Security —> Compu-Doc

Microsoft has a page on their site where you can check your password security, check here. Never hear of a brute force attack? Wonder why your Windows PC got hacked? Well when your computer gets hijacked into a botnet, one of the possible assignments of your computer could be to hack password protected servers and accounts on the Internet. Typically they use brute force attacks; where the attack computer (zombie) uses a dictionary attack to break into another system. Words in the dictionary? How about password, 123456, changeme, guess, etc., etc. So before you lose your Facebook or Yahoo account, get a better password!!

Barnes and Noble has come out with a new ereader called Nook.  Th operating system is Google’s Android, a version of Linux. Runs Linux, I may have to get one of these things. Books made of paper are going to be a thing of the past. And maybe this even reduces some of my carbon footprint.

Based on a recent service call with a client that had to have their computer wiped of malware, (actually fake anti virus: scareware), do not, under any circumstances, use a debit/credit card on the Internet!!!  They only got hit for the $59.99 fake AV software purchase. But think about the risk. Bad guys get your debit card, empty your bank account and now what? Well, the banks say you are protected and I don’t doubt that. However, your money is gone until you convince them you are the victim of fraud. And how long before the bank makes you whole, all your money is back?? I use a credit card on the Net, but I won’t have a debit card. The banks love them for the extra profit they make off the merchant in fees, but I will pass.

The director of the FBI is not allowed to bank online. Story at PCWorld Australia.  Why do you think they call it phish-ing? Cuz they are trying to get you to act like a fish and take the bait. Pay attention to the Inbox and what you are clicking. The guys without money are out to get yours!

A new video display output is now on higher end PCs, DisplayPort. It looks similar to an HDMI connection, but believe me, it is not. To take advantage of this video card , it needs a compatible higher end model LCD display, or DisplayPort TV.

Q. What is DisplayPort?

A. We call DisplayPort the Ultimate Digital Connection. Why? It’s a simple but high-bandwidth interface designed to do things no other electronic connection has achieved. First, DisplayPort gives you true digital imaging and audio– pumping billions of colors and crystal clear sound – through one small plug, and it can even supply power. Second, it’s designed to work on all devices, you’ll soon see DisplayPort on computers, monitors and even some televisions, camcorders, cameras, DVD players, you name it. With DisplayPort, electronic devices can easily ‘talk’ to each other. Third, DisplayPort is designed to work with your older technology. With simple adapters you can be backwards compatible to VGA, DVI even HDMI.

Ever hear of it? I have. Much too often. The computer user has some (manual) backup system in place, maybe thumb drives, whatever. Then something goes wrong and there is no backup for months, it now becomes a meant-to backup, or as I call it, NoBackupAtAll. I use and recommend Cobian Backup, free, easy to use. I currently use version 8, Black Moon. I will be trying version 9 soon.

Just when you deal with the bad guys all day, now you find another large corporation doing the old invasion of privacy thing without telling you (I guess that is why it is an invasion). The culprit is Adobe Flash Player, used by lots of web sites, generating a secret, persistent, cannot be deleted by the browser, cookie called: flash cookies.

Adobe’s web site has a clear page, ….

The Squad is coming to Strongsville. Here is a MN TV news investigation video on YouTube. Be very, very aware!

 Keep on dancing!

I am seeing more and more machines infected with this stuff. You are surfing the web and all of a sudden… your Windows machine is being told by a web site that you are infected!

PC World has a good explanation of what and why.

You might reach such a [rogue] site by using a bad search link, like the one Boyd clicked for a free online Batman game. He got redirected to a site that took over his browser to display a fake AV scan, which then found (fictitious) critical infections that could be fixed by purchasing the rogue antivirus program.

If you use Google Chrome and are concerned about privacy, get Iron. Iron is an Internet-Browser like “Internet Explorer”, “Firefox,” Apple “Safari” and “Opera”. You can get Iron for free here and just click on the download link.  This browser software from SRWare.net, a German company, creates an alternative based on the “Chromium” sourcecode, minus the built in trackers.