Reducing the risk of contracting malware on Macs

A great article to help you Mac users out there, from TechRepublic:

 

As of late one of the most talked about topics regarding Macs on the web today is malware, in particular the Flashback trojan. For nearly 10 years, the Mac has managed to successfully maneuver safely through the turbulent waters of the Internet with a pretty solid track record. But, as more Macs are increasingly being adopted and as the Internet continues to become more complex, the risk for contracting malware will continue to grow for some time to come. Apple is working to reduce the impact of infections in several ways:

• using the Mac App Store to filter out harmful applications
• providing software updates and patches
• increasing security measures in each version of OS X.

It’s unlikely that Apple will ever completely protect Macs from the harsh realities of the web, but the Mac is indeed a very secure platform and with a little effort, you can reduce yours or your users’ risk of being infected.

Best practice tips for Mac users

 

 

First, remind Mac users of the basics of how one can be exploited by malware and viruses. Fully understanding a computer’s vulnerabilities helps to reduce the odds of contracting one in the first place. Users should understand that the most common ways to contract malware is by using applications that share files. Applications such as Mail, browsers such as Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, and iChat/Messages can be easily compromised by malware because they all have the ability to share files in one form or another.

 

In most cases, it is the naive or reckless user, and not the computer, that is easiest to convince into installing malware through social engineering. This is true for all systems, regardless of OS. Malware often times present itself as a harmless file or as a familiar application in which it will attempt to convince users to click and install.

 

More sophisticated malware attempts to take advantage of lesser known services or applications running on a computer. In the case of Flashback, two methods were used. Initially Flashback would present itself as an update to Adobe Flash, convincing the user that it was a necessary update. Eventually, Flashback evolved to take advantage of a flaw in the version of Java installed on the Mac. These are the most common ways in which a Mac or a PC can contract unwanted malware.

 

Since the most vulnerable application on any computer is the browser, I’m going to run through a few tips that should work with most browsers, but I’m using Safari, the default browser on the Mac, as the example.

 

Turn off open safe files

 

Safari, as well as other browsers and mail applications support a feature designed to make life a little easier that allows for known safe files to immediately launch after downloading. Disabling this feature reduces the possibility of initiating the installation of a file that could be passing itself off as something far less harmless. The setting can be found in Safari’s Preferences pane.

 

Disable Java

 

First and foremost I want to be clear, Java is not JavaScript, and where the Internet is concerned most of us experience a web where Java is rarely needed. JavaScript on the other hand is frequently employed on the web and though disabling JavaScript will indeed make your Mac more secure, it’s a technology that we on the web have become heavily dependent on. When Java is needed on the web, you will often be presented with a request to install Java when it is disabled. When you’re in a situation where you require Java, it is a simple as opening up your browser preferences and enabling it for use to accomplish your task. Disabling it once again when you’re finished will again assist in the prevention of contracting malware.

 

Disable plugins

 

Most of us will grapple with this request, however, the web is moving more and more away from the use of plugins such as Flash and more toward HTML 5. If you’re willing to compromise some of your web experiences, you will both be protecting yourself while helping the web to move in a positive direction. Many websites rely on Flash, however, if users are visiting these sites with plugins disabled, webmasters are able to see how many people are visiting the site and what technologies they are using to access it. If a significant number of users do so without plugins, webmasters will be more likely to consider making the jump from Flash, an application that is often unstable and vulnerable to attack, to using HTML 5 — and do it more rapidly. In the end, disabling plugins benefits us all.

 

Each of these steps will help to reduce the odds of infection, though it’s important to remember that there is no such thing as an impenetrable computer connected to the Internet.

How do I create and configure a network with Windows 7 HomeGroup?

A great article from TechRepublic, for all you Windows 7 users out there…..

 

The HomeGroup feature in Windows 7 is essentially a peer-to-peer workgroup/network that has been redesigned to make it simpler for home users to set up a home network. While this is essentially true, there is more to a Windows 7’s HomeGroup feature than meets the eye.

Even though a HomeGroup works like a standard peer-to-peer workgroup, behind the scenes it does in fact share some of the networking functionality of a domain. For example, the computers in a HomeGroup have an inherent machine trust and there are consistent user identities throughout the network. As such, the Windows 7 HomeGroup feature is ideal for a small- to medium-sized business network — despite the name.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll investigate Windows 7’s HomeGroup feature. As I do, I’ll show you how to create, configure, and take advantage of a HomeGroup.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a free TechRepublic download.

What is a HomeGroup?

As an enhanced version of a peer-to-peer workgroup designed for the new operating system, only computers running Windows 7 can actually participate in a HomeGroup. However, Windows 7, XP, and Vista systems can all participate in a standard workgroup network configuration, sharing folders and accessing shared folders just like normal.

You can also use workgroups and HomeGroups side by side. More specifically, you can have several Windows 7 systems participating in HomeGroup on the same physical network as several Windows XP and Vista systems participating in a workgroup.

You can join a HomeGroup in any edition of Windows 7, but you can create one only in Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, or in the Enterprise edition. The fact that HomeGroup feature is even available in the Enterprise edition of Windows 7 further strengthens the notion that HomeGroup is more than just a home networking toy.

In fact, a Windows 7 HomeGroup can exist and be used side by side with a Windows domain — with a few caveats. First, if your Windows 7 system is connected to a domain, you can join a HomeGroup, but you can’t create one. Second, while you can access files and resources on other HomeGroup computers, you can’t share your own files and resources with the HomeGroup.

