Spam Words That Motivate and Engage Your Subconscious

Words, in good advertising, pack a punch. Power words are meant to impact, to provide impetus for action,  and not surprisingly, to engage your subconscious.

Spam, at its core is a form of advertising; advertising that works. Symantec Hosted Services security experts have detected patterns in spam word usage, identifying the most commonly used words.

Mathew Nisbet, Malware Data Analyst, Symantec Hosted Services, has written an instructive article in which he outlines, how word use helps spammers achieve their objectives.

Reading this type of article is certainly educational, and can be a major step in expanding that sense of threat awareness that active Internet users’ require.

From the MessageLabs Intelligence Blog:

There is a huge variety in the types of spam that are sent all over the internet, but there are patterns to be found in the chaos.

One way to see patterns is to look at the words most commonly used in spam. If we take a random sample of global spam over a one week period, then there is quite a jumble of topics, but even through all the noise you can see certain words still stand out, as illustrated here (the larger a word, the more often it occurs):

As you can see, the popular words are fairly generic but all seem to be geared towards encouraging an immediate reaction, trying to get some sense of urgency. This is further indicated by the fact that 5 of the top 6 words have an exclamation mark. Spammers like to create a sense of urgency in their messages, as the less time someone spends thinking about it, the less likely they are to realize it is in fact a scam of some type.

Individual botnets have different profiles from general spam though, they tend to have more restricted sets of words used…..

To continue reading this article go here.

Symantec’s MessageLabs Intelligence is a respected source of data and analysis for messaging security issues, trends and statistics. MessageLabs Intelligence provides a range of information on global security threats based on live data feeds from their control towers around the world, scanning billions of messages each week.

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Download IObit Smart Defrag – Defragging the Smart Way

Some Techs insist, that a fragmented Hard Drive is the primary cause of system slowdown. I think the system slowdown issue is far more complex.

In a real sense, it is difficult to measure an increase in system performance following Hard Drive defragmentation. Nevertheless, I do agree, that defragging is a positive maintenance process, and should be done regularly.

A  quick recap on disk fragmentation: What is it?

Creating and deleting files and folders, installing new software, and downloading files from the Internet, will cause a Hard Drive to become fragmented. When you delete files or folders, the first available empty spaces on the Hard Drive are filled in randomly when you create new files and folders, as you do when you save pics from your camera, install software, save emails, or create documents.

To keep fragmentation to a minimum, my Hard Drives are continuously being defragged. I run the paid version of TuneUp Utilities 2010 in the background, which continuously optimizes, amongst other things, my computer’s hardware, including automatic disk defragging.

The latest release (January 07, 2010 ), of the award winning free system tool, IObit Smart Defrag , can also run on this type of “set and forget” basis. I occasionally hear from users that they can’t remember the last time they defragged their disk/s – they’ll get to it – eventually. But, they don’t have to – IObit Smart Defrag, can do this for them on a continuous basis.

The 8 million plus downloads of this application from CNET, and an average user rating of 4 Stars, speaks to the value of this small application, and to the popularity of defragging.

IObit Smart Defrag is extremely easy to use, fast and efficient, and best of all, it’s free. The user interface is uncluttered and as simple to follow as any I’ve seen.

The following screen captures illustrate, just how easy it is to get IObit Smart Defrag up and running.

Fast facts:

Extremely Easy to Use

Its intuitive interface makes Smart Defrag the ideal utility for computer novices.

Exceptionally Efficient Defragmentation

Smart Defrag has the world’s fastest defragmenting engine. It’s been specially designed for modern, large hard drives.

Smart Defrag doesn’t just use simple defragmentation. It also streamlines your file system, places the frequently used files and directories into the fastest area of the disk, enabling your computer to run at top speed with the most stability.

Always-on – Smart Defrag works automatically and quietly in the background, so it continually and constantly keeps your computer fragment-free.

Smart Defrag has a “Safe Intelligence” technology that can assure the health of your disk by deciding when, and how, to execute defragmentation.

