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BackTrack is a Linux-based penetration testing arsenal that aids security professionals in the ability to perform assessments in a purely native environment dedicated to hacking. Regardless if you’re making BackTrack your primary operating system, booting from a LiveDVD, or using your favorite thumbdrive, BackTrack has been customized down to every package, kernel configuration, script and patch solely for the purpose of the penetration tester.

Which is more secure for consumers--Mac or PC, and why?
R. Adrian Lamo, threat analyst:
"There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. A PC, common sense, and NoScript http://noscript.net/ [Firefox plug-in] will help a user reduce their exposure profile more than a Mac and no common sense + clicking on anything that flashes. But the former isn't because it's a PC, and the latter isn't because it's a Mac."

Giorgio Maone wrote:The 10 least likely and most dangerous people on the Internet

Giorgio Maone of NoScript
Job: Consultant
Why: Controls NoScript
Impact: Nearly every security researcher on the
planet – complete compromise. In general the
most paranoid people on earth would be
compromised.

How can people better protect themselves against the growing tide of malware? Aside from the typical advice of keeping your security software updated and not clicking on links in an e-mail, M86 recommends that people use the NoScript extension in Firefox, which limits the execution of JavaScript code and installs browser extensions that can display shortened URLs as their full addresses.

If your browser allows only "trusted sites" to execute Javascript, you should add the "googleapis.com" domain to your whitelist to allow our Flash detection to work properly.

Computerworld wrote: Jay McLaughlin has me worried. I do my online banking from the same home computer the rest of the family uses for Web surfing and online games. I have the McAfee security suite loaded and do regular scans so accessing online banking should be protected. Right?

Not really, says McLaughlin, a Certified Information Security Professional and CIO of CNL Bank. Accessing online banking from your everyday PC is just asking for trouble, he says.

[...]

He thinks that security suites are increasingly ineffective at keeping up with threats from organized crime rings abroad, such as the Russian Business Network. Right now business users are feeling the heat, but he says consumers are being targeted as well. He's so worried about drive by downloads, in fact, that he uses Firefox with the Noscript plug-in, which won't allow any JavaScript to execute on his PC without his explicit permission.

Is Every Browser Unique? Results Fom The Panopticlick Experiment wrote: While almost all browsers are uniquely fingerprintable, there were four special categories that were comparatively resistant to fingerprinting:

1. Those with JavaScript disabled (possibly using a tool like NoScript)