Spam Buster
By fthomas | October 29, 2008
Spam. Nobody likes it. Nobody wants it. No, we aren't talking about the canned meat, but those unsolicited, unwanted, irrelevant, or even inappropriate messages that hit our email in mass quantities. While most mailboxes have some type of spam filtering software built into their system, they never seem to do a very good job of catching what you want them to catch, and letting through what you want them to let through. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to turn to some type of additional spam filtering product. One such filtering system, designed for Outlook and Outlook Express users, is receiving rave reviews for its superior detection and low rate of false positives (i.e,. what you want to get through does).
Cloudmark Desktop, formerly known as SpamNet and SafetyBar, uses a unique community-based filtering process. This community-based filtering system relies on users to report any new spam. Within minutes of a spammer being reported, they are placed on a blacklist. At that point, no other member will receive that particular spam. Cloudmark also applies the same basic process to phishing email scams.
What is interesting is how Cloudmark creates a digital reputation model of reporting spam. Each user starts with a neutral reputation. A user's reputation will rise if they are among the first to identify undesirable content. On the flip side of the coin, a user's reputation falls when they falsely reports spam. The result is a system that is automated, highly scalable and resistant to tampering.
An added bonus is that because the software doesn't depend upon the user to configure its settings, it installs in minutes and is easy to use. Cloudmark blocks over 98% of spam from reaching your inbox and boasts over one million users worldwide.
The cost of program is $39.95 for a one-year subscription. The subscription is renewable annually. For those wanting to test drive the product, a free 15-day trial period for either your Outlook or Outlook Express is available.
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
AntiVirus Software – PC Security
By admin | October 28, 2008
Every Windows user needs security – i.e. AntiVirus & AntiSpyware software and a Firewall. I talk about a few free programs that will keep your computer safe.
Topics: PC Security | 15 Comments »
Who are the Players in the Antivirus Industry?
By fthomas | October 26, 2008
Everyone in the United States has heard of the leading antivirus vendors Symantec, Mcafee, Computer Associates, and Trend Micro. These companies have market-leading presence in the United States. Microsoft, as well, has plans become a key player in this market. Microsoft acquired intellectual property and technology from GeCad software in 2003, a company based in Bucharest, Romania. They also acquired Pelican Software, which had a behavior based security as well as Giant Company Software for spyware and Sybari Software, which manages virus, spam, and phishing filtering.
A lot of discussion has centered on whether Microsoft with come to own a dominant position in the antivirus market by simply bundling its technologies with its operating systems at no charge. This is a similar technique applied in other markets such as word processing and Internet browsers.
Of course there are a number of antivirus vendors who also play in this market. There are many companies with great market presence in other countries that are beginning to become more widely known. These vendors include GriSoft out of the Czech Republic, Sophos in the united Kingdom, Panda Software out of Spain, Kaspersky in Russia, SoftWin in Romania, F-Secure in Finland, Norman in Norway, Arcabit in Poland, VirusBuster out of Hungary, and AhnLab in South Korea.
It is not clear where the industry is heading and everyone in this market faces a rapidly changing landscape. The amount of effort to find and provide fixes for viruses is staggering. Malicious programs are getting more complex and the number of them is increasing. Many companies may find themselves without the resources to match the efforts of those truly bent on creating havoc. Some virus companies are getting of hundreds of new samples a day! Moreover, the new viruses are getting "smarter" in that they propagate themselves quickly and they often hide themselves and are smart enough to move around in a system by renaming themselves in an effort to make it hard to remove them.
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You need to know this: Security on your PC
By admin | October 25, 2008
Fred Mitchell, security division manager at Drive Control Corporation, discusses key PC security issues, including phishing and other on-line criminal activities.
