Simulated Subway Attacks |
08/25/2010
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Simulate terror attack subway by
DHS. Department of Homeland Security wants to simulate a terror attack
using the Boston subway. The subway test will simulate a terror attack
on how toxic chemicals and biological weapons might spread.
They began the study at the oldest subway system in the country, the
MTBA. Friday the scientists simulated a terror attack on the subway
system in Boston. This study is commissioned by the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security to figure out ways to quickly minimize the impact of
an airborne assault on the nations 15 subway systems and protect the
nation's infrastructure.
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Intel to Buy McAfee |
08/24/2010
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Intel announced today that it
will acquire McAfee, maker of anti-virus and other security software,
for $7.68 billion in cash, or $48 per share.
The per share price is 60 percent more than McAfee’s $29.93 closing
price on Wednesday. McAfee shares jumped 58 percent after the deal was
made public to $47.42 in pre-market trading, while Intel shares dipped
2.5 percent to $19.11, the AP reports.
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Karzai To Expel Private Companies |
08/23/2010
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In an interview with Christiane
Amanpour on ABCs This Week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai reiterated
demands for private security contractors to leave Afghanistan, calling
for the Central Asian nation to be free of private security firms within
the next four months.
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How to Subscribe to an RSS Feed? |
08/22/2010
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There are generally two
different kinds of tools that allow visitors to subscribe to RSS feeds.
These tools are known as aggregators, or RSS news readers. As the
content of an RSS feed changes, the RSS reader or aggregator will update
itself automatically and display the new RSS feed items.
There are two types of aggregators -- desktop aggregators, and web-based aggregators...
How to Subscribe to an RSS Feed
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10 Steps to Getting the Click |
08/21/2010
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There are a number of steps a webmaster can take to encourage visitors to click on a link or graphic located on their website. The following steps will help get the click...
1. Colors
Use contrasting colors for links. This makes the links easier to discern
from other text on a web page. Also, avoid placing links against a
patterned background, as it will make it much more difficult to read the
link text. Bottom line, the link color should stand out from the rest
of the web page, and be easy to locate.
10 Steps to Getting the Click
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HP Fortifies Security |
08/20/2010
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HP announced its intent to
acquire strategic partner Fortify, as consolidation of security
companies increases across the industry. Fortify specializes in
application vulnerability assessment and security for enterprises.
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Russian Security Concerns |
08/19/2010
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Russian security services are
verifying possible contacts of Romanian career security officer Gabriel
Grecu, who was seized in Moscow while trying to obtain classified
military information from a Russian citizen.
Another Romanian diplomat caught attention of Russian security services
in 2008, a source at the Federal Security Service told Itar-Tass on
Tuesday.
The first secretary of the political department of the Romanian embassy
in Moscow, Dinu Pistola, tried to recruit a Russian citizen who
possessed information about the situation in Moldova and Transdniestria,
the source said.
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Security At Ports |
08/18/2010
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The federal government is
expanding a multi-agency policing program at the U.S.-Mexico border to
improve security at the nations sea ports.
Morton says the program has been successful in bringing about 6,400
cases involving drugs, arms and immigrant smuggling along the border. He
says it started five years ago in Laredo, Texas, and has expanded to 17
border locations.
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For six years, Nicholas Merrill
has lived in a surreal world of half-truths in which he could not tell
his fiancee, his closest friends, or even his mother that he is John
Doe, the man who filed the first-ever court challenge to the FBIs
ability to obtain personal data on Americans without judicial approval.
Friends mentioned the case when it was in the news, and the normally outspoken Merrill would change the subject.
He heard the arguments at the federal courthouse, and in an out-of-body
moment he realized that no one knew he was the plaintiff challenging the
FBIs authority to issue national security letters, as they are known,
and its ability to impose a gag on the recipient.
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RIM Security Deadlines |
08/16/2010
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In the past few weeks, rumors
have become widespread that India has suspended RIM for its encrypted
messaging because it posed a threat to Indias national security. It was
said that the Indian government has given the Canadian phone maker a
deadline only until the end of August to resolve such issue or its
services may likely be banned in the country.
No confirmation was ever received from the Indian government only until
recently when reports were released that the Indian ministry and
intelligence services held a meeting that was attended by the states
telecommunications operator BSNL, technology specialists and
telecommunications department. The attendees did not arrive to a
decision on whether to keep or cease the services of BlackBerry in the
country; and despite the fact that RIM was not present in the meeting,
it was also confirmed that RIM Executive Robert Crow attended in a
courtesy call meeting with Prime Minister Chidambaram and received
instructions of solving the security issue until the previously
mentioned deadline.
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Body Images Stored |
08/13/2010
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In August 2010 a Federal
Government agency admitted they have stored airport check point body
scan images. The agency, the U.S. Marshals Service, divulged they had
secretly saved tens of thousands of scanned body images at a Florida
courthouse.
This admission seems to come as a direct contradiction to a statement
made approximately a year ago by the Transportation Security
Administration when the agency reassured the public any scanned images
were discarded once the security check was completed.
