LaserShield Systems, Inc. announced that the LaserShield Instant Security System is now available nationwide through Circuit City, Costco.com, selected Home Depot locations, and other online retailers. LaserShield is the first affordable plug-and-go security system featuring a 105-decibel alarm and professional 24/7 monitoring with emergency response. It is the first professional security system designed for both renters and people with lower credit scores who could not normally qualify for the benefit of an affordable, effective security system.

LaserShield is ideal for single family homes, apartments, offices and dorm rooms so parents can help protect children against on and off campus crime. LaserShield will demo the system at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held next week in Las Vegas from January 7-10, 2008.

“Circuit City is bringing lifesaving technology to its customers in the form of an affordable, off-the-shelf product that makes home security accessible to everyone,” said Anthony Dohrmann, CEO, LaserShield Systems. “We have listened to what consumers have been asking for and most importantly, consumers that rent. Renters are burglarized 71% more than homeowners. We have created a system that gets these people the help they need – when they need it most. And they can relocate the system and service instantly, in the event they move.”

The $199.95 starter system includes a master alarm unit, a wireless motion detector and two keychain remotes. Customers can activate Rapid Response Monitoring Service on the day of purchase for $19.95 on a month-to-month basis with no long-term contracts or commitments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Security predictions released today by Arbor
Networks reveals that the iPhone will be a major target for
cybercriminals in 2008. The forecast also highlights Chinese specific
crime as a major issue for the New Year.

Arbor’s Security and Engineering Response Team (ASERT), who have put
together the forecasts, believe that the iPhone will become the victim
of a serious attack in 2008. These assaults are likely to be in the form
of drive by attacks - malware embedded into seemingly harmless
information, images or other media that actually perform dangerous
actions when rendered on the iPhone’s Web browser. With the scrutiny
the iPhone has received since its launch earlier this year over network
lock-in, ASERT believes that hackers will be enticed by the possibility
of attacking Apple users and the opportunity to “be the first” to hack a
new platform.

Increase in Chinese cybercrime for 2008

ASERT has also predicted a rise in ‘Chinese on Chinese’ cybercrime. In
the past year the team has seen a dramatic increase in the attention
paid to Chinese-language specific software such as QQ Messenger and a
number of malware samples focused on stealing users credentials. Arbor
expects this trend to multiply in 2008 as more Chinese users come
online, more software is written for the market and Chinese
cybercriminals become increasingly more sophisticated and organised.

Storm botnet hijacking and Peer-to-Peer

The Storm botnet is another vulnerability that ASERT believe will be
prevalent in 2008. Although the Storm botnet has been quiet for some
time, there are still tens of thousands of infected PCs around the
world. Arbor believes this presents a too lucrative an opportunity to be
passed up and anticipate a hacker hijacking the bots for their own gain
in the New Year.

Spammers are highly motivated by financial gains and are not afraid to
push technological boundaries to develop new attacks. Arbor envisages an
attack that will eclipse the storm worm vulnerability that caused havoc
in 2007 and in 2008 we will see a much larger, but similar (spam) botnet
designed to target P2P networks.

“2007 was the year of the browser exploit, the data breach, spyware and
the storm worm. We expect 2008 to be the year of the iPhone attack, the
Chinese Hacker, P2P network spammers and the hijacking of the Storm
botnet,” said Jose Nazario, senior security engineer at Arbor Networks.
“Online fraud is soaring and security attacks are now being used in
countless and ever more sophisticated ways to both steal and launder
money. Financial and other confidential data is being obtained, sold and
utilised in the highly developed black market. In 2008 this market will
continue to grow and it is important that business implement the
processes and technology necessary to protect themselves and their
customers.”

Looks like Malcor is at it again. With “his” love to disable Apple-centric sites or sites that are just too heavy on Apple “propaganda”, Maclor simply hacks the site with a picture of rotting apples and the message (full sized image):

Notice

This website has been flagged for excessive Apple fanboism, and has been taken down for 24 hours.

This is a message to the rest of the Mac community, so listen up. Ever heard of hubris?
Tone it down, and you will not be attacked. Everyone else is open game.

~ malcor

Nothing glamorious, just painful for the website administrator to clean up. Maclor has been on a renegade path to shut down “fanboy” sites one day at a time and the question is, which will be the next site?

Excuse us now while we find something we can say nice about Microsoft so we can get that into a post. (Thankfully, we have been posting lots of non-Apple stuff lately. )

UPDATE: This was just a hoax. I’m very disappointed in MacApper (its response) and MacHeist and the other sites that “teamed” up to do this. Just not right and plain stupid. MacApper’s blaming of WordPress and it’s security was suspicious and caused undo pain to thousands of readers running WordPress. I enjoy reading MacApper but I’ll always wonder about it’s editoral opinion on software reviews and such in the future.

