Security UPDATE--2007 Through the Looking Glass--January 3, 2007

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CONTENTS

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IN FOCUS: 2007 Through the Looking Glass NEWS AND FEATURES - Opera Software Teams Up to Provide Anti-Fraud Protection - Check Point on Track to Buy NFR Security - Antispam Solutions for Business - Recent Security Vulnerabilities GIVE AND TAKE - Security Matters Blog: Need Rainbow Tables? - FAQ: Vista's Administrator Account - Share Your Security Tips PRODUCTS - Environmental Monitoring Goes Wireless - Wanted: Your Reviews of Products RESOURCES AND EVENTS FEATURED WHITE PAPER ANNOUNCEMENTS === SPONSOR: St. Bernard Software

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Clean Up Your Company's Email Act: Using Filters to Block Threats Do you want to block unwanted or undesirable email? Download this free whitepaper to learn how to manage the content of information crossing your network. http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/stbernard/cleanup/?code=SECTop1220 === IN FOCUS: 2007 Through the Looking Glass

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by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity / net It's 2007 now, so let's take a peek at what the year ahead might hold in store for the world in terms of information security. First on the list is the most obvious item, Windows Vista. Microsoft calls Vista its most secure OS to date. That's probably true given the insecurity of previous Windows OSs. But while Vista does seem more secure than previous versions of Windows, it hasn't yet become the primary target of the blackest of the black hats. But that's about to change. Recently a vulnerability in Windows was discovered that affects Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. The vulnerability is located in the Client-Server Runtime Subsystem (CSRSS) and lets someone elevate his or her privileges to the level of Administrator. For the most part, the news stories and technical reports I've read present this vulnerability as a minor problem, apparently because in order to exploit it, a user must already be authenticated to the system. So the thinking is that unless someone can be tricked into running it, there isn't much risk. But that thinking is shortsighted. What most of the news stories overlook is the fact that in the business world, a significant number of intrusions are perpetrated by people inside a company (e.g., users who can readily authenticate to a system). Seen in that light, this vulnerability--and any other vulnerability that lets someone elevate privileges--is indeed serious. We're probably going to see more vulnerabilities of a similar caliber (or worse) affecting Vista. I think we'll see a lot of Vista vulnerabilities, with most of them discovered via exploits snagged from the wilds of the Internet--exploits either in active circulation or for sale on sites around the world. Look for this trend to naturally pick up momentum in the third and fourth quarters of the year. Right along with Vista exploits will be increased exploitation of RSS and Atom feeds, along with exploits of multimedia content, particularly because Vista includes ample support for these technologies. Web sites will be silently cracked, their content will be replaced, and their feeds will be hijacked, and site operators won't discover the tampering until users complain or until they're publicly embarrassed by the media. Similarly, I think we'll also see a significant increase in exploits launched via popular sites such as YouTube, MySpace, and popular network-enabled games. Another important trend will probably be a much stronger push for digital identities and various protection mechanisms against identity theft. As for the latter issue, user education will probably remain low on the list of remedies even though it's the best solution available. Watch for many more news stories about huge personal data breaches in 2007. Identity theft, spam, and malware will of course continue to grow into bigger problems than they already are. We probably won't see any significant dents made in those problems in 2007. Vendors don't seem to be keen on rooting out problems but instead prefer to sell Band-Aids, so to speak. Here's one good example: Remember Blue Security? That tiny company came up with a fantastic mechanism (called Blue Frog) to fight spam, and it was hugely successful! Unfortunately, the company caved in to retaliation from spammers, and not one of the most powerful companies in the industry has stepped up to take up where Blue Security left off. I seriously doubt that any of them will either. There appears to be little if any desire to disassemble the engines that drive product sales. Sad, but true. Finally, botnets will become a much bigger problem in 2007, and I suspect that the problem will eventually lead to some very serious quakes on the Internet. === SPONSOR: Atempo

