Archive for December, 2007
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
Have You Checked Yourself Lately?
If not, maybe you should. On Google, I mean. Enter your name in Google or another search engine, and see what information turns up on you. Do this regularly, to manage the data floating around cyberspace about you and your identity. You might be surprised by what you find, especially if [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Syd Tash
Monday, December 17th, 2007
Keep All Your Other Stuff Updated
Regular readers of this blog probably know that they must keep their Windows and security software up to date at all times. But what about all the other stuff we have on our computers? It must be updated as well. This can be a real chore keeping everything up to date and [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in Updates by Syd Tash
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
Another QuickTime Update, & a Trimongous Office 2007 SP1
Apple has released the eighth security patch this year for its QuickTime media player. The update fixes three critical flaws in QuickTime. One of them has already been used in attacks.
If a user is tricked into visiting a malicious Web site, malware could be installed on the visitor’s PC.
While these attacks [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Updates by Syd Tash
Friday, December 14th, 2007
Roundup Time!
Here are a few interesting things from around the Web. A man in Calgary, Alberta used his cellphone as a modem for his computer for a couple of months. Then he received the bill: $85,000 from his phone company, Bell Canada. Bell later cut the bill to $4,000, but the 22-year-old [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Syd Tash
Thursday, December 13th, 2007
Xmas is Coming, & So are the Scams
As Christmas approaches, we can expect a big jump in phishing attacks and online scams. The fraudsters do not take the holidays off, unfortunately. On the contrary, they work overtime to try and trick or deceive you.
Be especially careful buying hot, popular items online, such as iPods, cameras and video games and consoles. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Security by Syd Tash
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
It’s Patch Tuesday Once Again
Tuesday, Dec. 11 being the second Tuesday of the month, is the time when Microsoft releases security fixes and patches for Windows and associated components. The fixes this time are expected to include critical patches for Windows and Internet Explorer.
Also scheduled to be fixed are the DirectX and DirectShow graphics software, and the Windows [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Updates by Syd Tash
Monday, December 10th, 2007
Do Not Toss That Hard Drive!
Christmas is coming, and many of you may get a shiny new computer from Santa Claus this year. But before selling or giving away your old computer, you must prepare the hard drive for disposal. That means properly erasing all your files, to ensure that no confidential or sensitive information remains that is [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Featured by Syd Tash
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year…
Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year… for the scammers and hackers! An extra-large, bumper crop of online shopping and phishing scams are expected this holiday season.
Here is an idea of how much malware and scams have increased. Finnish security company F-Secure has collected more malicious code samples this [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Security by Syd Tash
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Play Safe Online This Xmas - & Anytime
Here are a few notes to help keep you safe and secure online, now and anytime. I assume first of all that you have anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a firewall, at least, and that they are up to date. Also, keep your Windows up to date. OK, here we go:
1. When [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Security by Syd Tash
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
Microsoft Will Modify Vista Anti-Piracy Switch
Microsoft is going to kill the so-called “kill switch” in Vista, which is supposed to prevent illegal copies of Vista from running certain features. There were just too many problems with it. Since it was introduced with Vista, many users claimed that their perfectly legal copies of the operating system had been disabled [...]
