Archive for April, 2008
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Spam, Scams, ID Theft, Friends and Relatives
Here are a few of the latest spam emails going around. You get an email saying you have been videotaped in the nude, and click here to see the clip. You immediately think to yourself, it can’t be true. Can it? What if it is? I mean, what about all [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Syd Tash
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Storm is Not Dead Yet, Plus Firefox and Safari
On Friday I reported that Microsoft claims it has essentially destroyed the Storm Trojan. You know, the one that has been rounding up computers into a botnet. Turns out, reports of Storm’s demise may have been exaggerated. Researchers at security company Trend Micro say Microsoft’s claims are simplistic and incomplete.
Storm [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Syd Tash
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Olympic-Sized Phishing Attacks
Since last December, more than a dozen separate email phishing attacks have been spotted, targeting or referring to the Beijing Olympic games. The subject lines mention the torch relay, tickets, the IOC, etc. Do not open such emails, and above all, do not click on any links within.
The latest flood of Olympic [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Alerts by Syd Tash
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
What Your Browser Reveals About You
Back on November 1, I talked about MS Word, and how it could be revealing a lot of information about you. Your browser may be doing the same thing. When you visit a Web site, it gets your IP (Internet Protocol) address, of course. This string of numbers is the “real” address [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Featured by Syd Tash
Friday, April 25th, 2008
Web Sites: From Obama to Clinton, and The Storm Trojan
A few days ago someone hacked into the Web site of Sen. Barack Obama. The attacker injected malicious code into the social networking section of the site, to exploit a cross-site scripting vulnerability.
Cross-site scripting, or XSS, is used by sites that allow users to input data. But if the inputted code [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Syd Tash
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
More Critical Windows Patches – Update Now
Microsoft has patched two previous patches to fix critical flaws in Windows XP and Vista. The first fix, originally released on April 8, could allow a hacker to seize control of your computer. If you visit a malicious Web site set to exploit the flaw, the hacker will get the same level of [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Updates by Syd Tash
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Beware of Strangers Bearing Chocolate – Again
A year ago I wrote that researchers in London, England, found that almost two-thirds of office workers surveyed would give their password to a complete stranger in exchange for a chocolate bar. Infosecurity Europe has just repeated the study. Now they find that out of 576 people questioned, “only” 21% would divulge their [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Security by Syd Tash
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Windows XP Service Pack 3 Arrives April 29
Microsoft has announced that the third and final service pack for Windows XP is ready, and will be available to the public on April 29.
SP3 will include all updates issued since Service Pack 2 was released back in 2004, plus some new stuff copied from Vista. For example, Network Access Protection (NAP) will [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Updates by Syd Tash
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Oh Oh – More Vista Problems
Do you have Windows Vista? And are you having problems lately with your keyboard, mouse or other USB device? Like, maybe they no longer work?
Well, it is not your fault. It seems the culprit is a Windows Defender update that was pushed out onto your computer last week. Defender is Microsoft’s [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Alerts by Syd Tash
Monday, April 21st, 2008
Do Not Make These Common Mistakes
For the last 10 years, I have been writing about what to do to keep you and your computer safe and secure. Today, for a change, we will talk about what NOT to do to keep your PC nice and healthy for many years, while YOU avoid a lot of frustration, lost time and [...]
