IT Security Blog

You may assume that things you are putting onto your social network of choice (Facebook, Google+ etc.) are private and not freely available, but from time to time security profiles and settings on these sites change. It is always a good idea to periodically check your settings to make sure that your security profile prevents [...]

Wi-Fi networks (sometimes called by their technical name 802.11) allow people to wirelessly connect devices to the Internet, such as smartphones, gaming consoles, tablets, and laptops. Because Wi-Fi networks are simple to setup, many people install their own Wi-Fi networks at home. However, many home Wi-Fi networks are configured insecurely, allowing strangers or unauthorized people to easily access your home network [...]

CNET are running a story about a worm stealing more than 45,000 facebook logins.  According to the article “…cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fact that users tend to use the same password in various web-based services (Facebook, Gmail, Corporate SSL VPN, Outlook Web Access, etc.) to gain remote access to corporate networks.” We advise [...]

As the number of smart mobile device users grow at a incredibly rapid rate, so do the number of security issues introduced to the ANU network. Although these sophisticated devices introduce new vulnerabilities to the network, you can help keep the ANU network secure by following these simple suggestions: 1) Enable screen auto-lock and require [...]

  E-mail is one of the primary ways we communicate. We not only use it every day for work, but also to stay in touch with our friends and family. In addition e-mail is how companies provide many products or services, such as confirmation of an online purchase or updates to our bank account. Since [...]

A quick and easy way to protect your computer is to have the desktop automatically lock after you haven’t used it for a few minutes. This ensures that your private data remains protected as nobody can access it without your user name and password and stops others using your account  to do undesirable things, such [...]

If there is one thing we have learned from IT Security in 2011 it’s that no system is invulnerable from being breached. Sony, Stratfor, Bethsda and even the US Senate website (senate.gov) were all breached in 2011 exposing users email addresses, usernames and encrypted passwords. One simple way you can reduce the risk of events [...]

Beware of fake software updates, such as this recent one claiming to be from Mozilla: Keep Your Firefox Happy! Make sure you’re running the latest, greatest and most secure version. -How long will it take to update? Not long at all . the entire process just takes a minute or two. -Do I need to [...]

SplashData have released a list of the 25 most common passwords in use on the internet in 2011.  The list is password 123456 12345678 qwerty abc123 monkey 1234567 letmein trustno1 dragon baseball 111111 iloveyou master sunshine ashley bailey passw0rd shadow 123123 654321 superman qazwsx michael football The use of common or easy to guess passwords [...]

  Your Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari, is one of the primary tools you use to interact with the Internet. Cyber attackers know this, which makes your browser one of their primary targets. Also, your browser may collect a great deal of personal information about you that you may not [...]