As reported by Computerworld, PC users didn’t think they were more secure in 2006. Online attacks have become more sophisticated, and there are more money-hungry cybercriminals than ever. Microsoft patched more bugs in ’06 than any previous year, new classes of attacks were discovered, vendor security complaints have risen, and, oh yes, spam is back.

Here are the top five security stories of 2006:

• Phishing complaints increased by 34% over 2005, where fake web pages collect log-in details, credit card numbers and personal info for financial gain. Protect from phishing with PC-Cillin Internet Security.
• Spam is still here. Spammers have new ways to get around security software, and in 2006, up to 90% of all e-mail was spam. Protect from spam with Norton AntiSpam.
• A top concern in 2006 was zero-day attacks, in which attackers focus on previously unreported flaws in software and the automatic security updates that have now become commonplace.
• Cross-site scripting attacks have become more prevalent this year, like the kind used on MySpace.com, which was hit by a password-stealing worm that exploited a scripting vulnerability. Such hacks can force PCs to download illegal content, hack other websites or even send e-mail.
• As reported in the October issue of the SoftwareMedia Tribune, Microsoft shook up security vendors when Vista locked out security vendors from the Windows kernel, the primary way that security software products gain access to detect and block rootkits, keystroke-logging software, and worms. As a follow up to that story, Microsoft has agreed to make APIs available, though they won’t be ready until the Service Pack 1 release of Vista.

Organized Internet criminals often lack the expertise and access to commit cybercrimes like writing computer viruses, committing identity theft and laundering money, but they do have the funds to support them. Many have taken a new approach, recruiting promising students at universities, computer clubs, and online forums. Recruits are planted in businesses as “sleepers”, and then paid to write viruses that can send spam or infect millions of computers with spyware that can detect credit card numbers and personal information. Protect you and your company from cybercrimes with McAfee Internet Security 2007.

Google Inc. and NASA have announced a partnership that will combine Google’s technology with NASA’s abundance of data and images. Some of the outcomes of the collaboration will include online real-time weather images and forecasting. High-resolution 3D maps will allow users to take virtual “flights” across the moon and through canyons on Mars. Users will also be able to track the International Space Station and the space shuttle in real-time. This announcement comes after the memorandum the two signed last year to cooperate on supercomputing, biotechnology and nanotechnology. The two may even plan to share personnel, facilities, equipment and technology.

A new Vista security feature called ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) will randomly arrange positions of key data areas to block hackers from predicting target addresses, making Vista more resilient to virus and worm attacks. But in order for the feature to work properly, computer manufacturers would have to make changes at the BIOS level, making DEP/NX (Data Execution Prevention/No eXecute) enabled by default. Major manufacturers like Dell, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard have all agreed to the changes, which Microsoft security program manager Michael Howard says is “huge”. As for CPUs that today support DEP/NX, users will be able to manually verify that DEP is enabled.

Crystal Reports XI from Business Objects is better than all other report writers on the market, according to a CRN Magazine product review. An “essential tool to have in every organization”, Crystal Reports is tops.

From the very start, Crystal Reports XI is much improved. Like the start page, whose clean design borrows the open Web-like user interface concept from some of Microsoft’s server UI’s. Online help, support, updates and training are easier than ever. Also improved is a user’s ability to run searches and jump between projects.

Crystal Reports XI features enhancements like cascading prompts, better exporting configs, including RTF, HTML previews and enhanced sorting. Report prompts don’t have to be placed into static lists any longer, and prompt definitions can now be shared in multiple reports. Sorting group values now can have their own formulas, with sorted reports being consolidated via a parameter mechanism. Sorting formulas used in parameters allow users with different sorting requirements to access the same report. This feature reduces the number of reports that need to be maintained.

The new HTML What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) preview eliminates having to publish reports each time you make an update. And a helpful new feature automates adding report data into charting and cross-tab features, so they can automatically be generated during the design process. Convert raw XML files into formatted reports, HTML or WML. The driver accepts both DTD (Document Type Definition) and schemas, and works on top of Java’s J2SE 1.4 SDK. The software also arrives with a DataDirect that accepts XML over ODBC data sources. This access is limited to specific structures but can accept multiple file types such as data island files, ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) and hierarchical formatted files.

Crystal Reports has come a long way since the days it associated formulas with report fields directly. Its new Formula Editor breaks down all the coding aspects of a report into formulas, formats, SQL expressions and functions. Separating procedures into well-defined steps, formulas and functions interact with reports more simply. Add code to each report section, including code that can change behavior based on input data, or even change the look and feel between sections. On multiple levels, Crystal Reports has become bigger, better, and more productive. See all Versions of Crystal Reports.