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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review April 9, 2010 / 26 Nissan, 5770

Online Business Banking? Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

By Mark Kellner



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | If there wasn't enough for small business owners to worry about, with the economy, rising costs and higher taxes weighing heavily, here's something that could truly rob you of sleep: ZeuS. Not the god of Greek mythology, but a "botnet," or rogue software, that can step in between you and your bank and extract tens of thousands of dollars before you even know what's going on.


This bit of malware got its start around 2007 and is now being sold - believe it or not - for prices up to $10,000 a copy. A criminal then can "seed" other PCs, via e-mail promising free music or a video clip, with a piece of the program that will give them access to your computer, allowing the criminal to implement a "Man in the Browser" attack on a company's online bank connection. The innocent businessperson thinks they're paying the electric bill; the "Man in the Browser" blocks those instructions and instead sends directions to siphon off money via wire transfer to criminals thousands of miles away.


On March 22, according to a report at the Krebs on Security weblog (http://bit.ly/bOaTx6), SmileZone, a children's dental practice in Springfield, Missouri, was the victim of a $205,000 extraction from their corporate bank account. A "Man in the Browser" bot apparently was used to compromise the firm's accounts at Great Southern Bank, which blogger Brian Krebs, a former Washington Post reporter, says isn't reimbursing the dental clinic.


According to Bill Conner, a respected, veteran technology executive, who began his career at AT&T's long distance unit, these malware attacks are a growing security concern: they are "the number one threat that banks are dealing with big time. The average corporation or consumer doesn't know there's an issue there," he said in a telephone interview last week.


Mr. Conner added, it's not the business user's fault: a company can have the latest patches to its antivirus software, Web browser and operating system, but still can be vulnerable: "You can have all that stuff current and you're still not safe."

Letter from JWR publisher


Mr. Conner is president and CEO of Entrust (www.entrust.com), a Dallas, Texas-based firm which provides security solutions to the federal Department of Homeland Security, many other federal agencies, as well as some 2,000 groups in 60 nations. The firm is expanding their range of security solutions for banks and businesses. But, he admits, fighting malware-led attacks has been a struggle: "It's an arms race. What I would say is we're keeping up with the speed of their assaults [more] than anyone else."


On April 20, the firm will unveil some new weapons in the war against ZeuS and similar attacks. One, a mobile version of Entrust's IdentityGuard program, puts a fair amount of power onto a mobile device such as an iPhone or BlackBerry. What the software does is automate an "out of band" authentication: when a bank receives instructions to wire $22,000 to someone in Topeka, the "out of band" method sends a text message to your mobile device and you, securely, either verify or deny the transfer. Because it takes place on a device separate from your office computer, it's another way of confirming the data and offers a stumbling block for cyberthieves.


Other Entrust products help banks monitor, detect and thwart suspicious activity. If you are a veterinarian in Vienna, Virginia, it's not likely that you'll often wire $10,000 to someplace 13 time zones away. Spotting such transactions early can help banks block them, as well as "profile" (in a helpful manner) other customers likely to be hit, and thus warn them, too.


As you might imagine, the ZeuS botnet attacks computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Macintosh users are safer, Mr. Conner said, because the Mac "but they are not immune." Some Linux advocates, I've read, suggest using a "Live CD" of a bootable Linux OS to log onto a bank and then quit that system after you're done. But that's cumbersome and perhaps incompatible with some bank systems.


For now, banks and their customers will likely look to firms such as Entrust to help out or risk a turnaround in the rise of mobile and online banking.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.

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