Another Serious Internet Issue

For the second day in a row a serious Internet security issue has been announced. This flaw is specifically related to Cisco routers which many companies use to connect to the Internet. This flaw could allow hackers to crash the Cisco router therefore breaking the company's Internet connection or cause websites to go off line temporarily. Cisco has already created a patch. Any company using a Cisco router to connect to the Internet should install the patch to avoid the problem from occurring. Call our office if you have any questions.

Possible Big Problems For The Internet

On Thursday a computer researcher will reveal a flaw he has discovered in TCP/IP, the basic language of the Internet. He actually discovered the flaw last year. Since the discovery, hardware and software vendors have been scrambling to create patches for their products to mitigate the problem. The flaw can allow a hacker to interrupt Internet communications at will. This could be a very serious problem. It is anticipated that after the presentation on Thursday hackers will know how to exploit the flaw "within minutes".

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a security alert which can be found here. This flaw must be mitigated by Internet Service Providers and router vendors. It has very little to do with individual computers on the Internet.

TCP/IP, the underlying language of the Internet was developed years ago and was not designed with security in mind. It has come a long way but needs to be revamped. Actually, TCP/IP Version 6, the replacement for the current Version 4, is beginning to be implemented on the Internet. Version 6 will eliminate several issues with Version 4. It is just taking too long to get implemented. Perhaps this will push it along!

Spammers Really Do Get Caught

Check out this article. It's good to see that at least one or two of these idiots get caught now and then. I really wish these stories would make the national news. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel!