Videx has just released CyberLock, a new product that can easily convert any mechanical lock hardware into a high security electronic lock by simply replacing the mechanical cylinder. The microprocessor and memory of the electronic locking device is designed so that it is unable to be picked Other members of the CyberLock family include intelligent padlocks and a wide range of electronic cylinders that can be installed in just about anything without any structural changes. All you have to do is swap out the cylinders.

The CyberLock key is unable to be duplicated, and each key has it’s own permissions relating to which locks in particular they can open, what days they can open them on, and even specific times during those days when the key is able to open the lock. Each time a key is used, that occurrence is logged in both the key’s and lock cylinders’ memory, creating and excellent record of events. This is made possible by Videx’s EntryPoint hardware and CyberAudit-Web Lite, which provides the ability to set the schedules and see the audit trails by simply logging on to the Videx website.

Also available is CyberAudit 2.0, a Windows program that provides pretty much the same thing. Access to scheduling and audit reports, info on key expirations, and even email notification of the events that transpire.

I couldn’t begin to tell you how many clients I’ve had that call telling me in near tears that their hard drive just took a dump and begging me to please save the data on it. My first question (even though I already know the answer due to the desperation in their voice,) is if they’ve made back-ups. No is always the answer. Always. After some deep probing using some sweet tools on hand, I usually am able to recover missing data most of the time. After I do return the data on DVD-ROMs, I go into the “make sure you do back-ups regularly” speech and offer my services in this department. I know it falls on deaf ears. (In fact, one client called me three different times with the same problem within a years time. The third time was not the charm. Dead drive that I could not help with.)

I practice what I preach. In fact, I’m paranoid with my data. I have two local archives done on-site and one set of archives online. My mail is also on an Exchange server hosted outside my office, thus that gets the triple-protection stamp. With the online service, I have to be stingy with what I back up since I have hundreds of gigs of data, mostly due to my pictures and music. That is until I found Carbonite.

Carbonite is unlike any other online service I’ve seen before as it makes backing up your data easy and economical. Carbonite is pushing itself heavily during its ramp-up phase and offering a free month of unlimited backup without a credit card using certain promo codes. It’s easy to find that code. Once you’re signed up, backing up is as easy as either accepting the default (My Documents folder) or going the manual route and right clicking folders or files and selecting “Back this up” from the Carbonite menu item. Really, it’s that easy! Depending on your amount of data you’ll be backing up, you’re looking at a few hours (or days) of getting all your files securely archived before real-time back-ups occur which then happens in seconds. After a file changes (or is created within a selected folder for back-up), it’s backed up according to your settings (such as wait until idle Internet usage.) Peace of cake.

Restoring is even easier. Open your new “Carbonite Secure Backup” icon in My Computer and drill down to your file or folder you wish to restore. Right clicking it reveals a menu with options such as Restore and Restore to. Select one and follow the prompts. You can also just drag-and-drop the object as well. That easy!

As for information, Carbonite does not lack here. Dots help paint a picture about your files for you. Little blue dots on your file or folder visually indicate that object is schedule for back-up, yellow defines back-up in progress, and green tells ya that it was successfully backed up. Of course the red dot means trouble was encountered. A colored themed lock icon in the Task Tray also follows the same color code chart of the dots. At any time, you can double click the lock icon by your system clock which will bring up the InfoCenter. Yup, you can guess what this will tell you.

Okay, there are some things Carbonite won’t do. It doesn’t archive data from external drives (such as USB or Firewire drives), flash drives, and mapped network drives. Files 2 GB or larger it won’t touch either. System or executables are not backed up unless you manually add them to your archive list.

Once your free trail is over, you can have all this for only $49.95 for a full year. That’s unlimited space for $50! Incredible, huh?! Now granted, who knows how long Carbonite will be able to last at this price (or last at all) and if your data will there when you need it because Carbonite isn’t, but that’s why you still do local back-ups, too. Be paranoid like me and you won’t be like one of my customers at the end of the day.

