XML-based Security Information Feeds

Gathering security-related information can sometimes become a tedious task. One way people use to help automate the task is to use a feed reader application, which can check a multitude a sites to gather the latest headlines regarding content additions.

If you've never used a feed reader, they work similar to an email client or like a newsgroups reader. A difference is that feed readers understand XML file formats, where email clients and newsgroup readers might not.

A pretty good feed reader is RSSReader 1.0, which uses Microsoft .NET Framework. To use it you'll have to install the .NET architecture if it isn't already installed on your system. However, other feed readers might rely on other underlying technology. For example, there feed reader plugins for Mozilla that have built-in XML interpreter capabilities.

A couple of useful security-related information feeds that you might consider adding to your feed reader application are Microsoft's Security Bulletin feed, and the Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) Most Recent Stable Entries feed.

As you might suspect, Microsoft's Security Bulletin feed contains all their latest security bulletins, while the OSVDB feed contains all their latest vulnerability discoveries, which includes all platforms.

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/secrss.aspx
    http://www.osvdb.org/backend/rss.php

And of course Windows & .NET Magazine maintains numerous information feeds, which you can find on our RSS page.