security

Popular media outlets, like television and newspapers, latch on to new computer virus outbreaks as if the story of the millennium just broke. Journalists report that there are dangers of using buggy software from Microsoft. How do we protect our ... computers from becoming compromised? Operating System exploits and security breaches can allow Hackers unprecedented access to a PC for the sole purpose of malicious intent. Viruses can wipe out an entire computer system, and email worms can spread like wildfire in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, there aren't a set of straight forward rules one can ... (view more)

Several "clean up" programs on the market today are designed to eliminate Spyware* and other tracking devices after a computer has already become infected. GhostSurf Pro, on the other hand, prevents Spyware from infecting a PC (before it can ever ... take place) and provides a wide array of security features which allows users to surf the world wide web with varying degrees of anonymity. Side Note: Spyware is software which records information about you or your computer usage (without your knowledge) and then relays this information to a third party -- quite often, for marketing ... (view more)

I'd like to discuss a security threat which was recently discovered in Internet Explorer. Mike Healan of Spywareinfo.com forwarded an article to me today. The article urges all Windows users to take the necessary precautions to secure their browsers ... from a nasty exploit recently discovered in Internet Explorer. The exploit allows hackers to gain control of a system and execute harmful code. http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/htasploit/ Without further adieu, here is the article by Mike Healan (edited): -- Members of the SWI support forums have uncovered a very nasty flaw in Internet Explorer ... (view more)

Almost a month ago we were knee-deep in discussion with respect to tracking down a hacker. In short, our ongoing discussion probed possibilities and known methods which might be used to track down a hacker, if one ever attempted to hack into *your* ... computer system. RE: Can I track down a Hacker?, Part 1 , and Can I track down a Hacker?, Part 2 . Shortly after Part 2 was released, I received an email from Dan Daily (editor / webmaster) of Danny's Daily . Dan's comments focused on a proposed supposition, which was sent in from John B. in Part 2 of our Discussion . To recap: John suggested to ... (view more)

This issue of the Gazette is dedicated to "tying up a few loose knots" from our ongoing discussions about Hackers and Security threats . First, I'll give you all an update to Gazette issue dated October 10, 2002 (Windows Security Threat -- NTFS ... Alternate Data Streams ). To recap: an anonymous reader (John Doe) sent in an email that discussed a potential security risk in Windows which might allow a hacker to take a screen capture of a computer with the NTFS file system installed. I realize that this article was a bit on the "technical side", but I did my best to clear up ... (view more)

Since we're on the hot topic of hackers and hacking lately, I thought I'd share with you another great resource that Eric B. sent me. The web site is called myNetWatchman . The myNetWatchman program (agent) gives users a heads-up that they have a ... security problem, if their system becomes infected with an Internet Worm virus. There's also some super-cool reading on their web site (RE: ' Windows Forensics ') which shows how multiple non-hostile applications combined can lead to a hacking threat. I'm not going into great detail because I don't want to spoil it for you; however, I will say that ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob T. write s: " Dear Dennis, First of all, thanks for all the great info. I have a security question for windows. With all the security I have, such as a firewall, and virus protection, I thought I was pretty safe when online. ... However, the other day I stumbled upon a web site that had the contents of my hard drive revealed to me through a link. The software is called Spy Detect . This is from a security firm that is selling software to stop this sort of thing from happening. I would like to know -- is my computer at risk? " My Response: This is a scam that preys ... (view more)

It's time to vent. I'm getting so sick and tired of reading these goofy emails from spammers who claim they are either a Prince or a Doctor that needs to transfer 25 million dollars into a "US-only bank account." And of course, having such high ... credentials as they do, they need MY help to do the transfer. Yeah, plain boring me. I'm just wondering -- does anybody actually fall for this stuff? It's funny to read some of the variations to this genre of chain-letter email. I just received one not too long ago and it had such a hilarious story line, I put it aside and decided to share it ... (view more)