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Vol. 11, #4 - Jan 23, 2006 - Issue #560
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Eugene Kaspersky: "AV Companies Losing Malware War"
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- EDITOR'S CORNER
- Eugene Kaspersky: "AV Companies Losing Malware War"
- The Top 10 Information Security Developments in 2005
- Quotes of the Week
- ADMIN TOOLBOX
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- TECH BRIEFING
- Vista Gets Its First Security Patches... Huh?
- Military Clamping Down On Security
- When's a Rootkit Not a Rootkit? In Search of Definitions
- Step-by-step Guide: How To Patch SQL Server
- Top 10 Exchange Server Tips Of 2005
- Botnets Shrinking In Size, Harder To Trace
- WINDOWS SERVER NEWS
- Microsoft Simplifies Its Software Support Lifecycle
- Redmond Assaults Lotus Users
- WINDOWS SERVER THIRD PARTY NEWS
- Total Desktop Lockdown With Only Free Tools
- Migrated Data? Tools To Fix Broken Stuff
- Sunbelt Software Hires Two More Rock Stars
- WServerNews 'FAVE' LINKS
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
- WServerNews - PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
- Need To Protect Your Mobile Users?
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Need To Protect Your Mobile Users?
Existing AV-tools alone are no longer cutting it. You need MORE.
Best-of-breed antispyware and a personal firewall with integrated
intrusion prevention now are a MUST to protect your road warriors.
Existing "security suites" are bloated, so take up enormous space
and slow down systems considerably. So leave your AV as it is, but
add Sunbelt's Kerio Personal Firewall and CounterSpy. These are the
small footprint, resource optimized, lightweight, powerful, best-of-breed
tools you need for laptop users. If you buy the two together, there is a
very attractive offer. Minimum order 25 units, ask your Rep.
Start Here: http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Kerio
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EDITOR'S CORNER |
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Eugene Kaspersky: "AV Companies Losing Malware War"
Eugene Kaspersky, head of virus research at the Massachusetts-based
Kaspersky Lab stated in a recent paper that AV software companies are
on the losing end of the "virus arms race" against new malware.
Kasperski called the Net "a breeding ground for criminal activity,"
and he estimated that hundreds of hacker groups are stealing hundreds
of millions of dollars from PC users each year. Yet, anti-virus vendors
are not keeping up, he said. "The majority of products are unable even
to guarantee 90 percent protection," he said, noting that his lab receives
between 200 and 300 new samples each day. Kaspersky did not offer any
specific recommendations, but you can avoid being bitten by most threats
if you follow Security Best Practices and Policies.
For full protection, desktop users need four best-of-breed pieces: anti-
virus, anti-spyware, host-based intrusion prevention and a personal
firewall. Kasperski's paper is actually very interesting. If you have
a bit of time, check it out:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Malware
The Top 10 Information Security Developments in 2005
Infosecurity SystemExperts, a security consultancy in Sudbury, Mass.,
reviewed its clients' experiences and compiled the top information
security trends for 2005. These points are a good, succinct overview
and will allow you to easily extrapolate for 2006.
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Top10
Quotes of the Week
"Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context
of professional journalism."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
Let's start with typewriters."
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
"Mars is there, waiting to be reached."
-- Buzz Aldrin
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TECH BRIEFING |
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Vista Gets Its First Security Patches... Huh?
We don't expect Vista until the end of the year, but Redmond
already released the first security patches. They are designed
to fix the December Community Technology Preview build, as well
as Beta 1. It's also a fix for the WMF (Windows Metafile) malware
attacks that hit earlier this month. More at EWEEK:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Vista
Military Clamping Down On Security
NetworkWorld reported that amid growing concern about hacker
infiltrations into military computers, the top commander for the
Department of Defense network operations has ordered a crackdown
on security.
Lt. General Charles Croom, commander of the Joint Task Force on
Global Network Operations and director of the Defense Information
Systems Agency (DISA), last week said a sweep is underway of all
Defense Department networks to uncover security holes amid a
get-tough policy.
"The attacks are coming from everywhere and they?re getting better,"
said Croom in his keynote address at the Department of Defense Cyber
Crime Conference here last week. "They?re exploiting weaknesses in
our detection tools."
The discovery of a botnet last November inside Defense Department
networks ? Jeanson James Ancheta, 20, was arrested by the FBI for
allegedly implanting and running the remotely controlled spyware
inside the department and elsewhere ? contributed to the decision
to clamp down security. Here is the article:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Botnet
When's a Rootkit Not a Rootkit? In Search of Definitions
News Analysis: An industry initiative to find a conclusive way to
describe rootkits is under way, but experts are worried that strict
definitions will only legitimize the use of a dangerous piece of
technology. The eWEEK site has the story
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Rootkit
Step-by-step Guide: How To Patch SQL Server
SQL Servers represent a significant security challenge for a number
of reasons. This first guide by Chip Andrews, director of research
and development for Special Ops Security Inc. and founder of the
SQLSecurity.com, will teach you how to track down problem servers
before getting them properly patched. First in a two-part series on
SQL Server patch deployment at SearchSQLServer.com
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-SQLServer
Top 10 Exchange Server Tips Of 2005
Check out SearchExchange.com's 10 most popular technical tips from the
past year. Topics range from performance to backup and recovery to
Outlook Web Access. (SearchExchange.com)
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Exchange_Server
Botnets Shrinking In Size, Harder To Trace
Security experts say botnets are increasingly becoming more difficult
to trace as criminal hackers have developed clever means to hide
them. InfoWorld has a good story about this that I liked:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Botnet2
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WINDOWS SERVER NEWS |
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Microsoft Simplifies Its Software Support Lifecycle
The end of the Microsoft Support Lifecycle will now coincide with
the release of Microsoft's monthly security bulletin release cycle,
instead of preceding it, and Exchange Server 5.5 customers are the
first to benefit from the change.
