January 26, 2006
Connection scoring beats spam filtering
A simple device that prevents spammers from delivering junk to your mail server outperforms complex spam filtering appliances costing up to seven times as much, according to tests the Windows Secrets Newsletter. If your company is suffering from onslaughts of spam, our tests indicate that this new approach can halt more than 99% of your unwanted flow without blocking legitimate e-mail. Best of all, the new technology does this without creating a large "quarantine" of suspected spam that you or your employees must manually comb through. Read more »
Wireless 'flaw' could leave computers open
There's been a lot of talk about the Windows Wi-Fi "flaw" that was revealed recently. Some security professionals call it a high-risk vulnerability. Meanwhile, Microsoft and other security professionals call it a feature — one that can only be exploited under the right circumstances. Let's take a closer look, so you can be the judge. Read more »
When does 'not critical' mean 'critical'?
You are at risk. No, seriously. Every time you turn on any kind of technology, you turn on risk. The question for today is this: Exactly how do you know what risk you are taking when you use that technology? Some argue that "old code" is secure code, under the assumption that the older the code, the more "eyes" have reviewed it. But is that true? Let's revisit the Windows Metafile issue with this in mind, shall we? Read more »
How to slim down your porky pics
Those 8-megapixel cameras take great pictures, don't they? Faaaaaaat. In more ways than one. The top complaint I've heard since the holidays has nothing to do with rootkits, WMF files, or patches of patches. Nope. The people I know who scream the loudest got expensive new cameras, and they've learned that they can't do much with their pictures. Read more »
When is a flaw really a back door?
How quickly do your vendors release patches? If they take 15 years, does that mean the problem was an intentional backdoor? There are, to be sure, some still-outstanding questions regarding how the now-infamous Windows Metafile flaw affects the Windown 9x/Me platform (as discussed my fellow columnist, Susan). One bit of controversy that arose over this problem since our last newsletter deserves clarification here. Read more »