Free for  personal, business, and enterprise servers.

Languages: English, Danish, German, Finnish, Dutch, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Serbian, Turkish, Russian, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Czech, 简体中文, and more.

System requirements: Windows 7, 2003, Me, 98, 2000, Vista, NT, XP, Server 2008 ((32-bit and 64-bit).

Download at: Download.com

Note: Before you begin a scheduled defrag process I recommend that you run a program such as CCleaner, which will empty your Recycle Bin, Temporary Internet Files folder, and other locations, where clutter tends to accumulate on your PC.

As well, you should consider uninstalling any applications you no longer use. Revo Uninstaller is a free utility that will uninstall unneeded applications more thoroughly than the Windows native uninstaller.

These steps are not absolutely necessary but, they are a good practice.

A big “Thank You”, to regular reader RoseD1st, who brought this application to my attention.

IObit offers a whole whack of free applications including Advanced SystemCare Free, Smart Defrag, Game Booster, Advanced Uninstaller, Security 360 Free, Random Password Generator and Manager , and of course, Smart Defrag.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – March 18, 2010

Take a closer look at ReadyBoost features in Windows 7 – ReadyBoost is a still a part of the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, so Greg Shultz examines its features in more detail.

MySpace User Data For Sale – Social networking just became a little riskier to your privacy. Information from MySpace is now for sale to third parties ranging from academics and analysts to marketers.

Google’s Game Changing Chrome Translator – After years of lackluster translation services from various companies, Google is finally doing things right.

A Very Cool Web App to Search for Flickr Photos – Tag Galaxy is an Adobe Flash based (3D) – 3 Dimensional web site that allows you search Flickr (online photo management and sharing website) for graphic content.

This Reader Question Is A Doozie – Average Joe Asks, “What are the basics we should employ?”

Twitter Becomes More Proactive About Phishing – Twitter recently introduced its own anti-phishing service designed to protect its users from these types of attacks.

Hacker Disables Over 100 Cars Remotely – More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control earlier this month, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments.

FBI, Feds collect Facebook, social media data: Why are you surprised? – The biggest surprise: Social networking users are surprised by any of this government activity.

Zeus Trojan Now Has Hardware Licensing Scheme – The authors of the Zeus bot client, perhaps the most popular and pervasive piece of malware of its kind right now, have taken an extraordinary step to protect their creation: inserting a hardware-based licensing scheme into the Trojan.

Microsoft Virtual PC Flaw Lets Hackers Bypass Windows Defenses – An exploit writer at Core Security Technologies has discovered a serious vulnerability that exposes users of Microsoft’s Virtual PC virtualization software to malicious hacker attacks.

Chatroulette Is 89% Male, 47% American, And 13% Perverts – Among the highlights: 1) You are more likely to encounter a webcam featuring no person at all than one featuring a solo female and 2) 1 in 8 spins yield something R-rated (or worse).

Off Topic:

10 reasons why your boss tunes you out – Your boss may have a good reason for ignoring your input — and it may have nothing to do with you. BNET’s Steve Tobak pinpoints some of the reasons why you might sometimes get snubbed.

You May want to try This: Roasted Laptop – A few weeks ago I was chatting with a co-worker about his broken Playstation 3. He’d read threads online about how the fault he has may be a common one, where many online suggest slamming the motherboard in the oven for a bit to ‘reflow’ the solder. Many reports online say this works… (submitted by Dar).

Cogs and Ink: Steampunk Tattoo Designs that Wow – From the simplest clockwork and gears, to complex depictions of Victorian era mecha, steampunk tattoos run the gamut from pretty decorations to mobile masterpieces. Here are 9 of the most intricate and gorgeous examples of steampunk style body art. (submitted by Dar).

Today’s Quote:

“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”

–      Mitchell Kapor

Today’s Free Downloads:

Rizone Security Restore Rolls Your Security Settings Back to Defaults – Get your PC’s security settings back to basics with freebie Rizone Security Restore.

