Stories by Tony Bradley

Ten Best Practices to Prevent Data and Privacy Breaches

The antics of groups like <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/212701/operation_payback_wikileaks_avenged_by_hacktivists.html">Anonymous</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/230485/we_owe_lulzsec_a_thank_you.html">LulzSec</a> over the past few months have made data breaches seem inevitable. If information security vendors <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/220209/lessons_learned_thanks_to_hbgary_and_anonymous.html">like HBGary</a> and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/222555/rsa_securid_hack_shows_danger_of_apts.html">RSA Security</a> aren't safe, what hope does an average SMB have? It is true that there is no silver bullet, and no impervious network security, but there are a variety of things IT admins can do to prevent network breaches and protect data and privacy better.

Tony Bradley | 29 Jul | Read more

Google Voice Spam Filter Blocks Unwanted Calls

A new feature from Google for Google Voice takes the power of the "Report Spam" button and multiplies it exponentially. Google is applying the collected data from thousands of <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/204220/gmail_voice_promises_affordable_calling.html">Google Voice users</a> to automatically identify telemarketers and other unwanted calls and send them directly into the spam folder.

Tony Bradley | 14 Jul | Read more

Patch Tuesday Fixes Critical Bluetooth Flaw in Windows 7

Patch Tuesday has arrived. As expected, Microsoft released a relatively <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms11-jul.mspx">small number of patches for July</a>, but that is no reason for IT admins to let their guard down--especially when one of the patches is a <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/235218/critical_update_for_windows_7_coming_tuesday.html">Critical update for Windows 7</a> and Windows Vista.

Tony Bradley | 13 Jul | Read more

Symantec Uncovers Android Apps Security Threat

Android has quickly climbed to the top of the mobile OS mountain, and it owes much of its success to being a more open platform than rivals like iOS. However, that openness is a double-edged sword that also <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/223842/hacktivist_android_trojan_designed_to_fight_app_piracy.html">exposes Android to potential risk</a>--like the <a href="http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/android-class-loading-hijacking">Android Class Loading Hijacking</a> threat discovered by Symantec.

Tony Bradley | 01 Jul | Read more

Have You Changed Your Facebook Privacy Settings Lately

Is your social network secure? Do you even know where the account security and privacy settings are, or what the default settings are? A recent survey conducted by <a href="http://www.eset.com/us/">ESET</a> illustrates the relative insecurity of social networks--which is alarming given the volume and sensitivity of information that is shared on them.

Tony Bradley | 24 Jun | Read more

SCADA Systems: Achilles Heel of Critical Infrastructure

Our critical infrastructure is an attractive target for enemy nations, terrorist groups, or even run-of-the-mill cyber criminals, and many security experts believe that it is not remotely protected against cyber attacks. The SCADA systems that manage and control much of the critical infrastructure for the United States were not designed with security in mind, and are not engineered for an Internet-connected world.

Tony Bradley | 20 Jun | Read more

Dangerous WebGL flaws haunt Chrome and Firefox

Context -- an independent information security consultancy -- has published a new report on security flaws with WebGL. The report, "WebGL -- More WebGL Security Flaws", includes a video clip demonstrating why organizations should think twice about relying on Web browsers built on WebGL.

Tony Bradley | 17 Jun | Read more

We owe LulzSec a thankyou

LulzSec has been making headlines on a virtually daily basis for a month or so now. The hacker group has compromised servers and exposed sensitive information from targets ranging from Sony, to PBS, to the FBI, and has even set up a hotline to take requests for which sites to attack next. The irony of the LulzSec hacks, though, is that the group is doing us all a favour whether they intend to, or not.

Tony Bradley | 17 Jun | Read more

Nintendo servers hacked, you're next Xbox

Nintendo reports that a Web server for its U.S. unit was hacked. The attack on Nintendo shows that this new era of hacking isn't going to end any time soon, and should serve as a wakeup call for other companies that were hoping this was purely a Sony issue.

Tony Bradley | 06 Jun | Read more

Malware spikes, spam plummets, says report

It has been the busiest quarter on record for malware according to a new report from McAfee. The McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2011 claims six million unique malware samples were recorded during the first quarter of 2011, and also points out that spam traffic is down, and mobile malware threats are on the rise.

Tony Bradley | 02 Jun | Read more

Google Wallet security has a weakness

Google unveiled details of Google Wallet this week. Google Wallet is an ambitious mobile payment plan designed to let your Android smartphone be your wallet, but you should consider very carefully just how secure your credit card data will be in Google Wallet.

Tony Bradley | 29 May | Read more

Dangers of IE 'cookiejacking': What you need to know

A security researcher has discovered a means of hijacking sensitive information from cookies in Internet Explorer. The 'cookiejacking' technique could expose credentials from Facebook, Twitter, Gmaiil, or other online services, but Microsoft doesn't consider it a serious threat. So, is the sky falling, is the security researcher crying wolf, or is the real risk somewhere in between.

Tony Bradley | 29 May | Read more