Tag Archive for 'Security'

Apple software not so secure?

Following a tweet on LinkedIn from Laurent VERMOT-GAUCHY :

#news Apple software more vulnerable than Microsoft, security expert says http://goo.gl/fb/DpejF

The LA Times article he refers to, indicates that a security expert raises doubts about Apple’s claims that their software is more secure than Microsoft’s:

In Apple’s famous “I’m a Mac” TV commercials, the Cupertino company frequently implies that its computer software is more secure than Microsoft’s operating systems. But a renowned security expert says the truth may be the opposite.

Which is funny unless you’re called Apple and/or work on a Mac I guess…

Even online ads can be a security hole!

An article on the New York Times explains how a group or person was able to get malicious code inserted on the New York Times and gave readers the impression that a program was scanning their computer

New York Times Malicious Ad Code Inserted

New York Times Malicious Ad Code Inserted

THE NYTimes article explains that this attack via online ad systems have already hit companies like FoxNews.com and the The San Francisco Chronicle.

As you can see in the below letter from Publicis owned Starcom this is obvioulsy being taken very seriously and security is being tightened up around the ad insertion procedures…
Publicis-Starcom_Media-Partners_Letter (PDF)

Twitter virus: cross site scripting security issue

Quick note to say that there seems to be a twitter security issue based upon cross site scripting. Initially it was thought to be a virus but this post on NetworkWorld seems to indicate that it is in effect a cross site scripting hack . This basically means that should it be an XSS hack, Twitter are not high up there with their security standards. It won’t look good if what seems to be a phishing hack is possible on their site!

Update: the script used to infect all the Twitter users was crafted by a 17 year old from Brooklyn who claims to have been bored and was highlighting the vulnerability while promoting his own site! Twitter have “closed the hole” as per Geoff’s comment below.

Is the Internet as safe as we think…?

Is the Internet itself safe, with more and more internet users each day? Should the ‘deep internet’ be interconnected with all it’s hidden information ?

In a time of recession it is clear that gloomy ideas are more common and a very interesting article on nytimes.com discusses the difficulties of the current Internet system as we know it and love it. There are serious security issues with the way Internet enables attacks to be carried out via the Internet on systems, and even how whole sections of the Internet can be throttled through malicious attacks. Defenses or rather ways that it is being patched are referred to as a Maginot Line approach.

There are currently over a billion internet users since December 2008 according to comScore World Metrix. This survey in Canada (in French) shows how even though Internet is starting to dominate the media world, people are still far more likely to trust TV as a source of information than the Internet.

And even though you think that Google is giving you good results this article on the NY times explains that what is called the ‘Deep Internet’ is holding out on our friends at Google, or is it the other way round… Search engines only cover a small part of the Internet with numerous services and data that is not indexed. But this joins the initial paragraph in that it is probably better that way, since the information is often highly sensitive and should not be available to just anyone…