One more point to take note of before we move on is that in order to create and join a HomeGroup, your network adapter must have IPv6 enabled. If you have disabled IPv6 because you didn’t think it was needed, then you’ll have to re-enable it.

Creating a HomeGroup

As you may know, during the Windows 7 installation procedure, you are given the option to create a HomeGroup. However, if you chose not to create a HomeGroup at that time, you can create one at any time. Keep in mind that in order for the HomeGroup to function, there must be more than one Windows 7 system on the network and your Network Location must be configured as a Home network. If it’s currently configured as a Work or Public network, you will not be able to create a HomeGroup.

Creating a HomeGroup is a very straightforward operation. Access the Control Panel, type Home in the search box, and when HomeGroup appears, as shown in Figure A, select it.

Figure A

If you type Home in the Control Panel search box, you can locate and select the HomeGroup tool quickly and easily.

When the initial HomeGroup window appears, you’ll be informed that there is currently no HomeGroup on the network, as shown in Figure B. You’ll also find a brief introduction to HomeGroup feature and several links.

Figure B

To get started, just click the Create a Homegroup button.

The first link is to a more detailed explanation of HomeGroups in the Help and Support. The second is to Advanced sharing settings page where you can adjust network-sharing features and even disable the HomeGroup-sharing feature and enable the type of sharing permissions used in Windows XP and Vista, based on user accounts and passwords. You can also start the HomeGroup Troubleshooter, a part of Windows 7’s new Troubleshooting Platform, which is powered by a special type of PowerShell 2.0 script that has the ability to diagnose and fix problems.

To launch the Create a HomeGroup wizard, click the Create a HomeGroup button. When the first screen in the Create a HomeGroup wizard appears, you’ll be prompted to choose what libraries, or types of files, you want to share to the HomeGroup, as shown in Figure C. You can also choose to share printers.

Figure C

As you begin the process of creating the HomeGroup, you’ll be prompted to choose what you want to share with other computers.

Once you choose what it is you want to share, Windows 7 will create the HomeGroup and you’ll then see the HomeGroup password, as shown in Figure D. This is the password that other Windows 7 systems will need in order to join and access the HomeGroup. You can either write down this password or click the link to print the password along with a set of instructions that you can give to other Windows 7 users to allow them to join the HomeGroup on their own.

Figure D

The second screen will provide the password that other Windows 7 systems will need to join the HomeGroup.

When you click Finish, you’ll see the HomeGroup settings window, as shown in Figure E, where you can perform a host of additional operations related to the HomeGroup.

Figure E

You can use the settings in this window to perform a host of operations related to the HomeGroup.

For example, you can limit or expand the shared libraries as well as enable and customize the media streaming feature of Windows Media Player. While the media streaming capabilities are more in tune with a home network than they are with a business network, this feature could very well be used to deliver video training material.

Of more universal interest here is the ability to view or change the HomeGroup password, leave (or quit using) the HomeGroup, change Advanced sharing settings, and start the HomeGroup troubleshooter.

Joining a HomeGroup

Once a HomeGroup is established on your network, other Windows 7 systems can join the HomeGroup using the password generated during the creation procedure. When you access the HomeGroup feature in the Control Panel on another Windows 7 system, you’ll be immediately alerted to the fact that HomeGroup has been created on the network, as shown in Figure F. To continue, just click the Join Now button.

Figure F

When you launch the HomeGroup tool on other Windows 7 systems, you’ll be prompted to join the HomeGroup.

When the first screen in the Join a HomeGroup wizard appears, you’ll be prompted to choose what types of files and devices you want to share to the HomeGroup, as shown in Figure G.

Figure G

When you join a HomeGroup, you will be prompted to choose items to share on the network.

The second screen in the Join a HomeGroup wizard, prompts you to enter the HomeGroup password, as shown in Figure H. You’ll enter the password that was generated by the system that created the HomeGroup. Keep in mind that the password is case sensitive.

Figure H

The second screen will prompt you to enter the HomeGroup password generated by the system that created the HomeGroup.

After you enter the password, you’ll see the third screen in the Join a HomeGroup wizard, which indicates that you have successfully joined the HomeGroup, as shown in Figure I.

Figure I

You have joined the HomeGroup.

Accessing the HomeGroup

Once you have created and joined a HomeGroup, you can easily access the folders on other computers in the HomeGroup. Launch Computer and expand the HomeGroup section in the Navigation pane. When you do, you’ll be able to see other systems in the HomeGroup and access the shared libraries, as shown in Figure J.

Figure J

Once the HomeGroups is created, you can see and access all the shared libraries on all the systems joined to the HomeGroup.

Take note of the expanded Network tree in the Navigation pane. This is a functioning peer-to-peer workgroup that consists of Windows XP and Vista systems as well as the Windows 7 systems that are participating in both the peer-to-peer workgroup and the HomeGroup.

Put the Classic Start menu in Windows 7 with Classic Shell

From TechRepublic:

 

On more than one occasion, I’ve looked through the discussions for the Windows 7 blog posts that I have written here at TechRepublic and found messages from angry Windows users that go something along the lines of “Because Microsoft took away the Classic Start menu in Windows 7, I am not going to upgrade!”

When I see these types of messages, I imagine curmudgeonly folks sitting in front of an old Pentium II computer running Windows NT. Of course I know that is not a fair assessment, because many people I know who have either Windows XP or Windows Vista installed also use the Classic Start menu feature.

