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ADA.ORG MEMBER CENTER LAUNCHES
ADA members, this one’s for you. A new feature recently launched on ADA.org, the Member Center, puts many of the Association’s electronic resources for members right at your fingertips. You can get there by visiting "www.ada.org/goto/members".

"Featured Content" and "Hot Topics" areas highlight newly available resources, upcoming Association events and topics related to dentistry and oral health care that have been in the public eye.

A "Member Benefits" area provides hyperlinks to many key member resources on the Association’s Web site such as the ADA Library and Product Catalog, insurance and retirement information and, of course, JADA Online.

For volunteers engaged in ADA business, a collection of hyperlinks provide access to travel procedures, hotel information, transportation resources and expense policies.

Other areas provide hyperlinks for electronic publications, disaster recovery resources, ADA divisional and senior staff phone lists and e-mail addresses, membership profile information and technical assistance resources.

If you will be visiting ADA members-only resources on ADA.org for the first time, you will need to contact the ADA to establish a personal password for accessing these protected resources. Please call 1-800-621-8099, Ext. 3553 (weekdays 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Central Standard Time) or send an e-mail to "mscpassword{at}ada.org".

SECURITY SHIFT
Since 2000, the SANS Institute, a nonprofit computer security research organization based in Bethesda, Md., has tracked the most critical computer security vulnerabilities in its SANS Top 20 vulnerabilities report.

In an updated report released by SANS near the end of last year, the organization noted a "significant shift" from previous years in the most widespread security vulnerabilities, with hackers increasingly targeting application programs instead of operating systems and Internet services such as Web and e-mail servers.

"The most noticeable set of applications that are being targeted by attackers are the backup and recovery tools and the antivirus and other security tools that most organizations think are keeping them safe from attacks and loss of data," the report said. "Now many of these systems have been shown to have critical vulnerabilities."

"Network devices have onboard operating systems and can be programmed just like computers," the organization said. "Compromises of network devices can provide attackers one of the most fruitful platforms for eavesdropping and launching targeted attacks."

So how can you protect yourself in the face of these ever-evolving security issues?

The first line of defense is to employ up-to-date antivirus and firewall software, take advantage of additional security tools your Internet service provider may offer and update your operating system regularly with the manufacturer’s latest patches.

In addition, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team offers computer security tips at "www.us-cert.gov/cas".

Reported by Joe Hoyle, electronic media editor, "hoylej{at}ada.org".

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