Webmasters Struggle With Hacked Sites – A Commtouch, StopBadware Report

I’m often asked why I host this Blog on WordPress.com – why I don’t self host, and maybe make a few dollars, while I’m at it, by running ads. So, I’ll start with the back-end first.

It’s not about money – far from it. I write this Blog to have a little bit of fun; to help keep my mind sharp (often a failing exercise    ) – and, to be part of a community which recognizes the need to educate computer users that the Internet is not all sweetness and light.

That’s the back-end – but, it’s the front-end that’s most important. WordPress does all the heavy lifting. All elements are taken care of: setup, upgrades, spam, backups, and site security. Site security might be last in the previous sentence but, it was the most important factor in my decision to use WordPress as my blogging platform.

Just a few of the security reasons:

Potential harmful activity is constantly monitored.

Blog PHP code can’t be modified.

Plugins can’t be uploaded.

JavaScript embed codes and CSS, are restricted.

I’m not suggesting that WordPress can’t, or won’t be hacked (nothing on the Internet is invulnerable to cyber criminals) – but, should sites hosted by WordPress.com fall to  the bad guys, those of us who rely on WP, will at least have a fighting chance to recover. This is not always the case for self-hosted sites.

Recent statistics indicate (surprise, surprise) – cybercriminals are increasing their targeting of websites for identity theft, virus distribution, and spamming. And, according to a newly released survey (Compromised Websites: An Owner’s Perspective), from Commtouch and StopBadware – in which webmasters were queried on their fight against hacking – almost half of the survey participants (who had been hacked), had no idea until they received a warning from their own computer’s protection technology.

More particularly, according to the Commtouch/StopBadware report – “about half of site owners discovered the hack when they attempted to visit their own site and received a browser or search engine warning.”  Not a very effective method of discovering one’s site has been hacked. As opposed to WP’s – “Potential harmful activity is constantly monitored.”

Highlights from analysis of the survey’s responses include:

Over 90% of respondents didn’t notice any strange activity, despite the fact that their sites were being abused to send spam, host phishing pages, or distribute malware.

Nearly two-thirds of the webmasters surveyed didn’t know how the compromise had happened.

Twenty six percent of site owners had not yet figured out how to resolve the problem at the time they completed the survey.

Forty percent of survey respondents changed their opinion of their web hosting provider following a compromise.

The report includes several examples of hacked websites, as well as the spam emails that may trick users into visiting these sites. In addition to analysis and quotes from site owners, the report provides tips to help webmasters prevent their sites from being compromised.

The following graphic illustrates why cyber criminals target web sites.

Courtesy – Commtouch

The full report is available for download (PDF format) at:

Commtouch

StopBadware

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – February 23, 2012

The Best Free Antivirus for 2012 – Even if your budget doesn’t include any money for antivirus protection, you’ve got plenty of good choices for free antivirus.

Five apps to wipe data from your Android phone – If your phone gets lost or stolen — or if you decide to return or recycle it — you need to wipe it clean of your private data.

5 Free Android Security Apps: Keep Your Smartphone Safe – Whether or not Android’s openness makes it an easy target for malware writers, these apps can help protect your handset.

Lifehacker: Everyone’s Trying to Track What You Do on the Web: Here’s How to Stop Them – It’s no secret that there’s big money to be made in violating your privacy. Companies will pay big bucks to learn more about you, and service providers on the web are eager to get their hands on as much information about you as possible. So what do you do? How do you keep your information out of everyone else’s hands? Here’s a guide to surfing the web while keeping your privacy intact.

Google’s New Privacy Policy: How to Stay Off the Grid – The Electronic Frontier Foundation is recommending that privacy conscious users delete their Google Web history before the search giant’s new unified privacy policy kicks in. Google Web history is Google’s online log of all your search activity, and some browsing history.

Trojan hijacks often-used DLL file for stealthier approach – Instead of adding itself to the Startup list – a move that is obvious both to AV solutions and savvy users – it takes a library file (comres.dll) commonly used by a number of popular browsers, communication apps and networking tools, copies it and changes it so that every time it is called the malware springs to life and, finally, saves it in the Windows directory folder.

Indian govt to ask Yahoo, Google to route emails through servers in India - Web mail service providers such as Google, Yahoo, and others will be asked to route all emails accessed in India through servers located in the country – even if the mail accounts that receive and send them were registered outside it, reports The Times of India.

YouPorn passwords available for download, thousands of users exposed – Want a free password for one of the world’s most popular adult websites? YouPorn, one of the world’s most popular porn video websites appears to have been caught with its pants down.

New Zeus/SpyEye makes bots function as C&C servers – According to Symantec researchers, a previous build already moved towards replacing the bot-to-C&C system with peer-to-peer capabilities so that the bots receive configuration files from other bots, and this new one has finalized the transition.

Alleged fraudster has until next week to decrypt her hard drive for prosecutors – Prosecutors are keen to discover what is on the encrypted laptop of Ramona Fricosu, a Colorado woman accused of committing financial fraud. The case has raised interesting questions of whether you can be forced by law to hand over your password, or decrypt your computer.

