symantec Archives - The Silicon Underground David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Wed, 26 Mar 2025 11:19:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://kerosin.digital/rss-chimp16321610 Vigilante router security https://dfarq.homeip.net/vigilante-router-security/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vigilante-router-security Wed, 07 Oct 2015 11:00:53 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7888 Last week, Symantec discovered a worm that infects routers and takes measures to make them more secure. For lack of anything else to call it, Symantec is calling it malware, and most of the security echo chamber is probably howling

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]]> 7888 What is Winshock? https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-is-winshock/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-winshock Wed, 03 Dec 2014 11:00:47 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7461 So the other day I got blindsided with a question at work: What are we doing about Winshock. Winshock, I asked? I had to go look it up, and I found that’s what they dubbed what I’ve been calling MS14-066,

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]]> 7461 Rick Broida thinks he doesn’t use antivirus software https://dfarq.homeip.net/rick-broida-thinks-he-doesnt-use-antivirus-software/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rick-broida-thinks-he-doesnt-use-antivirus-software Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:45:55 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7243 C’mon. You knew I’d get around to writing a response to Rick Broida’s claim that he doesn’t use antivirus software. Actually, he’s not nuts. But he’s also mistaken if he thinks he doesn’t use antivirus software. His editorial is kind

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]]> 7243 Why you need to guard your Backup Exec servers https://dfarq.homeip.net/why-you-need-to-guard-your-backup-exec-servers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-you-need-to-guard-your-backup-exec-servers Tue, 04 Mar 2014 11:00:45 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7077 If you have a Windows domain, there’s a fairly good chance you have Backup Exec servers, because you probably want to take backups. Because you need them. (As a security guy, I no longer care how you get backups; just

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]]> 7077 A reasonable explanation for why religious sites are more likely to be infected with malware https://dfarq.homeip.net/a-reasonable-explanation-for-why-religious-sites-are-more-likely-to-be-infected-with-malware/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-reasonable-explanation-for-why-religious-sites-are-more-likely-to-be-infected-with-malware https://dfarq.homeip.net/a-reasonable-explanation-for-why-religious-sites-are-more-likely-to-be-infected-with-malware/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 12:30:42 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=5437 Last week, Symantec issued a surprising report stating that religious web sites are more likely to harbor malware than sites that offer dirty pictures and videos. I’m pretty sure there’s a reasonable explanation. IT security is expensive. The equipment is

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/a-reasonable-explanation-for-why-religious-sites-are-more-likely-to-be-infected-with-malware/feed/ 1 5437 What’s going on with Macintosh security? https://dfarq.homeip.net/whats-going-on-with-macintosh-security/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whats-going-on-with-macintosh-security Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:34:34 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=5347 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

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]]> 5347 The old days of viruses https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-old-days-of-viruses/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-old-days-of-viruses https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-old-days-of-viruses/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:07:00 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=5108 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

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-old-days-of-viruses/feed/ 2 5108 Living with a past-its-prime computer https://dfarq.homeip.net/living-with-a-past-its-prime-computer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=living-with-a-past-its-prime-computer Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:12:56 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=5056 I’m playing catch-up a bit. This weekend, Lifehacker ran a guide about living with a computer that’s past its prime. I’ve made a career of that. One of my desktop PCs at work (arguably the more important one) is old

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]]> 5056 Is that file safe? https://dfarq.homeip.net/is-that-file-safe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-that-file-safe Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:21:13 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=4738 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

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]]> 4738 Appremover can remove stubborn antivirus software https://dfarq.homeip.net/appremover-removes-stubborn-antivirus-software/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=appremover-removes-stubborn-antivirus-software https://dfarq.homeip.net/appremover-removes-stubborn-antivirus-software/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:36:07 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=4275 Antivirus software can be among the hardest software to uninstall, because its hooks dig so deeply into the operating system. I’ve seen it fail to uninstall for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it requires a password, which was entered by

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