Still I have a hard time imagining anyone wanting to forego all the underlying advances in the Windows 7 operating system just because of a dislike of the Start menu and other user-interface features. However, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.

In any case, those die-hard classic Start menu fans have a champion out there. At SourceForge.net, which claims to be the world’s largest open source software development Web site, a fellow by the name of Ivo Beltchev has created a wonderful program called Classic Shell. In addition to bringing the Classic Start menu to the Windows 7 user interface, Classic Shell brings a number of other classic features to Windows 7, such as the Windows Explorer toolbar, complete with the Up button.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll investigate all the classic features that the Classic Shell application brings to Windows 7.

This blog post is also available in PDF format in a free TechRepublic download.

Keep in mind

At the time of this writing, Beltchev is publishing version 0.9.10 of Classic Shell, which he is calling the Release Candidate version. As such, you may encounter some glitches. However, I tested it for the better part of a week on my Windows 7 test system and didn’t experience any problems. Classic Shell works with both the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and appears to work in all editions. I tested it in the Ultimate edition of Windows 7.

Installation

Once you download Classic Shell from the SourceForge.net site, just double-click the ClassicShellSetup.exe file and follow the onscreen instructions. When you are prompted to select the features that you want to install, as shown in Figure A, be sure that you leave both check boxes selected if you want to revive the classic version of Windows Explorer as well as the Classic Start menu.

Figure A

Make sure that you leave both check boxes selected if you want to revive the classic version of Windows Explorer.

Check it out

As soon as you complete the installation procedure, you’ll immediately find the Classic Start menu in place, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

The Classic Start menu is immediately available.

Reviving the classic version of Windows Explorer requires some configuration. First you have to enable the menu bar. To do so, launch Windows Explorer, press the [Alt] key to display the menu bar, pull down the Tools menu, and select the Folder Options command. Then, in the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box, select the Always Show Menus check box, as shown in Figure C, and click OK.

Figure C

Before you can revive the classic version of Windows Explorer, you have to enable the menu bar.

With the menu bar in place, you can right-click on it and select the Classic Explorer Bar command, as shown in Figure D. If you disable the Lock the Toolbars setting, you can position the Classic Explorer Bar under the menu bar like in Windows XP.

Figure D

Just right-click on the menu bar and select the Classic Explorer Bar command.

In addition to the Up button, you have the Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete buttons back, as shown in Figure E. You also have a Properties button, which displays the selected item’s properties dialog box, and an e-mail button, which allows you to attach selected items to an e-mail message. The last button is the Settings button, which displays the available configuration settings.

Figure E

With the Classic Explorer Bar command enabled, you now have the Up button back.

Tweaking

You can tweak the Classic Start menu by right-clicking on the Start orb and selecting the Settings command. You’ll then see the dialog box shown in Figure F and can change a host of options — you can even apply several different skins, including a classic Windows 9x/2K colored skin.

Figure F

From the Settings dialog box, you can configure a host of options, including different skins.

You can tweak the Classic Explorer Bar by clicking the Settings button. When you do, you’ll see the dialog box shown in Figure G and can change a host of options. You can even select the type of navigation pane that you want to use, such as Windows XP Classic or Windows Vista.

Figure G

You can tweak the way the Classic Explorer Bar looks and feels.

Take control of the Windows 7 New menu with ShellMenuNew

From TechRepublic:

 

In recent articles, I’ve shown you how to take back control of Windows 7’s Context and Open With menus using the free utilities from NirSoft. Well, there is one more right-click menu that you might want to clean up — the New menu.

As you know, after installing and uninstalling applications, the New menu can become crammed full of application shortcuts that you no longer want or need. In fact, it can get so crowded that it is really difficult to find what you do want. Since Microsoft made it so easy for the New menu to be populated with application shortcuts, you would have thought that they would have created a tool that would allow you to clean it up. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. If you want to clean up the New menu you can do so by manually editing the registry. Unfortunately, the items that appear on the New menu are in numerous locations in the registry, thus making the operation extremely time consuming.

Fortunately, the folks at NirSoft have created ShellMenuNew, a small utility that shows you all the items that appear on the New submenu and allows you to easily disable unwanted menu items.

In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, I’ll examine ShellMenuNew and show you how to use it to take back control of Windows 7’s New menu.

Editing the registry

It is important to keep in mind that the techniques I’m about to show you involve making changes to the registry, which is vital to the operating system. Changing it can be dangerous if you inadvertently make a mistake. Therefore, you should take a few moments to back up your system by creating a Restore Point as well as by creating a system image in the Backup and Restore tool. That way if anything goes awry, you can restore your system and get right back to work.

The New menu

As I mentioned, depending on the number of applications that you have installed on your system, the New menu can easily become overcrowded. Even if you have not installed a lot of applications, the New menu can contain application shortcuts that you will never need. In both cases, it can be difficult to quickly access what you want on the New menu.

For example, Figure A shows a New menu on one of my test systems. As you can see, there are a dozen items on the New menu. Of those, I really use only five. So that means for me, there are seven items that do nothing but hinder me from quickly getting to the items that I do use.

Figure A

A typical New menu can contain items you’ll never need.

Using ShellMenuNew

Just like other NirSoft utilities I showed you, ShellMenuView, ShellExView, and OpenWithView, you can run ShellMenuNew right away as there is no installation procedure. As soon as you launch it, the program scans the registry and populates its window with all the applications that appear on the New menus on your system.

