Today is System Administrator’s Day. Yes, this is official. Today is a day to remember those shy, quiet, and largely unseen gnomes who run your computer world. I am one of those guys.
So send your favorite computer buddy (you know the one who you call when you get that goofy error message) a little shout out by email, text, or Facebook. Trust me, they will appreciate it.
Continue Reading →From ITWorld. Here are some security techniques you can use that, in spite of how goofy they may sound, actually do provide an increased security profile.
Microsoft has issued a security warning to users of the Gadget sidebar in Windows Vista and Gadgets in Windows 7. Gadgets are the little applets like a clock, news headline feed, or weather feed that can be added to the desktop area. Apparently a method has been developed to allow for the creation of custom gadgets, that when added to their computer system by users, would allow the providers of the gadget remote access and control of the computer, and ...
Continue Reading →People who have been using BitTorrent to “share” pornographic videos online are finding themselves being sued by the porn production companies, a la the RIAA, but with a twist. While the recording industry has spent a small fortune suing grandmas, parents of small children, people without computers, and other individuals for sharing and downloading songs illegally, the pornography industry is simply trying to monetize the process. In letters sent out to suspected downloaders of porn, the industry threatens the cost ...
Continue Reading →Microsoft has issued a security warning to users of the Gadget sidebar in Windows Vista and Gadgets in Windows 7. Gadgets are the little applets like a clock, news headline feed, or weather feed that can be added to the desktop area. Apparently a method has been developed to allow for the creation of custom gadgets, that when added to their computer system by users, would allow the providers of the gadget remote access and control of the computer, and ...
Continue Reading →It has been nearly 3 years since Windows 7 was launched, and it has finally surpassed the 11 year old and somewhat long in the tooth Windows XP in percentage of Windows computers in use. Windows 7 has a 42% share with windows XP falling to 41% as users replace their older systems. Windows Vista, never very popular with users, has a 7% share, down from its highest share of 13%. It is expected that Windows 7 with achieve 48% ...
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The bad guys just keep getting better and better, which is why I am going back to school to upgrade my security expertise. A recent outbreak was discovered by F-Secure and reported by Sophos, that uses a Java archive file to determine which operating system you are using, and then downloads the appropriate version to malware to install. The lesson here is that any imagined security invulnerability you thought you had as an Apple or Linux user is ...
Continue Reading →The bad guys just keep getting better and better, which is why I am going back to school to upgrade my security expertise. A recent outbreak was discovered by F-Secure and reported by Sophos, that uses a Java archive file to determine which operating system you are using, and then downloads the appropriate version to malware to install. The lesson here is that any imagined security invulnerability you thought you had as a Windows or Linux user is ...
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Be on guard against email messages that look like a meeting announcement. The attachment, Report.zip, is a Trojan horse. In many cases there are what appear to be intentional typos in the body text, partly to defeat spam filters and partly to appear as a hastily written email. You will want to treat these kinds of email with suspicion. When in doubt, suspicious attachment and links can be sent to Virus Total for analysis. Thanks again to Continue Reading →
LinkedIn has made some significant changes to the home page, and is attempting to show only updates that you would be most interested in. Taking a quick look myself, I can’t say that the changes are leaping out at me, but then it might be hard to notice what is NOT there. LinkedIn announced this on their blog on July 16th. Please feel free to leave a comment about what you think of the changes.