Company News:

Nokia Prepping Low-Price Windows Phones: Report – While Nokia decided last year to use Microsoft’s Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system, the Finnish phone maker apparently isn’t ready to wholly abandon its old software platform, Symbian.

Juniper Networks acquires Mykonos Software – Juniper Networks has acquired Mykonos Software, a provider of Intrusion Deception Systems that protect websites and web applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Juniper acquired Mykonos Software for a cash purchase price of approximately $80 million.

OnForce Teams with Apple to Offer Small Business IT Support – Through novel partnership with Apple, OnForce retools its service model to shepherd small business customers through their IT configurations.

Barnes & Noble Targets Kindle Fire With 8GB Nook Tablet – Barnes & Noble on Tuesday unveiled an 8GB version of its Nook Tablet for $199 and dropped the price of its Nook Color e-reader to $169.

Webopedia Daily:

PayPal SMS Security Key – A service that enables PayPal customers to use their mobile phones to authenticate transactions through a service that lets customers use SMS messaging to get a randomly generated access code to log into their accounts. The PayPal SMS Security Key is an extension of PayPal’s current Security Key service, which uses a hardware token. However, unlike the current service, which charges customers $5 for the token, the new service is free. Customers will have to pay their carriers’ charges for SMS services.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Re-think everything for mobile or you’re toast – Mobile devices are about to dwarf computers and the mobile web will have to take off the training wheels. Is your company ready?

Google Working on HUD Glasses for 2012 Debut – Citing several anonymous Google employees, the Times said the glasses would debut by the end of 2012 and cost between $250-$600. They’ll reportedly be Android-based and include a small screen that would stream content via either a 3G or 4G connection right before the user’s eyes. The eyewear would also feature GPS and motion sensors.

Star Trek inspires tech, careers, and hope for humanity – By mixing science with lessons of hope for a humanitarian future, Star Trek continues to inspire technological innovations, career choices, and good deeds.

Today’s Quote:

“Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.”

-     Ambrose Bierce

Today’s Free Downloads:

TweetDeck – TweetDeck is now available in a Web-based version that runs on Apple’s Safari or Google’s Chrome browser and a desktop counterpart. The versions sync nicely, so that the information you enter when using the Web version appears when you log into the desktop version, and vice versa.

Sobees Desktop – This slick-looking application offers an easy way to manage Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts. Still in beta, this “social media manager” still has some kinks to work out, but shows plenty of potential.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – February 22, 2012

Four Must-Have Android Settings, From a Security Expert - Researcher Joshua Rubin from zvelo shares four easy ways to tighten the security settings on your Android device.

15 Android widgets that will make iPhone users jealous – One of the biggest advantages of Android over iPhone is widgets. Android has them, iPhone does not. Widgets are valuable because they give you an at-a-glance look at lots of different kinds of information and quick access to valuable apps and configuration settings.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 is here – As you will see, we’ve made updates and enhancements to some of the things you’ve told us you like the most. We’ve also brought you some new, highly anticipated features that you’ll find only on BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Pirate Bay Guilty of Copyright Infringement: UK High Court – The popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay (TPB) infringes on copyrights, according to a ruling from the High Court of the United Kingdom, which could lead to the site being blocked in Britain. The decision whether or not to block the site will be made in June. The court found “the operators of TPB induce, incite or persuade its users to commit infringements of copyright, and that they and the users act pursuant to a common design to infringe.”

Google Says IE Privacy Policy Is Impractical in Modern Web – Microsoft’s privacy protection feature in Internet Explorer, known as P3P, is impractical to comply with while providing modern web functionality such as cookie-based features, Google said Monday in response to an accusation from Microsoft that Google had bypassed privacy protections in Internet Explorer.

Android Vs. iOS: Which Works Best for Mobile Professionals? – Are you deciding between an Android smartphone, an iPad or an iPhone? It’s time to focus on which products actually work best — and why. You might be surprised.

Fake RIAA copyright violation notification serves malware – First spotted nearly a week ago, notifications of copyright violation supposedly sent by the Recording Industry Association of America are still hitting inboxes around the world. Unfortunately, those users who have been tricked into downloading and running the attachment have actually installed a downloader Trojan that immediately tries to connect to a server hosted in Russia.

Company News:

Canonical Reveals Ubuntu for Android – Much more than a virtualized app, Canonical’s Ubuntu for Android enables a “full desktop computing experience on a docked Android smartphone.” Get the details from ExtremeTech.

Akamai protects enterprises from DDoS and application security attacks – Akamai Technologies introduced Akamai Kona Site Defender, a service designed to protect the brand value of companies by shielding their web sites, applications and associated data in the face of attacks.

OpenStack Debuts TryStack – With TryStack users, get their own OpenStack compute instance that lasts for up to 24 hours. The first TryStack deployment zone is hosted on infrastructure that has 156 cores, 1040GB memory and 59.1 TB of disk storage. While Rackspace is one of the leaders of the OpenStack effort, they aren’t actually hosting the TryStack initiative.

