Stories by: Roger A. Grimes

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    How secure is Safari? 31/01/2009 01:37:00

    Apple's Safari, released for the Windows platform in June 2007, is the second newest browser on Windows, behind Google's Chrome. (Naturally, Apple's browser also runs on OS X, and on iPhone and iPod Touch devices in a mobile edition.) Safari leads the pack in anti-phishing filtering and pop-up blocking, but it also has many security weaknesses.
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    Sandbox security versus the evil Web 01/10/2008 09:02:00

    The Internet is a scary place. Criminal malware lurks on legitimate and illegitimate Web sites alike, looking to steal your money one way or the other. Vendors have been scratching their collective heads attempting to make more consumers safer, more often. One of the results has been a class of anti-malware software that I call sandbox protection products. These items encapsulate Internet browsers (and e-mail programs and sometimes any other program you can run) within a virtual, emulated cocoon designed to keep malware from reaching and modifying the underlying host computer.
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    Two tenacious exploits debunk vendor claims 01/10/2008 09:24:00

    Many sandbox security vendors claim that their products stop all known and unknown attacks. Even assuming the ability to curtail all known attacks could be proven, it's simply impossible to believe that any piece of software could halt all unknown attacks. Of course, that doesn't prevent the vendors from making empty promises or the malware authors from proving them wrong.
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    At the front lines of protecting the Internet 03/09/2008 08:35:00

    VeriSign is in many ways synonymous with managing the Web, thanks to its handling of key DNS root servers and of name resolution for .com, .net, and other domains. In recent years, it's had both strong ups and strong downs.
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    Hacking tools: A new version of BackTrack helps ethical hackers 30/06/2008 10:57:21

    Version 3.0 of BackTrack has been released. BackTrack is a Linux-based distribution dedicated to penetration testing or hacking (depending on how you look at it). It contains more than 300 of the world's most popular open source or freely distributable hacking tools.
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    Titus Labs helps stop e-mail slips 02/06/2008 08:15:16

    The news media is full of stories about e-mails and documents that were better off not sent. Last year an airline CEO accidentally sent an ultra harsh e-mail to complaining customers, the text of which was obviously not intended for the customers. Frustrated employees frequently send embarrassing internal memorandum to public news sources. And is there an e-mail user who hasn't regretted accidentally sending an e-mail to an unintended party? Whether e-mail or documents are sent intentionally or not, it is clear that content intended for a restricted audience is being shared with unauthorized parties on a regular basis.
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    Notes from AusCERT 2008 26/05/2008 11:34:08

    I've had the pleasure of speaking and attending this year's AusCERT 2008 security conference held in Gold Coast, Australia. If you've never been to Australia, you're missing some of the best that life has to offer, and I feel the same way about the conference. Although a bit smaller than most US security conferences, it's intentionally kept small (around 1,000 participants) and makes up in quality speaker presentations and vendor participation what it lacks in headcount. One of the great attributes of the typical Aussie is their aversion to marketing hype, along with their ability to "cut the fat off a chicken" (as my grandmother used to say) and pull out the salient points. If a vendor tries to push marketing fluff about their product too much, they are likely to get verbally assailed rugby-style. Here are some of my favorite notes and quotes from selected speakers:
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    Defending "Fixing the Internet" 19/05/2008 10:10:39

    Last week I publicly released a white paper called Fixing the Internet: A Security Solution in this blog.
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    Fixing the Internet 12/05/2008 11:37:35

    Long-time readers know that I often rant about how insecure the Internet is, and how few solutions will do anything to change that equation during the next 5 to 10 years. I've also recommended a handful of solutions over the years, and accepted the resulting criticism that goes along with proposing big ideas.
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    Don't throw out ActiveX (or Java) 15/04/2008 12:48:27

    For years, many security consultants and well-meaning guidelines have recommended completely disabling ActiveX in Internet browsers (mainly Internet Explorer) to prevent a particular type of Web client-side attack. Running a browser without ActiveX enabled can be a frustrating experience for end-users, as many popular and legitimate Web sites use ActiveX to enhance the user's overall experience.
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    It's the applications, stupid 07/04/2008 12:14:43

    It's always written that the first Presidential candidate Clinton posted, "It's the economy, stupid!" as a banner marquee in his campaign office during his premiere run. This saying supposedly helped focus the staff, resulting in a surprise win for the Democrats.
 
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