Category Archives: Security Tools

The Scrap Value of a Hacked PC, Revisited

October 15, 2012
28 Comments

A few years back, when I was a reporter at The Washington Post, I put together a chart listing the various ways that miscreants can monetize hacked PCs. The project was designed to explain simply and visually to the sort of computer user who can’t begin to fathom why miscreants would want to hack into his PC. “I don’t bank online, I don’t store sensitive information on my machine! I only use it to check email. What could hackers possibly want with this hunk of junk?,” are all common refrains from this type of user.

I recently updated the graphic (below) to include some of increasingly prevalent malicious uses for hacked PCs, including hostage attacks — such as ransomware — and reputation hijacking on social networking forums.

Microsoft Fixes Zero-Day, Four Other Flaws in IE

September 21, 2012
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Microsoft has released an emergency update for Internet Explorer that fixes at least five vulnerabilities in the default Web browser on Windows, including a zero-day flaw that miscreants have been using to break into vulnerable systems.

The patch, MS12-063, is available through Windows Update or via Automatic Update. If you installed the stopgap “fix it” tool that Microsoft released earlier this week to blunt the threat from the zero-day bug, you need not reverse or remove that fix it before applying this update. The vulnerability resides in IE 7, 8, and 9, on nearly all supported versions of Windows, apart from certain installations of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2012.

Internet Explorer Users: Please Read This

September 18, 2012
55 Comments

Microsoft is urging Windows users who browse the Web with Internet Explorer to use a free tool called EMET to block attacks against a newly-discovered and unpatched critical security hole in IE versions 7, 8 and 9. But some experts say that advice falls short, and that users can better protect themselves by using an alternative browser until Microsoft can issue a proper patch.

Security Fix for Critical Java Flaw Released

August 30, 2012
50 Comments

Oracle has issued an urgent update to close a dangerous security hole in its Java software that attackers have been using to deploy malicious software. The patch comes amid revelations that Oracle was notified in April about this vulnerability and a number other other potentially unpatched Java flaws.

Critical Security Fixes from Adobe, Microsoft

August 14, 2012
57 Comments

Adobe and Microsoft each issued security updates today to fix critical vulnerabilities in their software. Adobe’s fixes include a patch for a Flash Player flaw that is actively being exploited. Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday release includes nine patch bundles — more than half of them rated critical — addressing at least 27 security holes in Windows and related software.

Secunia’s Auto-patching Tool Gets Makeover

June 29, 2012
54 Comments

Vulnerability management firm Secunia has shipped a new version of its auto-patching tool — Personal Software Inspector 3.0 – a program for Windows users that can drastically simplify the process of keeping up-to-date with security patches for third-party software applications.

The final release of PSI 3.0 supports programs from more than 3,000 software vendors, and includes some key changes that address shortcomings identified in the beta version that I highlighted back in February.