BenchAddix

Intel to buy McAfee for $7.68billion

Nerm — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:03:10 +0000

Today Intel announced that they are purchasing antivirus software maker McAfee for $7.68 billion. This will be a major purchase for Intel’s software group as McAfee is a giant in the security market. Intel says this buyout will help progress their ability to meet the ever increasing need of hardware integrated security.

Windows Shell vulnerability patched by Microsoft

Nerm — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:41:19 +0000

Microsoft released an emergency patch on Monday. The patch was to fix a known vulnerability in the windows shell that allowed remote code execution via windows shortcuts (.lnk). Microsoft rated this patch as critical and released it immediately rather than waiting until their regular Patch Tuesday.

[Microsoft Security Advisory]

6 cool data center innovations list

Nerm — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:08:53 +0000

Networkworld has put together a list of 6 new cool innovations for improving data center technology. The article makes for a good read for those working in a large enterprise environment.

[6 cool innovations for the data center - networkworld.com]

DNS security enhancements start today

Nerm — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:55:37 +0000

Starting today the DNS Root Zone is getting DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) as an added layer of security against hackers. DNSSEC is an internet standard for protecting against cache poisoning by allowing websites to verify their domains with digital signatures and public-key encryption. Cache poisoning is where web traffic is redirected from a legitimate website to a fake site without the knowledge of the user or the legitimate websites administrator. This security flaw in current DNS architecture is also referred to as spoofing.

Misconfigured Cisco AP could allow unwanted access

Nerm — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:58:32 +0000

According to an article at networkworld researchers have found a potential security risk in Cisco’s Aironet 1200 Series Access Points if the devices are configured incorrectly. This is not an actual bug as it has more to do with user error.

“The issue has to do with Cisco’s Aironet 1200 Series Access Point, which is used to power centrally managed wireless LANs. The Aironet 1200 can be set to a WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) migration mode, in which it provides wireless access for devices that use either the insecure WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) protocol or the more secure WPA standard.

This gives companies a way to gradually move from WEP to WPA without immediately buying all-new, WPA-capable equipment. But while auditing the network of a customer who used the product, Core researchers discovered that even networks that had stopped using WEP devices could still be vulnerable, so long as the Aironet’s migration mode was enabled.

Researchers were able to force the access point to issue WEP broadcast packets, which they then used to crack the encryption key and gain access to the network.”

Anyone that is using this series of access points from Cisco might want to check and make sure that migration mode is not enabled unless absolutely necessary.

[networkworld]

New Mac Mini Teardown

Nerm — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:55:45 +0000

Recently Apple released its new Mac Mini computer. The folks at iFixit.com have already done a great teardown of the new mini.

The new Mac Mini sports an HDMI port this time around. It also comes with a 2.4Ghz or 2.66Ghz Intel Core2Duo and is expandable up to 8GB of RAM.

Teardown guide by iFixit…

Symantec identifies third more aggressive Conficker variant

Nerm — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:33:30 +0000

Symantec has identified a new variant of Downadup also known as Conficker. This is the third variant and is reportedly more aggressive than the two previous versions.

“W32.Downadup.C is a modular component for machines currently infected with Downadup. This variant of Downadup, also called Conficker, is not attempting to self-replicate and appears to behave more like a Trojan than a worm, says Vincent Weafer, vice president of Symantec Security Response. The W32 Downadup.C variant was discovered today in a Symantec honeypot and is still under investigation. Symantec expects to identify additional capabilities shortly, says Weafer, who adds that Symantec has not yet seen W32.Downadup.C in customer networks directly.”

[networkworld.com]