“Peggy” from “Computer Support Department” just won’t give up. He called me again at about 8 PM this evening. This time, I played along. I had a thrift-store junker PC for him to infect with his malware. The only problem was, the hard drive wasn’t connected and neither was the power cord. So I quickly [...]
All posts tagged internet explorer
How I accidentally found a way to mess with “Peggy”
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 20, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/how-i-accidentally-found-a-way-to-mess-with-peggy/
A treasure trove of training material
Need to improve your security skills? Need a refresher course to brush up on some skills you haven’t used in a while? Or are you just looking for some CPEs or CEUs to keep your certification valid? The United States Department of Defense offers a great deal of security training, much of which is freely [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 16, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/a-treasure-trove-of-training-material/
And the most security-riddled program of 2012 was….
Secunia released its annual vulnerability review, a study of the 50 most vulnerable pieces of software in 2012. It was a fairly tight-three way race at the top, and the distance between #3 and #4 was huge. I was actually surprised at who the top three were. They weren’t the three usual suspects. But in [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 20, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/03/and-the-most-security-riddled-program-of-2012-was/
The lines between white hat/gray hat/black hat hacking and moral laws
Longtime reader/commenter Joseph asked two questions yesterday: What’s the boundary between gray and black-hat hacking, and is it moral to pick and choose between moral and immoral laws? The first question is easier than the second. So I’ll tackle that one first.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 26, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/01/the-lines-between-white-hatgray-hatblack-hat-hacking-and-moral-laws/
What I did since I (temporarily) need Java
I’ve been seeing the same question over and over in my search logs lately: Is Java safe to run in 2013? Generally speaking, the answer is no. I have little choice but to run Java right now, though. I’m studying for a certification exam, and the best quiz program that I know of is written [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 23, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/01/what-i-did-since-i-temporarily-need-java/
Apply this fix if you aren’t running IE9
Windows XP users, and those running something older than IE9 on newer versions of Windows need to apply this fix immediately.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 3, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/01/apply-this-fix-if-you-arent-running-ie9/
Do as we say, not as we did: Microsoft and standards
Microsoft is sniveling that mobile web sites are written with Webkit browsers in mind, because Webkit has 90% market share on tablets and phones. For those who are over 30, the irony is nauseating.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on November 18, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/11/do-as-we-say-not-as-we-did-microsoft-and-standards/
Why the Windows firewall is OK
I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard an unsubstantiated statement like “Windows firewall is junk.” I went looking, and the best I could find was this, an editorial that said it doesn’t do enough to address outbound connections, particularly on a program-by-program basis. OK, point taken. But “enough” is a moving [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 17, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/05/why-the-windows-firewall-is-ok/
The upside of the brave new Windows Server GUI-less world
So the server version of Windows 8 is losing the GUI. And some people aren’t happy about it. Let’s talk about upside.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on January 16, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/01/the-upside-of-the-brave-new-windows-server-gui-less-world/
Yesterday was Patch Tuesday again
I’m way too tired to do the kind of Patch Tuesday writeup I did last month, so I’ll just remind you, and hope that suffices. This month we have vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Silverlight, and .NET, some of which can cause remote code execution, which is a holy grail for spreading malware. So apply [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on October 12, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/10/yesterday-was-patch-tuesday-again/