Blogs

The Times They Are A-Changin'

By:  The Accuvant LABS R&D Team

We at Accuvant LABS have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback we’ve received for our research paper “Browser Security Comparison – A Quantitative Approach”.  By now many have had a chance to sit down with the paper and understand the materials, as evidenced by the sheer amount of feedback we’ve received.  We want to thank everyone who has supplied us with their feedback; your words have not fallen on deaf ears.

Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Microsoft Internet Explorer - Which Web Browser is Most Secured?

By:  The Accuvant LABS R&D Team

Accuvant LABS has just released some new research that compares the security of three of the most widely used web browsers – Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Google commissioned Accuvant to perform this comprehensive and independently designed security analysis to help advance the discussion of best practices in the security community.  Our research findings are extremely thorough and complete, so we decided to create this blog to summarize the results.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Shortly, Accuvant LABS will be releasing some research findings on web browser security.  Instead of relying solely on statistical data regarding vulnerabilities, we took the approach of analyzing and comparing the implementation of anti-exploitation technologies.  We reasoned that this approach would provide the best comparison of the relative security of different browsers.  One anti-exploitation technology, Data Execution Prevention (DEP), proved to be slightly more difficult to accurately assess.

Dr. Charlie Miller Compares the Security of iOS and Android

I had the honor of talking to Dr. Charlie Miller, principal research consultant for Accuvant LABS, for a bit during DerbyCon about the security of mobile devices’ operating systems. Specifically, Dr. Miller articulated the differences between Apple’s iOS and the Android OS. Here are some of the highlights before you watch the video to get it directly from the good doctor himself:

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Why DerbyCon Was a Success

A new hacker con took place last weekend. It was called DerbyCon, and it was held in Louisville, Kentucky. As DerbyCon’s website states, this was not “just another security conference.” It was honestly the best hacker con I have ever attended.

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Universal Issues Around Mobile Security

 It seems everywhere I go I’m having interesting conversations with senior level government officials regarding mobile security.  A lot of these conversations involve the use of smartphones, encrypting data on these devices, keeping government data separate from personal data, and allowing employees to purchase the phones of their choice and have the government manage them. These are the same exact types of conversations that are taking place in the private sector.

Not All Education is Equal

One of the most critical yet overlooked components to having a secure environment is ensuring that your internal team responsible for protecting sensitive information assets has the knowledge, skills and abilities to make the right decisions.

The Internet Kill Switch Bill – Not Such a New (or Bad) Idea

During the past several months, there’s been a lot of talk about the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Act of 2010” Bill (a.k.a. the “Internet Kill Switch Bill”) proposed in the Senate last summer.  With the civil unrest this year in Egypt and Libya, and the governments in those respective countries cutting off Internet access to their citizens, people in the U.S. (and other countries such as the U.K. that are considering this type of legislation) are concerned about the loss of freedoms, as well as the increase of “Big Brother” type control.

The Importance of Bridging the Public/Private Industry Gap

Every so often we read articles that speak of public/private industry collaboration toward best practices in the field of cyber security.  We hear of working groups, industry forums, training and collaboration, and even private industry executives testifying before congress regarding their experiences.  But after all the hoopla and posturing, it seems all parties return to their corne