Security

Immediately after McColo was unplugged, security companies charted a precipitous drop in spam volumes worldwide. E-mail security firm IronPort said spam levels fell by roughly 66 percent as of Tuesday evening.
Host of Internet Spam Groups Is Cut Off - washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Launching the U.S. Justice Department’s largest identity-theft case, federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they have charged 11 people with stealing and selling 40 million credit-card and debit-card numbers obtained from several major U.S. retailers.
The targeted retailers include TJX Cos. (TJX), BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. (BJ), OfficeMax Inc. (OMX), [...]

According to my buddy Steve Bass, over at PCWorld.Com, the latest MS update to correct the DNS vulnerability keeps folks using ZA Free Edition from accessing the Internet after reboot.
If you have any friends using Zone Alarm’s free firewall along with Windows Auto Update, it might be nice to give them a call (they won’t be [...]

It isn’t exactly pretty — and certainly isn’t tidy — but peace really does appear to be breaking out in the Middle East.
CrackerBoy

Firefox 3 launched today — Download Day — and it’s time to upgrade to the best browser ever, IMNSHO. Your opinion, of course, may vary — but it doesn’t make you right. :p You can download it here. Do it today and help Mozilla set a 1-day download record that will be [...]

RED BANK, N. J., April 16, 2008 — BigString Corporation (OTCBB: BSGC)
today unveiled a new self-destructing instant messaging technology that
enables users to send instant messages (IMs) that self-destruct after
being sent. Additionally, IMs sent via BigString’s service cannot be
copied, logged or screen-printed. BigString IM is a free advertising
supported service available at http://www.bigstring.com. It is
available as a [...]

With all of the attention that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) update (and the administration’s vigorous attempts to immunize the criminals telcos), it seems like a good time to explore the issues surrounding surveillance and privacy in America today.
While there are many scary things being done by intelligence and law
enforcement, hope is not far [...]

“Most disk-encryption systems can be defeated if the computer is stolen or accessed while it is in sleep mode or in a password-protected screen saver,” Felten wrote. Vista’s BitLocker “is also sometimes vulnerable even when the computer is completely off.”
Cold-Boot Attack Can Crack Disk Encryption @ Sci-Tech Today

Facebook can ruin your life
Social network sites have brought unexpected pleasure to millions. But if present trends continue and users fail to wise up, the sites could soon be bringing them some equally unexpected shocks….

“… At least two major global corporations, one American and one Dutch, have told their executives not to carry confidential business material on laptops on overseas trips, Gurley said. In Canada, one law firm has instructed its lawyers to travel to the United States with “blank laptops” whose hard drives contain no data. “We just [...]

A rough 24 hours for Windows users - 81.01% affected - Blog - Secunia
The title pretty much says it all. During the last 24 hours, we have seen security updates for some very popular Windows programs from four major vendors: Sun, Adobe, Apple, and Skype.

Steve  Bass at PCWorld writes:
Steve Bass’s Tips & Tweaks WinPatrol Adds Keylogger Detection
I don’t always jump when I hear about an updated software version. I’ll wait and see what others have to say, especially with antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall apps.
I consider WinPatrol one of those critical apps I depend on, and don’t want [...]

The new iPhone update will automatically enable IMAP on all iPhones, meaning that mail handling will be different.  Anyone who uses Gmail on an iP needs to be aware of the changes and what they mean.
PC World - Google Warns of iPhone 1.1.3 IMAP Switch

I ran across this article from back in August of ‘07 while browsing the archives of Forbes.com.  It’s fairly chilling, although not especially surprising.
The first time Scott Lunsford offered to hack into a nuclear power station, he was told it would be impossible. There was no way, the plant’s owners claimed, that their critical components could [...]

Silicon Alley Insider reports the following about credit protection outfit LifeLock.
We hear that Goldman Sachs is investing $25 million in LifeLock, a three-year-old company that promises to protect consumers from credit fraud.
Credit Protector LifeLock Raises $25 Million; $220 Million Valuation - Silicon Alley Insider
Disclosure: the writer uses LifeLock services.

I received this email today. Every link on the page except for the link to view the card is a genuine link to the Hallmark site. The viewing link is to an executable file. I didn’t take it any farther than that. You may also notice that “recieved” is misspelled twice. [...]

Preston Gralla, writing in NetworkWorld, has compiled the obligatory year-end/beginning list of freeware.  As it happens, I use about half the stuff on his list, so he saved me the trouble of writing one of my own. 
My only disagreement (and it isn’t, really) is Trillian Lite.  I love Trillian, but the lite version won’t [...]

Effective January 1, 2008, spare lithium batteries - extra batteries not installed on devices - will no longer be allowed in checked baggage.
Digital Photography: Spare Lithium Batteries Banned in Checked Baggage: National Geographic Magazine

This time, Jesus was almost guaranteed to return.
Someone stole a baby Jesus doll Wednesday night from a Nativity scene in front of the Wellington Community Center in Palm Beach County.
But village leaders were wise: They knew about a similar theft from Bal Harbour earlier this month, so they equipped their figurine with a GPS tracking [...]

Researchers from Google have documented serious vulnerabilities in
Adobe Flash content which leave tens of thousands of websites
susceptible to attacks that steal the personal details of visitors. …
One reason for the sheer volume of vulnerable applets: SWF files generated by six of the more popular content development tools automatically contain the bugs, according to the book. [...]