In 1991, Symantec released the first version of Norton AntiVirus. Norton was a popular brand name among computer technophiles from the well-known and successful Norton Utilities program. Programs like Norton AntiVirus are designed to find and eliminate viruses from a computer, usually with three goals in mind: Make the virus stop doing harm to the … Read more
Sometimes I think that it helps to understand a little bit more about the people who perpetrate crimes, in order to be able to avoid being a victim of those crimes. Others of you may just have a morbid curiosity about those who like to hurt other people. Either way, you’ll learn a little more … Read more
In the mid-to-late 1980s, data was most often transferred from computer to computer by using floppy disks and so-called bulletin board systems (BBSs), managed online locations that were the forerunners of today’s Web sites. Stowing away on floppy disks Even without using the Internet, people in offices where PCs were used traded and circulated programs, … Read more
It’s more or less inevitable: Over a period of time, many organ-izations are going to collect your e-mail address. And, sooner or later, after signing up for something and providing your e-mail address to this Web site or that Web site, your e-mail address is going to leak to or be purchased by a mass … Read more
Before you go grab and install a security patch, you may want to get to know a few basic facts about it — where to get it, what it does, whether it’ll cost you, that sort of thing. Most software makers have this process figured out, more or less, even if they don’t collectively take … Read more
The big software programs that run on PCs today consist of thousands — and sometimes even millions — of lines of source code (the step-by-step instructions that give the program its functionality and personality). That’s a lot to keep track of — and (as with anything made by people) flaws can creep in. Software can … Read more
The preceding section deals primarily with scanning incoming mail, but what about mail that you are sending? Does your antivirus program automatically scan it for viruses? Viruses and their writers are pretty sneaky; if your antivirus program scans files as they are created (the “automatic” protection), then you can be sure that outbound mail is … Read more
Because e-mail is one of the chief means of transporting viruses, most antivirus programs have options that help them work with your e-mail program. This only applies when you are using a “local” e-mail program to read and send mail, and not when you are using a Web browser to handle your mail. The options … Read more
If you are lucky, the web server you are targeting may contain some of the actual vulnerabilities described in this chapter. More likely, however, it will have been patched to a more recent level, and you will need to search for something fairly current or brand new with which to attack the server. A good … Read more
Encoding flaws have arisen in many kinds of web server software and present an inherent threat in situations where the same user-supplied data is processed by several layers using different technologies. A typical web request might be handled by the web server, the application platform, various man-aged and unmanaged APIs, other software components, and the … Read more