Windows Movie Maker – With Movie Maker 2, you can create, edit, and share your home movies. You create movies with drag-and-drop commands, and you can edit your footage so you highlight only the best scenes. Then you can share your movie via the Web, e-mail, or CD; you can also save your movie back to the video tape in your camera to play back on a TV or on the camera itself.

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Download EULAlyzer – Let it Read the EULA for You

I’ve always considered that reading a Eula (End User License Agreement), as akin to reading the phone book; and who reads a phone book?

Without a doubt, I get pretty bored when reading EULA text; especially since I’m forced to read reams of small text, in a small window, which requires me to scroll continuously. I suspect, I’m not alone in this, and that most people just skim over the text; or don’t bother reading the EULA at all.

However, there’s a downside risk in not reading the EULA carefully. By not reading the EULA carefully, we may let ourselves in for some unwelcome, annoying, and potentially dangerous surprises.

One of the most important aspects of any software license agreement is, the information it provides concerning the intentions of the software, and whether there are additional components bundled with the main application.

Additional components that could potentially display pop-up ads, transmit personal identifiable information back to the developer, or use unique tracking identifiers.

Not all software applications contain these additional components of course, but you need to be aware of those that do when you are considering installing an application.

Software developers who choose to employ these tools, to gather information, are generally not underhanded, and in most cases there is full disclosure of their intent contained in the EULA – the end user license agreement. But here’s the rub – virtually no one reads EULAS.

If you are a Digsby user for example, and you haven’t read the EULA, then you are likely unaware that Digsby has the right to use YOUR computer for its OWN purposes.

EULAlyzer, a free application from Javacool Software, the SpywareBlaster developer, can make reading and analyzing license agreements, while not a pleasure, at least not as painful. This free application quickly scans a EULA, and points out words, statements, and phrases that you need to consider carefully.

Working similar to an anti-spyware program, EULAlyzer flags suspicious wording on a scale of 1 to 10, based on how critical the disclosed information can be to your security, or privacy.

If you, like me, download freeware frequently, then you need to read the software license agreement carefully. EULAlyzer will make it easier for you to focus on the important aspects of the agreement.

There is no doubt that we could all use a little help in working our way through these wordy, but necessary agreements. The reality is, all software EULAs should be read carefully.

Fast facts:

Discover potentially hidden behavior about the software you’re going to install.

Pick up on things you missed when reading license agreements.

Keep a saved database of the license agreements you view.

Instant results – super-fast analysis in just a second.

Knowledge is Power EULAlyzer makes it simple to instantly identify highly interesting and important parts of license agreements, privacy policies, and other similar documents, including language that deals with:

Advertising

Tracking

Data Collection

Privacy-Related Concerns

Installation of Third-Party or Additional Software

Inclusion of External Agreements By Reference

Potentially Suspicious Clauses

and much more…

Results are rated by “Interest Level” and organized by category, so it’s easy to zero-in on the facets that concern you the most.

System requirements: Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Win 7 ( x64 compatible).

Download at: Download.com

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – March 17, 2010

21 Free Utilities to Customize and Upgrade Windows – Get Windows 7 features in Vista or XP, give your desktop 3D capability, or tweak your OS with these free tools and services.

Take control of the Windows XP pagefile – The pagefile extends the capabilities of your computer’s memory. Like any other file on a PC, though, the pagefile can become fragmented and hinder the computer’s performance. Here are a few techniques you can use to better manage this beast.

A Really Nice Text to Speech Application – SpeechPlayer Free Edition is a player that will read screen text aloud to you; whether it be a webpage, an email, a blog post, a school paper, etc. You simply highlight the text you want read and copy it to the clipboard. SpeechPlayer will detect this action, and will automatically begin reading the text back to you.

