Security

Computer virus attacks are up dramatically from 2,400 in 1995 to more than 80,000 in 2002. It seems that almost every week, there's a new, threatening virus. Now the Sasser worm -- which could in fact be a clone, at least in its effects, of last year's MSBlaster and Slammer worms -- is said to have ...

TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

Wireless PDAs and Smartphones: A Hacker's Heaven

A real security threat is looming with wireless PDAs, WiFi devices and smartphones. These are the electronic marvels that are pushing the goal of wireless telecommunications to new limits. Industry watchers report that people are dropping their older PDAs like hot potatoes and snapping up the latest...

TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

US Anticensorship Bureau Found Censoring

A report from a group of Internet experts indicates a U.S. anticensorship Internet access program is employing keyword filtering for the foreign Web surfers it serves, resulting in overblocking, which many argue is a form of censorship in itself. What may be worse is that the U.S. International Broa...

Microsoft yesterday pulled the wraps off the latest version of its digital rights management (DRM) software, a move awaited with great anticipation in some corners of the online music universe. "We're very excited about it," Richard Bullwinkle, senior product marketing manager at Rio Audio in Santa ...

A new worm that first materialized last Tuesday appeared in its third minor variant early this morning. The Sasser worm threatens any unprotected Windows computer tethered to the Internet via a broadband connection. The rogue code was officially recognized and named early Saturday morning and is kno...

Software designed to steal computer users' personal data is gaining more attention from Congress even as top consumer protection officials in the Bush administration say it is too early for the government to step in and deal with it. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) plans to introduce a bill that would out...

It may be coming half a decade late, but an independent software seller is now offering a service pack for Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), which Microsoft itself never got around to doing. And just as Alper Coskun released his own "unofficial" service pack for the aging but well-liked Microsoft oper...

TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT

Hacker Safe: The Security of Online Commerce

In mid-March, BJ's Wholesale Club announced it was investigating a security breach that involved theft of credit card information from its computer network. Company officials ordered an exhaustive review of the retail outlet's state-of-the-industry technology systems with a leading computer security...

A new worm materialized yesterday in the U.S. Pacific region and was continuing a slow circulation across the U.S. mainland last night in search of compromised computer systems. VeriSign engineers have been tracking increased Internet traffic on customers' computer systems around the country since A...

UK residents volunteering their faces, irises and fingerprints for a pilot passport program are previewing what may become mandatory for all of England if draft legislation is enacted. The ID-card approach is being promoted by the country's Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and is touted as the key to...

It appears writing viruses is becoming as easy as ABC, particularly given the deluge of worm variants in the Bagle, Netsky and Phatbot families. But the collections of worms are causing some confusion among virus fighters as well as increased danger for users. The latest example is the Bagle.Z varia...

Early warning last week about increased signs of a possible superworm in the making may have slowed down a new attack on the Internet. But evidence continues to grow, according to a VeriSign security officer, of a major new denial-of-service attack to be mounted from thousands of already-infected co...

In what analysts have described as the company's biggest transformation ever, security giant Network Associates sold the Sniffer network protection product line this week to orient its focus on antivirus, intrusion prevention, research and its consumer business -- changing its name to McAfee in the ...

An increase in suspicious activity last weekend has Internet security experts bracing for what some analysts warn could be the next big worm attack worldwide. Virus monitors spent the weekend watching an increased level of activity that experts said could be the start of a Blaster-like attack. A spo...

A new study released this week indicates that nearly 28 "spyware" items infest each PC, demonstrating the broad proliferation of the secret software, researchers said. Spyware is a rapidly proliferating type of software that covertly forwards information about a computer user's online activities to ...

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