Novell integrates Mac device management – Novell announced the availability ZENworks 11 Support Pack 2 which includes integrated device management for Mac, and introduces a new product offering with ZENworks Full Disk Encryption (FDE) and two new suites.

Webopedia Daily:

Lightweight browser – Lightweight browser is the term used to describe a Web browser that forgoes support of all Web standards in favor of a faster program that will requires less system resources to run on a computer. Lightweight browsers often do not include support for CSS, JavaScript, and other Web elements but will still render most pages correctly for viewing.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Brainwashing Techniques You Encounter Every Day (and How to Avoid Them) – While it’s pretty unlikely that you’re a target of deliberate brainwashing, it is likely that you’re subject to some of the common techniques associated with the less-than-ethical practice. Here are a few common methods you encounter on a regular basis and what you can do to avoid them.

Wild computing devices from the late 1800s and early 1900s – At the beginning of the 20 century, inventors put computing devices on everything from scales to cheese cutters.

What problem does Windows 8 solve? – Windows 8 is intended to be Microsoft’s platform that does everything for everyone. The problem is it doesn’t solve anyone’s problems, so who will need it?

Iran’s Deadly Cyber Police: Indefinite Detention and Execution for Netizens – Iran’s terrifying campaign against the internet and netizens is about to go full-throttle with the country’s own intranet.

Android tablets are doomed without a single OS version – A lot of ink has been spilled decrying the Android fragmentation problem, and while the smartphone space is surviving in spite of it the tablet space will not.

Today’s Quote:

“We used to say – You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts – Now we are all entitled to our own facts, and conservative media use this right to immerse their audience in a total environment of pseudo-facts and pretend information.”

-    David Frum

Today’s Free Downloads:

SystemRescueCd 2.5.0 – SystemRescueCd is a Linux system rescue disk available as a bootable CD-ROM or USB stick for administrating or repairing your system and data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the hard disk partitions.

Nvidia Forceware for Windows Vista\Win 7 – This is the first WHQL-certified driver from the R295 family of drivers. It is the recommended upgrade for all GeForce users, especially those playing the latest hot PC games like Battlefield 3, Diablo III, Mass Effect 3, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

NirLauncher 1.11.45 – NirLauncher is a package of more than 100 portable freeware utilities for Windows, all of them developed for NirSoft Web site during the last few years.

Zorin Linux OS – The Look And Feel Of Windows 7

There was a time, when Linux was crazy difficult to install and run on a PC. Those days are long gone, and running Linux, in various flavors, couldn’t get much easier. Average users simple want to point and click, and Linux based operating systems, by and large, allow them to do just that.

There’s no doubt that Windows and Linux are not the same operating system under the hood. But, average users don’t look under the hood of an OS – not in Windows – not in Linux.

Having worked with Windows 8, Developer Edition, since its release date -  I can assure you, running Linux (with the small initial differences from Windows), is a snap compared to the effort needed to rethink virtually every move in Windows 8. I say this, not because I’m down on Windows 8 (it has its place, and under the hood, there are substantial improvements), but, because I’m “up” on Linux.

I’ve been running dual boot systems for years – various flavors of Windows, and various flavors of Linux. With good reason – I wouldn’t, for example, do my online banking in any OS other than Linux. So, I’m comfortable with the idea that I can offer my opinion on how “hard” or how “easy” it is, to run with Linux.

Installing a Linux distro to run side-by-side with Windows (no partitioning required), is dead easy – and, on Startup, you’ll have a choice as to what OS to boot. It’s been my experience that Linux generally boots 2/3 times faster than Windows.

So, having said all that – let me introduce you to Zorin OS – a Ubuntu based Linux distro – which is built around an intuitive point and click user interface  -similar in layout, and function, to Windows 7.

If you would feel more comfortable with a Windows XP look – no problem. Zorin’s built-in Look Changer lets you change your desktop to look and act like either Windows 7, Windows XP, or a straight Linux look.

Take a peek at the following graphics from the developer – I think you’ll be impressed.

Zorin OS runs on various platforms

Start Menu

Start Menu expanded.

Desktop cube

Multimedia applications running

Look Changer

Software center

Fast facts:

Top-notch security – Thanks to Zorin OS’s immunity to Windows viruses you will never have to worry about them. Zorin OS also comes with integrated firewall software to keep your system extra safe. When a potential security threat arises, software updates usually come within a matter of hours through the Update Manager.

Easy to use, familiar desktop – The main goal of Zorin OS is to give Windows users easy access to Linux. That is why Zorin OS incorporates the familiar Windows 7-like interface by default, to dramatically reduce the learning curve of this system while still experiencing the main advantages of Linux.

Out-of-the-box software solution – From the versatile LibreOffice suite to the feature-packed OpenShot video editor, it’s got it all. Zorin OS is sure to facilitate all of your everyday tasks such as web browsing, document creation, social networking, making videos, chatting with your friends and beyond, all without having to install anything.

