Once upon a time, ZoneAlarm was the best personal firewall available. It was free, stable and excellent. I seem to remember using it from 2002-2003 or so – then Zonealarm was acquired by CheckPoint and the product was lost to the retail market. CheckPoint moved the product to corporate desktops and was lost to the [...]
Check Point Launches ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus and Firewall 2013
On Apple Disabling Java by Default
Apple is disabling Java by default in the last update which is a perfect solution to the risk that Java presents to the desktop. At the same time, it’s drives a stake into the heart of Java.
Deleting Social Media Accounts. Running Scared.

I’m deleting social media accounts with a sense of fear. Who wants to share _everything_ ? I did, until I realised how dangerous Network Theory is for exposing information about you. And everyone you know.
From the “Why Use a VPN?” Department. Microsoft RDP Flaw Announced.

Microsoft announces zero-day exploitable RDP flaw that gets full compromise of server. Expects worm to be available within thirty days. I get to gloat and say “I told you so” to all Microsoft admins everywhere.
Comment: Juniper Acquiring Mykonos Software
Couple of days back, Juniper announced acquisition of Mykonos Software. After reviewing the web site I find that I’m interested in this acquisition as signal of change.
ASA 5520 and ASA 5540 With Only One DIMM Memory Socket – Counterfeit Hardware
There is a significant numbers of ASA5110 chassis that have been reworked to look and act like ASA5520 or ASA5540 firewalls. Refer this bug toolkit for more details.
Soft Switching Fails at Scale
There is a significant camp of software developers who are developing software switching solutions for hypervisors. Which is nice, I guess. The use of software switching in the hypervisor has some good points but, in my view they are heavily outweighed by the bad. I present the use case, and show that software
Checkpoint/Nokia Firewall Clustering. Uh Oh.
I’ve been reviewing a network that has some CheckPoint firewalls that have been unstable, and while this isn’t surprising (in my experience, it’s common enough for Checkpoint firewalls to be unstable for some reason or the other), this time I’ve been faced with Checkpoint Clustering. A few years back I tried to make this work, but gave up when CheckPoint couldn’t make it work either.
A few years later, I find someone brave enough to attempt it. This time it’s different, I’m the one who has to justify why it’s a bad idea. Now that the manuals are not secret anymore I think I’ve found out why.
Cloud Security Blanket – I’m Safe NOW
I’ve got a Cloud Security Blanket. Got to know that all my data is safes now.
End of Life Notice for Cisco CS-MARS Questions CiscoíS Commitment to Security.
Cisco announces End Of Life for CS-MARS. Whither goes Cisco’s commitment to Security ?
