security

Features

• 13 security myths you'll hear - but should you believe?

  They're "security myths", oft-repeated and generally accepted notions about IT security that arguably are simply not true - in order words, it's just a myth. We asked security experts, consultants, vendors and enterprise security managers to share their favorite "security myths" with us. Here are 13 of them.

• 2011's biggest security snafus

  Perhaps it was an omen of what was to come when the city of San Francisco on New Year's Eve 2010 couldn't get a backup system running in its Emergency Operations Center because no one knew the password.

• Guide: How to bulletproof your website

  'Tis the season to begin ramping up online shopping activity, and for retailers that means doing all they can to ensure their websites are up, highly available and able to handle peak capacity. Looming in many IT managers' minds is the cautionary tale of Target, whose website crashed twice after it was inundated by an unprecedented number of online shoppers when the retailer began selling clothing and accessories from high-end Italian fashion company Missoni.

• Hackers target IPv6

  If your IPv6 strategy is to delay implementation as long as you can, you still must address IPv6 security concerns right now.

• Want better Wi-Fi? Five things you need

  Laptops used to be the only devices on the company's wireless network. But Wi-Fi has become a ubiquitous standard used by a host of devices -- including desktop PCs, laptops, netbooks, tablets, smartphones, printers, storage devices, and projectors.

• Gartner: The top 10 strategic technology trends for 2012

  ORLANDO -- The technology that makes up many of the systems in the ITworld today is at a critical juncture and in the next five years everything from mobile devices and applications to servers and social networking will impact IT in ways companies need to prepare for now, Gartner Vice President David Cearley says.

• Apple iOS: Why it's the most secure OS, period

  In June 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and the device quickly took off to become a major brand in the smartphone market. Yet when the iPhone shipped, security on the mobile operating system was nearly nonexistent. Missing from the initial iOS (then called iPhone OS) were many of the security features that modern-day desktop software has as a matter of course, such as data-execution protection (DEP) and address-space layout randomization (ASLR). Apple's cachet lured security researchers to test the platform, and in less than a month, a trio had released details on the first vulnerability: an exploitable flaw in the mobile Safari browser.

• Internal security top of mind for AusCERT

  When a delegate list includes people from the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS), AusCERT 2011 organisers know all too well that their security may be tested.

• Top 10 hacking movies

  2011 so far has been filled with news of high-profile hacking - the Epsilon data breach, Microsoft and the various attempts of the nefarious Anonymous. Even the Australian Government copped a little unwanted interest. With this in mind, we thought it was time to track down the top ten Hollywood movies about hacking.

• The RSA Hack FAQ

  In the aftermath of RSA saying that its SecureID two-factor authentication tokens may have been compromised in a data breach of the company's network, here are some key questions and answers about the situation.

• PDF files most trusted...and most targeted

  PDF files are one of the most common, and most trusted document formats out there. However, that trust, combined with the cross-platform use of PDFs makes the Adobe file format one of the most targeted and exploited by malicious attacks as well.

• Steps to secure your smartphone against data theft

  You may already know the basics of Internet security and keeping your personal data private while browsing the Web: Use a firewall, don't open attachments you aren't expecting, and never follow links from strangers. But what about your smartphone? The ease with which security researcher Georgia Weidman was able to infect Android phones with her custom botnet during the 2011 ShmooCon security conference suggests that anyone concerned about the privacy of the personal data stored on their smartphone should think twice before downloading dubious or otherwise untrustworthy apps.

• What cloud computing means for the real world

  There are more than a few critics of cloud computing, even at PCWorld; I'm probably one of them. But I've been turning over in my mind different perspectives on the cloud. I've tried to set aside the views of the IT executive, who seems to dominate the debate.

• How DRM could ensure cloud security

  Yet another survey is indicating that security is a big issue for those intending to take up cloud computing.

• Will DDoS Attacks Take Over the Internet?

  Forget tablet computers or smartphones. 2010 was the year of the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, if network security outfit Arbor Networks is to be believed.