The front page of CERT/CC, the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute and cyber security experts, looks back at 2008 as the 20th anniversary of the Morris worm, sometimes called the “Great Worm,” which crippled the Internet in 1988. Created by Robert Morris, now an associate professor at MIT, it was one of the first computer worms to infect the brand new Internet, exploiting known vulnerabilities and causing millions in damages. It also was the first conviction in the United States as part of the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Years ago, a friend of mine worked for Boeing IT and taught many company workshops and training programs that began with an amusing lecture on “Safe Computer Sex.” She taught fellow employees to take care when flipping floppies to avoid transferring computer program infections across the network. How far we have come from those days.
As our dependence upon the web increased with email communication, spammers, hackers and attackers spread evil through your email inbox. Now, they are attacking our websites, social media tools, and web browsers.
Microsoft announced recently security issues with the Internet Explorer web browser and the dangers of visiting websites that could exploit that security vulnerability. Many warned to not use Internet Explorer until it was patched and updated.
Google created the Browser Security Handbook to help people and developers understand the security issues facing web browsers and the steps to take to protect individuals and web applications.
As mentioned in the last article in this series on web and blog security and hacking, Security and Hacking: The State of WordPress Blogs, WordPress, Movable Type, and other popular web services are not immune from security hacks or vulnerabilities. read more
By now, WordPress 2.7 has been released on WordPress.com. The full version should be released by December 10. We’ve lots of WordPress 2.7 version news. WordPress Theme and Plugin authors need to update and ensure they are listed on the compatibility pages on the Codex. Hang on, we’ve got lots of WordPress news.
WordPress News
Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.7:WordPress.com now features a Countdown to WordPress 2.7 on blogger’s Administration Panels. It is clicking off the time until WordPress 2.7 hits WordPress.com blogs.
In the announcement that WordPress 2.7 will arrive on Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 8PM Eastern Time in the United States on WordPress.com blogs, you will find all the tips and information you need to handle the transition to the new version of WordPress. Ryan Boren explained that WordPress.com users have been using WordPress 2.7 for a while without the new Administration Panel interface, which is due to arrive today.
Full Version of WordPress 2.7 Due December 10: In response to the Blog Herald announcement, Jane Wells confirms that the full version of WordPress 2.7 will be released December 10, though it could be sooner if testing on WordPress.com goes well. read more
WordCamps are popping up everywhere, in China, Japan, Australia, Israel, Utah, Toronto, Vancouver, Portland, and more. Are you tracking WordPress 2.7 development? Martha Stewart now does WordPress and windows. Super Cache updated. WordPressMU upgraded. Ozh wants your input on the next version of WordPress Theme Toolkit. And more WordPress news.
WordPress News
Tracking WordPress Development: Did you know you can track the development of WordPress and WordPress related applications? Here is a list:
Martha Does WordPress:Matt Mullenweg announced that Martha Stewart us upgraded from a TypePad blog to WordPress after careful research and the desire to “switch to a platform offering more programming options.”
WordPress 2.7 Development News: The following are some of the news items and information about WordPress 2.7 development which includes a new updated interface for the WordPress Administration Panels.
Jacob Santos – Don’t Use WordPress 2.7 Trunk on a Live Blog is another warning that those who are running their blogs with the latest trunk alpha testing versions should stop whining when it breaks their blogs. The trunk versions are stable but they are test data and likely to break when combined with various Plugins and Themes and systems.
The front page of CERT/CC, the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute and cyber security experts, looks back at 2008 as the 20th anniversary of the Morris worm, sometimes called the “Great Worm,” which crippled the Internet in 1988. Created by Robert Morris, now an associate professor at MIT, it was one of the first computer worms to infect the brand new Internet, exploiting known vulnerabilities and causing millions in damages. It also was the first conviction in the United States as part of the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 