"We changed the end of support dates to map to the monthly security
update release cycle so our customers can take advantage of the
latest security updates," says Ines Vargas, group manager for
Microsoft Support Lifecycle Program. "By eliminating that 10-to-
15-day gap, we?re making sure that our dates make sense to our
customers ? that they?re even more consistent and predictable.":
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Lifecycle
Redmond Assaults Lotus Users
This week, Redmond released more migration tools to try to get
Lotus Users to migrate to Exchange. They updated their migration
and co-existence tools, and also announced two free utilities for
later this years that do simple data migration from Lotus Notes
apps. The only way to grow in this market is to replace your
competitor's products, and so IBM and Microsoft have been locked
in battle for a few years already.
We expect in 2006 the Microsoft Application Analyzer 2006 for
Lotus Domino, Microsoft Data Migrator 2006 for Lotus Domino and
three new Windows SharePoint Services application templates.
All these tools will help the migration process. But Redmond is
not going to have an easy time of it, as Lotus's application
development environment is really more sophisticated than
Exchange, so in some cases it is perceived as a downgrade.
Start here if you want to check out these tools:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Lotus
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WINDOWS SERVER THIRD PARTY NEWS |
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Total Desktop Lockdown With Only Free Tools
Your management has been asking for it: total desktop lockdown.
So, how do you get the job done using only free tools? This monster
newsletter by Jeremy Moskowitz from GPanswers.com gives you the
scoop! Additionally, learn about Jeremy's two and three day Group
Policy Workshops and how to get signed copies of his books:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-GPanswers
Migrated Data? Tools To Fix Broken Stuff
Sometimes internal links and shortcuts break. Here are tools
to fix these things! Locate and repair broken shortcuts in a
given folder or directory with a tool called ShortcutsMan:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Tools
LinkFixerPlus is the first application that automatically fixes
links in batches of files when conducting a file migration or
data migration due to: server upgrades, server consolidations,
server name changes, new storage servers, path name changes or
folder reorganizations. You can find it here:
http://www.wservernews.com/060123-LinkFixer
Sunbelt Software Hires Two More Rock Stars
Sunbelt Software announced the appointment of Joseph Wells to the
position of Chief Scientist, Security Research. Mr. Wells joins
Eric Howes, Director of Malware Research, as the second widely
recognized security expert to join Sunbelt's R&D team in January.
In his new role, Wells will be responsible for developing methods
to combat complex types of spyware and other threats.
Eric Howes will be responsible for spearheading Sunbelt's threat
research initiatives and manage the efforts of Sunbelt's threat
research team. He will be based out of Sunbelt's worldwide HQ
in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Howes, formerly an instructor and researcher at the University of
Illinois, has been studying spyware behavior for over five years.
Widely regarded as one of the foremost experts on spyware and its
malicious mechanisms, Howes has served as a panelist at the CNET
Antispyware Workshop and is an active and well-known participant
in many of the security forums dedicated to spyware research including
SpywareWarrior.com and DSLReports.com/BroadbandReports.com.
Wells, previously the chief antivirus architect at Fortinet, is
widely known for his work in research and development of security
software. He developed his first product, a virus/Trojan detector,
in 1988. Since then, he has made numerous technical contributions
to the industry while working for Certus International, Symantec's
Peter Norton Group, IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center and
Cybersoft. Joe was also CEO of WarLab, a subsidiary of Trend Micro.
"We are very excited to have them join our team," said Alex
Eckelberry, president of Sunbelt Software.
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WServerNews 'FAVE' LINKS |
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This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
|
|
WServerNews - PRODUCT OF THE WEEK |
|
Need To Protect Your Mobile Users?
Existing AV-tools alone are no longer cutting it. You need MORE.
Best-of-breed antispyware and a personal firewall with integrated
intrusion prevention now are a MUST to protect your road warriors.
Existing "security suites" are bloated, so take up enormous space
and slow down systems considerably. So leave your AV as it is, but
add Sunbelt's Kerio Personal Firewall and CounterSpy. These are the
small footprint, resource optimized, lightweight, powerful, best-of-breed
tools you need for laptop users. If you buy the two together, there is a
very attractive offer. Minimum order 25 units, ask your Rep.
Start here: http://www.wservernews.com/060123-Product_of_the_Week
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