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Who's in the corner?
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Sunday, March 28, 2004 |
Random thought:
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Beware: Danger on the InternetIt's been a strange week. Much of it I've been in bed (sometimes being comforted by an orange cat) apparently the result of a case of diverticulitis, something I haven't had the experience of enjoying for several years. I'm not sure what it would feel like to bump into one or two bullets at short range from a police officer's .45 caliber automatic, but I suspect it would probably be more painful than diverticulitis. I'm also pretty sure that I don't want to find out. But that explains why I'm not in the studio with a show this week, but I was able to work coherently for sometimes up to 3 or 4 minutes at a time while in bed. When I'm lying in bed, the best computer to use is the iBook. It's smaller than the Windows notebook and it weighs less. That's important if you're dealing with diverticulitis because any pressure on the midsection is too much. I don't have all the fancy filters installed on the iBook that I have on the Windows machines because I don't use the Mac for e-mail very often. The setup I used this week reminded me how bad spam and virus attacks have become. Not that this was exactly a surprise. I already know that I'll receive 300 to 400 messages each day and that 75% to 90% of those will be junk. And I seem to average 75 to 100 virus-infected messages per day. Or I would if the server my mail passes through didn't get involved. Each of those messages with an infected attachment arrives with the marker "{Virus?}" embedded in the subject line. So I set up a Microsoft Entourage filter to direct those to the trash. SpamAssassin also runs on the server and appends a "*S*" marker to virtually all of the spam messages that I receive. Another filter now sends those directly to the trash. Most e-mail programs have the capability to help you wade through the sludge that spews in, but you'll have to take the time to set it up and fine-tune it. With luck, there will be server-based solutions to these problems by the end of this year. Until then, you're on your own. Un-hijacking your browserEarly in the week, when I was still more or less coherent, I received a message from Steven West: First of all, thank you for hooking me up with AdAware. Since I installed it, my Google toolbar has been working great. Today, though, I ran into a bit of a problem. I was checking gas prices at columbusgasprices.com from Corby's page and as I was trying to click on an open space on the page to be able to use my mouse wheel I hit an ad for something to do with prosearching.com. I clicked to close it down in less than 5 seconds when I realized I wasn't doing what I wanted to and it had already screwed up my computer. It changed my homepage toolbars (removing Google and the pop-up blocker) and loaded about 7 shortcuts on my desktop. The worst part is that after being online for about 15 minutes or so, IE says it has some sort of a problem and needs to shut down. I tried to uninstall IE and then reload it, but it says I can't do that because it is in use. I even went into Windows setup to remove it and that didn't work. Do you have any ideas on this? I am running Windows XP. I just checked my wife's identity and her IE is fine. I have run AdAware since this happened and deleted all of the bad files. Hi, Steve, Your browser has been hijacked. The solution is to run a utility that will identify the hijacker and throw it off the computer. The first thing I would do is this: I would contact columbusgasprices.com (see below) and complain loudly about what their site did. It wasn't their site per se, but they shouldn't sell links to creeps who hijack browsers. A quick Google search for "+prosearch +hijack" turns up nearly 100 pages of reports, complaints, and solutions about Prosearch's "business model". Why anyone thinks it's a good business practice to hijack a visitor's browser, delete software that the visitor had installed, and then not provide a way to remove the junk is simply beyond all comprehension. How to get rid of the junk: Obtain a copy of Spybot Search & Destroy. It's free from Safer Networking. Install the program and read the cautions. SS&D is an extremely powerful tool. When you run it, it will identify all "spyware", including some that you may want to keep. For example, if you're running Eudora Pro in the "sponsored" mode and you remove the component that allows Eudora to display ads, the program will stop working. Also check HijackThis. Depending on what hijacked your browser, you may need more than one of these tools. Once you get the problem cleaned up, take a look at the proactive Spyware Blaster. Its intent is to make it impossible for hijackers to install their junk. The author regularly updates information with the latest threats, so remember to update and run the application at least once per week. Wilders Security has just about everything you you might ever want to know about browser hijacking. Obtain Spyware Blaster and run it occasionally. It's "donation-ware". 