If you are like most people, you probably have one or two email accounts with Yahoo!, Windows Live and Google. I applaud these Internet powerhouses for giving us free email accounts, but does Yahoo! Mail need to make us go blind when reading our emails? I mean, talk about Flash and JavaScript overkill! The first thing I noticed when I logged in recently was this HUGE space taken up at the top by an ad banner after you sign in.
Ethics
How to Reset A Windows Server 2008 Domain Password
I recently got a desperate call from a friend I helped to set up a domain running Windows server 2008. Apparently, something happened and nobody could log on to the server. My first thought was password expiration so I told them to just log on as domain admin and reset the passwords of the affected users.
Things got interesting when the next question was, “What is the password?”. Now, this was a year after the initial installation and I did not have the password – as a matter of principle, I encourage clients to change the initial password after an installation is completed so they have the assurance that I will not “sneak in”. They took my advise.
Your Business and the CIA Triad: What’s your Status?
The CIA triad is an information systems security term that refers to the critical task of data protection. The core goal of information security is to assure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all the sensitive data kept by an organization. That’s critical for the continuity of business operations, as well as legally and ethically required.
So what is the CIA triad?
It provides for safely using paper- and computer-based data systems, email, fax machines, telephones, web browsers, and even just talking out loud through the provision of:
Confidentiality of data – where you ensure that critical data is only accessed by people with proper approval and on a need to know basis.
Confidentiality is related to the broader concept of data privacy – the act of limiting access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII). In the US, a range of state and federal laws, with abbreviations like FERPA, FSMA, and HIPAA, set the legal terms of privacy.
Online Tracking & Spying is No Joke!
You’ve heard about it and read tons of articles about it, but until you actually experience it, you do not realize how unnerving online spying can be. As a Computer Security Consultant, I spend a lot of time on the internet reading, researching and writing. Naturally, I subscribe to a lot of content providers for white-papers, research reports etc.
Recently, I started noticing a trend that did not initially ring an alarm bell.
Disney Sued For Spying With Flash Cookies
We all love our web browsing and the internet has become a part of our daily existence. Unfortunately, the internet has also become a great tool for the invasion of our privacy by “marketing” companies who are doing everything they can to “stand out” and be “ahead of the curve”.
Watch Out: Copyright Lawsuit E-mail Scam
So I received an email from a very perceptive user the other day. The request was to look into a suspicious e-mail that accused this user of copyright infringement:
“To whom it may concern,
It has come to our attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. We have reserved all rights in the Work, which was first published in 2008, and we have registered the copyright.