Most IT professionals know certain manufacturers default passwords from working on a particular model so often. I know Linksys’ default router login as admin/admin since I install tons of them for home customers. D-Link is admin for the user name and nothing for the password (blank password.) But what if you forget or come across some hardware you haven’t worked with before? No manual and no clue what the credintials are to gain entry into the hardware, what is one to do? Google the model, yes, is one way, but an easier way is to just go to CIRT.net’s Default Passwords page. (We love their slogan which reads, “Suspicion Breeds Confidence.”) CIRT’s nice little page allows you to either browse by manufacturer or search specific models. With its very exhaustive list, you’ll pretty much guarantee to find just about anything with a password and an RJ-45 port. Heck, even software installs such as UNIX and mySQL are listed. With ancient hardware from the likes of U.S. Robotics on this list, I think you’ll do just fine on CIRT’s site. I have.

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure for the networked world, today announced a major initiative to expand and diversify the capacity of its global Internet infrastructure by ten times by the year 2010.

Named Project Titan, the initiative’s aim is to increase the capabilities of VeriSign’s infrastructure to manage the explosive surge in interactions taking place as e-commerce, social networking and Internet-enabled wireless devices place huge new demands on the Internet while at the same time protecting against cyber attacks that are growing in both scale and sophistication.

The Project Titan initiative includes the expansion of VeriSign’s critical infrastructure both in scale and location and investment in new engineering, monitoring and security systems to support the growth in Internet traffic. Over the next three years, VeriSign will increase its daily Domain Name System (DNS) query capacity from 400 billion queries a day to over 4 trillion queries a day and will scale its proprietary constellation of resolution systems to increase their bandwidth from over 20 gigabits per second (Gbps) to greater than 200 Gbps. In addition, by distributing its infrastructure to many more locations around the globe, the .com and .net systems will have greater redundancy and reduced latency, which will improve the experience for users by reducing bottlenecks and increasing speed. State of the art engineering enhancements to the system will also create increased capability to track, correlate and pinpoint security and network related events on a global basis.

“With the emergence of consumer-driven services and the surge in web-ready wireless devices, the Internet we know today is radically different than the one we knew just five years ago,” said Stratton Sclavos, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of VeriSign. “We must make sure that VeriSign’s infrastructure is ready to support a new era of the Internet, the Any Era, where billions of users demand anywhere, anytime, any device access to communications, information and entertainment.” Read the rest of this entry »

Travel Safety Group has just announced that they have dished out $10 million to Benefon for its new GPS technology. The Twig mobile navigation device will support the new Travel Safety GEOS System that provides a wide selection of travel safety and security devices. The new security devices include warnings that notify the user of potential health threats or life threats in the particular area they are in. For example, the GEOS system will notify travelers if they are about to enter a hostile area of a foreign city or a not so friendly part of a foreign country. Also included is hostage survival training and corporate services, such as medical and political evacuation plans. TSG and their new GEOS system provide unsurpassed security around the globe for worldwide travelers.

Benefon’s mobile phones will support the new GEOS system within the US. The TWIG Discovery and the new TWIG GPS Locator also have the GEOS system compatibility which delivers it’s travel safety and security to world wide travelers, all with extreme accuracy. In fact, Benefon’s technology is so accurate, it can pinpoint a travelers location to within 15 feet anywhere on the globe. If that person ever gets into a tight spot, all they have to do is press the emergency button and it will send a distress signal (along with GPS coordinates) to the control center in Houston, Texas. (Seriously.) The digital maps of the Global Security Monitoring System will pinpoint the person’s location. These people don’t quit, they are there ready to respond 24/7, 365 days a year. Talk about service!

Another neat feature is that if you have the right code, you can see where your employee or family member is from your personal computer. Peter Chlubek, Chairman of TSG stated that, “With our travelers now able to be equipped with a GPS phone that is registered with our patented GEOS System, we can ensure that our members receive all information that is relevant to wherever they may be on the planet. Our GEOS Command and Control Center, through our Global Emergency Monitoring system, can notify up to one million members per hour. We call it our GEM. It’s an immensely powerful tool in providing proactive emergency information that helps keep our members safe”.