03/22/04 07:44:02 whois columbusgasprices.com My attorney says I really need to say this: The Technology Corner website and any correspondence is for informational purposes only. Neither Joe nor I assume any responsibility for its accuracy, although we do our best. The information is subject to change without notice. Any actions you take based on information from the radio program, the Technology Corner website, or this message are entirely at your own risk. Products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and their various trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Technology Corner cannot provide technical support for products or services mentioned on the air or on the website. Bill, Thanks for the great info especially the Wilder's security site. Just reading up there, and a few articles my buddy read to me while I was working, taught me a lot. My friend was like a counselor at the suicide hotline a few times when I had done everything and still couldn't get back home. Overall I've only lost a little data in Quickbooks and I think that is it. Is there a computer primer for getting caught up on the best way to manage computers? Maybe you guys could talk about it on the air and have a checklist or something. I thought I was somewhat computer literate but this episode really humbled me. I know there is a lot more to maintaining a computer than what I am doing, data back-ups for Quicken and QB's, auto anti-virus updates and scans, and small stuff like that. But what about a total system BU, defrag, disk clean-up and myriad other things I should do on a regular basis? Thanks again for your help and feel free to use my story to kick off your new segment "system maintenance for non-techies. Regards, Steven S. West When a "{Virus?}" is good newsI receive 50 to 100 messages per day that have "{Virus?}" in the subject line. This is a good thing. What it means is that the Internet presence provider that hosts my website and handles my e-mail (Akashik.net) has installed software that looks for messages that contain viruses, removes the virus attachment, and then notifies me. In most cases, Grisoft AVG Antivirus would have caught the infected file and I'd like to think that I'd be smart enough not to accidentally open one that made it past all the defenses. This problem should go away if and when the geniuses (Microsoft, Sendmail, ISPs, etc.) who have been ignoring this problem for more than a decade finally figure out how they will implement mail authentication. Until then, you're still on your own. Are you still using Internet Explorer?An Israeli security company, GreyMagic Software, says users of Yahoo's Web e-mail service and Microsoft's Hotmail service are exposed to a security problem that could allow remote attackers to run scripts on computers using Microsoft's Internet Explorer to check Web e-mail accounts. If you have an SBC account, you may be using this arrangement. The vulnerability affects an IE feature designed to process extensions to HTML more efficiently. It's called HTML+TIME. The security problem allows attackers to steal login and password information. While GreyMagic tested Yahoo and Hotmail, the flaw probably affects other Web-mail services when the user views the site with IE. (This is yet another reason to avoid using IE for any sessions you want to be secure.) GreyMagic told Microsoft and Yahoo about the problem on March 11. Microsoft has fixed the problem with Hotmail. Yahoo hasn't yet said as of March 25. Guidelines for avoiding the bad stuffBob Downes is the director of British Telecom Scotland. He has some suggestions for keeping your computer safe and clean, starting with the one that is essential: Use common sense. Many viruses spread by e-mail arrive from an unknown sender or in the form of an attachment which the recipient will not be expecting. Their success depends on people clicking open the attachment without thought. Unless you are certain you know where an attachment has come from and what it is, don't open it. Hackers have a nickname for this type of virus: HowDumbRU. Thereafter, there are three technical must-haves. The first is Microsoft's Windows Update Service - available at www. microsoft.com. Applying the security updates will protect against known vulnerabilities in the operating system and Windows applications. Microsoft, whose software is used in more than 90 per cent of PCs, would be the first to agree that this isn't enough, so the second vital ingredient is anti-virus software. This is widely available, either purchased as part of your package, from high street retailers or some internet service providers will supply free anti-virus software. Once installed it needs to be kept up to date but, again, this is simple. The software includes an update button and you'll get a screen message asking if you want to update. Security experts stress the need for more awareness among users. They should fix any problems as soon as these are identified, but they also need to keep a sense of proportion. Finally, firewalls are being more widely used than ever to protect computers from attack. A firewall creates a protective barrier between your computer and attackers on the net attempting to take over your machine. Again, the necessary software can easily be obtained from various sources, including internet service providers or retailers. None of this is rocket science, but who needs rocket science to stay safe online? What business users need are simple processes to keep their systems secure. Hackers are constantly seeking ways to beat the IT security experts; indeed, many have a compelling financial incentive to do so. But security experts continually thwart them. Viruses might sound threatening, but there is no cause for panic. Having simple defences in place, and keeping them up to date, will go a long way towards providing peace of mind in cyberspace. Let us know what you think about this program! Write to: |
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Privacy Guarantee:I HATE SPAM and will not sell, rent, loan, auction, trade, or do anything else with your e-mail address. Period.
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