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"The credentials of thousands of Microsoft Windows Live ID accounts were posted online late last week, company officials said Monday. The company confirmed Monday in a blog post that several thousand Windows Live customers had their usernames and passwords exposed on a third-party site over the weekend. "Upon learning of the issue, we immediately requested that the credentials be removed and launched an investigation to determine the impact to customers," the post said. "As part of that investigation, we determined that this was not a breach of internal Microsoft data and initiated our standard process of working to help customers regain control of their accounts." Windows Live IDs let users gain entry into Hotmail, Messenger, Xbox LIVE, according to Microsoft. The usernames and passwords that were leaked may also be used for other Microsoft services, including the company's web-based Office program and the Skydrive online storage service. News of the breach spread early Monday, but it was unclear how the credentials were originally obtained."

Ask a room full of security practitioners for a list of security settings that'll make Internet Explorer (IE) safe to use and you'll either hear laughter or advice to get a new browser like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari or Google Chrome. Even as Microsoft has worked diligently to improve security in its troubled browser, especially in IE7 and the newly-released IE8, security pros simply don't trust it. Most have turned to alternative browsers, especially Firefox. [See: Microsoft Releases IE8, Stresses Security] But the intoxication security pros find in Firefox and the other alternatives comes with a big hangover. When one wakes up from an evening of online adventuring on one of the alternative browsers, the painful reality is that they will never be able to get away from IE completely. The obvious reason is that IE is so tightly integrated into the Windows operating system, though some industry voices have called on Microsoft to divorce it from the OS. [See: Security Expert: Microsoft Should Sever IE from Windows] "We aren't going to be able to get away from IE in the corporate world anytime soon," said Christopher Mendlik, a threat analyst at Wachovia. Besides the tight integration with Windows, there's the simple reality that some business applications will only work when used in IE. At CSOonline and other media outlets, for example, the programs used to post content online tend to be allergic to non-IE browsers. Those who have no choice but to use IE have turned to a number of coping mechanisms.

Data classification is a cornerstone of good privacy & security management. If you can measure it, you can manage it, right? First you have to know where it is.

Why classify data? Classifying data can help make data more accessible (or less accessible) to the users in your environment who need it. For example, suppose the Human Resources department created a folder on the file server within their department called Litigation. In this folder they place files that are needed for any litigation the company is associated with. The permissions on the folder are configured so that HR employees can edit the contents of the folder and add documents. Senior management can read the documents in the litigation folder, and the HR manager can remove documents that are no longer needed. The question is, how is it determined that a document is no longer needed and how do we apply these criteria to existing files in such a way that minimizes user interaction with them? The new classification feature in Windows Server 2008 R2 makes it possible to automatically assign classification information to files on file servers and apply policy to them based on that information. Classification in Windows Server 2008 R2 consists of several elements: properties, rules, and a policy segment including reporting and file management. Properties are the fields that you wish to assign a value for, and the rules are the criteria that set these values. There are other methods of classification available as well, including applications and scripts. More detailed examination of the methods of configuring the File Classification Infrastructure will follow in a future post. For the above example, a rule would be used to label a set of files in the Litigation folder. Adding a label such as Litigation-Case Number X (where X is the number of the case) can allow easy organization of files for each litigation case. When the classification rule is run against the specified folder, all files meeting the rule conditions would be classified with an appropriate label. You could use an expiration date here, but doing that might require reclassification of files if the ex

Cybercriminals are improving a malicious software program that can be installed on ATMs running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system that records sensitive card details, according to security vendor Trustwave. The malware has been found on ATMs in Eastern European countries, according to a Trustwave report. The malware records the magnetic stripe information on the back of a card as well as the PIN (Personal Identification Number), which would potentially allow criminals to clone the card in order to withdraw cash.

Windows XP is an obvious choice to run ATMs! Sigh!

