SecurityWeek

Before arriving at Apple this fall, Kristin Paget used to break things at Microsoft. Now, her job will be to help secure Mac OS X for Apple, as the company that was once blasé about security starts to take things seriously. Paget’s LinkedIn profile lists her as working at Apple since September 2012 as a “Core OS Security Researcher”.

RIM is planning to release BlackBerry 10, the latest edition of its mobile operating system, on Jan. 30, and with that release comes an unmentioned security feature – password blocking. RIM hasn’t officially announced the protection settings, but a BlackBerry site in the U.K. discovered a list of 106 passwords that are forbidden on the new mobile OS.

Microsoft is planning to release seven security bulletins to close out the year. Five of the bulletins are rated 'Critical', while the other two are classified as 'Important.' All totaled, the bulletins address 11 vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft Word, Windows, Office, Windows Server and Internet Explorer (IE). The two 'Important' bulletins both address issues in Windows.

As the world races to adopt cloud computing, there is still a nagging challenge for IT security professionals: How can applications and infrastructure be trusted and controlled when organizations have seemingly given up both to their cloud providers? With Forrester Research forecasting public cloud computing to reach $57 billion in 2013 and exploding to over $157 billion by 2020, IT security needs to find an approach that works or risk becoming marginalized.

According to a recent study sponsored by ID Experts on patient and data security, 94% of healthcare organizations surveyed said they have suffered at least one data breach. This figure, the report says, demonstrates that uphill battle that the healthcare industry faces when it comes to information security. Further, the study says that such security problems cost healthcare organizations an estimated $7 billion annually.

Working with international law enforcement in the U.K., Canada, Romania, and the Czech Republic, the U.S. Department of Justice has issued arrest warrants for seven individuals said to have been involved in a multimillion dollar scam that targeted Internet marketplace websites.

Microsoft has named Jacqueline Beauchere as the company’s Chief Online Safety Officer, the company said in a brief statement on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Beauchere celebrates her thirteenth year with the software company, and her fourth internal assignment.

GUATEMALA CITY - US Internet security guru John McAfee, on the run from authorities in Belize over a murder probe, was arrested by Guatemalan police Wednesday for illegally entering the country, officials said. "National police agents have taken Mr John David McAfee before immigration authorities... He has entered our country illegally," police spokesman Pablo Castillo told AFP.

Citrix Systems said on Wednesday that it would acquire mobile device management (MDM) firm Zenprise. According to an announcement, the firms have entered into a definitive agreement for Citrix to acquire Zenprise, after which Citrix would integrate the Zenprise solution for mobile device management with its Citrix CloudGateway and Me@Work solutions for managing mobile apps and data.

GUATEMALA CITY - US Internet security pioneer John McAfee requested political asylum in Guatemala, his lawyer said Wednesday, after fleeing Belize where he is wanted for questioning over his neighbor's murder.The former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, now a weathered 67-year-old, went on the run from his home on the Belizean paradise island of Ambergris Caye after neighbor Gregory Faull was murdered on November 11.

CipherCloud, a cloud information protection provider, this week announced that it has raised $30 million in funding from prominent VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. The company plans to use the cash infusion to continue developing its cloud information protection products and accelerate its global go-to-market strategy with expanded sales and marketing.

The Most Plunder-ful time of the Year: Protecting Your Family’s Financial Identity During the Online Shopping SeasonThe holiday season is a time of giving. But savvy security and technology professionals such as yourselves know, both during the holidays and year-round, that not all giving is good. Some things, namely company and personal information, are not to be given out generously.

A sophisticated Zeus campaign stole an estimated €36 million, or $47 million, from over 30,000 customers across more than 30 banks in Europe this summer.

SSH Communications Security has released a patch addressing a serious vulnerability in its commercial SSH server, a day after a researcher publicly disclosed the flaw online.

Company: Foresight  |  Who: Israel Ragutski, Co-Founder and CTO

Tenable Network Security announced upgrades to its unified security monitoring platform, SecurityCenter, on Tuesday. The most significant update to the product is added support for IPv6, as organizations with IPv6 already enabled, or those planning on future implementations, can benefit from the layered risk assessment and management tools offered.

BEIJING - A top US official Wednesday tried to ease fears among Chinese firms of barriers doing business in the US after a Washington committee accused two companies of posing a security risk.

Former anti-virus software entrepreneur John McAfee, wanted for questioning over the murder of his neighbor last month in Belize, said Tuesday afternoon that he has hired Telésforo Guerra, the former Attorney General for Guatemala, to help in his fight against the Government of Belize.

Cybercriminals and the markets they use have changed in 2012, with both tactics for controlling attack campaigns as well as hackers' marketing and sales strategies getting more sophisticated.