Software Galore – If the pre-installed software isn’t enough for your requirements there is no need to worry about it. Zorin OS comes with the Software Center which allows users to download and install tens of thousands of free programs. All you have to do is open the Software Center from the start menu, find a program which you want and click Install. You can even install Windows programs on Zorin OS in a similar way with PlayOnLinux.

Compatibility - Nearly every file that you use with your current operating system will work perfectly in Zorin OS with no need for additional setup. All your office documents, music, videos, pictures etc. will work out of the box in Zorin OS. Zorin OS also supports a large library of devices such as printers, scanners, cameras, keyboards. These devices will work as soon as you plug them in without the need for installing additional drivers.

Flexibility – Zorin OS gives users more flexibility. It allows you to use Zorin OS alongside your current operating system. While you install Zorin OS to your computer you have the option to keep your current operating system alongside Zorin OS and choose which one to load on start-up.

Zorin Internet Browser Manager – The default web browser in Zorin OS is Google Chrome. For those who want to use other web browsers, we have included our exclusive program called the Zorin Internet Browser Manager which makes installing and uninstalling web browsers simple and quick.

Social from the start – Zorin OS has been built with you in mind so staying in touch with your friends easily was a large aspect of building Zorin OS. The Me Menu lets you access your Facebook and Twitter accounts straight from the desktop. You can connect to all your favorite chat channels and make updates through a single window with Gwibber. Instant Messaging chat with Empathy is super simple. Quickly integrate your chat accounts from Facebook Chat, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN, Jabber, AIM, QQ and many other sources and start talking.

Minimum system requirements:

700 MHz x86 processor
3GB of Hard Drive space
376 MB of system memory (RAM)
Graphics card capable of 640×480 resolution
Sound card

Downloads: both 32 bit and 64 bit.

The Core, Lite and Educational versions, are available to download for free from the Free download page.

The Premium versions (Business, Gaming, Multimedia and Ultimate), are available in exchange for a donation on the Premium page for a physical DVD, or a download.

I’ve been running with Zorin OS on and off – from a bootable DVD – for the last several months and, I must say – I’ve been very impressed.

I pointed out earlier – “It’s been my experience that Linux generally boots 2/3 times faster than Windows”. This is not the case when running from a DVD. Should you decide to go this route, you will encounter a much slower response than an installation will provide.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – February 21, 2012

Microsoft Says Google Circumvents IE Privacy Policies Too – Microsoft says Google bypassed privacy protections in Internet Explorer, following accusations last week that Google was doing so in Apple’s Safari browser.

Get Better Caller ID on Your Android Phone – Free app WhoAreYou not only shows you who’s calling and where they’re calling from, but also lets you block callers with just one tap.

Create a Bootable Linux Flash Drive in Three Easy Steps – Why would you want to do that? Two reasons: to see how the other half lives, so to speak, and to create a rescue tool that can work around nearly any Windows-related disaster.

Bluetooth Giving You the Blues? Here’s Your Cure – Bluetooth–so great when it works–can drive you crazy with dropped connections or with pairing and sound-quality problems. Here’s how to cope when it goes haywire.

Facebook’s Troubling Trend Down Under: Time spent by Australians on social networking site down 21% over past year – If I were an advertiser, I’d consider this to be a pretty negative trend. On the other hand, maybe Australia’s just receding back to the norm and this will bottom out.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 is Now Available – RIM promised to release an official version of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 in February. Today is February 21st and RIM has made good on that promise. The official version of the QNX-based, BlackBerry PlayBook OS is now 2.0 and is available via software update on your PlayBook.

My PC Doesn’t See My Hard Drive – When Wendell tries to boot his PC, an error message announces a disk read error. It’s as if his hard drive–with three year’s worth of work on it–doesn’t exist.

Syrian dissidents claim government uses malware to spy on them – Syrian opposition activists have been targeted by the government since the start of the massive anti-government protests in January 2011, but only recently they have began to worry about malware spying on their activities. According to the CNN and Dlshad Othman, a software engineer that joined the regime opponents and helps them with their IT security, two separate pieces of malware have been discovered after

Iranians cut off from Internet again – Iranians suffered a wide spread Internet outage today, the second disruption of in the past 10 days to leave millions without access to e-mail and social networks. The latest disruption blocked access to all encrypted International sites outside the country that operate on Secure Sockets Layer protocol, Reuters reports.

10 ways tech can boost sales for SMBs – SMBs that are smart about leveraging technology can see impressive sales increases. Here are some ways to use your IT resources to accomplish great things.

Researchers break video CAPTCHAs, offer solutions – After creating the “Decaptcha” software to solve audio CAPTCHAs, Standford University’s researchers modified it and turned it against text and, quite recently, video CAPTCHAs with considerable success. Video CAPTCHAs have been touted by its developer, NuCaptcha, as the best and most secure method of spotting bots trying to pass themselves off as human users.

Company News:

Microsoft confirms SkyDrive app for Windows 8 – Integration to include Metro-style app and the ability to fetch files from across the Web, Microsoft reveals.

