Software that analyzes a network to determine its exposure to unwanted intruders. Also called "vulnerability scanners," such products check client PCs, servers, routers, firewalls, network appliances, system software and applications for vulnerabilities that include open ports, trapdoors, poorly written scripts and unpatched operating systems.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Say goodbye to Yahoo! Mash
- On today's web, so many social sites never get off the ground because users don't easily migrate from their online communities. As much as I want MySpace to die, people will still be using it as long as their friends are using it. Yahoo's mashup social network...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- The depressing future of the Internet
- A brief overview of how the Internet came about: some years ago, some military boffs thought it'd be awesome if computers could talk to each other, so the US could nuke the hell out of other countries without actually being near there. A smart professor from England then came up...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- Sprint unveils location-based 'geobrowsing' on eve of WiMax launch
- With the launch of its long-hyped WiMax service XOHM scheduled to debut in September in Baltimore, on Thursday Sprint announced a set of location-based personalization features that will enhance the user experience of WiMax subscribers by allowing them to, for example, quickly look up restaurants, check traffic and weather, and...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- Wireless networks mimicking biological systems
- The goal of the EU-funded WINSOC project is to build self-organizing networks of wireless sensors by applying principles learned from living organisms. These wireless sensors will be used for a wide range of environmental monitoring purposes. As says the WINSOC scientific coordinator, 'Living systems are intrinsically robust against cells dying...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- First images of Google-powered HTC Dream
- It was rumored that the HTC G1 Dream would be the first Google powered phone on the market, and if everything pans out, those rumors will end up being true with a launch date sooner than later. Android Guys have the first mock-up drawings of the Dream, and it's...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- News to know: IE 8; iPhone password locks; SOA; Palm Treo Pro reviews
- Here are today's notable headlines. You can get News To Know via email alert and RSS daily: Mary Jo Foley: IE 8 Beta 2 ready for download Ed Bott: Internet Explorer 8 gets a massive makeover Gallery: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 ...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- 'Is enterprise collaboration an oxymoron?' Be the Voice Podcast with David Spark.
- 'Is enterprise collaboration an oxymoron?' Be the Voice Podcast with David Spark.Perhaps it's more about security....Or at least it clearly needs to be.If you couple your APS to closely, no mater how much work you do to secure your side, it's only as secure as their side.Now if they coupe...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- MSN Norway serving Flash exploits through malvertising
- Morten Krakvik from the Norwegian Honeynet Project is reporting that MSN Norway is among the latest victims of malvertising, a practice where a bogus advertising provider tricks leading portals into accepting advertisements from its network, which often end up redirecting to live exploit URLs. The recent wave of malvertising that...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Intel ships BIOS fix for Rutkowska's Black Hat flaw
- Intel ships BIOS fix for Rutkowska's Black Hat flawDoes it affect Windows98?Does this affect Windows98? I'm running a 3.1 MySQL server in my DMZ on Windows98 and I hope it won't be affected by this. My Gram-mummy uses an SSH tunnel through the TOR Onion router network to get to...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- It must be a rough day in Cupertino
- They just keep coming, one negative headline after another after another. At least that's how it must feel today over at Apple. In the last 24 hours or so, there have been at least four separate events that have put the company in a negative light. The widespread problems with...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Internet Explorer 8 gets a massive makeover
- The Beta 2 release of Microsoft's flagship web browser is packed with dozens of new usability and security features that will have an impact on just about every aspect of your browsing experience. by Ed Bott
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Some brands should allow themselves to be 'jacked'
- Some brands should allow themselves to be 'jacked'Allowing your brand to be jackedI think the primary concern for an organization would be that of control. It's a win-win as long as things are going well, of course, but what happens when the unpaid maintainer decides to go completely rogue?...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- The Gammima Strain
- Photo: NASA Is the International Space Station just another bot in a botnet? Are criminal hackers tapping away in some dark warehouse now in control of critical command-and-control systems on board? No, that would make a good Michael Crichton novel, though. It seems some...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- MediaMax / The Linkup: When the cloud fails
- MediaMax / The Linkup: When the cloud failsMore to blameShame on the customers who selected this vendor. When evaluating vendors in the cloud, your RFP should identify exactly how these companies secure, backup, and process your data. I fear that poorly run IT shops like this one will...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- The role of media in the Internet age
- Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, a fake news show that has acquired a huge following a group among whom I include myself, is attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. As a result, he had the chance to meet with members of...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Virtualization software revives dumb terminals, cuts IT costs
- With computers growing smarter by the day, why would anyone want to step back more than a decade and fill office cubicles with dumb terminals? The answer is simple - to keep cubicle computers in service longer, uncluttered and free of malware, viruses and hacking programs. At...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
- Major security hole found in iPhone
- Major security hole found in iPhonewhose fault?Seems to me you're blaming Apple for bad coverage when you should be blaming O2. Didn't they give you some sort of trial period when you sign up to see how the coverage was in your area?The risk Me-Firsters takeEr, I mean early...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Who's Dumber: Bad Guys … Or Good Guys?
- Who's Dumber: Bad Guys … Or Good Guys?Bad guys don't need applauseJust money. So they'll modestly attempt to avoid receiving their due when they compromise systems. I wouldn't assume that not hearing about a success means the success has not occurred.Also, this statement is confusing:Now, we have the...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Has Firefox already matched IE privacy features?
- Has Firefox already matched IE privacy features?SSH?I thought that was for a secure shell (port 23 i believe) to transfer files vs unsecure FTP (port 21)... SSL (port 443) is whats used in browsers for secure websites...unless im mistaken.It matched it a long time agoThe Distrust extension does what this...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Who's Dumber: Bad Guys … Or Good Guys?
- In the old cowboy movies, the black hats were villains that created mayhem, until the white hats came along and ended their reigns of fear. Now, we have the spectacle of good guys seemingly educating the bad guys on how to exploit flaws or processes of the Internet, that...
- Blog posts 2008-08-27
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