10 things you should know about dark web websites
Catch a glimpse of what flourishes in the shadows of the internet.
Stories by Josh Fruhlinger
5 top trends in endpoint security for 2018
Endpoint security is focused on locking down endpoints — individual computers, phones, tablets and other network-enabled devices — in order to keep networks safe. Of course, as threats evolve, endpoint security suites must evolve as well.
What is a Chief Security Officer? Understanding this critical role
The Chief Security Officer (CSO) is the executive responsible for the organization's entire security posture, both physical and cyber, and has the big picture view of the company's operational risk.
The Mirai botnet explained: How teen scammers and CCTV cameras almost brought down the internet
Mirai took advantage of insecure IoT devices in a simple but clever way. It scanned big blocks of the internet for open Telnet ports, then attempted to log in default passwords. In this way, it was able to amass a botnet army.
Spectre and Meltdown explained: What they are, how they work, what's at risk
Spectre and Meltdown are the names given to a trio of variations on a vulnerability that affects nearly every computer chip manufactured in the last 20 years. The flaws are so fundamental and widespread that security researchers are calling them catastrophic.
What is SSL/TLS? (And why it’s time to upgrade to TLS 1.3)
The TLS protocol encrypts internet traffic of all types, making secure internet communication (and therefore internet commerce) possible. Here are the basics of how it works and what comes next.
What is a cyber attack? Recent examples show disturbing trends
From virtual bank heists to semi-open attacks from nation-states, this year has been rough on IT security. Here are some of the major cyber attacks of 2017 and what we can learn from them.
WannaCry ransomware explained: What it is, how it infects, and who was responsible
Stolen government hacking tools, unpatched Windows systems, and shadowy North Korean operatives made WannaCry a perfect ransomware storm.
What is Heartbleed? A coding error that caused a security crisis
The mistake that caused the Heartbleed vulnerability can be traced to a single line of code in OpenSSL, an open source code library. Here's how Heartbleed works, how it was exploited, and how to fix it if you have an unpatched server.
Stuxnet explained: How code can destroy machinery and stop (or start) a war
Stuxnet is an extremely sophisticated computer worm that exploits multiple previously unknown Windows zero-day vulnerabilities to infect computers and spread. Its purpose was not just to infect PCs but to cause real-world physical effects. Specifically, it targets centrifuges used to produce the enriched uranium that powers nuclear weapons and reactors.
The 5 biggest ransomware attacks of the last 5 years
Ransomware isn't new, but the last few years have seen a remarkable uptick in this particularly nasty genre of attack software. The attacks highlighted here show how it has grown from a curiosity and an annoyance to a major crisis.
The dark web goes corporate
It's just as shady and dangerous as ever, but something has changed in the way the dark web does business, and it will look very familiar to IT buyers.
In Pictures: 10 (harrowing) tales of outdated tech used way past its prime
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it breaks, buy a replacement part on eBay and stubbornly refuse to upgrade.
In Pictures: Workarounds, kludges, and hacks that will improve your life
Whether you want to lower your cell phone bill or find true love, there's usually a way around your problems
In Pictures: A match made in heaven? 10 tech mergers that defined the industry
Execs at AOL and Verizon hope their merger will be a story for the ages, not a cautionary tale.