Patent Reveals Google TV With Siri-Like Voice Recognition – A patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office last fall shows that Google is creating a Siri-like voice interface for controlling television via Android phones. According to Patently Apple, the patent describes a cloud-based system for issuing voice commands to an Android phone, which will then control a set-top box, smart TV, DVR, or other device.

Iomega Intros Server-grade NAS for SMBs – Iomega narrows the gap between enterprise-grade and small business storage with new NAS hardware and cloud-based video surveillance features.

Twitter, American Express Partner on Small Business Advertising – Financial services firm American Express announced that its card members and merchants would be the first to have access to Twitter’s new advertising solution for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), which is scheduled to launch in late March. The company said it would give $100 in free Twitter advertising when using this solution to the first 10,000 eligible businesses that register starting this week.

Webopedia Daily:

Linux virtualization – Linux virtualization refers to running one or more virtual machines on a physical computer that’s operated by the Linux open source operating system. Linux virtualization can be used for isolating specific apps, programming code or even an operating system itself, as well as for security and performance testing purposes.

Off Topic (Sort of):

When Larry Met Sergy – The evolution of Google from Grad school to a $150 Billion company shown in an amazing interactive graphic.

Mass Surveillance and No Privacy Bill is ‘For the Children’ – What happens when stupid non-geeks write bills like SOPA and HR 1981? Rep. Lamar Smith says it’s for the children, of course, and if you object to being spied upon online then you are some kind of guilty pro-child-porn lowlife pond scum sucker. Where does the stupidity stop?

Google Privacy Fiasco Lesson: There Is No Privacy – Google may have crossed a line with respect to user privacy, but it’s not the first, it won’t be the last, and you need to have realistic expectations about this concept of privacy.

Feds Yank Another Site — Even Without SOPA Analysis – The Secret Service takes down JotForm and restores it without explanation; perhaps the anti-SOPA hysteria wasn’t alarming enough.

Today’s Quote:

“I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, “Ain’t that the truth.”

-    Quincy Jones

Today’s Free Downloads:

Rainmeter – Rainmeter lets you craft your very own desktop environment. It’s a system resource monitor that presents the information you want to see in the format that works for you, in a very attractive desktop environment. Think of it as a customizable dashboard.

Windows 8 Start Screen Full 3.0 – Windows 8 Start Screen Full is a Windows 8 Start Screen clone for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. It resembles the same screen with live tiles on your Desktop. Tiles include News, Weather, Gmail, iSocialite for Facebook, various shortcut tiles which can be configured and more.

AceMoney Lite – AceMoney helps you organize and manage your personal finances quickly and easily. AceMoney is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Polish, Hungarian and Swedish, with more languages to come.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – February 20, 2012

How to Set Up Your Wireless Router for Skype – Skype is a modern marvel of communication, but even diehard users have to admit the quality can be uneven. Turns out there is a lot you can do to improve the quality of your Skype calls by just configuring you router a little differently.

10 Must-Have Android Apps (updated) – I have been updating this story for a few years now as the app landscape shifts. With this edition, I had to say goodbye to Astrid Task Manager and Advanced Task Killer; they just don’t make the cut anymore. The good news is that I have replaced them with apps that you will use every day and thank me for recommending.

How to Locate Your Unprotected Android Device – If you lose your Android smartphone and didn’t proactively install a security or remote locator app, you can still find your missing phone by following our handy guide.

Web Tracking: Is this a Big Deal? – Web tracking companies say anonymous tracking is harmless. What’s the real story? Here are two scenarios where online tracking can come back to bite you.

Facebook Gold Membership Status scam hits users – A bizarre email purportedly sent by Facebook has been hitting inboxes around the world and trying to convince the recipients that they have been awarded a “100% Gold Status membership” and $2.5 millions from the social network:

5 Welcome Page Apps to Customize Facebook Business Pages – Does your Facebook Business page look like all the rest? We’ve got five Facebook apps to help you create a custom page and help your business stand out from the Facebook crowd.

Create or Improve Your Own Websites Using These Great Tools – More than ever before, it is easy to create content online and get your message out into the world. Many tools let you create beautiful websites, both personal and business-oriented, without writing a single line of code. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned Web developer, here are some of the best tools and services available for putting your content online today.

Anonymous Hacks FTC Sites, Again – Websites owned by the Federal Trade Commission and the Bureau of Consumer Protection were hacked on Thursday night and have taken down, the FTC confirmed Friday.

Report: Apple Supplier Foxconn Raises Worker Pay at Chinese Plants – Beset by criticism of its labor practices, the contract manufacturing giant hikes monthly wages by 16 to 25 percent at the Chinese plants where iPhones and iPads are assembled.

Lawmakers Grill DHS Over Social Network Monitoring – House lawmakers grilled Department of Homeland Security officials this week over the agency’s monitoring of social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

What You Need to Know About Mountain Lion – If you want a really deep dive into Mountain Lion, you should read Ed Mendelson’s full preview, but if you just want the key takeaways, this story is for you. Although Mountain Lion doesn’t bring a lot of new architecture changes to the OS, there are a lot of new features for consumers.

