Ken Garen, CPA, Co-Founder and President, UBCC

Nine fake certificates were issued and revoked prompting Microsoft to release an out-of-band security update. By Microsoft Subnet on Wed, 03/23/11 - 2:14pm. Microsoft issued a warning today that nine fraudulent digital certificates were issued by root certificate authority, Comodo Group. Although the certificates were quickly revoked, their initial release still poses a threat to browser users, including users of Internet Explorer. This is not a security flaw in Microsoft software, the company says, but it released a security update for Windows all the same. The nine fake certificates affect the following Web sites, Microsoft says: login.live.com (Windows Live) mail.google.com www.google.com login.yahoo.com (3 certificates) login.skype.com addons.mozilla.org "Global Trustee" Fraudulent certificates give hackers the ability to spoof content, phish, or insert themselves in man-in-the-middle attacks, collecting information that users think is being sent over a secu...

MARCH 14, 2011, 9:31 A.M. ET Rush to Fix Quake-Damaged Undersea Cables By OWEN FLETCHER And JURO OSAWA BEIJING-Asia's major telecom operators scrambled Monday to eliminate the impact on their operations from damage to several submarine cables following the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Many operators were reporting some disruptions in Internet access, though the partial restoration of service was accomplished by rerouting traffic over undamaged cables and via satellites. About half of the existing cables running across the Pacific are damaged and "a lot of people are feeling a little bit of slowing down of Internet traffic going to the United States," said Bill Barney, chief executive of Hong Kong-based cable-network operator Pacnet. He declined to name the damaged cables operated by other companies, but said Pacnet's cable system connecting Japan to the U.S. isn't damaged so far. Most international Internet-data and voice phone calls are tra...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Story by Leon Roberts This is the crossing at Blue Water Creek in July 1877, approximately four years before Jesse James robbed the payroll several miles from this location. (USACE photo) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - If direct deposit existed 130 years ago today, history could have been changed. That's when famed outlaw Jesse James robbed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers payroll being delivered by horseback just two-miles shy of reaching employees at Blue Water Camp in Alabama. It was a rainy and windy Friday on March 11, 1881, when Alexander G. Smith, receiver of materials, returned from Florence, Ala., with $5,240.18. He never made good on the cash delivery bound for laborers working on the Muscle Shoals Canal Project on the Tennessee River. When Smith stopped between Shoal Creek and the camp to open a gate, James, a man believed to be Wood Hite, and William "Whiskey Head" Ryan brandished their weapons and quickly unarmed Smit...

Janet Novack TAXING MATTERS Illinois Governor Signs Amazon Internet Sales Tax Law Mar. 10 2011 - 6:33 pm After two-months of fence-sitting, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today signed controversial legislation requiring Internet retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com to collect Illinois' 6.25% sales tax if they have affiliate sellers in the state. House Bill 3659, the Mainstreet Fairness Bill, was passed by the state's lame duck legislature in early January. Since then, the bill has been the subject of fierce lobbying by traditional bricks and mortar retailers, who supported it, and Illinois-based Internet-only businesses, who warned that if Quinn didn't veto it some of them would flee the state. Had Quinn done nothing, the bill would have become law tomorrow without his signature. Amazon has already said it will terminate its Illinois affiliates, just as it has said it will drop 10,000 California based "associates" if similar legislation pending in that ...

These small headsets offer style, features and their own apps. We look at five of the latest models. By Brian Nadel March 9, 2011 06:00 AM ET Computerworld - A headset can do more than keep your hands on the wheel while you're on the phone. It can free you to take notes while talking with a client, sip coffee during a conference call or even doodle while waiting on hold. In other words, a headset today is essential equipment for anyone who spends a lot of time talking on a mobile phone. Also, it's the law. Eight U.S. states have laws against driving with a phone in your hand, while 30 ban texting behind the wheel. In other words, if you pick up a phone while driving, you're not only doing something dangerous, but risking a hefty fine. As a result, it's no surprise that headsets are the most popular Bluetooth accessory, according to ABI figures, with 80 million headsets sold worldwide in 2010, one quarter of which were sold in the U.S. Mike Morgan, senior analys...

BY LAURA L. RICHTER, STAFF WRITER Monday, March 7, 2011 12:39 PM CST All people receiving Social Security benefits will have to have them direct deposited into a bank or credit union account, or a Direct Express debit MasterCard, by March 1, 2013, according to Social Security spokeswoman Alicia Saile. In December 2009, 6,650 Fannin County residents received some type of Social Security benefits. Saile encourages everyone receiving a paper check to enroll for direct deposit immediately, and anyone applying for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income after May 1 will automatically receive their payment by electronic means....... http://www.thenewsobserver.com/articles/2011/03/08/news/news01.txt

By: Don Reisinger 2011-03-03 Google's Android platform has caught some heat from security companies as a result of the discovery that a significant number of applications in its Android Market harbored malware. It's likely that Android security will continue to make headlines in 2011. Android security is back in the headlines. Google has removed more than 50 applications from its Android Market after it was revealed that the programs were laced with malware. The malware, according to security experts, is able to pull sensitive information from a user's smartphone. Even worse, it was downloaded as many as 200,000 times, according to security researchers, which could create a major problem in the Android space. Worst of all, this might just be the tip of the iceberg. But before some folks simply scoff at the news and say that it's just more of the same mobile problems that have been going on for months without any noticeable issue breaking out, it's importan...