Tag: security

Specify a Particular Version of Java for Self-Hosted Applets

Yesterday, I looked at how you can run an older version of Java in parallel with an existing installation and then explicitly use the older version for all Java applications. Whilst this is an easy solution to implement it does create potential security risks for computers that are using older versions of Java containing known …

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Beware of Facebook Offering to Switch Out of HTTPS

Facebook HTTP Fallback Message

Here’s a quick article for this evening. If you enabled the setting in Facebook to use HTTPS wherever possible you might find that when you attempt to use certain Facebook applications such as Networked Blogs (which I use to publish the blog to Facebook) it will come up with this screen: What people may not realise …

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Enable Stronger Security in Facebook

Facebook - Enable Secure Browsing

Here’s a quick tip and some news that might have flown under the radar for some. After the fuss and debacle created by the release of FireSheep and the ability for people to easily impersonate others on popular social networking sites such as Facebook it has become apparent that Facebook have now provided the ability …

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Don’t Need It? Don’t Install It!

These days with gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of hard drive space inside our computers it can be all too easy to give in and install anything and everything without much regard for the impact upon the performance of your system. Furthermore, it is still fairly common to receive new laptops and desktop machines full …

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Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Imminent

Just a quick update for this evening. The rumour mills are in full swing with reports of the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released very soon. Furthermore, there have been leaked copies of pre-release builds of the unified service pack floating around on the web. As a …

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Evernote – Cross-Platform Notes in the Cloud

Some people, such as myself, are not entirely and completed wedded to a single content and device ecosystem in that I have the Samsung Galaxy S as my mobile phone (an Android device for those unfamiliar with it), a Windows 7 custom built desktop  at home, a Windows 7 MSI Wind netbook and an Apple …

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Beware the Twitter Worm Spruiking Acai!

Just a general warning for those of you using Twitter. It seems that there is a worm that is compromising Twitter accounts by enticing people to click on a link regarding “acainews”. News about how the exploit itself is still fairly thin on the ground but it has been noted that accounts belonging to users …

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Microsoft Temporarily Disables URLs in Windows Live Messenger

If you are using an older version of Windows Live Messenger you may have noticed that URLs have been disabled (i.e. they are not clickable). Microsoft has taken this step to help prevent a worm spreading through its instant messaging service (although presumably someone could still copy and paste the link manually into a browser). …

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Hotmail Finally Implements Complete SSL

Hotmail - Connect with HTTPS

In a development that could be seen as a response to the havoc that FireSheep has created in the last week, Microsoft has finally enabled complete SSL security for its Hotmail service. Previously, authentication would be encrypted using SSL but users would then be switched back to plain HTTP (which of course is insecure). The …

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BlackSheep – Detect FireSheep on an Unsecured Wi-Fi Network

Last week, I wrote about FireSheep,  a newly released add-on for Firefox, allowed everyone including amateur hackers and snoopers the ability to not only identify individual social networking sessions currently in progress but also the ability to impersonate those people. This was made possible by intercepting cookies being broadcast in the clear (i.e. completely unencrypted) …

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