On my example system, running ShellMenuNew presented the display shown in Figure B. You’ll notice that the New Folder item doesn’t appear in the ShellMenuNew display and that the Library Folder item does. The New Folder item works differently than an application and so is outside of ShellMenuNew’s scope — so you can’t disable the New Folder item. The Library Folder item, which appears on the New menu only when you right-click in the Libraries folder, is also a different type of animal, but it does show up in ShellMenuNew display. Even so, since it appears only in the Libraries folder, I would highly recommend that you leave the Library Folder item alone — don’t disable it.

Figure B

Using ShellMenuNew, you can easily remove applications from the New menu.

Now, to get rid of the items that I don’t use, I simply hold down [Ctrl] and click each item I want to disable. I then click the red Disable Selected Items button. As you can see in Figure C, each of the items that I selected now has a Yes in the Disabled column. Now, when I access the New menu, as shown in Figure D, finding the items that I regularly use from the New menu is very easy with all the clutter out of the way. (Keep in mind that in some cases, the operating system may take a few moments to register and display the updated New menu.)

Figure C

After I click the red Disable Selected Items button, a Yes appears in the Disabled column.

Figure D

Now, my New menu shows only those items that I use regularly.

Other handy features

As you can see in Figures B and C, the last column in ShellMenuNew’s display is titled Registry Key and indicates where in the registry the setting is stored. If you double-click any row, you’ll see a Properties dialog box that provides you with a summary of the information stored in the registry key.

For example, when I double-clicked on the Microsoft Office PowerPoint Presentation row, ShellMenuNew displayed the dialog box shown in Figure E.

Figure E

The Properties dialog box provides you with a summary of the information stored in the registry key.

If you want to delve into the registry and see for yourself how the New menu is configured, just select a row and click the Open In RegEdit button. When you do, the Registry Editor will appear and be open to the appropriate key, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

When you select a row and click the Open In RegEdit button, the Registry Editor will open that key.

You can also create a very detailed HTML report of all the items displayed by ShellMenuNew by pulling down the View menu and choosing either the HTML Report – All Items or the HTML Report – Selected Items. ShellMenuNew also has several command-line options for creating reports in other formats. You can find a list of these command-line options in the ReadMe.txt file as well as on the ShellMenuNew page on the NirSoft web site.

Can you tell a real Facebook e-mail from a phishing attempt?

Great article from ZDNet:

 

E-mail notifications are an important part of social networking services like Facebook. If you have to continually visit the site to see what’s new, you lose much of the excitement that comes with comments on your photos or other shared items. If you forget to check for a day or two, you might miss an invitation to an event or an opportunity to connect with a long-lost friend who’s in town for a day or two.

But e-mail notifications are also a security risk. If an attacker can create a realistic-looking imitation of a Facebook notification, you might find yourself clicking on a link that can lead to malware or attempt to steal your login credentials.

Unfortunately, phishers are getting better at what they do, and spotting a fake isn’t as easy as you might think. I’ve assembled four Facebook notifications that arrived in my e-mail inbox recently. Can you tell which are real and which are fake? (Click any image to see it at full size, or visit the accompanying gallery to flip through all four screens at full size.)

Here’s one that arrived last week. As with all the images, I’ve blurred personal information but otherwise these messages are shown in full, as they appear in Microsoft Outlook’s preview pane.

If you guessed that one was a fake, congratulations. It led to a website that was flagged as dangerous by Microsoft’s SmartScreen Filter, by Google’s Safe Browsing feature, and by Safari. If you were using an outdated browser such as Internet Explorer 6 or 7, you would have seen an attempt to install a fake Flash update that was actually a password-stealing Trojan.

OK, let’s try another. Real or fake?

Do you think that odd e-mail address indicates a fake? Confusingly, Facebook notifications come from the facebookmail.com domain and include a suspicious-looking sender’s name. The long, complicated URL might also look suspicious, but this notification is a legit one from Facebook.

OK, here’s a third test. Real or fake?

Hmmm. The previous, real notification included a long complicated URL. This one has a pair of buttons that you’re supposed to click to see the comments a friend supposedly added to your shared link. That’s a favorite trick that phishers and spammers use to disguise misleading links. Surprisingly, this one is legit.

OK, last one. Real or fake?

This is a particularly convincing fake. The graphics, fonts, button design, and links are all indistinguishable from a real Facebook notification. This particular phishing attempt led to a fake online pharmacy, but it could just as easily have led to a malware installer.

One of these fakes was good enough to slip past my spam filters. In that case, the only way to determine that it wasn’t legit was to allow the mouse pointer to hover over a link or button to see what its true destination was. Here’s what it looked like:

That’s certainly not a legitimate link. Here, by contrast, is what a link from a real Facebook notification looks like:

It’s a challenge to get nontechnical users in the habit of checking links before they click, but the results are well worth it.

The complete list of Windows Logo keyboard shortcuts

When it comes to keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Windows 7, I admit to being a bit of a novice. I fall back on the menu system or, now that it is available by default in Windows 7, I use the search box located on the Start Menu. But, as the following list shows us, there are definitely opportunities for increased efficiency within the matrix of keyboard shortcuts.

One of the more powerful, and probably least used, set of keyboard shortcuts involves the Windows Logo key which is common on most keyboards packaged with a Windows-based personal computer these days.

