Stories by Joan Goodchild

In Pictures: 9 classic hacking, phishing and social engineering lies

Whether it is on the phone, online or in person, here are ten lies hackers, phishers and social engineers will tell you to get what they want

In Pictures: Security mistakes right at your workspace

This workspace contains 10 security mistakes. Can you spot the errors that put confidential information at risk?

In Pictures: 20 notorious worms, viruses and botnets

The earliest worms and viruses were created for geeky fun and did little harm - oh, how times have changed. Here are 20 worms, viruses and botnets that show the evolution of malware, from Creeper to Flame.

10 hacks that made headlines

In our first Rogues Gallery, we looked at ten infamous social engineers -- con men who exploited human weaknesses rather than technical vulnerabilities.

5 more dirty tricks: Social engineers' latest pick-up lines

You may now be savvy enough to know that when a friend reaches out on Facebook and says they've been mugged in London and are in desperate need of cash, that it's a scam. But social engineers, the criminals that pull off these kinds of ploys by trying to trick you, are one step ahead.

Twitter scam claims to get you more followers

A scam that has been making its way around Twitter for some time has resurfaced recently and promises to increase a user's followers, but really gives control of one's account to a questionable third party.

Securing Google Apps: A CIO Q&A

Boston-based Bay Cove Human Services is a non-profit organization that offers assistance and service to 4,000 people and families in Massachusetts. CIO Hilary Croach has several technology challenges to contend with. For starters, the agency has its hands in a number of service areas, including helping individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, and those who need support with aging. With about 140 locations around Eastern Massachusetts, Bay Cove's employees and IT operations are scattered.

Osama Bin Laden news spurs wave of scams, malware

Malware creators are already using the news of Osama Bin Laden's death as a opportunity to try and dupe people into clicking on malicious links. According to cloud-security firm Zscaler, researchers were already seeing malicious sites emerge to capitalize on the news within hours of the announcement.

Rustock botnet goes quiet, reason for takedown unclear

Notorious spam botnet Rustock has gone quiet and security analysts aren't sure why.

Three simple reasons VoIP abuse will grow

In its recent annual security report, Cisco predicted VOIP abuse as a potential area for cyber crime growth.

Botnets: Size isn't everything, says new report

Published figures estimating the size and scope of botnets are often inaccurate and do not reflect the threat these compromised networks pose to security, according to research released this week by ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency.

Travel security in the Middle East and North Africa

Many of us watch the events in the Middle East and North Africa unfold from afar. But for businesses with operations in these global regions of political unrest, protests, rebel uprising and deteriorating security often force difficult and immediate decisions for the sake of keeping

4 reasons why Facebook and vanity don't mix

My colleague, Bill Brenner, has a t-shirt he likes to wear that basically says social networking feeds the darker sides of human nature. The shirt is a parody of a Venn Diagram and shows the relationship between sites like Facebook and Twitter to what some might called undesirable character traits, such as ADHD, stalking and narcissism.

Reasons trustworthy sites can no longer be trusted

Last year, malware became increasingly more common on popular and trusted domains, according to research released this week by security firm Blue Coat Systems. Migration to popular hacked sites with trusted reputations and acceptable-use category ratings was the primary theme for hosting malware delivery infrastructure, researchers claim.

Security firm: Facebook is biggest mobile malware threat

The biggest mobile infection threat isn't malware that specifically targets mobile devices, according to new research from security firm BitDefender. Malware that targets Facebook is a far bigger problem for mobile security, the firm claims.