Sean Michael Kerner

Popular search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing can provide a wealth of information about potential security vulnerabilities in an enterprise’s websites and systems. The technique known as Google hacking is not in itself new, but a group of researchers is trying to take it to the next level to provide a viable security […]

It’s become a well-documented, if unfortunate, condition of social media that hackers and malware purveyors prey on online services such as Facebook and Twitter. Barracuda Networks decided that it was time to get scientific about it. The firm presented research this week examining the “crime rate” on Twitter, measured by the percentage of accounts that […]

Auto-complete, the feature in a browser that remembers and fills in entries on Web forms, is has become a staple of users’ Internet activity. Websites remember shipping addresses, passwords and credit card and bank account numbers. But that could also make the feature a ripe target for criminals. At the Black Hat security conference, the […]

At the Black Hat security conference, wireless networks are under constant peril from the various the various hackers, researchers and pranksters who converge on the conference each year. Aruba is using its cloud-based security system and a mesh networking configuration that provides for more efficient backhaul. The biggest challenge at Black Hat isn’t securing the […]

Do cyber attacks share any of the same characteristics of physical attacks the military faces all the time? In a keynote address at the Black Hat security conference, a retired U.S. General and former CIA director explained why he thinks cyber attacks are quite different, but still a very serious and evolving threat. eSecurity Planet […]

LAS VEGAS — What does it take to deliver and secure the wireless network at the Black Hat security conference? For the 2010, event, it’s a lot less manpower and physical hardware than you might think. Jon Green, product manager at wireless-networking vendor Aruba, explained to InternetNews.com that the company has done things a little […]

Isn’t anything safe? Not at Black Hat, not in this day and age. The latest threat warning comes from security researcher Craig Heffner, who detailed how hackers could commandeer a home router to penetrate a local area network. Cracking a router is easy, Heffner said. The trick, he explained, is using the router as a […]

Think just because your website uses SSL that it’s safe? Think again. According to a security research from Qualys, the chances are you’re doing it wrong. Ivan Ristic has been digging into the SSL space for some time now. Just last month he found that nearly 97 percent of websites using SSL don’t match the […]

From the ‘Flashing Security‘ files: LAS VEGAS. I’ve written my fair share of stories about Flash insecurity over the years. I’ve also written about new tools to secure Flash. At Black Hat, Felix “FX” Lindner launched a new tool called Blitzableiter under the GPLv3 open source license. The word – Blitzablienter – is a German […]

No software company is an island, at least not in the security wars. Microsoft came to the Black Hat security conference this year with a message of collaboration, reaching out both to the research community and Adobe in an effort to broaden its security collaboration. Microsoft has often had a testy relationship with the research […]

Over the past few years, SAP has been rapidly increasing the pace of its security notes, the warnings the company issues for vulnerabilities it has already patched. But even with the heightened focus, the threats persist. According to a researcher presenting at the Black Hat conference, SAP’s software is especially vulnerable to back-door attacks, in […]

When Dan Kaminsky made his revelation about the critical flaw in the DNS infrastructure, he was hailed for calling attention to a vulnerability that could have brought the Internet to its knees. Now, two years later, Kaminsky gathered with a panel of security experts, including the chief of ICANN, at the Black Hat conference to […]