eEye Releases Free Vulnerability Scanner »

eEye has created a scanner which will detect and flag IP addresses that are vulnerable to the coming latest worm attack. Microsoft released patches on Tuesday that prevent this attack. Once they did that, hackers reverse engineered the patch to pinpoint the vulnerability. In spite of the Microsoft patch, many users do not regularly download these updates and are therefore at risk.
eEye Digital Security to the rescue. Download the free scanner and it will check the IP addresses for up to 16 computers and tell you if you are vulnerable. All you have to provide is a valid email address. That is a pretty good deal to me.

Download the scanner here.

Is Firefox Safer than Internet Explorer? »

About 2 years ago, there was a migration to Firefox by many. They believed that Firefox was a safer web browser than Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, is that the case? There have been recent attacks on Firefox that have led to Mozilla releasing security patches to plug the holes.

In fact, Infostealer.Snifula is a an example. This bug downloads malicious Trojans onto a user’s computer that can subsequently steal any information the user types into a form on the Web, according to Dave Cole, director of the Symantec Security Response group.

This is the most sophisticated attack against Mozilla to date and it probably indicates that hackers are extending their reach beyond Internet Explorer.

What does this mean for the average web surfer? The same rules apply Click here to read more »

Mozilla to Update Firefox (again) »

If you are a user of Firefox, you should make sure you are updated. Mozilla Corp. will update Firefox for the second time in seven days because last week’s v. 1.5.0.5 introduced a bug to the browser, the company said Monday.According to online notes of the company’s weekly development meeting, a fix to Firefox included in last week’s 1.5.0.5 injected a new bug that stopped the Windows Media Player plug-in from working on some sites.

To fix the new flaw, Mozilla will unveil Firefox 1.5.0.6 Tuesday night “if everything goes smoothly,” read minutes from the weekly status meeting held Monday afternoon. The update will be posted on the Mozilla site for download and pushed to current users via the browser’s built-in automatic update tool.

Firefox 1.5.0.5 was released last Wednesday, July 26, to plug 13 vulnerabilities, 8 of which were tagged as “critical” by the Mountain View, Calif. open-source developer.

In other Mozilla news, the company also set the end of August as the roll-out date for the first beta of the new Thunderbird e-mail client. Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1 hit the company’s download servers last Thursday.

Test Your VoIP Speed »

Jim at Skype Journal turned us on to a great VoIP tool. The next time you are in a hotel or a coffeeshop that offers WiFi, click over to MyVoIPSpeed and test the connection before you fire up Skype or Gizmo. It will give you an extensive results page showing connection speed and how good the signal quality will be if you use VoIP. Very handy FREE tool!

GuardID Systems Releases ID Vault »

from K.C. Jones at TechWeb

ID Vault is a a single-function USB token, contains a smart card chip that stores user names and passwords for all online accounts. It was created by GuardID Systems to protect users against phishing, pharming and keystroke logging. They forecast shipping 250,000 ID Vaults.Users can plug the “digital vault” into their PCs and click on icons for secured favorites. From there, they can choose the accounts they want to access. Pages loads automatically, saving the effort of launching browsers. The device sends encrypted data without requiring users to type access codes.

ID Vault relies on proprietary software to monitor and update IP addresses on a database of 4,000 financial institutions. If a hacker tries redirecting users to an invalid site, the program warns that it is not “compatible.”

If someone steals an ID Vault and attempts to log on to the owner’s accounts, the information is wiped Click here to read more »