to attacking applications rather than platforms," said Graham Titterington, principal analyst at Ovum. Microsoft's Security Intelligence report indicated that operating systems represented just over six percent of the total number of software vulnerabilities in the first half of 2008, compared with over 15 percent in 2003.

"Thus the majority of vulnerabilities are in applications and hackers are exploiting this opportunity," pointed out Titterington. "It is now critically important to patch vulnerabilities in all software that interacts with the Internet."

Auditing Mac OS X Compliance with the Center for Internet Security Benchmark Using Nessus

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:32:56 -0800

This paper describes the auditing of a Mac OS X v10.5 system using the compliance checks in Nessus 3.2.x from Tenable Network Security.

MS08-068 - Vulnerability in SMB Could Allow Remote Code Execution

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:32:53 -0800

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution on affected systems. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS08-069 - Vulnerabilities in Microsoft XML Core Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:32:50 -0800

This security update resolves several vulnerabilities in Microsoft XML Core Services. The most severe vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer.

Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

Access remote network services with SSH tools

Param — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:32:39 -0800

You probably rely on the services on your own private network -- wikis, mail servers, Web sites, and other applications you've installed. What happens when you have to leave the friendly confines of your network? With minimum exposure and few simple tools, you can get all of the comforts of home anywhere you can find an Internet connection.