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
Surfing the Web Anonymously – Questions to Ask
By fthomas | October 24, 2008
When you surf the web it is possible to learn information about you even when you don't want to advertise who you are. This is true even if your system contains no virus or malware software. Specifically information that is easily available online includes your IP address, your country (and often more location information based on IP address), what computer system you are on, what browser you use, your browser history, and other information. It gets worse. People can get your computer's name and even find out your name if your machine supports programs like finger or identd. Also, cookies can track your habits as you move from machine to machine.
How do people get this basic information about you?
When you visit another web site, information about you can be retrieved. Basically, information is intercepted and used by others to track your Internet activities.
How do you stop this from happening?
First of all, it is possible to serf the web anonymously and thereby stop leaving a trail for others to find. Note that this is not fool-proof, but it makes it much harder for people to know who you are. There are products called anonymous proxy servers that help protect you. The anonymous proxy server replaces your Internet address for its own. This has the effect of hiding your IP address and making it much harder for people to track you.
How do I get an anonymous proxy server?
There are many vendors who sell anonymous proxy servers. There are also free proxy servers available to you. Two such products are ShadowSurf and Guardster. Guardster (http://www.guardster.com/) offers various services for anonymous and secure access to the web, some paid as well as a free service. ShadowSurf (http://www.shadowsurf.com/) ShadowSurf provides anonymous surfing at their site for free. Go to it and you will find a box to enter a URL that you want no one to track. There are many others, but here are two that are frequently used.
Another interesting product, given the recent news about the Google search engine filtering its findings for the Chinese government, is Anonymizer (http://www.anonymizer.com). This company, among others, recently (Feb 1st, 2006) pressed that it "is developing a new anti-censorship solution that will enable Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free" (http://www.anonymizer.com/consumer/media/press_releases/02012006.html).
Does an anonymous proxy server make you 100% safe?
No. Still, you are much better off if you use such technology.
What other things should I be concerned about when trying to keep my private information private?
Three other items come to mind when trying to keep your information private. First, you can use an encrypted connection to hide your surfing. This article does not go into detail on this, but search the web and you will find a lot of information on this. Secondly, delete cookies after each session. Third, you can configure your browser to remove JavaScript, Java, and active content. This actually leads to limitations, so you need to think about the cost/benefit of this course of action.
Anything else?
Wishing you happy and safe surfing!
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
What the Heck are Botnets?
By fthomas | October 22, 2008
"A botnet is comparable to compulsory military service for windows boxes" – Stromberg (http://project.honeynet.org/papers/bots/)
Botnets are networks of computers that hackers have infected and grouped together under their control to propagate viruses, send illegal spam, and carry out attacks that cause web sites to crash.
What makes botnets exceedingly bad is the difficulty in tracing them back to their creators as well as the ever-increasing use of them in extortion schemes. How are they used in extortion schemes? Imagine someone sending you messages to either pay up or see your web site crash. This scenario is starting to replay itself over and over again.
Botnets can consist of thousands of compromised machines. With such a large network, botnets can use Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) as a method to cause mayhem and chaos. For example a small botnet with only 500 bots can bring corporate web sites to there knees by using the combined bandwidth of all the computers to overwhelm corporate systems and thereby cause the web site to appear offline.
Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service on January 19, 2006, quotes Kevin Hogan, senior manager for Symantec Security Response, in his article "Botnets shrinking in size, harder to trace", Hogan says "extortion schemes have emerged backed by the muscle of botnets, and hackers are also renting the use of armadas of computers for illegal purposes through advertisements on the Web."
One well-known technique to combat botnets is a honeypot. Honeypots help discover how attackers infiltrate systems. A Honeypot is essentially a set of resources that one intends to be compromised in order to study how the hackers break the system. Unpatched Windows 2000 or XP machines make great honeypots given the ease with which one can take over such systems.
A great site to read up on this topic more is The Honeynet Project (http://project.honeynet.org) which describes its own site's objective as "To learn the tools, tactics and motives involved in computer and network attacks, and share the lessons learned."
