JANUARY, 2010
Erik Larkin
Jan 29, 2010 11:04 am
The specific combination of mundane information such as your plugins and system fonts can be used to create a "fingerprint" for your browser that could potentially uniquely identify you.
To showcase that potential, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is running a creative experiment called Panopticlick. Visiting the site reads the technical data provided by your browser to any site it visits, such as its program type and version, installed plugins, system fonts and whether it accepts cookies. By combining all that data, the site creates a fingerprint for your browser.
My own browser's fingerprint is unique so far out of 221,352 visitors, as is Bruce Schneier's. The major identifying factors look like my list of browser plugin details and my particular system fonts, which are both shared by only one out of every 110,676 browsers (which I believe means that ... >> full
posted by STEPHEN SEABRON January 29, 2010 1:14 PM General comments (0)
Illustration by Frank Stockton
Do you know how to guard against scareware? How about Trojan horse text messages? Or social network data harvesting? Malicious hackers are a resourceful bunch, and their methods continually evolve to target the ways we use our computers now. New attack techniques allow bad guys to stay one step ahead of security software and to get the better of even cautious and well-informed PC users.
Don't let that happen to you. Read on for descriptions of 11 of the most recent and most malignant security threats, as well as our complete advice on how to halt them in their tracks.
Shortened URLs
Most tweets, and lots of other electronic messages, include links that have been shortened by services such as Bitly, Trim, and Google. The URL aliases are handy, but they pose a risk, too: Since short URLs give no hint of ...
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posted by STEPHEN SEABRON January 28, 2010 5:19 PM General
How to Avoid Rogue Security Software
What can you do to help prevent the spread of rogues and make sure that rogue software vendors stop profiting from their unscrupulous business? Follow these tips below to tell what’s real and what’s not when it comes to security software – and share them with friends and family who may be vulnerable to rogue threats.
1. Do not fall for scare tactics. While browsing sites, be cautious of pop-ups warning you that your system is infected and offering a product to clean it up. Never pay for a program that installed itself to your computer. This is a hallmark of rogue software.
2. Use security software with real-time protection and keep it up-to-date. If you know that you have anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a firewall on your PC, you can safely ignore security alerts you receive that do not come from your ... >> full
posted by STEPHEN SEABRON January 28, 2010 11:50 AM Spyware
What’s a Rogue – And Why Do You Need to Know?
You may not be familiar with the term ‘rogue software’ but there’s a very good chance that you or someone you know either has experienced it, or will in the near future. As malware writers inundate the web with rogue anti-malware programs, this kind of trickery is becoming more and more common, and now poses one of today’s greatest security challenges to computer users.. Let’s take some facts and figures on these fake anti-malware programs into consideration:
- In the end of December, the U.S. FBI released its first public alert on scareware, warning computer users to be wary of pop-ups that report security problems on their PC’s.
- The estimated dollar loss to victims that this type of malware has resulted in, according to the FBI: $150 million.1
- According to Lavasoft Malware Labs analysts, the number of ...
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posted by STEPHEN SEABRON January 28, 2010 11:46 AM Spyware
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