The newest release in the Ubuntu Linux series has escaped into the wild today. If you recall the last Ubuntu release was a long term support release and this one is intended to be a bit more “edgy” or in this case “intrepid”. Download from Ubuntu, or read a review from linux format. It has, of course, the newest releases of the major desktop packages as well as improved networking support. They are trying to focus on making mobile connectivity even better in this release. There is new artwork as well. There is a new mobile USB install option which is a download image that can be written to a USB drive for installing on the netbook class of machines. Judging from Linux Format’s review it’s looking like a solid release.
Tag: loss
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Varying Degrees of Password Security
Last week we talked about creating strong passwords, but should we use different passwords for every site? It’s best practice to do just that. Do they all have to be really hard passwords? Again ideally, yes. So, how can we keep up password spreadsheet? Big sheet of paper? Password management program. Some advantages of password management programs are that many are equipped with encryption. In other words one password locks the whole list away. The bad news is if you lose or forget that password you are locked out of everything. Lists are generally bad because with access to your pc, your list is easy to get at.
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The ways data is stolen..
Brian Krebs highlights a study on data theft/breaches. There are some interesting results (just 1/3 of data breaches were from criminal hacking, 29% from stolen laptops or storage media, 23% from improper disclosure of information (oops I published all our customers information on the website.) and 7% from inside sources – employees taking/selling data, just 2% from lost backup tapes (wouldn’t that fall under storage media?)
The leaders in data loss seem to be Colleges and Universities, followed by the Government and then businesses.
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Ernst & Young loses laptop, exposes almost 250k hotels.com customers – database mayhem roundup
The Register is reporting on Ernst & Young’s loss of a laptop which had information on around 243,000 hotels.com customers. Apparently Hotels.com was notified on May 3rd. Apparently the laptop made use of a password as the only security measure. From the article….
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Microsoft May 2006 patch Tuesday updates
Now that the April patches have been patched…. it’s time to look forward to what updates we’ll be seeing from Microsoft this coming Tuesday May 9th… There are 3 expected updates for May, 2 for Windows and one for Exchange Server. The Exchange update is listed as critical as is AT LEAST one of the two Windows patches.
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WMF patch is the first patch for Microsoft Vista
It seems the WMF patch that was recently released for Windows 2000 and XP (and 2003) has been ported to Microsoft Windows Vista Beta…. This makes it the first security patch for Vista. eweek has an article on the issue. So, if you’re beta testing Vista, get it updated ASAP. Hopefully though, if you’re beta-testing it’s not a production machine and no great loss if you get infested with beaucoup spyware….
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Microsoft sued over software flaw
A South Korean man claims that Microsoft hid information about a flaw in Windows and has filed suit against the Operating System maker.
Jang Young-ha, 47, filed the lawsuit against Microsoft with the Suwon District Court on charges of deception, accusing the US software giant of selling the flawed program for use in handheld electronic devices.
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Another interesting spyaxe note
Incidents.org has a note on a recently noted trojan.spaxe.exe, that when on a system will mimic the windows notification dialogue “bubble” near the system tray with the following text.
“Your computer is infected!
Windows has detected spyware infection.It is recommended to use special antispyware tools to prevent data loss.
Windows will now download and install the most up-to-date antispyware for you.Click here to protect your computer from spyware.”
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Some companies unable to secure your data
It’s sad, but true. Some companies are just plain irresponsible with your data. Whether it be credit card information, or address and phone number there are those that aren’t good about keeping their databases private. The securityfix is reporting that a recent survey found 12% of people had been notified by companies that they did business with over a breach of security resulting in data loss. Apparently 20% of those, closed accounts subsequently.