25 February 2005

Spyware infiltrates blogs

Hackers are using blogs to infect computers with spyware, exposing serious security flaws in self-publishing tools used by millions of people on the Web.

Read the full story by Stephanie Olsen at Tech News on ZDNet

It concludes: Webroot's Stiennon advises people to switch to the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox Web browser for reading blogs. Either do that, or change IE security settings to deactivate ActiveX or JavaScript in the Web browser, he said.



Your privacy is in bad hands


"Showing its concern for our privacy and its own general competence, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appointed D. Reed Freeman, a Vice President of Claria, to its Privacy Advisory Committee. Did you catch my sarcasm in that first phrase? What bonehead federal official thought that a Vice President of ..."

Read the full story by Wayne Cunningham at Spyware Confidential | ZDNet.com

24 February 2005

RSA: Microsoft on 'rootkits': Be afraid, be very afraid

"Microsoft Corp. security researchers are warning about a new generation of powerful system-monitoring programs, or 'rootkits,' that are almost impossible to detect using current security products and could pose a serious risk to corporations and individuals."
Read the full story by Paul Roberts at Computerworld:

Virus alert: Don't open FBI e-mail

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Don't open those e-mail attachments that appear to be from the FBI. They might contain a computer virus.

Read the full story at CNN.com

Phone Service Restored


Hooray!

I hate to admit it, but dead phones drive me crazy. The phone came up with the sun, but I was off teaching a class, so didn't get the good news till now.

Brighthouse update...

6.5 hours since reporting and still no phone...

I want my Ma Bell back!


23 February 2005

Dear Brighthouse,



VoIP was getting rave reviews from both my husband and I until it died and we tried to contact Tech Support when the phone lights went out on the modem and the telephones ceased to work.

The first thing that pops up on the web site is instructions to dial 611 if you have a problem. Huh? If my phones don't work, how can I dial 611? If I dial 611 on the cell phone I reach Cingular. No help there.

Back to the web site. Aha... a contact address. Click and it brings up a form. So far, so good. I completed the entire form and tried to submit. Oops! The form wants a different format for my phone number. OK. I can fix that. (What is with the parenthesis on the outside of the entire phone number?) Submit again. Ah-oh! The phone number STILL doesn't go thru -- it now appears twice in red as (xxx-xxx-xxxx).

So I started over. Tried again from scratch. Same results. And again. I give up!

I wake up husband from his well deserved nap and get the cell phone from the car. No freebies. Pay per minute. The only thing left that I can think of is to call the local office. After pushing all the right buttons, giving my phone number, declining Spanish and waiting for "All other." They are as helpful as they can be -- by forwarding my call to "someone who can actually do something about it."

Please make note that I am using a cell phone. As I am sitting on hold, and I use that term loosely, because at this point I am pacing -- I am subjected to at least FIVE minutes of Brighthouse advertising accompanied by what should be non-offensive music. Brighthouse, I don't mind your ads. I actually like some of them. But when I am on a cell phone, the last thing I want to hear is a chipper voice telling how to get High Speed Internet service and all the other features that I already have.

Just as I am about to lose power on the cell, a gentleman asks if he can help (very polite). I explain for what seems to me like the seventh time that my dog-gone phones aren't working and the modem telephone lights are out. I am certain the gentleman noticed the edge of hysteria in my voice, but remained ever so calm as he asked me if I was getting a dial tone.

"NoOOOO! That's why I am calling."

Mr. Brighthouse reassures me that they have been having problems with loss of dial tone in my area and they are working on it. Naturally, I almost calmly (not really) ask him when the phones will be fixed.

In my mind's eye I could see him shrug. Grrrrrrr. He doesn't really know.

Persistent, I push on, "Please just give me an estimate."

I don't really remember his reply, because it was drowned out my his next question, "Where are you located?"

What?


Now I know phone lines go down. Computers crash and there are a myriad of other little problems that can affect phone service. What a company does when that happens is their benchmark.

It's been three hours now. I'll keep you posted. Unless I lose Inter

17 February 2005

Pet Peeves #1 - Yahoo! or MYWAY - Too much or not enough

I know Yahoo! is extremely popular and is used by millions, myself included. But I hate it when I receive a Yahoo! artlice in my email because one that should take 3KB has so many ads and other junk added, that it can easily run up to 40K. I don't need the images and stock quotes with every email from Yahoo!

Then there is MYWAY which errs on the side of brevity. Every article sent from MYWAY has the same Subject: "Look what I found at MYWAY.com!" When the message is opened only a link appears. And possibly a cryptic comment which tells you absolutely nothing about what is in the article.

I guess I have the Goldilocks complex. I don't want too much. I don't want too little. I want the subject and email to be JUST RIGHT. An identifiable subject and a short email...

I think that's reasonable.

Trend Micro Virus Information, virus alerts, advisories, Top 10, antivirus, worm, trojan, macro, free, virus encyclopedia

Trend Micro Virus Information, virus alerts, advisories, Top 10, antivirus, worm, trojan, macro, free, virus encyclopedia

Speaking Of Which...

Trend Micro - Subscribe to Free Email Alerts

I highly recommend subscribing to Trend Micro's Virus Alerts newsletter. They seem to be first up with warnings of new viruses and changes in frequency and severity of old bugs.

This link will take you to the subscription page

Plus they are the home of Housecall online security scan.

15 February 2005

Secunia - Advisories - Mozilla Products IDN Spoofing Security Issue

Secunia - Advisories - Mozilla Products IDN Spoofing Security Issue

The latest update for you non IE users.

Robotic ball that chases burglars

By David Millward
(Filed: 14/02/2005)

A large black ball, originally designed by Swedish scientists for use on Mars, could be the latest weapon in the war against burglars.

Read the full story in the Telegraph | News


Asimov would be proud. And our own 7 of 9 (Roomba) would be jealous!

14 February 2005

Group aims to drastically up disc storage

By Michael Kanellos

A few hundred movies on an optical disc? That's the goal of the Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Alliance.

Six companies, including Fuji Photo and CMC Magnentics, have formed a consortium to promote HVD technology, which will let consumers conceivably put a terabyte (1TB) of data onto a single optical disc.

Read the full story at CNET News...

12 February 2005

MS Windows Anti-Spyware Disabled by Spyware Trojan

Reported by Aunty Spam's Net Patrol

Security firm Sophos is reporting today that a new spyware Trojan, BankAsh-A, is specifically targeting Microsoft’s new anti-spyware, and very effectively so, it would seem.

Read the full story at Aunty Spam's Net Patrol...

10 February 2005

Anonymity

http://freenet.sourceforge.net

This had to have been created just for Eric. And yeah, I'm gonna try it out...will no longer have to rely on newsgroups for the really sick porn....