Earlier this month, 21 year-old hacker, Philip Gabriel Pettersson (aka “Stakkato”), was named in a five-count indictment that includes one count of intrusion and two counts of trade secret misappropriation involving Cisco Systems, Inc. Read more at UPI.com
If an up and coming hacker/prodigy can penetrate the network of a publicly traded, global corporation with a security division, imagine how easily he could ruin your business.
Soon after the Internet became a household word, so did “virus”. People learned that they had to protect their computers and email inbox or risk data loss, identity theft or malicious activity to their home machines. Over the last decade the internet has grown by leaps and bounds, and companies of every size now conduct business online.
While the software world has fought diligently to reduce the number of affective attack on the personal computer at home through anti-virus programs, hackers have turned their attentions to that which is most vital, but often not very well protected – the hosted website. A variety of tactics are being used by hackers against websites without regard to the size or industry of the business or organization. An American-based Internet security agency recently reported that Internet threats rose by two-thirds in April of 2009.
When it comes to hosting a blog on your website, WordPress is the platform of choice for many individuals, organizations, and businesses. The reasons for the popularity of this solution include breezy usability, pleasing aesthetics, and superior extensibility, just to name a few of the platform’s many highlights.
Extensibility through plugins is an important feature in WordPress. This tool allows users to build upon the original application and customize it according to their own needs, similar to add-ons in the popular Firefox web browser. Currently, there are thousands of WordPress plugins, but there’s one in particular enabling your blog to easily serve millions of visitors at once: The WordPress Super Cache.
On FireBlog, we’ve discussed several vulnerabilities found in open source applications, but it’s important to mention that vulnerabilities exist in even the most protected application code. Even Microsoft, which has a 1:1 ratio of programmers to quality control analysts, cannot always prevent their software from containing exploitable vulnerabilities.
In just the last few months, Microsoft has announced two vulnerabilities discovered in their popular Office application suite. Specifically, these vulnerabilities affect Excel and PowerPoint, and both flaws allow hackers to install malicious software or even hijack a computer completely. For more information about resolving these two vulnerabilities, read the full report by Computer World.
Following serious breaches in data security, most notably a loss of 25 million records on two unencrypted discs from Britain’s Revenue & Customs, the United Kingdom is implementing strict data loss policies on governmental organizations in the UK.
These new strict data loss prevention measures include file encryption, digital rights management, storage policies, data classification, and new staff security procedures. For the interesting specifics, click here.
Although your company may not deal in national secrets, your company should consider similar measures to prevent data loss, which can prevent the loss of confidential information, trade secrets, and vital business and customer records.
Despite an odd sounding name, Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), enabling users to build dynamic websites and powerful online applications.
If you’re not familiar, a content management system (CMS) is software that tracks, manages and displays every piece of content on your website. Content can include simple text, photos, music, videos, documents, or anything else you want on your website.
Joomla is one of the most popular website building and management software platforms due in large part to it’s ease-of-use and deep extensibility. Joomla is suitable for a wide variety of applications like powering corporate websites, online magazines, e-commerce portals, and small business websites around the world. This is just a handful of the popular websites powered by Joomla.
It’s an astonishing question. How would someone go about stealing the most advanced fighter jet in the American military arsenal? The answer: You break into the most secure computer network in the world and steal the plans.
According to recent reports, hackers have systematically stolen thousands of files about the U.S. military’s new Joint Strike Fighter, our most advanced fighter in history. Specifically, hackers stole files concerning the design and electrical system of the new fighter, by infiltrating Pentagon and defense contractor computers.
Additionally, hackers were able to break into air traffic control systems operated by the U.S. Air Force. This gave them the opportunity to view the location of any U.S. military aircraft, in real time. While Department of Defense and Pentagon officials believe attacks such as these are the result of foreign states, rather than the work of individuals or small groups, such extraordinary attacks raise numerous questions about computer security in general.
Even if you’ve never heard of Drupal, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced it.
Drupal is a powerful and popular open source CMS (content management system) which enables users to build and showcase dynamic website applications. Becoming a favored tool in website development, Drupal is utilized by thousands of companies, such as Yahoo, Warner Bros, and The New York Observer. Equipped with a powerful blend of features, Drupal supports a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites.
By using Drupal plug-ins, your website can provide beneficial features such as an internet forum, blogging platform, customizable layouts, individual user accounts, RSS feeds, and many more exciting possibilities. Since Drupal is an open source application, it is completely free to use, making it essentially a “priceless” CMS.
During the height of March Madness, college basketball fans around the country performed hundreds of thousands of searches for brackets, inside scoops, roster information, breaking news, pools, and more. In their hunt for information, many visited unfamiliar websites which promised what they sought, only to have their computer infected and their private data stolen.
Investigators have now concluded that cybercriminals were poisoning Google search results, misdirecting innocent sports fans to websites which automatically downloaded and installed malicious programs on the victim’s computer.
These SEO (Search Engine Optimization) attacks have become increasingly popular among cyber gangs, who had been redirecting hapless victims to sales pitches for worthless antispyware subscriptions. Recently, however, these cybercriminals have expanded their malicious attacks to infect your computer with code as soon as you load a compromised web page, turning your computer into an unwitting accomplice in spreading malicious software and stealing your private data in the process.
Cybercriminals have also begun poisoning Google search results for legitimate websites, taking advantage of poorly written Javascript code on websites such as USAToday.com and Wired.com, exploiting the site’s Javascript by injecting their own malicious code. Unfortunately, experts believe these attacks will continue to spread to thousands of websites in the near future, which means your website could soon become a victim.
Having a security-focused web hosting provider can help prevent your website from becoming the malicious tool of another. Before you trust any hosting provider with your website, ask them how they handle security for your website. At FireHost, we use three layers of application protection to catch, stop, and prevent attacks and manipulation. Our first priority is providing security to our clients, which we deliver through dynamic intrusion prevention.
Once you have taken the appropriate measures to secure your website, FireHost can help provide your customers assurance that your website is secure and safe. We will purchase and install McAfee Secure Seals and SSL Certificates on your website, clearly demonstrating your website’s security and giving your customers confidence in doing business through your website.
To protect your website and business with industry leading secure hosting, visit FireHost.com and contact a FireHost Agent today.
