Dark Reading published an article titled ” Booming Underground Economy Makes Spam A Hot Commodity, Expert Says ” regarding the ease of using botnets for spam activity and how this makes spamming profitable. Some of the more startling statistics show that “For about $10, [a spammer] can send a million emails”. Even if 2 people order a product that they are selling for $10, that's a 100% profit over the cost of the use of the botnet.
Astaro Receives VMware Ready Certifications
Astaro earned multiple VMware Ready™ certifications for its security products. Astaro Security Gateway, Astaro Mail Gateway and Astaro Web Gateway have all been certified as VMware Ready, and Astaro is the only Unified Threat Management provider to have submitted to and passed VMware Ready validation.
Google Chrome OS and Some Words On Hype
THE HYPE With the announcement of the upcoming Google Chrome OS, Google is adding some hype to the mix. Google is boldly stating that they are “going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates.
Tips for securing your Wi-Fi Connection
Recently, NPR's “All Tech Considered” posted a very good and concise article on securing WiFi technology. I would just like to add a few key points for those that concern themselves with network security. First, when using a VPN on an un-trusted hotspot, make sure that it is a “full tunnel” VPN
Microsoft’s DirectAccess: Reinventing VPN
As we know, Virtual Private Networking (VPN) is a technology that allows remote systems to connect to a local system in a secure manner.
Advice for the Cyber Czar
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that President Obama is preparing to announce the appointment of a national “'cyber czar,' a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation's government-run and private computer networks”, and that this announcement will coincide with the release of the government's cyber-security initiatives and policies. While I am not holding my breath waiting for a call from the White House, I do have some advice for the new cyber czar. First of all, it is going to be important for you to be transparent and to quell fears that this is the first step towards an Orwellian world.
Up2Date 7.404 Released
Astaro has made available Up2Date 7.404 via our global content distribution system. Your Astaro Gateway Products should shortly be downloading and preparing it for install. This is an incremental release designed to strengthen the security and stability of your product.
AxG Beta 7.460 Released
Greetings! We have issued another Beta Version of our not-yet-released 7.500, for those who are testing or wish to test the new features and functionality of our next major Up2Date release. For more information on the 7.500 Beta, please see our initial launch announcement . For more information on this new Beta version release, please read on
Astaro Patterns: Controlling Conficker Worm
With the recent attention in the media to the Conficker Worm , many customers have general questions regarding this threat. For the short version, Astaro installations with HTTP Virus protection via the Web Security package have been protected against the HTTP download distribution (such as variant C) of this worm since January. However, with this Worm's ability to spread multiple ways, such as the TCP and UDP transfer of the payload, Virus scanning at the gateway should be bolstered by Intrusion Protection to offer a more complete security defense against Conficker.
AxG V7.401 Released
With AxG V7.400 now populated to our user-base, we have a follow up Up2Date which addresses a few issues that did not make the GA version in time.