Practical Technology

One important piece of a multilevel security defense for companies of almost any size is network access control (NAC), which lets you enforce policies for end-user machines. The basic idea behind NAC — which can include hardware, software or a combination — is deceptively simple. Before any end user’s computer — an endpoint — is [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve long thought that someday Windows security problems could end up fouling up the Internet for everyone. That day may be arriving. That’s not just me being paranoid about Windows. That’s the ISC (Internet Storm Center), the group that tracks the overall health of the Internet, wondering whether the newly discovered ‘LNK” exploit might be [...]

[Read more →]

Back when I was a younger man, I was a Beltway Bandit. What that means is that I worked as a technical contractor for the federal government. In my case, I worked for several years for NASA and NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command). Then, I worked with numerous bright developers, network engineers and system administrators. [...]

[Read more →]

Now, this is different. A computer cracker, Luis Mijangos of Santa Ana, CA has been arrested by the FBI for taking over more than 100 Windows PCs and used what he found on them to extort sexually explicit videos from women and teenage girls by threatening to release their personal data. It started, from reports, [...]

[Read more →]

OK, I get why many Windows users haven’t moved from XP to Windows 7. For one thing, while you can upgrade some XP PCs to Windows 7, chances are you really need to buy a new PC. And, whether you’re just buying a new PC for yourself or a few thousand for your company, cash [...]

[Read more →]