For more information on this new product visit www.geosalliance.com and www.benefon.com.

There has been much concern over all the things people can do over the Internet, especially children. Parents are and very well should be concerned about what their kids are doing and who they are talking to on the World Wide Web, especially with websites like MySpace and Xanga.

One British company in particular has realized this and released a security device that can help parents keep their children safe from online predators. The new device, XGate, was developed by Manchester based Global Security One (GSEC1) and gives parents the ability to monitor what kids are doing on the internet via mobile phone. Act as the fly on the wall and see what conversations kids are having, block access to and even shut down online chat rooms, or the PC itself if you are uncomfortable with the situation. Do all this with your mobile phone from your office, couch, supermarket, car, or wherever you are on the globe. All with the touch of a button.

XGate is compatible with all broadband requirements and can be connected to a maximum of 4 computers at once and it’s innovative technology will actually stop the threat before it reaches the computer. XGate can do this because of the extensive research on pedophile behavior. It’s database can detect the grooming language used by pedophiles and other predators. Unlike other programs, XGate is not a piece of software that you have to install on the PC that eventually just slows down your computer. Instead, it just plugs right into the computer with an ADSL modem, providing safe and secure internet use that can be monitored from anywhere on the globe.

Mark Brooks, International Technology Marketing Manager of GSEC1 said this about the new product:”The fact that I have a four year old son makes me particularly sensitive to the threat posed by pedophiles who stalk the Internet to groom unsuspecting children. I am proud to be able to say that I have been involved in the XGate project which will save children’s lives. We are launching the ADSL compatible version now as our research highlights that the greater proportion of the country has that type of Internet access and so we can offer a wider population of children the protection they need. The next iteration of the XGate will be compatible with cable Internet connectivity and wireless.”

Not only does XGate provide parental monitoring of chat room use, but also Identity protection, keeping your information (such as credit card numbers) safe from spyware and hackers. Also included is virus and firewall protection, Email and web filtering, secure gaming, and even remote access. For example, you can access your work computer from home, with all the protection you need from viruses, spyware, and hackers.

XGate is available now for about $195 at Amazon.com. For more information on XGate and how to order, check out www.xgate.com.

Verizon wireless has often been overlooked because of security reasons, or rather insecurity reasons. Because of this, Verizon announced the release of their new mobile security solution for it’s consumers, business customers in particular. The new solution, Trust Digital Enterprise Device Security, is designed to protect information, especially in the health care, financial business, and government fields. The security device complies with enterprise security policies, and will keep classified information classified as it should be if your smartphone is lost or stolen.

“We applaud Verizon Wireless for providing their business customers an increased level of smartphone security,” said Nick Magliato, chief executive officer of Trust Digital. “Together, our solutions enable today’s mobile professionals to work quickly and securely, helping customers maintain a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced business environment.”

Trust Digital Security is supposedly easy to install and use, with three settings ranging from basic to high security. The new software is supported by any and all phones sold by Verizon, the largest wireless company and data provider in the United States. This digital security can even be customized to fit the particular needs of a business or corporation, though you have to get the services from a Trust Digital professional directly, and I would assume it would come with a fee. So if you are a business owner who’s scared to use Verizon because of it’s insecurity, check out their new security software. This could be the protection you need.

Tiscali, one of Europe’s main independent telecommunication companies, and Echoworx, a leading provider of security software products for digital communications, today announced Tiscali is the first service provider in Europe to launch this important email privacy product, Tiscali Secure Mail.

The service, today available in Italy and soon in UK, targets customers who want to ensure the privacy of their email messages and attachments as they travel across the Internet from sender to recipient. Anyone can purchase Secure Mail from Tiscali, and existing customers can simply add the service to their bill.

