Larry Barrett

While a number of high-profile data breaches are a result of nefarious criminals or mischievous hackers, many are also due to simple mistakes — human or otherwise. Witness the latest accidental release of confidential data from banking giant HSBC. eSecurity Planet has the story. HSBC Bank officials acknowledged late last week that a bug in […]

Spam continues to be a threat as the latest report from eSecuityPlanet.com details, security vendor McAfee is warning of the latest threat involving a phoney H1NI vaccination and registration spam. In response to the latest in a long line of socially engineered spam attacks, McAfee and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are warning people […]

Stolen or lost laptops are becoming one of the most prevalent vectors for data loss. eSecurity Planet looks at the latest case of how sensitive data residing on a notebook PC has gone missing — potentially affecting thousands. Officials at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee this week said they are in the process […]

Looking to get your business on the cloud? You’re not alone: Interest in cloud computing software and infrastructure is at an all-time high. Now Verizon is moving to cash in with an offering designed to help ease companies into leveraging the new technology. Datamation has the story. Verizon on Tuesday said it will now begin […]

With data breaches on the rise, it pays to be careful. That’s doubly true when your enterprise is relying on removable devices and mobile computing solutions: USB drives, removable hard drives and notebooks have a pronounced tendency to walk away — along with their valuable data. eSecurityPlanet.com has the story on McAfee’s solutions to cope […]

Reports indicate that IBM on Monday is set to acquire Guardium, a privately held Israeli company that develops software applications that protects enterprise databases from being deliberately or accidentally accessed by unauthorized users. According to financial newspaper TheMarker, IBM (NYSE: IBM) will pay $225 million for the 60-employee company which was originally based in Israel […]

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) this week warned that the current practice of redirecting Internet users to either a third-party Web site or portal when users accidentally misspell a Web address or enter an invalid domain name could “destabilize” the Internet. The organization documented its disdain for so-called synthesized DNS responses […]

CA is warning Internet users searching for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe or turkey-cooking directions to be on high alert for the latest batch of socially engineered malware traps. In a new blog posting, CA (NASDAQ: CA) security team members this week have identified numerous malicious Thanksgiving-related links designed to ferret out personal data from […]

Data storage software and device maker EMC (NYSE: EMC) gave investors a reason for pause Tuesday when it confirmed in an SEC filing that it would absorb a $100 million restructuring charge in its fourth quarter that will trim earnings by $0.05 a share. The stock closed off $0.20 a share in the regular trading […]

Wedbush analyst Michael Nemeroff offered up conflicting views Tuesday on Salesforce and SAP — a pair of enterprise software rivals that appear to be headed in opposite directions going into the new decade. Nemeroff raised Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) from a “neutral” rating to “outperform,” saying that the on-demand software vendor has a “strong and stable […]

SideJackers, the hackers who hang out near popular Wi-Fi hotspots hoping to intercept user IDs and passwords, are expected to come out in record numbers this holiday shopping season, forcing wireless providers and their customers to step up their security efforts. Verizon on Tuesday issued what it’s calling a “Cyber Monday Alert,” a warning and […]

Smartphones keep employees connected to their work and each other and unquestionably improve their efficiency but a recent survey of 100 European IT executives found that most companies have no idea just how much sensitive data is shared and housed on employees’ mobile devices. From a security standpoint, this disconnect poses significant problems for companies […]