Table A lists the keyboard shortcut combinations associated with the Windows Logo key and what each combination will do. Take a good look, there may be a key combination or two you can use regularly that will make your computing life just a little more efficient.

Table A – Source Microsoft

Key combination	Action
Windows logo key	Open or close the Start menu.
Windows logo key +Pause	Display the System Properties dialog box.
Windows logo key +D	Display the desktop.
Windows logo key +M	Minimize all windows.
Windows logo key +Shift+M	Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
Windows logo key +E	Open Computer.
Windows logo key +F	Search for a file or folder.
Ctrl+Windows logo key +F	Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
Windows logo key +L	Lock your computer or switch users.
Windows logo key +R	Open the Run dialog box.
Windows logo key +T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
Windows logo key+number	Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position   indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that   program.
Shift+Windows logo key+number	Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar   in the position indicated by the number.
Ctrl+Windows logo key+number	Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to   the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Alt+Windows logo key+number	Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar   in the position indicated by the number.
Windows logo key +Tab	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip   3-D.
Ctrl+Windows logo key +Tab	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the   taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
Ctrl+Windows logo key +B	Switch to the program that displayed a message in the   notification area.
Windows logo key +Spacebar	Preview the desktop.
Windows logo key +Up Arrow	Maximize the window.
Windows logo key +Left Arrow	Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
Windows logo key +Right Arrow	Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
Windows logo key +Down Arrow	Minimize the window.
Windows logo key +Home	Minimize all but the active window.
Windows logo key +Shift+Up Arrow	Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
Windows logo key +Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow	Move a window from one monitor to another.
Windows logo key +P	Choose a presentation display mode.
Windows logo key +G	Cycle through gadgets.
Windows logo key +U	Open Ease of Access Center.
Windows logo key +X	Open Windows Mobility Center.

The Top 10 Culprits Causing Malware Infections

I think it is safe to assume that the places you visit on the Internet will determine which programs are installed on your PC. Let me put it this way, the software installed on your computer will have some relevance to the sites you often visit. Lets take a few examples, when you are using Gmail, chances are good that you will have Gmail Notifier or GoogleTalk installed on your PC. When you often visit Yahoo.com or take part in their social networks, chances are good that you will have Yahoo! Toolbar or Yahoo! Messenger installed on your PC. Lets take a more practical example, users visiting Microsoft.com most probably have packages like Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows XP installed on their computers. It is likely for supporters of the Open Source Initiative to hang out on sites like OpenSource.org, OpenOffice.com, Linux.org or SpreadFirefox.com. So your software preferences play a huge role in the type of web sites you visit and vice versa.

But what has this to do with malware infections? To be honest, everything! Let me show you what the top culprits of malware infections are and it will soon be clear to you what the connection is between the web sites you visit and the malware found on your PC.

Top culprit number 1: Pornographic web sites

Download Spyware Blaster by JavaCool Software and have a look at all the porn related web sites blocked by this program. It is also remarkable to see how many computers with traces of pornographic web sites in their browser history, are often infected with spyware and trojan horses. Unfortunately you will have innocent victims of malware infections, also with traces of pornographic web sites in their browser history, but only because the malware redirected them to these sites. However, people with pornographic material on their computers are not that innocent in this case, pornography does not go out looking for people, people go out looking for pornography.

Top culprit number 2: Illegal music (MP3) and movie downloading sites

These sites normally force you to install special downloading software on your computer so that you can download files from them. These download managers are often bundled with spyware and are trojan horses themselves, downloading tons of other spyware programs while you cheerfully download your illegal MP3′s. They sometimes place tracking cookies on your PC to monitor your browsing habits and hijack your browser to make sure you return to their site or a site of a partner.

Top culprit number 3: Software Piracy web sites

If you love using illegal software, cracks, serial numbers or license key generators (keygens) then you most probably had to remove some malware infections in the past after visiting one of these sites. Most of the people using these cracks are normally technical wizards and know how to disinfect their computers. Many of these sites do not only contain harmful scripts but also fake cracks and key generators, which are nothing else but malware. Some crack developers create a working crack but distribute it with spyware or a trojan horse to make your PC their slave.

Top culprit number 4: Peer-to-peer file sharing programs and networks

The file sharing community is loaded with pornography, pirated software, music and movies. Is it not amazing that everywhere these guys make their appearance you also find spyware, viruses, trojan horses and all kinds of malware? The client software is also often bundled with spyware (or adware as they call it).

The culprits discussed so far are those connected with illegal and indecent activities. People visiting these sites and using these services deserve getting infected with malware. These culprits are also some of the biggest sources of malware epidemics. What flows from the mouth, comes from within the heart. The same rule applies to your computer, those nasty little programs crawling inside your computer is, in the case of culprits 1 to 4, the direct result of your own sinful actions and activities.

The next couple of culprits are caused by negligence and a lack of knowledge about how malware are distributed.

Top culprit number 5: Pop-up and pop-under advertisements

Another culprit that wants to caught you off guard. A pop-up window may appear out of the blue or a concealed pop-under window my load in the background without you even knowing it. These windows can start downloading malicious programs and install them on your computer. They can appear on any web site, not just illegal and other bad web sites. You can prevent these windows from opening by using a secure browser like Firefox with a built-in pop-up blocker.