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Opera Software Teams Up to Provide Anti-Fraud Protection Opera Software announced the latest release of its popular Web browser, Opera 9.1, which includes a new Fraud Protection feature. http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94725 Check Point on Track to Buy NFR Security Security solution provider Check Point Technologies said it's made a deal to buy NFR Security for approximately $20 million. Established in 1996 by well-known security expert Marcus Ranum, NFR Security provides intrusion detection and prevention technologies. http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94724 Antispam Solutions for Business Many organizations are looking to replace their first-generation spam software solutions either with a spam-filtering appliance or by entrusting spam-filtering tasks to a hosted service. This Buyer's Guide can help you decide which solution is best for you. http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94326 Recent Security Vulnerabilities If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these discoveries at http://www.windowsitpro.com/departments/departmentid/752/752.html === SPONSOR: Symantec

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SECURITY MATTERS BLOG: Need Rainbow Tables? by Mark Joseph Edwards, http://www.windowsitpro.com/securitymatters Rainbow tables help with the discovery of passwords by speeding up testing time. You could compute your own tables, buy precomputed tables, or download tables that are made available free to everyone. Learn more in this blog article. http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94723 FAQ: Vista's Administrator Account by John Savill, http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowsnt20002003faq Q: Where is the Administrator account in Windows Vista? Find the answer at http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/94619 SHARE YOUR SECURITY TIPS AND GET $100 Share your security-related tips, comments, or problems and solutions in Security Pro VIP's Reader to Reader column. Email your contributions to [email protected]. If we print your submission, you'll get $100. We edit submissions for style, grammar, and length. === PRODUCTS

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by Renee Munshi, [email protected] Environmental Monitoring Goes Wireless AVTECH Software announced Room Alert 26W, part of the Room Alert hardware line for IT environment and facilities monitoring. The new model uses wireless technology for communications between sensors and the main Room Alert 26W unit. The secure, private protocol that the sensors use to send alerts to the main unit is ZigBee compatible and approved in North America, Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Rim. Room Alert 26W monitors physical conditions such as temperature, humidity, and power and can immediately alert IT staff to problems and/or log events. For more information, go to http://www.avtech.com WANTED: your reviews of products you've tested and used in production. Send your experiences and ratings of products to [email protected] and get a Best Buy gift certificate. === RESOURCES AND EVENTS

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For more security-related resources, visit http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/securityresources Are you an Oracle professional who has cross-platform responsibilities, or do you need to transfer your skill set to SQL Server? If so, register for free to attend the Cross Platform Data online event January 30 and 31 and February 1. In a seminar featuring SQL Server/Oracle experts Andrew Sisson from Scalability Experts and Douglas McDowell from Solid Quality Learning, you'll learn key concepts about SQL Server 2005, including how to deploy SQL Server's BI capabilities on Oracle, proof points demonstrating that SQL Server is enterprise-ready, and how to successfully deploy Oracle on the Windows platform. http://events.unisfair.com/rt/sql/?code=0103emailannc Find the buried treasure by uncovering the secrets to Web filtering. Complete this quiz correctly and you could be a winner! http://popquiz.windowsitpro.com/stbernardtreasurehunt/ When your systems go down, your users' productivity grinds to a halt. User downtime is one of the fastest growing concerns among businesses. This free Web seminar teaches you how to keep your users continuously connected and your business up and running. View the on-demand Web seminar now! http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/seminars/neverfail/usercontinuity/?code=0103emailannc Integrate fax services with business applications for major increases in ROI. Find out how fax technology can benefit your bottom line and improve business processes. Download the free ebook today! http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Ebooks/faxservers/Index.cfm?code=0103emailannc Randy Franklin Smith outlines five evaluation points to consider when choosing your antispyware solution in this free podcast. Download it today! http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/podcasts/pctools/antispyware/?code=0103emailannc === FEATURED WHITE PAPER

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