Corsair today launched the “Flash Padlock” family of affordable USB 2.0 drives, the safest way to secure your data while on the go. Priced starting at only $29.99 USD MSRP, the Flash Padlock line of affordable USB 2.0 flash drives address the need for secure data storage through hardware technology, rather than software. Flash Padlock features “Auto-Locking,” so the user doesn’t need to remember to enable the protective feature — It will automatically lock and protect itself after removal from the computer.

With its simple touch-pad security PIN entry system, Flash Padlock can be unlocked quickly and confidentially for use as a standard USB flash data drive. Flash Padlock is impervious to “brute force” hacks or keystroke loggers that would defeat a software secured USB flash drive.

Flash Padlock is immediately available in two capacities:

• Flash Padlock 1GB ~ $29.99 USD MSRP
• Flash Padlock 2GB ~ $39.99 USD MSRP

Flash Padlock Security Features Include: Read the rest of this entry »

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. today announced the availability of ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.1 for the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. ZoneAlarm Antivirus and the free ZoneAlarm firewall were also made available today for Vista.

Check Point is the first major security vendor to utilize the next generation Windows Filtering Platform application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Vista. This also marks the first time that ZoneAlarm’s exclusive Operating System Firewall protection has been made available for Microsoft Vista. By leveraging these and other leading technologies, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite delivers superior levels of protection and reliability.

“By utilizing Vista’s new API and providing a deeper OS-layer firewall, ZoneAlarm can provide consumers with greater protection and stability on the Vista operating system,” said Charles Kolodgy, research director at IDC. “As hackers innovate, security vendors can not rely purely on old methods and old technologies — it’s good to see ZoneAlarm lead the way.”

With comprehensive multi-layer protection, including best-of-breed antivirus, anti-spyware, and the renowned ZoneAlarm firewall, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.1 safeguards PC users against today’s most complex online threats. Through its exclusive operating system firewall, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite employs the deepest levels of integration with the Vista operating system to proactively prevent threats that basic, traditional firewalls and signature-based systems miss.

“Today’s complex and dynamic Internet threat environment commands security solutions that use the latest and most innovative technologies to stay one step ahead of the bad guys,” said Laura Yecies, vice president and general manager of Check Point’s ZoneAlarm consumer division. “By supporting Microsoft’s new Vista operating system with the latest technologies available, ZoneAlarm continues its longstanding tradition of offering users the highest levels of security without infringing on the user’s experience.”

Pricing and Availability
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.1 is available immediately in retail stores and online at http://www.zonealarm.com (single user list: $49.95, special promotion rate: $39.95; 3-user family pack: list $69.95, special promotion rate: $49.95). Existing customers can update to version 7.1 for free if their subscription is current, and will receive a notification within two weeks of availability. The basic ZoneAlarm firewall continues to be free for personal and non-profit use.

Today at the sixth annual eBay Live! Conference, eBay Inc. and PayPal announced the availability of the PayPal Security Key for its customers.

The PayPal Security Key is a small electronic token that generates a unique security code approximately every 30 seconds. Members can use this code, along with their user name and password, to sign into both their eBay and PayPal accounts, helping to prevent unauthorized users from accessing them.

This type of additional security, known as two-factor authentication, is used by leading financial institutions as additional means to protect consumers and reduce losses from online fraud such as phishing attacks.

“We’ve had a tremendously positive response to the PayPal Security Key beta program and are excited to make the device generally available,” said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer at PayPal. “While PayPal.com remains a trusted and secure environment, the PayPal Security Key allows customers to take their privacy and security into their own hands to help protect their eBay and PayPal accounts against unauthorized access.”

The PayPal Security Key is part of the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Network. As part of this network, consumers use the PayPal Security Key to protect themselves on a variety of financial services and e-commerce websites.

“As founding members of the VIP network, eBay and PayPal are leading the way in giving millions of consumers the tools they need to add an extra layer of protection when online,” said Fran Rosch, vice president, Authentication Services, VeriSign. “Through the VIP Network, eBay and PayPal members will be able to use their PayPal Security Key to protect their account data at other participating sites and thereby reduce online fraud and cyber crime.”