Top culprit number 6: Fake anti-virus and anti-spyware tools

You visit a legitimate looking web site and suddenly a banner appears telling you that your computer is infected with spyware. You can scan your computer with all the anti-spyware software in the world, over and over again until you are blue in the face, but that banner will keep telling you that your computer is infected with spyware. This is because it is a plain image banner. The site never does a scan of your computer, it is a fixed message that will display on any computer, no matter how clean it is. Simply put, it is a blatant lie! They want you to believe that your computer is infected and that only their software can remove this spyware. If you download and install their software you will only find that it is spyware itself. You may end up infecting a completely clean system with a dirty program, trying to remove the so-called spyware.

A system scan is not a three second process, it takes time, so no scanner can tell you instantaneously that your system is infected with spyware. I do not believe in online scanners, rather use software with a good reputation, a local scan is much more faster. Most online scanners are no online scanners at all, you actually download the whole scanning engine and end up doing a local scan anyway. A real scanner will tell you the name of the malware and its location on your hard drive, if it does not give you this information, then it is fake. Even if it gives you this information, it still does not mean that the software is legitimate. Do not trust everything you see online and stick to well known anti-malware brands.

Top culprit number 7: Free games, screen savers, media players, etc.

No, not every free program comes bundled with spyware, but spyware (once again the developers prefer to call it adware, but it is still the same thing) is often the price you have to pay for the free software. It is normally a ploy to monitor your use of the program, to send the creators statistical data or to collect data about your online behaviour in order to send you targeted ads. If you try to remove the spyware you normally render the main application useless. Read the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) very carefully before installing the application. But everyone knows that nobody reads those tedious, long licence agreements, so use EULAlyzer by JavaCool Software to check for specific keywords and phrases that might reveal any spyware programs being installed or privacy breaching practices that may occur if you install the free software.

Top culprit number 8: Malicious web pages with harmful scripts

But you already mentioned this one in culprits 1 to 3. No, culprits 1 to 3 often have harmless web sites and it is the content you download from the sites that is harmful. But you also get web pages containing malicious scripts, totally innocent looking web sites, like a site donating money for cancer. You go to their homepage and suddenly a script virus strikes your computer. This is what an anti-virus shield was made for, that unexpected attack. Firefox is also designed to prevent harmful scripts and browser hijackers from accessing the system and taking advantage of flaws and weak spots in your operating system.

Top culprit number 9: E-mail

Virus worms spread themselves by forwarding a copy of the virus to all the contacts in your address book. Those contacts that are unaware of these worms will most likely open the e-mail and the file attached to it. But when you open a strange infected e-mail from an unknown sender, then you are guilty of double negligence. For the virus to be activated you need to open the e-mail and in most cases you need to deliberately open the file attachment too. By using a little common sense you will know that strange e-mails from unknown senders are dangerous, especially when they have executable attachments with file names ending with the “exe”, “com”, “bat” or “scr” extensions. Even dangerous e-mails from known, trustworthy contacts can easily be identified if the contents of the e-mail seems strange and out of character. By being careful and responsible when opening your e-mails, you will not only prevent your own computer from getting infected, but you will also prevent the worm from spreading any further.

Top culprit number 10: You the Internet user

What? Me? How on earth can I be a culprit? Well, you are an accomplice in the spread of malware if you do not have an active and updated anti-virus package installed on your computer, if you do not scan your computer for viruses and spyware on a regular basis, if you do not use shields like the TeaTimer tool from SpyBot (which is free by the way), the Ad-Watch shield of Ad-Aware or the resident shield of AVG Anti-spyware (all of which you have to pay for, unfortunately), if you spend your time browsing pornographic and illegal web sites and take part in the sharing of pirated software and copyrighted material (culprits 1 to 4), if you fail to be responsible with the software you install on your PC and the e-mails you open (culprits 6, 7 and 9) and if you refuse to use a secure web browser (like Firefox) built to prevent malware infections (culprits 5 and 8). Yes, I will go so far to say, that if you stay away from culprits 1 to 7 and 9, you probably won’t need any virus and spyware protection at all. Culprit 8 is the only reason why you should have anti-virus and anti-spyware protection, for those unexpected attacks, over which you have no control.

Culprits 1 to 8 are the main sources of malware. Infections caused by them led to the creation of culprits 9 and 10, which distribute the malware even further. Do not turn your computer into a malware paradise or a malware distribution centre. Take responsibility, protect your computer against these threats and prevent the spread of malware.

Eight threats your anti-virus won’t stop

This article is from Sophos, a security company:

http://www.sophos.com/security/topic/why-endpoint-security.html

High-profile incidents that make big news might seem out of the ordinary. Yet businesses of every size face similar risks in the everyday acts of using digital technology and the internet for legitimate purposes. This paper outlines eight common threats that traditional anti-virus alone won’t stop, and explains how to protect your organization using endpoint security.

The zero-day threat

Zero-day threats can exploit zero-day vulnerabilities, or previously unknown security deficiencies, that software vendors have not yet patched.

How to protect yourself: Add defenses on top of signature-based anti-virus protection.

Working outside the firewall

Not so long ago, most employees used their computers at the office. Back then, a network or gateway firewall would have been enough to protect your servers and PCs. Now people often work outside the perimeter of the organization’s network—any time they connect their laptops to the internet from airports, hotels, cafés and home.

How to protect yourself: Add location-aware client firewall software on laptops and other endpoint PCs.

The unpatched PC

One small unpatched vulnerability in an application, browser or operating system can lead to huge problems.

