Monday, December 5, 2005

Zone Alarm Vs 180 Solutions: Zango hooks? Zone Alarm Vs 180 Solutions: Zango hooks? Sub-Seven writes "Found at Vitalsecurity.org, they detail how a Microsoft MVP pulled the Zango file to pieces, and discovered some interesting facts about exactly what a "simple" fun and games application does to a machine that its running on. Hooking into Windows OneCare and Microsoft Antispyware? What's that all about? " [Slashdot] 12:39:22 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Antispyware Shootout. Antispyware Shootout. An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet has published a review of 8 antispyware products from Computer Associates, Lavasoft, McAfee, Microsoft, PC Tools, Symantec, Trend Micro and Webroot. Check out the Editor's Choice. Interesting winner ...." I've used quite a number of these scanners on and on & off basis, and I think the reality is that you if you are truly to clean a machine out, you're going to need to use like three - five of these. Each of them captures a certain area, but none are the One Ring or anything.  [Slashdot] 12:35:40 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Online scammers go spear-phishin' | CNET News.com In May, Israeli investigators opened their bag of goodies, disclosing that the Trojan horse on Jackont's computer had also galloped onto the networks of about 60 other Israeli companies, unleashing the biggest corporate espionage scandal in Israeli history. Prosecutors indicted members of three of the country's largest private investigation firms on criminal fraud charges in July. And some of Israel's most prestigious corporations are now under investigation for possibly stealing information from companies in such assorted fields as military contracting, telephony, cable television, finance, automobile and cigarette importing, journalism and high technology. While the Israeli victims were diverse, they shared one thing in common: the Trojan horses that penetrated their computers came packaged inside a compact disc or an e-mail message that appeared to be from an institution or a person that the victims thought they knew very well. Once the program was installed, it whirred along surreptitiously, logging keystrokes or collecting sensitive documents and passwords before transmitting the information elsewhere. 12:23:08 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Online Scammers Go Spear-Phishing. Online Scammers Go Spear-Phishing. Ant wrote to mention an examination at C|NET looking into the increasingly more effective techniques employed by phishers. From the article: "More recently, however, a hybrid form of phishing, dubbed "spear-phishing," has emerged and raised alarms among the digital world's watchdogs. Spear-phishing is a distilled and potentially more potent version of phishing. That's because those behind the schemes bait their hooks for specific victims instead of casting a broad, ill-defined net across cyberspace hoping to catch throngs of unknown victims." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 12:19:09 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Privacy and Security Law Blog: CDC Proposes Significant Changes to Its Ability to Track and Quarantine Passengers The Center for Disease Control ("CDC") is expected to post the first round of comments in response to its Notice of Proposed Rule Making ("NPRM") relating to the Control of Communicable Diseases on Tuesday, December 6, 2005. "The intent of the proposed updates to 42 CFR Parts 70 and 71 is to clarify and strengthen existing procedures to enable CDC to respond more effectively to current and potential communicable disease threats." (see here). The changes to 42 C.F.R. Parts 70 and 71, based largely on the authority granted to the Director of the CDC in 42 U.S.C. §§ 264-271 (§§ 361-368 of the Public Health Service Act), affect the passenger information that airlines will be expected to maintain and provide to the CDC within 12 hours of a request. In particular, as illustrated in this table, airlines will be expected to collect significant amounts of information that they are not currently required to collect (even under the Department of Homeland Security's Advanced Passenger Information System). Airlines will be required to collect this information from each crewmember and passenger, or head of households if the passenger is under the age of 12. Airlines must maintain this information for at least 60 days, and provide it to the CDC within 12 hours of a CDC request. The CDC also reserves the right to request "additional information in the airline's possession that may be necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases." Id. at 12. Airlines will not be required to verify the accuracy of the information provided. Based on public opinion surveys, the CDC believes that most passengers will voluntarily provide this information. "[P]assengers who decline to provide contact information will not be prohibited from traveling." It is not clear whether "contact information" refers to the entire set of data proposed under the NPRM, or only to the current home address, phone number, and e-mail. 12:15:55 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Some Users Pan Gmail Virus-Scanning. Some Users Pan Gmail Virus-Scanning. 'No exceptions' policy and mystery of technology provider provokes online chatter. [PCWorld.com - Latest News Stories] 11:44:18 AM  PermaLink   / trackback []