“Data privacy continues to be a growing concern, which is why organizations are looking to implement best practices, such as encryption to ensure secure communications,” said Klaus Ludemann, Director Media & VAS at Tiscali. “In line with our policy of providing our customers with the best Internet experience, we are pleased to be the first in Europe to offer email encryption with a simple solution that helps to ensure their data privacy. We believe email encryption will become the new privacy standard for digital communications.”

“Securing digital communications has become a primary focus for Internet users around the world,” said Michael Ginsberg, President & CEO of Echoworx. “With data theft and cyber crime on the rise, Tiscali is answering the growing need Italian customers have to protect the privacy of their digital communications. Echoworx is very proud to be helping Tiscali be the first service provider to launch this important privacy service in Europe.” Read the rest of this entry »

Face it. Those that know how are lazy and those that don’t know how want to. What’s the how? Backing up those precious pictures. The number one reason for preventable data loss is the absence of a backup routine and now Polaroid along with Storage Appliance Corp want to change that with ClickFree.

The new ClickFree, coming off the heals of Christmas and the hundreds of digital photographs the average person took, allows anyone to easily back up every picture on their hard drive with the simple task of just plugging in the unit. That’s it. No software to configure, no drivers to install, no schedules to make, no buttons to push, no nothing. Just plug the power into the wall and the USB cord into your computer and you’re done!

ClickFree is very powerful and its first duty is to search your entire hard drive for over 60 different picture formats. (Is there even that many? Wow!) It’ll go through not just your My Pictures folder but through every folder including compressed ones. “Its design enables it to extract photos from compressed files automatically right out of the box,” Storage Appliance Corp told SvenOnTech. ClickFree will even search your e-mail attachments for photos. Now that’s thorough. Fear not, power users, you can tweak the settings if so feel like doing so as ClickFree left no one out from this backup fun. We were further told that, “After backup your photos are displayed in an engaging and elegant manner on the desktop with convenient interactive features such as online sharing and printing.” Nice. Restoring lost files from the 40 GB external hard onto the original or even another computer again requires no software install. Brilliant!

Next on tap is the ability to find common files such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint slide shows. Don’t worry Mac users, your time is coming, too, as an OS X version of this great little backup helper is on the way early this year.

Look for this wonder to be sold between $129 and $149 retail within this quarter.

Boy-oh-boy, Microsoft’s long awaited operating system upgrade to the aging Windows XP isn’t even out yet and security companies and hackers around the world are already announcing the exploits of Vista and proving the Redmond-based company to be more a swiss cheese maker than a secure software company. With security vendor Determina finding a major security flaw in the just released Internet Explorer 7 and a Russian programmer posting an exploit how to increase users privileges in Vista in the last week alone, Microsoft seems to be giving Apple more and more material for its next Get a Mac commercial. While Microsoft executives have been spouting off how Vista is the most secure Windows ever, it seems the reality of it is that it may be a tad better than XP…or maybe even worse! But don’t tell that to Microsoft, they’ve already got the PR campaign working within its boundaries:

“Currently we have not observed any public exploitation or attack activity regarding this issue,” wrote Mike Reavey, operations manager of the Microsoft Security Response Center. “While I know this is a vulnerability that impacts Windows Vista, I still have every confidence that Windows Vista is our most secure platform to date.”

Haven’t observed any public exploitations? Dude, do they read other Internet sites other than MSN? Heck, I’m sure even Live Search would show lots of links to those very public exploitations!

Determina’s vice president, Nand Mulchandani, offers this warning, “I don’t think people should become complacent. When vendors say a program has been completely rewritten, it doesn’t mean that it’s more secure from the get-go. My expectation is we will see a whole rash of Vista bugs show up in six months or a year.”

Wow, a whole rash of bugs. Sad from an operating system that came from over four years of development and looks to be nothing more than an eye candy upgrade to already sorry OS called XP. Enjoy the eXPerience, folks.

[Via New York Times]