security
Preventing Participation in Distributed Denial of Service
Over the past week, XMission has seen a sharp spike in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks utilize spoofing of requests over UDP services to servers that would otherwise believe they are coming from a trusted source. Essentially these unwitting servers act as amplifiers, taking in a few bytes of a command and […]
…and you’re root
A recent vulnerability in OS X, Linux, BSD, and many other systems allows some users to become root without a password. Luckily there are some ways you can protect yourself. The process: Run sudo -k, change the time to 01-01-1970, run sudo su, and you’re root. It’s so simple it can fit in a tweet. […]
Declaration of Internet Freedom
With a continual barrage of threats against Internet freedom and individual privacy, it is time to establish a Declaration of Internet Freedom as we celebrate the Declaration of Independence. XMission has always fought for a free and open Internet while protecting individual privacy. We work with law enforcement under proper judicially sanctioned warrants, and do […]
Avoid the Dangers of Phishing
Most people have heard of scams where a fake email is sent to a user’s email, usually pretending to be from a credit card company or bank. These are called, “Phishing” emails, because they lure users into thinking that they need to reply. Phishing emails are dangerous and have potentially catastrophic effects. One particular type […]
A program for tracking stolen laptops. “Prey” upon thieves.
Chilean programmer, Tomás Pollak, developed a very cool little application that allows the owner to track a laptop if it is ever stolen. It is called Prey and best of all, it is totally free. What is Prey ? Prey helps you find your stolen laptop by sending timed reports to your email, including information […]
DNS security and resolution
As many have noted, a serious vulnerability in DNS was recently discovered. Immediately after release of the patch in question and prior to exploit code being released into the wild, along with most other major providers, XMission has patched its servers for this serious issue on both its primary nameservers as well as its dedicated […]
Getting Phished?
Recently, a few dozen of our subscribers received an email claiming to be from XMission that urged them to email their password. This fraudulent, “phishing” email did not come from XMission; unfortunately, it looked authentic enough that a few customers responded. Obviously, we find emails like this incredibly frustrating. Spam has cost us tremendously in […]
Worried about Identity Theft?
The FTC’s national education campaign – AvoID Theft: Deter, Detect, Defend – aims to empower consumers to protect themselves against identity theft and to minimize the damage it can cause. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ Using this site, consumers can learn how to avoid identity theft, and find out what to do if their identity is stolen. Businesses can […]