How to protect yourself: Patching is the first line of defense. Also use network access control, or NAC, to make sure any computer you allow on your network has all current patches and anti-virus updates in place.

The uncontrolled application

Allowing unmanaged applications access to the web brings unacceptable risk or performance issues.

How to protect yourself: Application control lets you block users from installing non-essential applications so you have fewer applications to manage and secure.

Web insecurity

Criminals abuse the web as their single biggest distribution point for malware.

How to protect yourself: Use combination of URL (reputation) filtering and scanning web pages for malware.

The lost laptop

It’s not difficult to replace a laptop, but recovering the exposed information can be.

How to protect yourself: Develop and implement a data encryption policy.

The misdirected email

One simple slip of the fingertip—and your document goes to the wrong email address. This could expose personal identifiable information.

How to protect yourself: Use data loss prevention software to scan for sensitive content.

The infected USB device

Every time users plug a USB device into a company computer, they bypass other layers of defense such as gateway firewall protection. That makes devices with USB ports an easy means of attack.

How to protect yourself: Use device control to specify which USB devices users are permitted to plug into laptops and PCs.

For all you geeks out there, and non-geeks too!

If you’re a geek, read ths whole article.  If you’re not a geek, then at least read number 2.

Here are the top 10 reasons that you’ll get your geek card revoked, according to a ZDNet article:

TechRepublic has previously talked about some of the things you can do to increase your geek cred. Naturally, there are also some things that can hurt your geek cred. In fact, we’ve put together a list of 10 of the worst transgressions for any geek. Doing any one of these will put your geek credentials at risk. Do two of them and your geek card immediately gets revoked.

You can view our list in two forms. You’ll find the simple list below, or you can check it out in slideshow format with the accompanying visuals.

10. Admitting that you like iTunes

Sure, it’s convenient for buying music and media in one place and syncing it to an iPod or iPhone, but iTunes has a draconian DRM system (still in place for media), makes it difficult to manage your library on multiple systems, and it started out as one of the worst pieces of bloatware ever built. And, it hasn’t gotten much better.

9. Not knowing the difference between binary and hexadecimal

Binary is the basis of all computing and is simply composed of zeros and ones. Hexadecimal is a 16-digit numeric system — based on numbers 0-9 and letters A-F — that represents binary in a more friendly way. Know the difference.

8. Not knowing what MMORPG stands for

Even if you don’t play games (or rarely play) you should know that an MMORPG is a “massively multiplayer online role-playing game,” also known as the alternate reality for geeks. The biggest one is World of Warcraft (WoW), a cultural phenomenon with over 12 million subscribers.

7. Loving your cable or telecom company

Geeks built the Internet. Geeks live on the Internet. Geeks love the Internet. However, the companies that bring us the Internet to our homes and offices — the telecoms and cable companies — are doing everything they can to wall it off, manipulate it for their own financial gain, and stop geeks from using it so much. For as long as they do that, they will remain at war with the geekosphere.

6. Not knowing the name of the book that Blade Runner was based on

Blade Runner is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. If you’re a true geek, you’ve seen it multiple times. But, not only that, you also know that it’s based on Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which is one of the best-titled stories in all of literature and an absolute classic in science fiction.

5. Confusing Star Wars and Star Trek

If someone mentions a Wookie and a Klingon and you’re not sure which one was part of the Star Wars universe and which one belongs to the Star Trek milieu, you are definitely not a geek.

4. Believing the “free” in open source refers to price

Repeat after me, “Open source does not mean it doesn’t cost anything.” Sure, some open source software is freely available to download at no cost. But, that’s not a requirement of open source. There is plenty of open source software that requires a fee. When open source talks about “free” software, they are referring to “free” as in “freedom.” It is freedom from overreaching licensing agreements. You’ll also hear this concept referred to as “Gratis verses Libre.”

3. Defending Facebook for its privacy transgressions

Look, Facebook is lucky the entire geekosphere hasn’t dropped it like a bad habit after all of the crap they’ve pulled in changing and violating their own lackluster privacy policies. Leo Laporte nearly led a geek revolt out of Facebook in May 2010. The only thing that prevented it was lack of a viable alternative.

2. Taking something into Geek Squad to get fixed

Best Buy’s Geek Squad has a few legitimate geeks on staff; however, too many of their technicians are completely clueless and can do more harm than good to your equipment. Besides, if you’re geek, just geek-up, open up the case, and fix it yourself. (Exception: It’s acceptable to go to the Geek Squad counter to exchange a DOA device that is still under warranty. Just don’t let us catch you asking for advice.)

1. Buying a paper computer book at Barnes & Noble

In 1999, if you wanted to quickly learn more about HTML or Exchange 5.5 or Apache or how to earn CCNA certification, you’d typically make a quick trip to your nearest book superstore like Barnes & Noble or Borders and comb through the huge selection of computer books. However, this is 2010. Any computer book you find at a bookstore is at least six months out of date. Almost everything you need to know is available on the web for free or in ebook format that you can quickly download to your laptop or tablet. Buying a dead-tree tome about a new technology is an immediate tip-off that your geek credentials are in question.

This article was originally published on TechRepublic.