Facebook Beats Google For Web’s Most-Visited Site – It’s official — playing Farmville and tagging friends in photos (and consequently untagging embarrassing photos of yourself from your friends’ photos) has become more popular than actually trying to find things on the internet.

Your Next Facebook ‘Friend’ Could be a Federal Agent – Here’s yet another reason to be careful of what you share on Facebook – the Feds could be checking you out.

Favorite Windows 7 Features – Use Aero Snap to manage files easily, learn how to use Sticky Notes, and control iTunes from the taskbar.

Should I Create a Program Partition? – A lot of people think so. Indeed, some people go wild, with separate partitions for documents, photos, music, and programs.

Get Mac-Like Scrolling and Gestures on a Windows Laptop – Once you’ve used the hand-helping, time-saving, two-finger scrolling and three-finger gestures on a MacBook, a standard Windows trackpad can feel kind of, well, dead. Here’s how to get total finger control with a tiny app, or go further with a driver swap.

CNET: Get a Windows 7 netbook for $249.99 shipped – These days I have a few criteria for recommending a Netbook: a price tag of under $250, an operating system that’s not 8 years old, and a six-cell (or better) battery. The refurbished HP Mini 110-1134CL (on sale from J&R for $249.99 shipped) meets all those requirements. It’s not a speed demon, but, hey, what Netbook is?

Use QuickProxy for a simple proxy switch in Firefox – Switching proxy functionality on and off in Firefox can be something of a chore using the default menu interface. The QuickProxy extension eliminates the need to jump through several hoops to get to the goal.

Off Topic:

US govt ‘plotted to bring down Wikileaks’ – Documents that appear to outline the US government’s plans to take Wikileaks offline have been uncovered by the whistle-blowing website itself. Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has been accused by the US government of putting the lives of American servicemen and women at risk.

Ford Police Interceptor, intercepting crime and emissions – If you’re highly trained at spotting a parked Crown Vic while approaching at 70-plus miles per hour, you may want adjust your speeding strategy by staring at this photo: Hint: it resembles a Taurus.

Loud sex enough for cops to search your home, court rules – Man jailed for 10 years on marijuana charges after cops respond to call of “screams” at his home — the screams were loud sex.

An Engineers Perspective of Little Red Riding Hood – You’ve never seen Little Red Riding Hood quite like this – a brilliant animation. (submitted by Dar).

Today’s Quote:

“What you are will show in what you do.”

–       Thomas A. Edison

Today’s Free Downloads:

GreenPrint World – Looking to cut down your printer ink and paper consumption? GreenPrint World removes unnecessary pages, such as those with no text. It also lets you remove images or text, or to delete whole pages, before printing. It also create PDFs.

Google SketchUp – This sketch-based 3D-modeling program offers a suite of powerful drawing tools that add an intuitiveness many design programs fail to achieve.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Download Free Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home

If you read yesterday’s principal post (Download Shadow Defender – Virtualized Intrusion Prevention), you’ll remember we discussed operating system virtualization. Specifically, controlling malware intrusion through the use of a ‘”virtual” environment, rather than operating in a “real” environment.

Shadow Defender, the virtual environment application we focused on is, by no means, the only solution designed to create a virtual environment, as a number of readers pointed out.

The alternative application most mentioned by readers (all of whom are frequent commenter’s, and high level users), was Returnil Virtual System. I’m not surprised; I’ve tested this application in the past and use it on one of my test platforms. I’ve long considered Returnil a worthwhile addition.

There are a number of differences between Shadow Defender and Returnil Virtual System:

Returnil Virtual System is a FREE application.

Returnil Virtual System creates the virtual disk in memory (RAM), rather than on the Hard Disk (there may be a speed advantage to this method).

Returnil Virtual System incorporates an anti-virus. This seems to me to be overkill.

Shadow Defender allows system changes to be permanently saved to disk. Using Returnil Virtual System, you must first create a virtual disk.

Similarities:

Both provide an intrusion prevention system that is non-intrusive, prevents damage from intrusions, and malicious software: viruses, worms, spyware, key loggers, etc., and after initial setup, requires a minimum of user intervention.