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Blackberry Security |
08/12/2010
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Research In Motions top-notch
security is both a blessing and a curse for the company as governments
in some key emerging markets, where RIM is looking for growth, threaten
to block the BlackBerry service over national security concerns.
Last week, governments in several countries including the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and India threatened to shut down
BlackBerry e-mail and Web browsing services in their countries.
Regulators in these countries said that RIM's stringent encryption and
security network pose security concerns since authorities are unable to
monitor and read e-mails and Web browsing activity.
With more than 90 percent of the U.S. population owning a cell phone,
companies such as RIM are looking to new markets, such as the Middle
East and Southeast Asia, for new subscribers.
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Internet Upgrade |
08/11/2010
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The Internet has undergone a key
upgrade that promises to stop cyber criminals from using fake websites
that dupe people into downloading viruses or revealing personal data.
The agency in charge of managing Internet addresses teamed with online
security services firm VeriSign and the US Department of Commerce to
give websites encrypted identification to prove they are legitimate.
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Cyber War Issues |
08/10/2010
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Former US spy master and retired general Michael Hayden warned on Thursday that the countrys cyber flank was exposed and it was losing clout to influence rules of war on the Internet.
Our flank is totally exposed, Hayden said at the Black Hat computer security gathering in Las Vegas, comparing the nations tactical position on the Internet to a battle of land troops.
If tomorrow they show up on that flank they are going to roll down.
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Online Security |
08/09/2010
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Lots of code excitement will
spring from the Black Hat hacker conference this week, but already a
huge controversy is erupting: Black Hat's founder thinks SSL--the
security code making much of online commerce safe--is broken.
SSL, Secure Sockets Layer and its successor Transport Layer Security is a
Net-based security protocol that ensures communications between
computers is safe and unhackable--essentially so that no one can listen in.
It works like this: A server and computer connect together and say
hello, digitally. This bit is unsecured. The two machines exchange a key which unlocks a private line that only they can communicate on.
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Passport Security Issues |
08/08/2010
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Try applying for a U.S. passport
using a counterfeit birth certificate. Give one location as a home
address, and another as a permanent residence. Use someone else’s
picture and a Social Security number that was issued just last year.
Then, for good measure, use the name of someone who’s already dead.
What do you think your chances of getting a valid passport would be? If
the results of an undercover sting operation by the Government
Accountability Office are any indication, your chances would be at least
3 in 7. Not bad odds.
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Invasion of privacy in the
Internet age. Expanding the reach of law enforcement to snoop on e-mail
traffic or on Web surfing. Those are among the criticisms being aimed at
the FBI as it tries to update a key surveillance law.
With its proposed amendment, is the Obama administration merely
clarifying a statute or expanding it? Only time and a suddenly on guard
Congress will tell.
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Facebook Security |
08/06/2010
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The cost of leaving your
Facebook profile unprotected at its default security settings was made
much clearer this week, as security consultant Ron Bowes used a simple
piece of code to trawl through every unprotected Facebook profile. He
then published the personal details of over 100 million Facebook users
via a peer-to-peer file-sharing system called BitTorrent.
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Tighter Security in Firefox 4 |
08/05/2010
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A new JavaScript engine, HTML5,
tabs on top, and a new add-on framework are not the only improvements
that users can expect in Firefox 4. At Black Hat on Wednesday, a trio of
security representatives from Mozilla detailed how the company plans to
push the browser to be more secure for users while nudging developers
toward safer coding practices.
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Computer Attacks |
08/04/2010
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Hackers competing in a social
engineering contest at the Defcon conference here on Friday were able to
trick random employees at 10 major U.S. tech, oil, and retail companies
into giving them sensitive information over the phone that could be
used in targeted computer attacks on the companies.
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ATM Machines Cracked Over the Internet |
08/03/2010
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Computer security researcher
Barnaby Jack jokes that he has resorted to hiding cash under his bed
since figuring out how to crack automated teller machines remotely using
the Internet.
The New Zealand native on Saturday demonstrated his ATM jackpotting discovery for an overflow crowd of hackers during a presentation at the infamous DefCon gathering in Las Vegas.
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McAfee Protection |
08/01/2010
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While malware threats for the
Mac may still be limited, there are plenty of other nasties to watch out
for online. That is why McAfee has released a pair of its popular
protection products for the Mac: McAfee Internet Security and McAfee
Family Protection. These products allow Mac users to surf the Web
safely.
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Security and Porn Do Not Mix |
07/30/2010
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A federal investigation has
accused dozens of military officials and defense contractors, including
some with top-level security clearances, of buying and downloading child
pornography on private or government computers.
The Pentagon on Friday released investigative reports spanning almost a
decade that implicated people working with agencies handling some of the
nation’s most closely guarded secrets, including the National
Security Agency.
Defense workers who bought child pornography put the Department of Defense, the military and national security at risk by compromising computer systems, military installations and security clearances, a 2007 investigative report said.
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