security

I'm a sucker for password tools. Since signing on with Webware late last year, I've since amassed a collection of site log-ins the size of a pulp romance novel, and despite my youthful brain, remembering all of them is clearly impossible. A solution I've been using for some months is Roboform, which is a small piece of software that will let you keep your user names and passwords safely tucked away, combined with a browser plug-in that will automatically log you in to each site. This morning I've been playing around with a new feature from … Read more

There's a reason why SpywareBlaster made last year's list of best free security and spyware programs. The free spyware prevention utility blocks ActiveX controls, tracking cookies, and ads on Internet Explorer and blocks cookies and ads on Firefox. Take a look at the program's features in the video below, and check out other First Look videos on popular software products.

Last week, the Skype VoIP service went down for two days, affecting customers worldwide. On Monday, Villu Arak, writing on the Skype blog Heartbeat, attributed the outage to "a previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly."

But the root cause? "The disruption," he said, "was triggered by a massive restart of our users' computers across the globe within a very short time frame as they rebooted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update." Tuesday Microsoft pushed out nine patches, six … Read more

MarkMonitor, a San Francisco-based enterprise brand protection company, on Monday released its latest survey. During June, MarkMonitor tracked more than 100,000 drug-related spam landing sites and found a majority of these practice poor Internet security and may not be selling legitimate brand-name drugs, which could endanger users tempted by the low prices offered.

While that's not earth-shattering news, the report gives concrete statistics surrounding the practice known as "brandjacking," which can encompass a variety of online threats to brand names. In the report, MarkMonitor said sample drugs purchased from these sites tested as either stolen, expired, … Read more

Editors' note: This blog initially misstated the last day for submitting photos. It is October 15.

Ever thought (or were ever told) that you resembled one of those emoticons you see in e-mail or IM? Me neither. But for those who have had that experience, Symantec has launched a worldwide emoticon look-alike contest.

Now through October 15, contestants can upload their best resemblances to an emoticon for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 cash, or one of five first place prizes of $1,000 each. Anyone who enters will receive a 15 percent discount on the … Read more

This week 3,400 Army National Guard members in Idaho learned they were the potential victims of identity theft. A USB drive containing personal information was stolen out of car in suburban Boise, according to news reports.

Police attribute the theft to a rash of car burglaries in the neighborhood and speculate that the thieves might not have realized they had stolen the guardsmen's personal data. Additional information can be found here.

Corsair is apparently the kind of company we can relate to: a paranoid one. Although it's made a name for itself in high-speed technologies, some of its recent products seem more focused on security and survival than anything else. (Witness the seemingly indestructible "Flash Survivor" USB key.)

The company continues that theme in its latest offering, the "Flash Padlock," which expands the secure USB concept with a numeric keypad that can be programmed to your own five-digit code. It locks automatically when disconnected, according to OhGizmo, an it won't even be acknowledged by the … Read more

Monty Python couldn't have come up with a more annoying routine than the infamous spam sketch. But way back in the psychedelic 70s, the comedy troupe couldn't possibly have imagined the disgust and frustration the word "spam" would elicit today, especially among IT professionals.

I managed to defeat hordes of telemarketers by signing up for the national do-not-call registry. But when it comes to spam, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm ready to throw in the towel and become a computerless monk. I feel like less of a man because I couldn't protect my family from this deadly menace.

Maybe 2% of my emails are actually addressed to me personally. The rest are garbage: spams and scams of every shape, size, and flavor. They run the gamut from those offering me supposedly hot stock picks, loans, and drugs, to others concerned with the size and effectiveness of my manhood.… Read more

The free spyware-removal software Ad-Aware 2007 helps protect your system from browser hijackers, data miners, and other malware, but it can also wipe your Web surfing tracks for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera with just one click. Rich DeMuro shows you how it's done.