Microsoft has decided to issue a special patch outside its usual patchday rhythm for all its Internet Explorer versions to close a severe vulnerability issue. Downloads of Firefox have accordingly skyrocketed.

If you prefer to travel light and free, try OpenVAS, a GPLed fork of the Nessus scanning tool.

Spot intruders with these easy security visualization tools.

You need to think like an attacker to keep your network safe. We asked security columnist Kurt Seifried for an inside look at the art of intrusion.

A slow death for the default configuration.

A former intrusion specialist is training a gathering of European law enforcement agents in how the bad guys work on the Internet. Contributing editor Markus Feilner stops in for a lesson in attack techniques.

When it comes to security, public disclosure of vulnerabilities and working exploit code is now common. We look at why this can be both harmful and helpful to securing your systems.