News

• How to avoid 5 common email management mistakes

  Email managers have a lot at stake. After all, the volume of global electronic messages sent via email dwarfs all other forms of electronic communication, including social networking. Since the inception of electronic mail, which, according to some Internet historians, can be traced to a small mainframe app called 'MAILBOX' from the mid-1960s, human-to-human messages have been created, transmitted and stored in electronic format. But early email administrators could hardly have envisioned the complexity of current email infrastructure and the concomitant maze of technical, security, business and regulatory challenges.

• Who is threatening the security of your network?

  The myriad threats to public, private and U.S. government networks is getting a ton of attention in Washington, D.C., this week as the House gets ready to debate yet another cybersecurity bill.

• IRS warns of Dirty Dozen 2012 tax scams

  The Internal Revenue Service this week issued its annual "Dirty Dozen" ranking of tax scams the agency says tend to surface around tax season each year.

• Download InfoWorld's Malware Deep Dive report

  If malware were biological, the world would be in the grip of the worst pandemic in history. In 2009, more than 25 million unique malware programs were identified, more than all the malware programs ever created in all previous years. No one need wonder what all that malware is trying to do: It's trying to steal money -- through data theft, bank transfers, stolen passwords, or swiped identities.

• IRS helps bust 105 people in massive identity theft crackdown

  The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice teamed up for a coast-to-coast crackdown on identity thieves this week.

• For Android, paid mobile security is better: Study

  As with your computer, the best defense against malware is a good offense in the form of security software. Paid mobile security apps are much better at detecting malware in Android devices than free antivirus applications, according to a study by AV Test today. If your business relies at all on smartphones, make sure that you and your employees are protected with the right mobile security package.

• Microsoft leaves Duqu worm exploit unpatched

  Today is Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday for the month of November--the eleventh Patch Tuesday of 2011. It is a light month from Microsoft, with only four security bulletins. The big news, though, is that a zero day flaw being exploited by the Duqu worm is not among the vulnerabilities fixed by Microsoft today.

• Microsoft, Adobe unleash flood of security updates

  Today is Patch Tuesday again. The ninth of the year already. Microsoft has released five new security bulletins, and Adobe has joined the party with some security patching of its own today. With all of the vulnerabilities and updates, though, you need to take a step back to prioritize and figure out which patches are most urgent.

• Scammers shift targets beyond the PC

  Career criminal Willie Sutton was often quoted saying that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." The legend sounds good, but Sutton actually said in his biography, "Go where the money is...and go there often."

• Android users least prepared for rise in mobile malware

  An explosion in mobile malware in the first half of 2011 has exponentially increased the chance of an Android device getting infected according to one study. Unfortunately for Android users, another study shows that they are the least aware of security concerns and least prepared to protect their smartphone or tablet from malware.

• Experts disagree on Android call recording 'Trojan'

  According to some headlines, the sky is falling on Android. No, I am not referring to the headlines predicting that the iPhone 5 will double Apple's smartphone market share and leave Android in its dust. I am referring to reports that a new Trojan has infiltrated the Android ecosystem. Some experts, however, suggest this may not be malware, but simply an app working as intended.

• MacDefender evolves, cat-and-mouse security comes to Mac

  Mac users and those who offer administration and support to them find themselves in the security rat race for the first time, as MacDefender scareware has rapidly adapted to avoid Apple's detection.

• Malware spikes, spam plummets, says report

  It has been the busiest quarter on record for malware according to a new report from McAfee. The McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2011 claims six million unique malware samples were recorded during the first quarter of 2011, and also points out that spam traffic is down, and mobile malware threats are on the rise.

• Is MacDefender malware a sign of the Macpocalypse?

  There is a new world order. MacDefender, and subsequently MacGuard, demonstrate that the inherent security by obscurity of the Mac is fading, and that attackers are looking at the bigger picture.

• Hotmail targeted by zero-day attack

  Hotmail accounts were recently targeted by an attacking against a zero-day vulnerability in the Microsoft Webmail system. The attack is more insidious than some because it executes without user intervention when a malicious email is opened.