Company News:

Trend Micro makes HijackThis open source – Trend Micro released HijackThis as an open source application. The code, originally written in Visual Basic, is now officially available at SourceForge. Trend Micro will continue to maintain the original source code and will update the base code on SourceForge as developers make modifications that are essential and positive to the continued improvement of this code.

Intel Cyrstal Forest Takes Aim at the Networking Market – A key part of the attractiveness of the Crystal Forest platform for WAN acceleration is a technology called Quick Assist, which helps to accelerate secure packet payloads up to as much as 100 Gbps.

Forensic toolkit with malware analysis technology – AccessData released Forensic Toolkit 4 (FTK) that gives organizations affordable access to more advanced incident response and remote investigative capabilities. Using FTK, computer forensics examiners are able to securely and remotely investigate a running computer to analyze and collect data from disk, volatile and RAM, eliminating travel and reducing response time.

Red Hat Takes Aim at the Open Cloud with Deltacloud – A key part of being open in the cloud as is the case in every other segment of IT, is preventing vendor lock-in. One way that Red Hat is helping to prevent vendor lock-in is by way of the Deltacloud project which was started back in 2009. The project was moved to The Apache Software Foundation in 2010 as an incubated effort and now it has finally graduated to become a top level project.

Webopedia Daily:

GNOME 3 – A desktop graphics environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Released in April 2011, GNOME 3 served as a major update for the GNOME project and was the first major release in nine years.

Off Topic (Sort of):

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It: Ancient Computers in Use Today – From 1970s minicomputers used for military programs (including nuclear weapons) to an IBM punch-card system still keeping the books at a Texas filter supplier, these are the computers that time forgot.

Over Half a Million People Join the Internet Every Day And Half of That Half Million Are Chinese – According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the UN the world population stands at almost exactly 7 billion human beings and according to ICT Facts and Figures more than a third of us are now connected to the Internet. And according to a study conducted by the folks over at Royal Pingdom there are almost 8 people joining the Web every second. Looking at the chart they provided that I’ve posted here, you can see that means over 683,000 people become new Web users every day. And half of that number speak Chinese.

Fallegi Skagafjörður – Wonderful. Made me feel like donning my bearskin, pushing out the longboat, and invading somewhere. (recommended by Michael F.)

How Google Comes Out Cleaner Than Apple on Privacy – This comes a week after Google spent a couple weeks being demonized for its planned privacy policy changes, which go into effect next month. Protest was so strong it attracted the unwanted attention from Congress–which, while generally ignorant on high-tech affairs, is quick to come down on any perceived slight or injustice to consumers.

Today’s Quote:

“Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.”

-     Vaclav Havel

Today’s Free Downloads:

UltraVNC 1.0.9.6.2 – UltraVNC is an easy to use computer program that can display a screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your screen. UltraVNC will allow users you to use their mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location.

Face Off Max 3.4.0.8 – Transplant your face to any body you want and let your friends share your fun! Comes packed with large and larger numbers of templates, Face Off Max aims at helping you to create funny photos by transplanting any face to any body and share the fun with your friends.

McAfee AVERT Stinger – Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system.

Warning: Scam Against Older Men

Got this one from my buddy Mike – it should make you chuckle.

Women often receive warnings about protecting themselves at the mall and in dark parking lots, etc. This is the first warning I have seen for men. I wanted to pass it on in case you haven’t heard about it.

A ‘heads up’ for those men who may be regular customers at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Costco, or even Wal-Mart. This one caught me totally by surprise.

Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.

Here’s how the scam works:

Two nice-looking, college-aged girls will come over to your car or truck as you are packing your purchases into your vehicle. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. (It’s impossible not to look). When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say ‘No’ but instead ask for a ride to McDonald’s.

You agree and they climb into the vehicle. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen Dec. 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th, & 29th. Also Jan.  1st, 3rd, & 4th, twice on the 7th and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

So tell your friends to be careful. What a horrible way to take advantage of us older men. Warn your friends to be vigilant.

Wal-Mart has wallets on sale for $2.99 each. I found even cheaper ones for $.99 at the dollar store and bought them out in three of their stores.

Also, you never get to eat at McDonald’s. I’ve already lost 11 pounds just running back and forth from Lowe’s, to Home Depot, to Costco, Etc.

So please, send this on to all the older men that you know and warn them to be on the lookout for this scam. (The best times are just before lunch and around 4:30 in the afternoon.)

Time For Tor? – An Open Source Anonymous Surfing Application

Over the years, I’ve posted more than a few articles on anonymous surfing and the applications, generally free, which makes that possible.

I’ve noted, over that time, that the majority of readers of these article have a Middle East IP – particularly Iran. Little wonder, when one considers the human rights violations committed by this regime. Remaining anonymous online in Iran, could literally be the difference between life and death.

A typical email from an Iranian reader:

Dear Bill

I live in Iran – I need to know news about my hometown, but in Iran we are faced with filtering…very hard filtering. It makes me depressed, but one of my friends introduced your website to me and told me you can help me.