The PayPal Security Key has a promotional one-time fee of $5.00 for PayPal and eBay account holders in the U.S. The PayPal Security Key will also become generally available in Germany and Australia with more countries to follow. More information can be found by visiting the PayPal Booth #1045 at eBay Live! or online at: https://http://www.paypal.com/securitykey or http://www.ebay.com/securitykey.

In light of recent ongoing distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks aimed at Spamhaus and other public domain IP and domain name reputation services, Barracuda Networks, Inc., today announced that such attacks have had no effect on the spam blocking accuracy of the Barracuda Spam Firewall. Utilizing its own Barracuda Reputation analysis combined with 11 other defense layers and the recently announced Predictive Sender Profiling techniques, the Barracuda Spam Firewall protects customers against email-borne threats even as popular public domain reputation services experience service interruptions.

“While Barracuda Networks recommends the use of Spamhaus block lists with the Barracuda Spam Firewall, reputation checks to external providers are performed after the Barracuda Spam Firewall’s own reputation checks, which are kept current through our Energize Updates service,” said Stephen Pao, vice president of product management for Barracuda Networks. “Therefore, the vast majority of SMTP connection attempts that can be blocked through IP reputation lookup are already blocked by the Barracuda Spam Firewall independent of any external providers. Moreover, techniques such as Predictive Sender Profiling block spam messages in the growing number of cases when IP reputation alone cannot be relied upon.”

The attacks, which caused Spamhaus servers to experience outages earlier this week, were launched using variants of the “Storm Worm” and were distributed through zombie computer networks. Barracuda Central, an advanced technology center at Barracuda Networks consisting of highly trained engineers who continuously monitor and block the latest Internet threats, detected all known “Storm Worm” variants early on and quickly deployed new virus definitions to all Barracuda Spam Firewalls, Barracuda Web Filters and Barracuda IM Firewalls in the field through Energize Updates. This ensured that Barracuda Networks’ customers were not swept into the zombie computer networks used to spread the DDOS attacks.

Oops, looks like our sweetheart search engine has been telling secrets about our search habits according to Privacy International. In its report, it rated Google with a black bar, the only company of the 20 plus studied, with the label “Comprehensive consumer surveillance & entrenched hostility to privacy”. Ouch, “hostility to privacy”! Privacy International looked at data collection and processing, data retention, and privacy enhancing or invading innovations to muster up which companies cared about protecting your privacy and those that didn’t. Ranging from AOL, to YouTube (a Google owned site,) to Xanga, to MySpace, Google just couldn’t compete.

After its new Street Level view broke out on Google Maps last week, many were all over it for privacy concerns (though if you don’t want to be seen leaving a topless bar gentleman, then don’t go to such a place to begin with!) This is just one of the findings that dinged Google. The report goes on to site, “Generally poor track record of responding to customer complaints. Ambivalent attitude to privacy challenges (for example, complaints to EU privacy regulators over Gmail).” Aaah, good ‘ol Gmail. I’ve been telling people since its beta not to use it for serious mail since Google’s user agreement basically states Google can do anything it wants with the information in you e-mail. Now we have this report that basically shows abuse. But keep using those Gmail accounts all you lawyers, accountants, realtors, and other professionals. (BTW, I won’t use such a professional if I see they have a Gmail address.)

These privacy concerns are not new for Google. It saw an outcry last year when it caved in into the communist party of China to allow it to have access to any and all data within the cn top level domain space of Google. Now with this report, it just doesn’t seem like one can really trust what they search on Google…or use any of its other offerings such as office applications and calenders.

I must say, it is curious how there was an uproar over Bush’s wire-taps last year yet more people are effected by Google’s anti-privacy issue and yet not one word from the masses. Mmm.

Eager to address the growing threat posed by producers of imitation wines, several of Napa Valley’s most prestigious wineries have moved to employ a new high tech anticounterfeiting technology from Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) to protect their brands and customers. The KODAK Security Solution provides confidence and assurance to Colgin Cellars, HL Vineyards, Vineyard 29 and Staglin Family Vineyard by allowing easy authentication of their products.

According to industry experts, counterfeit wine could affect as much as 5 percent of wines sold in secondary markets.

“Wine fraud is a rising problem that threatens to seriously damage the premium wine industry,” said Steve Powell, General Manager & Director, Security Solutions, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. “These industry leaders are taking proactive steps to address the problem now. Kodak’s proprietary anticounterfeiting technology gives users a covert, easy to implement, cost effective, and long lasting solution for defending their products and reputations.”

Ann Colgin, Owner, Colgin Cellars, immediately recognized the value that Kodak’s solution could deliver in protecting her super premium vintages, which sell at auction for hundreds of dollars a bottle. Read the rest of this entry »