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"Beginning next week, the FTC will hold a series of public roundtables covering the growing number of challenges to consumer privacy on the Internet. Dubbed "Exploring Privacy," the daylong discussions will focus on "the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses." Hold that yawn. Behavioral tracking and ad targeting have everything to do with the pesky "Warning!" pop-up blinking behind your browser window right now. The one that could shatter your online privacy. In advance of the roundtables, Fast Company spoke with online privacy advocates Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the Future of Privacy Forum, and Ari Schwartz, vice president and chief operating officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology. Below, Polonetsky and Schwartz highlight five of most nefarious techniques used to trick and track you." 1. "Malvertising Gangs" 2. Flash Cookies 3. "Cookie appends" 4. Personal Health Data 5. ISP Tracking

As more and more teens get their hands on mobile phones there is an increasing number of problems which can result. First is "Cyberbulling" where someone uses text messages, emails, and phone calls to hound and slander another teen. The next one, which has been in the news a lot lately, is "sexting". This is where sexually explicit texts and photos are sent from one teen to another or to a group. Both situations can put parents in the awful position of being forced to help their child to defend charges in court. In some counties prosecutors have begun using child pornography laws to prosecute teenagers who send sexually explicit photos to one another. That's why a new program you can put on your child's phone may be the answer. Security Shield Parental Control Edition works with Symbian, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry phones. Once setup, parents can then see a log of text messages send by their child as well as calls placed and received. Reports are available through a website. The software is being offered for US$30 a year and that subscription also includes automatic software updates.

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The row over the changes Facebook made to its terms has thrown the light on the rights people surrender when they sign up to use a website. It is likely though that until the row over Facebook's Terms and Conditions went public, few people knew what rights sites claim over the content that their members upload and share. "Less than 25% of users are making a specific point of going to the privacy settings and making changes," said Simon Davies, head of digital rights group Privacy International. Most, he said, are so keen to get using a site after registering that they do not take time to learn what will happen to any data that they are surrendering. Only later do they go back and adjust what happens to their data. "A lot of sites do have strong privacy controls," said Mr Davies. Tweaking these settings can help cut down on how much of a person's data is distributed. "It can make a difference," said Mr Davies, "particularly if the default is set in terms of maximum information flow." Blogger Amanda French looked through the pages where sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube and others spelled out their policies with regard to the data that members upload. Although the wording was different, she found that sites such as MySpace, Yahoo, Google and Twitter explicitly backed away from claiming ownership over uploaded content. A brief survey of Europe's Top 5 social sites found a similar situation. The text of the terms available on the UK sites of Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Friends Reunited and Windows Live all back away from claiming ownership. By contrast, she wrote, the changes Facebook made to its terms were "extraordinarily grabby and arrogant".

Google has moved forward the debate about privacy and Internet advertising, in its typical way, with deceptively simple engineering and a willingness to impose its way on others. On Wednesday, Google became the last of the big advertising companies to start keeping track of where Internet users surf online so ads can be shown to people based on what they might be interested in buying. In its approach to ad targeting, the company is responding to calls by the Federal Trade Commission and others to be more clear with users' information and control over the information it collects. It has created a window into part of its database, so users can see that Google has deduced that they are interested in "Anime & Manga" comics, or "Alternative-Punk-Metal" music or travel to Afghanistan. (Yes, those are on its list of 600 interest categories.) It also built technology to allow your browser to remember that you don't want Google (or its DoubleClick unit) to remember anything about you. It is more robust than the opt-out system used by many companies that rely on cookies in browsers. These are technical feats that other ad companies said would be too hard.

The whole idea of privacy has become a joke. On one hand we have consumers who will give away their personal details to random Web sites (as well as to Mrs. Sikiratu Seki Adam, "a widow to Late Saheed Baba Adams") at the drop of a virtual hat, and on the other we have businesses losing personally identifiable information and transaction data with wild abandon … yes, I'm talking about you Heartland Payment Systems. (Heartland lost data on more than 100 million transactions although it is hardly alone - check out the data loss database at the Open Security Foundation). This widespread carelessness has compromised the privacy of tens of millions of consumers and businesses. While carelessness is the cause, what has allowed it to go unchecked are a number of factors: The Internet making transactions easier and faster; the systems we use on the Internet (particularly Windows PCs) being as secure as the First Little Pig's house of straw; organizations not taking security seriously enough; naive consumers; and inadequate regulation of the companies that hold private data. What got me thinking about this privacy void was a letter my wife received from Nordstrom Bank yesterday. My wife has a Nordstrom credit card and the company sent us, for what seems like the 1,000th time, its latest privacy policy. This version was one page of small text that more or less says what every other privacy notice from financial services companies say (we average about one of these "revised" policies every couple of weeks).