If you think that the crazies who rule Iran, and Syria – just 2 of these Middle East dysfunctional societies), where Internet usage is scrutinized on an individual basis – are the only unhinged and delusional nutters Internet users have to deal with – you’re wrong.

The erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to surf the Internet without government oversight, seems to be happening at an ever increasing pace – everywhere.

In a previous article on anonymous Internet surfing tools (October, 2010), I wrote – “Thankfully, I live in a part of the world where Government censorship of my Internet activities is a non-issue; the Canadian government does not restrict my access to any part of the Internet.

I wish I could go on to say, that I live in a part of the world where the Government has NO interest in my Internet activities, But that, unfortunately, would be like wishing on a star – and, equally as effective.

While I have no faith whatsoever, that those in power will continue to use the gathered information in a restricted, and appropriate fashion – it’s not something that I dwell on. After all, there is nothing I can do about it – so, I’m forced to slot it into my comfort zone.

In the past week however, I’ve been ripped out of my comfort zone, as have most other Canadians, who have revolted against legislation proposed by the quasi-fascist Conservative Party of Canada – the current political party in power (a government elected by only 26% of eligible Canadian voters) – led by Stephen Harper, a fundamentalist Christian, and his minion Vic Toews – another fundamentalist Christian .

In 2008, Toews was divorced by his wife of 30 years, after it was discovered that he had fathered a child with a younger woman – who may have been his child’s babysitter. Just one more example of the “moral right” practicing its favorite pastime – hypocrisy.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews faced a fierce online backlash over Bill C-30, which would require internet service providers to turn over client information to law enforcement agencies without a warrant. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

The proposed legislation would create  a mandatory surveillance regime. Simply put – unfettered government surveillance directed at Canadian Internet users.

The backlash against this perverted legislation was both immediate, and overwhelming. Canadians have made it clear – they will not allow themselves to be figuratively handcuffed. Frankly, I’ve never seen a political backlash remotely like it. The typically mild mannered and polite Canadian is angry, disgusted, and hell-bent on ensuring this abomination of a legislative bill – never sees the light of day.

Still, until Harper and his gang of throwbacks to the Cro-Magnon era, are thrown out on their asses in the next general election, you might consider adding an anonymous surfing application to your toolbox.

The use of anonymous surfing applications is not restricted to breaking through obstructive Internet barriers of course. There are more obvious reasons, you may have for anonymous surfing, including – surfing in internet cafes, public terminals in libraries, or hotel business centers.

In fact, you may want to surf anonymously on any PC where you don’t want to leave traces of your private surfing activities to ensure protection from snooping web sites, annoying advertisers, employers, rogue police services, or curious family members.

One of the most popular anonymous surfing applications  (with good reason), is TOR – a VPN (a virtual private network) that encrypts via an SSH tunnel, in order to safeguard your Internet connection and, protect your anonymity properly.

In this post I won’t review Tor, since I’ve done so a number of times previously. Instead I’ll direct you to the following.

From the site:

What is Tor?

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.

Tor works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.

Overview 

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor’s hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they’re in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they’re working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members’ online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers.

Tor is suitable for installation on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, Unix, and Android.

For more information and download, visit the Tor Home Page.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – February 19, 2012

How Do I See Who’s Been Using My PC? – Can everyone in your home or office log on to your PC as you? If so, that’s the first thing you need to fix. After all, seeing who’s using your PC isn’t as important as controlling who has access.

Ready or not, here comes mobile on the desktop – Windows and Mac plan tighter integration between mobile devices and desktops. If you’ve been waiting for desktops to get more mobile, your wait is almost over.

How Google Plans to Take Over Your Living Room – Aple’s unbridled success has made it fashionable for high-tech giants to develop and nurture a whole ecosystem that builds hardware and software and controls the supply chain. Now Google wants to get into the game with a whole ecosystem for the living room, and it’s looking to Apple for inspiration. Here’s what Google has in mind.

How to use tabbed browsing in Windows Explorer – Tabs have shaken up Web browsing in a good way, but they haven’t quite migrated into file management yet, though it seems like a no-brainer.

Open Linux-Based Spark Tablet Now Available For Preorder – Getting sick of walled gardens, locked bootloaders and over-managed app stores? (We’re looking at you, Amazon.) We’ve got some good news. A few weeks back we shined a spotlight on the Spark tablet, a Linux-based open source tablet being cobbled together by KDE developer Aaron Seigo. Yesterday, it went up for preorder. Time to whip out those credit cards, Linux lovers! Oh, wait, never mind — the site doesn’t force you to whip out the plastic to land a spot in line for a Spark.

Shylock Malware Returns, Refreshed – A security firm warns of a new variant of the malware that evades easy detection by shifting its file signature while it targets financial institutions.

High-tech bad parenting: Giving your kids a tablet February – Better living (or parenting) through technology? That is the question posed by Nielsen in a recent study. The results might (or might not) shock you.