Top ten up and coming technologies of 2011

Another interesting article from Larry Dignan on TechRepublic:

1: Cloud computing

This group of technologies has been on the top 10 lists for a few years. Now everything as a service will alter business models and IT procurement. Gartner analyst David Cearley said what has changed is that there are multiple services. Companies will probably need cloud computing brokers. Things to watch:

• Where does the public cloud fit? IT is generally scared of the public cloud, but select workloads are fine.
• Beware cloud washing. IT execs are comfortable with the vendors cloud washing but may not get real capability.
• Limit access to specific clouds based on community and groups. That approach would minimize security risks. Gartner has exclusive clouds and community clouds as services to watch.
• Private clouds are custom and packaged.

My impression: A safe pick for sure, but the cloud is getting more granular as it matures. Think cloud washing magnified.

2: Mobile apps and media tablets

Tablets and touch aren’t new. Claunch said that the selection of applications changes the game for businesses. “Apple has leveraged the ecosystem of the iPhone,” Claunch said. “And Apple has created consistency.” In addition, Apple’s iPad is the poster child for how consumerization is affecting corporate IT. Things to think about for enterprise IT:

• Enterprise apps will need to be designed for the tablet.
• Delivering these apps gets complicated due to the selection of platforms.
• Context-aware computing can connect to customers better.
• Marketing will drive a lot of projects to utilize tablets, but these devices can be used for inspections, surveys, image capture, documentation, and training.

Cearley added, “The PC era is over. Think of mobile design points.”

My impression: It’s stunning how many iPads are in this crowd of 7,000-plus IT execs and managers. Another thread: Almost all of these IT execs are carrying PCs not Macs. Typically, CIOs and the like are the last to get on board an early adoption curve for a new device. There’s a frenzy over tablets.

3: Next-gen analytics

Companies need to develop “operational analytics” to make predictions and use data mashups. “There’s value in very current information. We are now shifting our focus to start doing simulations and modeling to predict the future,” Claunch said. These simulations would ultimately be run on smartphones and other devices. Algorithms will really matter to companies to support the right type of prediction.

Gartner didn’t advocate doing a lot of analytics investment yet, but be ready to invest.

My impression: Analytics is largely untapped ground for many companies. Claunch’s key point: “This is just being enabled now.” Another key item: A show of hands revealed that the entire room had business intelligence software. A show of hands also indicated that no one thought those applications were delivering real value.

4: Social analytics

This concept revolves around taking social networking data and incorporating it into enterprise analysis. Sentiment, context, and influence are key areas for companies. “We’re starting to see the tipping point,” Cearley said. “It’s moving from bleeding edge to mainstream activity.” For now, look at communities you have to support and analyze an entry.

My impression: CIOs should be watching this stuff, but given the crowd response to business intelligence, I’m not seeing much progress on the analytics-social intersection.

5: Social communication and collaboration

Social collaboration is “inevitable,” Cearley said. “Over the next few years, it will be impossible to ignore this,” he added. By now, companies should have policies, high value social uses identified, and have experiments to link social with CRM systems. Meanwhile, unified communications will merge with social. Expertise location will probably be the best use case.

My impression: Gartner makes a good point, but I’d be willing to bet that enterprises are way behind the curve on social communication and what it means for collaboration and productivity.

6: Video

Corporate use of video is going mainstream. Low-cost video recorders are everywhere. Companies will need video content management systems and better design skills, and they’ll need to address privacy issues and policy concerns. Will all conference rooms be recorded by default? E-learning, merchandising, marketing, webinars, and telepresence will all be key video uses. The tipping point will come in 2011 to 2013. In addition, video will be needed to reach younger employees.

My impression: Video has hit mainstream, but networks haven’t. Will Vlogs really be the best use of employee time? One other key point: How will business intelligence systems digest video content?

7: Context-aware computing

The idea here is that social analytics and computing leads to knowledge about preferences. User interfaces would change based on context. Today, it’s all reactive. By 2011 to 2013, there will be more proactive alerts. By 2014 to 2018, you’ll have context integrated with enterprise systems. Ultimately, there will be a context platform. Portals, mashups, mobile, and social will combine. Vendors will offer “user experience platforms.”

My impression: I have a hard time seeing strapped enterprises going all contextual. Look for business units such as marketing to launch these projects to drive sales. Companies will need to deliver context-aware services to businesses. Can’t wait for all of those user experience platform pitches.

8: Ubiquitous computing

This topic has been discussed in previous years on Gartner’s lists. In a nutshell, computers melt into objects. There will be machine-to-machine connections, portable personalities, and connectivity changes across multiple devices. There will be thousands of computers for each person on the planet, and you’ll have multiple devices.

My impression: Ubiquitous computing is more a guiding principle for projects than something you think about in terms of budget. The timeline here is decades. What’s also notable: Everyone has punted on getting one device to consolidate them all. We’re doomed to carry a bunch of devices.

9: Storage class memory

When Flash meets RAM, there are differences in speed and costs. Persistent storage will also alter management. Claunch said that storage class memory goes beyond solid state drives. This new class of storage will lead to software where operating systems determine where data goes. Storage class memory will become more important over the next two to three years.

My impression: It’s a bit experimental, but storage class memory will ride shotgun with analytics. Companies will have to define what data goes into fast memory.

10: Fabric based infrastructure and computers

Every vendor will talk fabric computing, so get ready for fabric-washing. The overall idea here is that you’ll have infrastructure that manages resources in an integrated fashion. Cisco UCS and HP Matrix are examples. New ways of building servers will mean you buy pools of processors and memory instead of physically swapping boxes.

My impression: Forming your own flexible servers sounds appealing. The fabric thing sounds way futuristic for now, but the seeds are being planted