Do you know where your friends are? If not, Google wants to help you find them. Today, Google introduced Latitude, a new opt-in feature that lets smartphone and laptop users share their location with friends and allows those friends to share their locations in return. Although not pinpoint accurate, Latitude can display your general location based on information from GPS satellites and cell towers. Latitude works on both mobile devices and personal computers. What Latitude can do Once you and your friends have opted in to Latitude, you can see your friends' Google icon displayed on Google Maps. Clicking on their icon allows you to call, email or IM them, and you can even use the directions feature on Google Maps to help you get to their location. Google says Latitude works in 27 countries and with many mobile platforms including iGoogle with your computer. The list of compatible phones are: *Android-powered devices, such as the T-Mobile G1 *iPhone and iPod touch devices (coming soon) *most color BlackBerry devices *most Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices *most Symbian S60 devices (Nokia smartphones) *many Java-enabled (J2ME) mobile phones, such as Sony Ericsson devices (coming soon)

VANDALS who attacked Fred Goodwin's mansion could have been helped by Google's new Street View, it was claimed yesterday. Security experts say the attackers may have "cased" the shamed banker's £3million Edinburgh home using the detailed images provided by the controversial new service. It could have helped them plan the attack, in which windows were smashed and a car wrecked, by showing them how to get in and escape unnoticed.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has proposed rules for a new automated method of checking security settings on federal computers. The process is known as the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), and NIST has offered both programs and recommendations designed to help federal agencies use the system effectively. The proposed rules follow a July 2008 order from the Office of Management and Budget requiring federal agencies to use SCAP-validated products to measure compliance with a mandated group of security settings that run Windows XP and Vista. Public comments can be made on the NIST proposal until June 12.

Four HIV-positive patients whose records were left behind on an MBTA train by a Massachusetts General Hospital employee are suing the hospital, claiming their privacy has been breached. In March the hospital notified 66 patients who received care at its Infectious Disease Associates outpatient practice that billing records bearing their names, Social Security numbers, doctors, and diagnoses had been lost by a manager who was riding the Red Line. She had brought the paperwork home for the weekend, but left it on the train when she returned to work the morning of Monday, March 9, according to hospital security reports. Last week two patients who are HIV-positive filed a suit in Suffolk Superior Court against the hospital and the unidentified billing manager. The unnamed plaintiffs have been joined by two other HIV-positive people. The legal action was first reported in the weekly newspaper Bay Windows. Their lawyer, John Yasi of the Salem law firm Yasi and Yasi, said in an interview he has filed a motion to make the suit a class action that could cover all 66 patients, a significant number of whom are also HIV-positive. "The damages that jump out are the emotional distress surrounding the loss of obviously very sensitive medical information and secondarily the loss of personal security information," he said. "A Social Security number in reality may lead to identity theft, which we all know is a nightmare."

"Malicious hackers are using fake alerts around H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccines to trick end users into installing malware on Windows computers, according to warnings issued by computer security firms. The latest malware campaign begins with e-mail messages offering information regarding the H1N1 vaccination. The e-mail messages contain a link to a bogus Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site with prompts to create a user profile. During this process, a malware file gets planted on the user's machine."

In April 2008, the blogosphere was abuzz with news that someone was auctioning then-candidate Barack Obama's half-eaten breakfast on eBay, along with silverware purported to contain his DNA. This episode led some to speculate that the DNA of one or both of the presidential candidates would be surreptitiously analysed and their genetic information broadcast before the election for all to examine. Although this scenario did not take place during this election cycle, it is well within the realm of technological possibility. Every day, we shed millions of cells during ordinary activities - licking envelopes, blowing our nose, combing hair. These cells may seem to be mere human detritus, but our biological trash could be a gold mine for information prospectors looking for clues to our health or ancestry. And as an investigation in the latest issue of New Scientist magazine found, there already is a vibrant industry offering covert DNA tests to confirm infidelity and parentage. We have reached this point through technological advances in laboratory genetic analysis, dramatically reduced costs for the analysis and an almost complete absence of rules governing the legal status of "abandoned DNA."