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
Mac and PC Security編
By admin | October 22, 2008
アップルのテレビCM。 MacとPC。 Security編。
Topics: PC Security | 3 Comments »
Phishing For Your Identity
By fthomas | October 21, 2008
Who hasn't received an email directing them to visit a familiar website where they are being asked to update their personal information? The website needs you to verify or update your passwords, credit card numbers, social security number, or even your bank account number. You recognize the business name as one that you've conducted business with in the past. So, you click on the convenient "take me there" link and proceed to provide all the information they have requested. Unfortunately, you find out much later that the website is bogus. It was created with the sole intent to steal your personal information. You, my friend, have just been "phished".
Phishing (pronounced as "fishing") is defined as the act of sending an email to a recipient falsely claiming to have an established, legitimate business. The intent of the phisher is to scam the recipient into surrendering their private information, and ultimately steal your identity.
It is not at easy as you think to spot an email phishing for information. At first glance, the email may look like it is from a legitimate company. The "From" field of the e-mail may have the .com address of the company mentioned in the e-mail. The clickable link even appears to take you to the company's website, when in fact, it is a fake website built to replicate the legitimate site.
Many of these people are professional criminals. They have spent a lot of time in creating emails that look authentic. Users need to review all emails requesting personal information carefully. When reviewing your email remember that the "From Field" can be easily changed by the sender. While it may look like it is coming from a .com you do business with, looks can be deceiving. Also keep in mind that the phisher will go all out in trying to make their email look as legitimate as possible. They will even copy logos or images from the official site to use in their emails. Finally, they like to include a clickable link that the recipient can follow to conveniently update their information.
A great way to check the legitimacy of the link is to point at the link with your mouse. Then, look in the bottom left hand screen of your computer. The actual website address to which you are being directed will show up for you to view. It is a very quick and easy way to check if you are being directed to a legitimate site.
Finally, follow the golden rule. Never, ever, click the links within the text of the e-mail, and always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail, empty the trash box in your e-mail accounts as well. If you are truly concerned that you are missing an important notice regarding one of your accounts, then type the full URL address of the website into your browser. At least then you can be confident that you are, in fact, being directed to the true and legitimate website.
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
Protection You Can Afford
By fthomas | October 19, 2008
There are numerous ways you can lose the information on your computer. Your child decides to play Chopin on your keyboard, a power surge, lightening, a virus, or even simple equipment failure. Therefore, backing up the contents of your hard drive is an absolute MUST. By regularly making backup copies of your files and storing them in a separate location, you can typically get some, if not all, of your information back in the event your computer crashes.
While a regular backup to floppy, CD, or zip drive will save your files, wouldn't it be great if you could create an exact copy (a drive image) of your hard disk? That means backups of all your files, programs, and user settings. This would definitely save you time when it came to reloading. Acronis may be able to help.
Acronis True Image 9.0 is a robust disk-imaging utility software that copies the entire contents of your hard drive including data and operating system files, personalized settings, and more, onto another disk or disk partition. Its layout is easy to use and navigate. It also includes wizards which can walk you through both backing up and restoring your computer. Highlighted features include:
* Secure Zone – allows you to save data to a special hidden partition located on your hard drive which would eliminate the need to purchase an extra hard drive.
* PC Cloning – you can upgrade to a new system disk without needing to reinstall the operating system and applications, or configure user settings.
* Acronis Snap Restore – lightening-speed restore of your PC from an image. You can start working in seconds while your system is still being restored.
Acronis provides a free test-drive of its product and a 30-day money back guarantee. When you are ready to purchase, you can either download for $49.99, or if you so desire, order a boxed version for $59.99. With Acronis True Image Home 9.0, you can rest easy that your family pictures, personal documents, tax returns, resumes, and other important information will not be lost forever.
Topics: PC Security | No Comments »
Im a Mac Im a PC – Security (Apple Ad Get a Mac)
By admin | October 19, 2008
TV Ad’s I’m a Mac I’m a PC – Security
Topics: PC Security | 23 Comments »