easy prey for cyber attacker - '17-year-old' could cripple economy, consultant warns

Canada is woefully unprepared for a massive cyber-attack that is
within the capabilities of any run-of-the-mill hacker, and which
could cripple the business of the nation, warns a leading security
expert.

Dragos Ruiu, an Edmonton-based computer security consultant, says
it's time for the government to protect complex computer networks
that can now be hijacked with the simplest of tools.

"There has got to be a lot more thought and a lot more talk and a
lot more brains applied to the situation," said Ruiu. "The cyber-
warfare world is the only place a 17-year-old kid can take on a
nation-state and win."

Ruiu, a key organizer of the CanSecWest Applied Security Conference
that opens in Vancouver today, said that when it comes to computer
security, even the popular pocket-sized smartphones are open to
attack. He said this year's conference will play host to a hacking
contest to see which cellphone is the most secure.

"We expect the first platform to be hacked will be the iPhone," he
said. "Phone platforms are not necessarily more secure than
laptops."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Canada+easy+prey+cyber+attac
ker+expert/2718886/story.html

Fighting Back Against Email Spammers, Internet Hackers, and other Web Thieves

The following article resulted from my experience in dealing with
spammers, hackers, and other web thieves; during my tenure as
webmaster of InfoHQ.com for the last 10 years.

When I first started InfoHQ.com in 1998, the Internet was a safer,
kinder place. There were very few email viruses and most people
never heard of the word "firewall" unless they were running a
server. Most Internet users had only one email address and they
were not afraid to share it with others.

Five years later, the Internet is a completely different
environment. Not a day goes by that I don't receive 4 or more email
viruses, 10-20 email spams, and hacker attacks on my DSL firewall.
What happened??

http://www.infohq.com/Computer/Spam/fight-internet-hackers-email-
spammers.htm