McAfee Warns of Zero-Day Rash in Wake of Patch Tuesday
Even if today's most prominent malicious software writers aren't particularly clever - waiting until security engineers discover another Windows problem then going after it with a "zero-day exploit" - engineers at McAfee's Avert Labs believe they may actually be learning about how to use timing to maximize their impact on the public.
The team is saying they believe malicious writers now tend to release their code on Microsoft's regular Patch Tuesday, in order to maximize its window of opportunity to exploit systems before the next month's Patch Tuesday rolls around.
New McAfee CEO Starts Blogging
Joining a growing trend of tech industry executives blogging publicly, new McAfee CEO David DeWalt published his first entry on the company's Security Insights Blog this week. DeWalt joined McAfee at the beginning of April, and says his blogging represents a changing culture at the company.
"McAfee has been through some difficult times recently, and I know it’s been hard on the people here who don’t deserve what they’ve been through. But things are going to be different now," DeWalt wrote. "I’m personally committed to providing the honest and transparent leadership that our customers, employees, shareholders and partners deserve." DeWalt even published his e-mail address for customers to contact him.
McAfee Upgrade Disrupts Lotus Notes
Users of IBM Lotus Notes are being advised to delay upgrading to the latest version of McAfee's VirusScan, as the patch apparently causes Lotus Notes to lock people out of their mailboxes. McAfee is currently working on a fix.
The issue has been confirmed to occur on computers with VirusScan Enterprise 8.5i and Lotus Notes installed. According to those affected, the only way to fix the issue in some cases is to completely reinstall the program.
MS to McAfee: Stop Lying to the Public
A statement released to the press very early this morning from Ben Fathi, Microsoft's corporate vice president for security technology, gives some subtle but clear indications that, if McAfee wants to take its claims against Windows Vista security features off the streets and into a more formal setting, Microsoft might be willing to make a battle of it.
"It's unfortunate that McAfee's lawyers are making these kinds of inaccurate and inflammatory statements," Fathi's statement opens, apparently referring specifically to claims made against Microsoft's forthcoming 64-bit kernel protection scheme before the European Commission, and not to open letters from McAfee executives published by the Financial Times and ZDNet.
McAfee: MS Failing to Provide Code
McAfee said Wednesday that Microsoft has failed to keep its promises, and has not delivered the necessary code and instructions to access the core of the Windows Vista operating system. Microsoft promised the European Commission it would do so last week.
The company is the second in as many days to claim Microsoft is not providing the APIs needed by its security partners. On Tuesday, Sunbelt Software called the company's announcement about sharing APIs was a "red herring" to fool the press.
McAfee Buys Data Loss Prevention Firm
McAfee on Monday announced it had acquired Onigma for $20 million in cash in order to bolster its data protection solutions. The company is re-branding Onigma's offering as McAfee Data Loss Prevention, which is designed to monitor, report on and prevent confidential data from leaving an enterprise.
Data loss has become a major concern for businesses after a number of high-profile cases in which social security and credit card numbers were left on lost and stolen laptops. "Onigma gives us additional capabilities and expertise to help customers reduce the risk associated with compliance violations, corporate governance concerns, internal policy infractions and information leaks," said McAfee CTO Christopher Bolin.
McAfee President Fired, CEO Quits
Playing out what could be considered the worst-case scenario for corporations caught in the midst of a multi-company SEC probe into corporate accounting for possibly backdated options grants, the executive ranks of security software provider McAfee are being purged in a massive company reboot.
Former Borland CEO Dale Fuller is the new interim CEO of McAfee today, after the resignation of six-year veteran chairman/CEO George Samenuk, and the outright termination of the company’s president, Kevin Weiss.
McAfee Joins Anti-Microsoft Security Chorus
McAfee took a full-page advertisement in Monday's Financial Times to level charges that Microsoft is locking security companies out of the Vista kernel in an attempt to "hamstring" them. McAfee says it is the first time that Microsoft has made such a move.