Apple’s Mac OS X ‘Mountain Lion,’ Windows 8 Poised for Fight – Apple’s Mac OS X “Mountain Lion” will do battle against Windows 8, with both operating systems betting big on their respective mobile features.

Company News:

App Store Nears 25 Billion Downloads – Apple is offering a $10,000 Gift Card to the person who downloads the 25 billionth app from the iOS App Store.

AMD’s New Direction For 2012: Heterogenous Computing, Trinity, and Hondo – Despite major layoffs last year, AMD is stepping forward with an impressive portfolio of initiatives and products for the next few years. Perhaps the most exciting initiative is the company’s Heterogeneous System Architecture plan.

Apple Factories in China Open Doors amid Concerns About Worker Conditions – ABC’s Nightline is scheduled to air a report with a rare behind-the-scenes look inside the factories, which have drawn customer inquiries and protests.

Apple asks bankruptcy court for OK to sue Kodak for infringement – The iPhone maker is seeking permission from the court because it also plans to file a patent infringement complaint against Kodak with the International Trade Commission, as well as a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Manhattan.

Webopedia Daily:

Cloud computing – In cloud computing, the word “cloud” (also phrased as “the cloud”) is used as a metaphor for “the Internet,” so the phrase cloud computing is used to mean a type of Internet-based computing, where different services — such as servers, storage and applications — are delivered to an organization’s computers and devices through the Internet.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Twins put universe in perspective via interactive display – Two California teens are allowing people to see many items in the universe from a whole new perspective. Cary Huang, 14, and his twin brother Michael have created an online interactive display that shows the scale of many things and shows how they relate to each other. Called “Scale of the Universe”, it shows items as small as a neutrino to items as big as Eridanus Supervoid and hundreds of other things in between such as Earth, the Titanic, humans and a basketball.

Gaming’s 15 Funniest, Most Unfair, and Memorable Exploits – Sometimes, they break games in your favor, allowing you access to powers, abilities, and cheap ways to accomplish difficult tasks that a game’s developers didn’t intend for you to have (and a game’s testers somehow overlooked). But these exploits can sometimes turn the tables against your peaceful adventures – especially in massively multiplayer games like World of Warcraft or EVE Online, where game-breaking bugs can give your peers untold advantage over your hapless, plays-by-the-rules self. And then there are the exploits that are just downright funny.

Student Facebook hacker gets eight months – A software development student in the U.K. who hacked into Facebook via an employee’s account is jailed after being found guilty of stealing intellectual property.

Google and Apple Make Mobile Privacy an Oxymoron – Google and Apple talk up security, but recent disclosures serve as a painful reminder of how much control mobile phone users give up when they power on their handsets.

Today’s Quote:

“I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

-   Will Rogers

Today’s Free Downloads:

Scribus – Scribus is an open-source program that brings professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows. Scribus supports professional features, such as CMYK color, spot color, separations, ICC color and robust commercial grade PDF.

CheckDiskGUI 1.1.3 – The CheckDiskGUI application was developed to be a Graphical User Interface for the commandline utility CHKDSK. It can display the file system integrity status of hard disks and floppy disk and can fix logical file system errors.

iCopy – Free Photocopier – iCopy lets you combine your scanner and printer into a powerful, but easy to use photocopier by only pressing a button. Its simple user interface lets you manage scanner and printer options with a few clicks.

Point Your Mouse In the Right Direction – Automatically

While watching a friend fill-in a Web Form recently, I was a little curious as to why she didn’t “Tab” down, from field to field – rather than using her mouse to move. So, quite naturally, I pointed out that using the “Tab” key was much more efficient for the task – only to be rewarded with a blank look, followed by a “huh?”

After a 30 second explanation, it came out that in the 10+ years she’s been a computer user, she was unaware of this shortcut. Yes, I know, you’re shaking your head and thinking – but, everyone knows that. Maybe everyone you know does – but, I can assure you there is a surprising lack of shortcut knowledge in the “tech savvy” generation. Particularly, when it comes to shortcuts that can help make a repetitive task flow a little smoother.

Here’s an example of a repetitive task which I perform every day, while setting up the Tech Thoughts Daily Net News column – made much easier than it might otherwise be, simply by setting the Mouse pointer to automatically select the “Insert”button in the “Insert Hyperlink” dialogue box.

First – I select the address I want to link with.

Second – I copy the link.

Third – I select the text I want to link with.

Fourth – I open the Hyperlink dialogue box.

Fifth – as you can see, the web address has been inserted automatically and the “Insert” button, has been automatically selected.

Performing this same task, 30 or more times, while building a column, can be mind-numbing in its repetitiveness. So, I rely heavily on this auto feature. And, I’ll tell you frankly – I don’t bother looking to ensure  all is well – I don’t even look at the dialogue box – I simply click the Mouse button.

This feature works in most (but not all) dialogue boxes and, if you should decide that you could benefit by selecting this option – here’s how to do it.

Open “Mouse Properties” and select – “Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialogue box”.

Pretty simple.