Category : Email Security
Who’s minding the store at WHOIS?
WHOIS (for those unfamiliar with it) is a system that provides free public access to domain name registration. Every domain name has to be registered with the following information: the registrant’s name, an administrative contact, a technical contact, and the name servers associated with each domain name. It’s all about traceability. (Feb 17, 2010)
“Love is in the air” ...or is it?
Ah, Valentine’s Day, the time of year when suddenly everyone is starry-eyed and declaring their love for one another. Our eagerness to please our loved ones tends to make us a little more vulnerable. And this makes us perfect prey to scammers who pounce on these vulnerabilities to spread their viruses and scams. (Feb 11, 2010)
Do you have what it takes to be an Email Security Reseller?
So, you want to be an email security reseller? Sure, here's the form, here's the discount you'll get, here's where you sign...Not so fast! (Feb 10, 2010)
Less Linux, more Windows
I’ve always been a pro-Linux type of guy. I started using Unix back in 1992 (SunOS) and then onto Slackware, Red Hat, Ubuntu. Linux offered so many more features, security, power to do anything and a reliability Windows couldn’t dream of at the time. Linux was a true multitasking OS, had a firewall, and all internet clients and servers one may want or need: pop3, smtp, http, ftp, ssh. All these were virtually impossible to do on MS-DOS or Windows, and I’m not even talking about the various crashes and ridiculous uptimes of the early Microsoft platforms. Since then, and up until a few months ago, it’s always been clear to me: reliability and security on Linux; office work, graphical user interface and leisure on Windows. (Feb 05, 2010)
Incompetent email security spam filters cause historic business to change name
The Beaver is, at 90 years old, Canada’s second oldest magazine. Founded in 1920 and named after Canada’s symbol and fur-trading history, the Hudson's Bay Company publication is devoted to popularizing Canadian history, aiming to make Canadians more aware and appreciative of their heritage. Two weeks ago, the venerable magazine had to change its name to Canada’s History because its newsletter and emails were being trapped by spam filters around the world. (Jan 29, 2010)
What is a Honeypot in Email Security Terms?
A Honeypot is, by definition, a decoy or a trap whose purpose is to detect and identify unauthorized use in order to prevent breaches. In Email Security, a Honeypot is a SMTP server setup to process a single domain (or multiple domains) to gather emails all day long. (Dec 18, 2009)
One phish, two phish, red phish, blue phish
Typical phishing messages purport to originate from various financial institutions, delivery services, Facebook, and so on, all with the aim of getting you to click the enclosed link and disclose some personal information that can be abused. (Dec 16, 2009)
What, me worry?
Incidents of cybercrime via malware and exploits are on the rise, but if this recent poll is to be believed, people are still too blasé about their Internet security. The Unisys Security Index: Global Summary report 1 revealed the following: “Concerns over security in everything from online shopping and banking to safety from computer viruses, as well as national security along with personal and financial security, were significantly down over what was recorded half a year ago for populations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. (Nov 18, 2009)
Anti-Spam, Hacking and Virus Security: How Will Smartphones Survive?
With a double-digit market growth rate, non-existent protection and super-fast communications based on a variety of protocols and media, Smartphones clearly are a future target of choice for hackers and spammers. How will they survive, and at what cost? (Nov 13, 2009)
The Future Of Email Security: Where Do We Go From Here?
There’s no denying that anti-spam filters are imperative in the fight against junk mail and malware, but no single solution is fool-proof. Employing anti-spam and virus filters, stronger passwords, encryption, and so on, are not enough to win the battle against the ever-increasingly sophisticated attackers. (Nov 04, 2009)
Drive by Downloads
This is a term I’m seeing more and more frequently in security-related web posts and, frankly, I thought it was fairly new. After doing some research, however, I found an article entitled, Anatomy of a “Drive-by-Download,” that was written in 2004 (!) by Eric L. Howes. Where have I been all this time? (Oct 21, 2009)
Three Reasons Why Cloud Computing May Not Be For You
Email Security. Love it or hate it, it needs to be addressed. Many small businesses often don’t have the money or resources to invest in installing and maintaining a secure mail system, and consequently look to outsource this very important aspect of their business. Email is a mission-critical application, forming the backbone for most organizations’ day-to-day business activities. So why not offload the security aspect of your email so you can focus on your actual business? (Oct 14, 2009)
10 Best Spam Subject Lines
Spam definitely comes in all shapes and sizes. We asked you to submit your best subject lines and after much deliberation we came up with the top ten list (and it was no easy feat!)
10 "a stone for making tortillas, a mortar for grinding red pepper."
9 "A cell phone glitch accidentally making millionaires" (Oct 09, 2009)
Top 5 Things to Distrust About Email
These are all very basic rules that a savvy person already knows. But if everyone already knows them, why are there so many scammers out there and how are they able to make so much money? (Sep 23, 2009)
First Michael, now Patrick. Celebrity deaths yield new spam campaigns
So how does a celebrity's death result in more spam? Spammers take advantage of our thirst for information and know that we will be Googling for the latest news and gossip. (Sep 16, 2009)
Spam’s future from the New School of Information Security
Will Spam ever stop? Some thoughts on spam economics from the New School of Information Security.
Adam Shostack (currently at Microsoft in the role of security program manager and with whom I worked on a security audit of the service delivery platform at Radialpoint) and Andrew Stewart recently published The New School of Information Security. (Sep 11, 2009)
