NEW VERSION OF AD-AWARE

You may know about Ad-Aware, the wonderful free software that scans your system for “spyware” and “scumware” – programs, browser add-ons, cookies, and other little sneaks that might be tracking your surfing habits, sending this data to a third party, profiling your...

WORM ATTACK SLOWS ENTIRE INTERNET

Worldwide Internet traffic suddenly slowed down dramatically for hours on Saturday, after a fast-spreading computer worm clogged major servers. Experts called it the most damaging attack on the Internet in 18 months as networks across Asia, Europe and America were...

VIRUS HOAXES

CNET has an article reminding people to be cautious about phony virus alerts – e-mail messages insisting that you delete some file, or forward the message, or avoid some other message. They’re likely to be hoaxes, and forwarding them amounts to sending spam to all...

PERSPECTIVE ON SECURITY HOLES

You’ve probably read some of the articles about security holes in various operating systems and programs, each one describing a theoretical possibility that hackers might do pernicious things to your computer. Most of the articles in the mainstream press are focused...

NEW HORRORS IN POPUP ADS

Although some services are backing away from popup ads – America Online has promised to behave itself better, for example – but there are still some ways for things to get worse. Orbitz has just begun inundating popular sites with popup ads that include an...

SOFTWARE SECURITY FLAWS

Every so often I feel compelled to respond to the incessant coverage of the security flaws in Microsoft products. It’s easy to get the impression that Microsoft products are inherently insecure and that alternative systems are better. Analysts from the Aberdeen Group...