Stories by Cara Garretson

Security researcher Kaminsky pushes DNS patching

By Cara Garretson | 20 February, 2009 08:20

Dan Kaminsky, who for years was ambivalent about securing DNS, has become an ardent supporter of DNS Security Extensions.

How to fashion a 'security first' enterprise

By Cara Garretson | 19 March, 2008 10:29

These forward-thinking IT managers are working at dismantling the stereotype of the risk-averse security professional-cum-business foe. How? By showing business colleagues they understand company operations and appreciate corporate goals.

Data loss start-ups sell out

By Cara Garretson | 08 January, 2008 09:19

The rapid consolidation in the anti-data leakage market in the past year is enough to make an IT manager's head spin: This segment of the security sector ballooned to include dozens of start-ups, then even more quickly dwindled down to a few independent companies as larger vendors cherry-picked smaller ones to add data leakage to their own product portfolios.

12 spam research projects that might make a difference

By Cara Garretson | 21 November, 2007 10:34

Those who commit cybercrime know they need to stay on the cutting edge of technology to come up with new and different ways to swindle people. Luckily, the good guys are also spending time in research labs developing ways to thwart the latest tricks employed by spammers, phishers and other criminals.

IM threats double in August

By Cara Garretson | 30 August, 2007 09:07

In the month of August to date, there have been 38 malicious-code attacks on instant-messaging networks, double the number experienced in July.

Balancing Generation Y preferences with security

By Cara Garretson | 30 August, 2007 08:17

As young adults who grew up on e-mail and online chat enter the workforce, they bring with them a set of newer technologies designed for rapid-fire communication and workplace personalization. Much of this technology may represent better, faster ways of getting a job done, but it also introduces a new round of security threats for corporate networks; and the decision to allow them or not must be made carefully.

The Simpsons Movie sparks spam blast

By Cara Garretson | 31 July, 2007 14:40

Spammers are jumping on the success of The Simpsons Movie to trick e-mail users into validating their addresses, so they can then send them more spam.

Gartner's Pescatore on security

By Cara Garretson | 05 June, 2007 10:46

Following his keynote speech at the Gartner IT Security Summit in Washington, D.C., this week, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst John Pescatore answered a few questions from Vic Wheatman, managing vice president at Gartner.

Security: Thumb sucking, slurping, snarfing...

By Cara Garretson | 14 May, 2007 15:02

Remember when thumb sucking was considered an innocent activity, except that if you did it as a young child you might need braces as a teen? Today you'd need a lot more than a mouthful of metal to protect from thumb sucking.

McAfee CEO ponders consolidation, Cisco threat

By Cara Garretson | 05 April, 2007 16:41

On Monday at 6 a.m., Dave DeWalt stood in front of McAfee's Plano, Texas, offices to greet employees with coffee, doughnuts and a handshake. "They were wondering, 'Who's the guy in the suit?'" says the former EMC vice president who became McAfee's CEO on April 2.

Dealing with worst-case scenarios

By Cara Garretson | 21 August, 2006 10:03

Imagine a natural disaster the likes of Hurricane Katrina or a terrorist attack on a major city wipes out business operations. In the mad dash to get back online as quickly as possible, security protocols and procedures take a back seat to regaining business continuity.

DOE's Federated Model aims to identify security threats

By Cara Garretson | 05 July, 2006 21:23

Argonne National Laboratory, a division of the Department of Energy (DOE) operated out of the University of Chicago, is spearheading an effort to collect information about cyber security events that is beginning to gain steam.

Report: Growing use of Internet to spread terror, hate

By Cara Garretson | 08 May, 2006 08:11

Terrorists and extremists more and more are turning to the Internet to spread their views and incite readers to take action, according to a report issued this week by a Jewish human rights group.

MIT spam conference focuses on phishing

By Cara Garretson | 31 March, 2006 12:56

At the fourth annual MIT Spam Conference held in Boston Tuesday, speakers said that while the volume of spam ebbs and flows, the nature of unwanted e-mail is steadily becoming more dangerous.

ID theft, the sequel

By Cara Garretson | 08 February, 2006 17:05

Harrison Ford is ticked off again. But not because the bad guys have hijacked Air Force One or kidnapped his wife from a Paris hotel room; this time they've swiped his identity to break into the bank where he works and steal millions of dollars.

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Security Awareness Tip

Incident handling is a vast topic, but here are a few tips for you to consider in your incident response. I hope you never have to use them, but the odds are at some point you will and I hope being ready saves you pain (or your job!).


  1. Have an incident response plan.

  2. Pre-define your incident response team 

  3. Define your approach: watch and learn or contain and recover.

  4. Pre-distribute call cards.

  5. Forensic and incident response data capture.

  6. Get your users on-side.

  7. Know how to report crimes and engage law enforcement. 

  8. Practice makes perfect.

For the full breakdown on this article

Security ABC Guides

Warning: Tips for secure mobile holiday shopping

I’m dating myself, but I remember when holiday shopping involved pouring through ads in the Sunday paper, placing actual phone calls from tethered land lines to research product stock and availability, and actually driving places to pick things up. Now, holiday shoppers can do all of that from a smartphone or tablet in a few seconds, but there are some security pitfalls to be aware of.