ep's blog

It has been a common thread in security talks since the inception of spam that it is a bad idea to give any type of response indicating that a human is reading the spam.  For example, by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in a spam, all you are doing is asking to be put on more lists.

This interesting article by Laura Atkins from Word to the Wise (an anti-spam consultancy and software firm), debunks this setiment, and calls it a myth.

Comedian Jack Vale did a great video on the dangers of sharing information on Instagram and Twitter in the funny, but sobering video.  Independent security analyst Graham Cluley did a great review of the video and how it affects users.

http://grahamcluley.com/2013/11/instagram-twitter-location-privacy/

Please inform your social circle and keep yourself safe.

Cryptolocker is a new piece of malicious software that has started circling the globe in the last half of 2013.  Deemed "rasomware" by security professionals, Cryptolocker encrypts your files and demands payment to receive the key to decrypt them.  The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) drafted a briefing about this software, how to protect yourself, and what to do if you are infected.

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA13-309A

At the beginning of October, Adobe notified its customers of the theft of about 2.9 million account credentials.

http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/10/important-customer-security...

To reset your Adobe password, you can visit the following site.

https://www.adobe.com/account/sign-in.adobedotcom.html?passwordReset=true

SANS Diary writer Sally Vandeven reports on how easy it is to extract the secret keys your browser (Chrome and Firefox) uses for SSL connections.

https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Psst+Your+Browser+Knows+All+Your+Secre...

Hapstance produced this very entertaining, yet woefully scary accurate portrayal of what it would be like if our spam was real and walking around amongst us.  It is definitely informative and funny at the same time.  Thanks to Kevin for pointing me toward it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AThjAHemJ1o

Thanks,

ep

http://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/free-community-tool-crowdinspect/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srh_TV_J144

Ellen did a great skit on the real world infomercial for the Password Minder.  It is a good watch, especially if you are a fan of hers.

For some good tips on creating security, easy to remember passwords, check out this blog post.

https://security.ias.edu/complex-passwords-are-easy-remember

http://mreinhold.org/blog/secure-the-train

On April 18, 2013, Mark Reinhold from Oracle blogged that the release of Java 8 is being delayed so that they can focus on security issues.

"Security vulnerabilities related to Java running inside web browsers have lately received a lot of public attention."

http://msisac.cisecurity.org/daily-tips/

When major incidents happen, there are always individuals who look to profit from it.  The Department of Homeland Security and Center for Internet Security have released a joint advisory describing threats that are starting to evolve surrounding the bombing of the Boston Marathon.