David Andrew

In my last column I talked about one very important thing you can do to help secure your e-mail . Though it could affect the appearance of some messages, turning off HTML in your e-mail program can go a long way toward protecting your computer. ... Having said that, one of the most useful features of e-mail is the ability to send and receive attachments. An attachment is simply a file that is appended to the e-mail message itself. This can be a data file, like a word processing document or spreadsheet, or can even be a full-blown application such as a disk cleanup tool, an icon changer, etc. ... (view more)

In many ways, e-mail is the perfect marriage between technology and the human personality. Where else can we express ourselves in such a personal way online? Though some would argue that instant messaging is a more convenient communication ... technology, e-mail would still get my vote, all things considered (instant messaging is still a bit too disruptive for my taste). By all accounts, e-mail has literally revolutionized the way people communicate with one another. And as much as I love e-mail, it needs to be secured just like any other application. In fact, e-mail is often the attack vector ... (view more)

This is the second installment of a two part series on good password practices (part 1 is here ). You may recall that I previously discussed some poor and all-too-common password practices that people use. And while it's good for us to know what not ... to do, we also need to educate ourselves about the right way to choose and manage passwords. So without further ado, let's get started! How Passwords are "Cracked" To begin, a good password is difficult to guess. A good password will not be tied or related to any publicly known information about you, including your kid's names, pet's ... (view more)

There's no doubt about it, security is a hard problem to solve. The rich functionality and connectivity we enjoy in today's Internet culture does not come without a price. Admittedly, there are so many variables that affect the overall security ... posture of a computer, that it sometimes seems like an overwhelming task to stay ahead of the curve. But with all the intricacies and technical dependencies that go along with securing our machines, it's still the basic steps that we need to be most concerned about doing. The Most Exploited Weakness in Computer Security The SANS Institute maintains a ... (view more)

In 2003, a federal court ruled that Microsoft must pay $521 million to a Chicago-based Eolas Technologies company and the University of California. (Source: cnet.com ) Eolas sued Microsoft on the basis that the software giant infringed upon its ... patent that allows web browsers to embed and execute interactive programs -- what we know today as "ActiveX Technology" for Internet Explorer. Now almost three years later, the Eolas vs. Microsoft fiasco is finally coming to a close. According to Internet News , on Tuesday, April 11th, Microsoft will be releasing a patch related to the lawsuit that ... (view more)

Do you care if you get hacked? You should! Just think about all the things you do with your computer. At the very least, I would bet you use it to send e-mail, and surf the web on a regular basis. In fact, if you're anything like the average ... computer user, you probably use the Internet to buy gifts, manage your stock portfolio, and even pay your bills online. So what if your computer became compomised by a hacker? In that case, it's safe to assume that everything you do with your computer is no longer private. Not only that, but depending upon the sophistication of an attack, a hacked ... (view more)

Instant messaging has done for email what email has done for land mail: namely, the waiting time for delivery (and response) has decreased dramatically. With instant messaging, you can type a message to a friend and have it delivered straight to ... their PC within seconds. But like anything else we do online, chatting has some risks associated with it. For one thing, chat clients often suffer from vulnerabilities. Just like any other piece of software, your chat client [software] needs to be updated periodically to ensure you're protected from the latest vulnerabilities that attackers seek to ... (view more)

" What the heck is a blended threat? " I'm glad you asked ;-) According to searchSecurity.com a blended threat is "a computer network attack that seeks to maximize the severity of damage and speed of contagion by combining methods, for example using ... characteristics of both viruses and worms, while also taking advantage of vulnerabilities in computers, networks, or other physical systems." (Source: searchSecurity.com ) Now that's a mouthful! In more simpler terms, a blended threat is an attack that combines two or more vulnerabilities or attack methods on a remote machine. Blended threats are ... (view more)

This is the third and final part in a series on spyware prevention tips (access part 1 and part 2 here). So far I've shared two tips that deal with specific pieces of software; the first tip was the use of an excellent (and free) tool called ... SpywareBlaster . This tool lives, eats, and breathes to protect your computer from the installation of spyware. In the second tip, I overviewed security risks associated with Internet Explorer and recommended using Mozilla Firefox as an alternative browser. Today I'm going to share what is undoubtedly the single most important thing you can do to protect ... (view more)

This entry is the second part of a three part series on spyware prevention tips. In the first article , I overviewed an excellent (and free!) tool called SpywareBlaster whose sole purpose is to prevent the installation of spyware on your computer. ... SpywareBlaster is lightweight, easy-to-use, and continually updated. Today I'm going to share a second spyware prevention tip. Are you ready? Spyware Prevention Tip #2 - Stop Using Internet Explorer Fact: Some popular forms of spyware specifically target vulnerabilities associated with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Fact: Internet Explorer has a ... (view more)