Ars Technica made a bit of a splash this week with this provocative headline. This is real. The article gives the usual advice, like not opening e-mail from strangers, not clicking attachments from strangers, and not visiting dodgy websites. That’s all good advice, as is staying off torrent and other file sharing sites, but even [...]
All posts tagged antivirus software
The men (boys) who spy on women through webcams
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 13, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/03/the-men-boys-who-spy-on-women-through-webcams/
Use Secunia PSI to keep all your programs up to date with minimal effort
Did you know Adobe released three Flash updates this month? And that every last one of them was absolutely, positively necessary? (At the time. They’re cumulative.) Seriously, you need a computer to keep track of all this stuff. Secunia PSI is a free program to keep track of these updates and pull them down and [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 1, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/03/use-secunia-psi-to-keep-all-your-programs-up-to-date-with-minimal-effort/
Java is patched now, but still not very safe
Rapid7′s Chief Security Officer, HD Moore, estimated it will take two years for Oracle to fix all of the current issues with Java, not counting anything new that happens in that timeframe. Futhermore, Kaspersky states that 50% of cyberattacks in 2012 utilized a Java exploit. Among those is the newly discovered Red October. Think for [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 15, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/01/java-is-patched-now-but-still-not-very-safe/
Things I wish everyone knew about home computer security
I’m a security professional by trade, with two certifications. I’m not responsible for defending your computer networks, but I want your networks to be secure. There’s a really simple reason for that. If your computer and your network is secure, then it isn’t attacking mine. Or anyone else’s. Several fellow subscribers to a train-related interest [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 16, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/05/things-i-wish-everyone-knew-about-home-computer-security/
One in five Macs has malware–but read the fine print
Sophos claimed today that 20% of the people who’ve installed their free Mac antivirus has malware. That’s not altogether surprising, but it’s also not nearly as big of a problem as it sounds. One in 36 systems has Mac malware, which means the Mac has an infection that could actually be harming the system itself. [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 24, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/04/one-in-five-macs-has-malware-but-read-the-fine-print/
What’s going on with Macintosh security?
The latest figures I’ve read say there are perhaps a half-million infected Macintoshes still floating around out there, an improvement from the high of 600,000 that I was seeing a few weeks ago, but probably not what Apple had hoped after releasing its most recent fix. I argued three weeks ago that the end of [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 22, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/04/whats-going-on-with-macintosh-security/
End of the innocence for Mac security
Antivirus vendor Kapersky has identified a new trojan horse targetting Macintoshes. It spreads a botnet based somewhere in China via an infected Microsoft Word document, typically sent as an e-mail attachment. The spin is that if you don’t use Word on your Mac, you’re safe. That’s true–this week. But going forward, it’s going to take [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 30, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/03/end-of-the-innocence-for-mac-security/
The old days of viruses
Blogging pioneer John Dominik, inspired by my Michelangelo memories, wrote about his memories of viruses later in the decade. So now I’ll take inspiration of him and share my memories of some of those viruses. I searched my archives, and at the time it was going on, I didn’t write a lot. I was tired [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 8, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/03/the-old-days-of-viruses/
Is that file safe?
So you’ve downloaded this great new piece of free software, but you’re not sure if it’s safe to install. Your antivirus software says it’s not infected, so you can assume it’s safe, right? Not so fast. Nothing detects everything. Using multiple virus scanners dramatically decreases the chances of something getting through.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on December 30, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/12/is-that-file-safe/