Security

Microsoft late last week released a second "refresh" of the first Windows AntiSpyware beta. This refresh is not to be confused with the official second beta version, which is still due sometime later this year, according to a Microsoft representative. Also, there is still no word on when a final version of the product is due.

Microsoft released the first Windows AntiSpyware beta on Jan. 6, a month after it announced the acquisition of Giant Software, which specialized in spyware-fighting tools. A first refresh of the beta came on Feb. 16. The second beta refresh contains several enhancements … Read more

In a move provide more information to its customers about cyber security issues, AT&T in the next nine to 12 months plans to offer a streaming video channel with Internet security news , a company spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

The effort is being led by AT&T Labs, the company's research arm. The vision is for a 24/7 news channel, like CNN, but it may end up just being available when security incidents occur, AT&T spokeswoman Joyce Van Duzer said.

Programming on the channel will likely include news and interviews with experts, but those plans … Read more

In a column two months ago, I recommended a three-part series of privacy reforms at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The argument: DHS's own privacy officer simply didn't have enough authority to do her job.

It turns out that the right members of Congress are reading News.com, because a bill to implement exactly those three suggestions is in the works.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security committee, has drafted the four-page bill -- called the POWER Act -- and plans to introduce it on Wednesday. (POWER stands for Privacy Officer … Read more

A consumer group on Monday charged that pharmacy chain CVS had lax procedures for guarding sensitive data about purchases by customers using a loyalty card.

The Associate Press on Tuesday said the security hole prompted the company to "pull Internet access to the data." CVS did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering on Monday said it was easy to gain access to data about potentially embarrassing purchases such as condoms and enema kits by consumers using CVS' ExtraCare card. The group said all someone needed to obtain the information was the … Read more

When the next Internet worm hits, you might see a Symantec researcher on your local news showing off the company's new Worm Simulator.

The company says that the simulator may become "a television star during news coverage of worm outbreaks."

The tool, available for free download, displays an image of a rotating globe and one of a typical corporate network. As a worm starts to slither around the Net, the globe will turn red as systems get hit in different geographies. The network will also go red as the worm wriggles its way in.

Systems and parts … Read more

Pascal Vyncke, a 20-year-old computer science student in Antwerp, Belgium, this week published details on what he believes is a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6. However, Microsoft says what Vyncke found is not a bug, but a browser feature. A security expert, who has been critical of Microsoft in the past, this time agrees with the software maker.

Vyncke has christened his discovery the "JavaScript Ghost bug." The bug makes it possible to build a Web page that includes a JavaScript, but shows only the result of the script and not the rest of the page to the … Read more

The number of calls to Dell's helplines about spyware has fallen about 50 percent over the past year, a Dell executive said in testimony before a committee of the Louisiana state Senate on Tuesday.

Dell attributes the decrease to better consumer awareness about spyware and the availability of more tools to fight the unwanted programs, according to a statement distributed by Dell. The company also thinks attention from policy makers and law enforcement has helped.

Still, a survey by Dell conducted last fall found that the majority of consumers had no clue about spyware, the company points out in … Read more

Forget scaling back the Patriot Act.

Instead, the controversial post-9/11 law would be expanded to give the FBI new powers to demand documents from companies without a judge's approval, according to a vote late Tuesday by the Senate Intelligence committee.

The final text of the Senate Intelligence committee's amendments was not immediately available (here's a draft dated last month), and reporters were barred from the secret session during which the vote was held.

But the proposal appears to grant the FBI more power to seek information from banks, hospitals, libraries, and so on through "administrative … Read more

Researchers at Tel Aviv University say they have come up with a way to make phone calls on someone else's Bluetooth phone, according to New Scientist Magazine.

The hack essentially advances existing ways to worm into Bluetooth devices, and works even if built-in security features are switched on, according to the article. It also doesn't matter whether or not the hacker's device and victim's device have ever communicated.

It works as follows: Bluetooth devices exchange a PIN number to establish communication. Once the PIN is exchanged, phone A can bypass security measures installed in phone B … Read more