Security firms, such as McAfee and also Symantec, have complained Microsoft has locked down Vista to support its own entrant into the security space, Windows Live OneCare. However, neither company has filed antitrust complaints, and governments like the EU have taken no action as of yet.
McAfee Releases New Security Suites
After a month in beta testing, McAfee is releasing to the world its next-generation security suites based on its new "Falcon" platform, which combines the company's antivirus, anti-spyware, and "threat watch" technologies.
Falcon includes SystemGuard to look for certain behaviors that may indicate virus, spyware or hacker activity, and alert the consumer before the issue does damage. Additionally, X-Ray detects and kills rootkits, while McAfee Site Advisor identifies and notify users of potentially dangerous Web sites.
Flaw Found in 2006 McAfee Products
A flaw in many of McAfee's security products could open up users to a data exposure risk, security firm eEye Digital Security warned late Monday. Among the programs affected are Internet Security Suite, SpamKiller, Privacy Service and Virus Scan Plus, although the 2007 versions, released Saturday, are immune.
McAfee has confirmed the flaws and is working on a fix, saying a patch would be delivered automatically to subscribers by midweek. No known attacks have been reported to be taking advantage of the vulnerability. Exploit code is not available on the Web, researchers said, thus it's likely no attacks would occur.
McAfee Delivers Beta of Security Suites
McAfee on Friday released betas of two software suites based on its new security service platform code-named "Falcon," first announced last month and intended to compete with Windows Live OneCare and Symantec's upcoming "Genesis" platform.
Under development for the past year, Falcon combines the company's antivirus, anti-spyware, and "threat watch" technologies. It includes SystemGuard to look for certain behaviors that may indicate virus, spyware or hacker activity, and alert the consumer before the issue does damage. Additionally, X-Ray detects and kills rootkits, as well as malicious programs that attempt to hide themselves.
McAfee Buys Risk Management Firm
McAfee on Tuesday said it had acquired Preventsys, a company that specializes in security risk management and compliance. The technology will be integrated into McAfee's solutions for large businesses in order to protect customer information and communicate security compliance to executives.
"With Preventsys technology, we can help our customers satisfy regulatory requirements for automated compliance reporting, while leveraging existing McAfee technologies such as McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator and Foundstone," said Ken Gonzalez, McAfee's vice president of corporate development. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
McAfee to Offer Integrated Security App
McAfee took the covers off a new integrated consumer security platform Tuesday, code-named "Falcon." Under development for the past year, the offering combines the company's antivirus, anti-spyware, and "threat watch" technologies.
The entire suite of products will be manageable from a single access point, which McAfee said was a common complaint in its research. Additionally, the "threat watch" capabilities would be able to proactively act on suspicious activity.
McAfee Granted Wireless Update Patent
McAfee said Monday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had awarded it a patent regarding methods to update computer files on mobile devices. The company says that the technology could be used to update a file on a mobile device with a newer versions that exists on another device.
For example, a communication link is established between two devices with the file. The wireless device first determines whether the file stored is updated. If there is an up-to-date version on the other device, the file is downloaded. Once the file is fully downloaded, it can then replace the older file.
McAfee Testing Gateway Security App
Security firm McAfee has put out a request for beta testers to trial the latest version of its Secure Content Management Appliances application. The suite includes three products: Secure Messaging Gateway, providing secure content management for SMTP and POP3; Secure Web Gateway for secure content management for HTTP, ICAP and FTP; and the Secure Internet Gateway, combining the above two products to provide secure content management for both web and messaging protocols.
Participants would need the appliance that sits at the gateway in order to participate, although this is pretty common in IT environments, McAfee said. Compatible units have been listed on the application's beta site. As a prize for the best feedback, the SCM engineering team will be giving away iPods to three testers. The initial release of the beta is already out, with a refresh due later in the month and release candidate expected in May.
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