Steve Ragan

A parameter in Apple’s QuickTime software, which is no longer in use, could lead to a total compromise if exploited. The code, which is almost ten years old now, is remotely exploitable, and will bypass Microsoft’s ASLR depending on the attack vector.  The unused parameter, called “_Marshaled_pUnk”, was discovered by Rubén Santamarta, head of Security Assessment for Wintercore. “Do not hype this issue beyond it deserves. This time Backdoor !

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A feature in HP scanners called Webscan, which allows someone to scan documents remotely, by initiating the scan and viewing the results via the browser, will expose some interesting things if you know where to look. Michael Sutton, VP of Security Research at Zscaler, wrote an interesting report recently on the Webscan feature, which is available on most HP multi-function products.

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A feature in HP scanners called Webscan, which allows someone to scan documents remotely by initiating the scan and viewing the results via the browser, can potentially expose some interesting things... if you know where to look. Michael Sutton, vice president of Security Research at Zscaler, wrote an interesting report recently on Webscan, a feature available on most HP multi-function products.

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Twitter warned users on Monday against downloading a fake update to the popular Twitter application TweetDeck. While the warnings are false, TweetDeck users do have an update that needs to be applied due to Twitter halting support for Basic Authentication in their API. As seen in the images below, the fake warnings used a now defunct AltURL to promote the malicious download, in addition to using trending topics and hash tags.

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Since July, we’ve been testing one of the many external offerings from Apricorn. The Aegis Bio is an external hard drive, geared towards Netbooks and desktops, which uses the power of touch in its protection offerings. Given that we’ve spent some time with it, here are our thoughts. [Note: An important disclosure needs to be made. The Aegis Bio was given to us to keep, and as such, anyone reading this should be made aware of this fact.

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Nick Johnston, a Software Engineer for Symantec, was on a road trip recently when he spotted an interesting security issue. It would seem that an airport Internet terminal had been infected with a Rogue anti-Virus application. If that wasn’t bad enough, the installation of “Defense Center Installer” still had the “To Do” list on the installation dialogue. A double fail if you think about it.

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An article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, a publication that deals with foreign policy and topics of international interest since 1922, details the 2008 compromise of classified military networks maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense. The story is official confirmation to unconfirmed reports offered by the Los Angeles Times that same year. [LA Times story is here.] “It began when an infected flash drive was inserted into a U.S.

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A recent survey of typical Web users, using a sample size of 1,200 people in all, ages 18-55, shows that the overwhelming majority of them are concerned by the thought of Identity Theft. The survey was conducted by Kindsight, a company out of Sunnyvale, CA that provides Identity Theft protection to ISP’s and their customers.

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A recent survey of SMBs across the globe by Panda Security shows that despite the growth in attacks and targeted threats, SMBs are still failing to improve the basics in security. Panda surveyed 10,000 Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMBs), 1,500 of them in the United States, in order to get a sample of the state of security in that market. The results paint a picture of budget constraints, and lackluster protection.

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