Security & Privacy

An article on The Register discusses problems with a security vendor’s certification of hacker-free web sites not being totally safe. The problem with such certification is that, even with daily checks of sites, it’s very hard to guarantee that any web site remains safe. In this case, the security vendor in question is understating the danger of cross-site scripting attacks (vulnerabilities that can occur when web applications inject malicious code into web pages). (To learn about cross-site scripting, see this Wikipedia page.)

The real problem lies less with such certification than with the fact that web sites can never be certified 100%. The web is too fluid, and vulnerabilities can arise and be exploited very quickly. For this reason, you cannot trust this kind of certification, and must always have client-side protection (ie, protection on your computer) and keep your Mac up to date with the latest security updates. Also, make sure you have software such as VirusBarrier and NetBarrier, to protect you from malware and security risks.