The state of New York, USA has sent out a message to advertisers: You will be held responsible when your ads end up on consumers computers without notice and consent.
That's what New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had to say after settling a lawsuit that forces companies to get consent before they use pop-ups for advertising.
Microsoft has released the consumer version of the latest update to the worlds most used operating system.
That's right - Windows Vista, after more than five years in the making, is for sale at retail stores starting today.
Are we as "wow-ed" by Vista as Bill Gates has promised we would be? We have been hearing a lot about Vistas new "Aero" graphical interface and security improvements.
Rule number one in e-mail safety is never open suspicious messages.
But even after hearing that over and over again, we computer users do click without using our better judgement. And sometimes we even take the bait.
Here's a security update to keep in mind as we sort through our e-mail this morning. Cyber criminals have worked quickly to capitalize on curiosity over the deadly storm that moved through Europe to pull off their latest virus-spreading scheme.
Malicious e-mails have been sent out to thousands of people, with the subject "230 Dead As Storm Batters Europe," and with an executable file attachment containing the Small.DAM Trojan. If executed, it can create a back door that hackers can use to take control of your PC.
Today we bring you two cyber-crime updates of shocking proportions.
The first news story surprises us because of the sheer size of the crime. Two botnet operators who allegedly ran a network of 1.5 million computers may spend up to three years behind bars, Dutch authorities say.
The latest court case involving spyware that has all the online world talking is quite a bit different from the other legal cases we've told you about.
Here's some news you might not be expecting: spam has taken a sudden nose-dive in the past week. Spam levels suddenly dropped 30 percent last week, reports are saying.
We wish we could say that the let-up was brought on by vigilance in the struggle to keep the junk out of our inboxes.
Is age a factor when it comes to Internet use? Even though we sometimes think of computer technology being limited to a younger generation, it's not always the case.
Studies are showing that the number of seniors that surf the web is on the rise, with some calling them the fastest growing demographic. Last January, a Pew Internet report found that 34 percent of Americans age 65 and older go online, up from 29 percent in January 2005.
This January marked the launch of MoAB, or the "Month of Apple Bugs."
Each day this month, two researchers are releasing details about previously undisclosed Mac OS X or Apple application security bugs in order to put the spotlight on Apple software vulnerabilities.
Yesterday we sent you to PC World for a review of 2006. Today it's time to look ahead and prepare for tomorrow.
2007 cyber criminals will be more sophisticated in their attack on unsuspecting victims. As computer users slowly become educated about 'phishing' scams, the scammers will need to come up with new ideas, certainly targeting social networking websites like myspace.com, as well as instant messenger programs and internet telephone programs like Skype.
'Tis the season for the end-of-year reviews as well as predictions for what is ahead.
Today we send you to PC World for 2006: The Year in Security.
Come back again tomorrow for a peek at security and technology predictions for 2007.
Our security words of wisdom from last week are still true for this week: don't open or save Word files that you receive from untrusted sources, or even ones that you receive unexpectedly from someone you trust.
Just days after warnings of the first flaw, Microsoft told us about a second zero-day flaw, said to affect Word 2000, 2002, 2003 and Word Viewer. Microsofts Patch Tuesday fell on December 12th, but did not include fixes for the two flaws.
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