Microsoft has released the December Patch Tuesday security bulletin, with a total of six alerts. The most significant issue covered is a serious vulnerability in the Internet Explorer browser software.

VB has issued a call for submissions for the next VB100 comparative, to be run next month on Microsoft’s much-anticipated new version of Windows, Windows 7, with a deadline for submissions less than a week after the scheduled public release date for the new platform.

Independent testing body AV-Comparatives have released the results of their latest round of on demand anti-malware scanning tests, produced twice a year and featuring a selection of leading products.

Microsoft’s release of its free Security Essentials product this week sparked the expected barrage of views and opinions from all angles, from those hailing the release as the end of the AV industry to those slating the free product as inadequate and pointless.

The co-founder of security firm Webroot Software has apparently gone missing in Hawaii.
Steven Thomas reportedly vanished from his hotel room in Waikiki on 30 June. Family and authorities fear that Thomas, who is bipolar, may have been delusional or suicidal at the time of his disappearance.
Thomas co-founded WebRoot in 1997 in Boulder, Colorado. The company [...]

Security site Check Point has issued a set of updates which correct a compatibility issue with the latest Microsoft security update.
The company has posted updated versions of its ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, Pro, Antivirus, Anti-Spyware and Basic Firewall offerings.
The updates correct an error caused by the latest Microsoft security update. One of the four bulletins [...]

Trend Micro Incorporated (TSE:4704), a global leader in Internet content security, spyware protection and virus scan solutions, announced today a core set of software and hosted medium business security solutions, all tailored to focus upon issues such as Web threats, employee/company privacy, data leak prevention, email archiving, virus scan, spyware protection, and content filtering. Based [...]

Channel Data, the distributor of Cyberoam identity-based unified threat management appliances, has released the latest version of Cyberoam firmware, designed to offer greater control over web surfing activities in corporate and education environments.Mike Hamilton, Channel Data MD, says users will now be able to block access to more than 500,000 dubious websites hosted over the [...]

The Calyx Group has deployed an email and website security system for the Irish Stock Exchange that will guarantee the flow of information free from the intrusion of spam or spyware.Since 1793 the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) has been providing for the trading of equities and government bonds and also in the listing of investment [...]

Cyber-crooks are using new technologies and reinventing forms of social engineering to ensnare consumers and businesses, security experts warn.
Trend Micro’s latest Threat Roundup and Forecast 1H 2008 found an upswing in web threats, but a steady decrease in adware and spyware generated by outdated methods which can no longer compete with high-level security.
Social engineering tactics [...]