From the developer’s site:

Returnil Virtual System’s protection concept is very easy to understand. It provides an impenetrable, yet extremely simple to use mechanism to prevent unwanted or malicious changes from being made to your supported Windows Operating System and the drive where Windows is installed.

You operate a copy of your system in a virtual environment, so anything you do will happen in the virtual environment, to the copy, and not to the real operating system.

If your computer is attacked or gets infected with malware, all you need to do is simply restart your PC to erase all changes induced by it. Once restarted, the working-copy of your system is renewed, enabling you to go on working as if nothing ever happened.

At the same time, Returnil Virtual System can create a virtual storage disk for you; the purpose of this storage space is to provide a place for you to save your data when the System Safe (Virtual System) mode is turned ON. You can customize the size of this disk to meet your individual requirements.

When the System Safe (Virtual System) protection is OFF, you can install or remove programs, save documents within the Windows disk drive, install security upgrades and software patches, alter configurations, and update user accounts. All changes made will remain following a restart of the computer.

Both applications incorporate a simple, easy to understand, “follow the bouncing ball” user interface as the following Returnil Virtual System screen captures illustrate.

Fast facts:

Keeps your system safe when connected to the Internet

Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Adware, Spyware, Keyloggers, Rootkits and unwanted content disappear with a simple reboot

Enforces settings and protects your Internet privacy

Helps reduce overall disk wear by copying and operating your system from memory rather than the hard disk

Saves time and money by considerably speeding up the system

Reduces or eliminates the need for routine disk de-fragmentation

Leaves absolutely no traces of computer activities

Eliminates the dangers of evaluating new software

Seamless integration with supported Windows Operating Systems

Easy to use, simple to configure, and the one tool in your arsenal that will be there to save the day when all else fails

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Server 2008, Win 7 (32-bit/64-bit all)

Supported Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Czech, Finnish, Portuguese.

Download at: Returnil

A number of readers made mention of Comodo Time Machine, a worthwhile free system restore utility. Popular guest author, Rick Robinette, has a very informative article over on his site, What’s On My PC – Comodo Time Machine – A Powerful System Restore Utility. I encourage you to read this article.

As well, Tech Paul (one of my daily reads), has just posted an article, Time Travel Fights Infection, in which he discusses the concept of virtualization. I encourage you to read this article to get another view on this technology.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – March 16, 2010

GoldMail Free Lets You Narrate and E-Mail Slideshows – GoldMail Free is a useful program and Web service (the two are inextricably linked) which allows you to create, and then share, slideshow-style messages complete with voice-over. Creating, posting, and sharing messages is easy, surprisingly so, and there are many situations in which creating messages this way can add a great deal of impact to whatever it is you’re trying to say.

Lifehacker: Phonebooth a Strong Alternative to Google Voice – Phonebooth is a great alternative that gives you a dedicated phone number, free minutes, and more. The free version of Phonebooth also comes with 200 minutes of free inbound calling and a contact widget for your web site. The free service will also transcribe up to 50 voicemails to email or text, along with an audio file so you have a permanent record of the call.

A new FaceBook phish – When it comes to social networking threats, when it rains, it pours. A new Facebook phish could lure in even the most sophisticated of computer users.

7 Common Targets of Stealth Threats – There’s the danger you know, and then there’s the danger you don’t know. With each passing year, new security threats march in to eclipse the old — many of them not getting their share of attention until it’s too late.

Scareware: Most Costly Security Scam of 2010 – Even the savviest of computer users fall victim to online threats because cybercriminals have become so sophisticated.

Backup Diligence Depends on Where You Live – Europeans differ in their approach to PC backup, a new survey has found. The Germans do it efficiently, the French with enthusiasm, while the British sometimes have trouble taking it seriously at all.

Computing is moving into the clouds with U.S. or without U.S. – Sure, clouds can be attacked, but clouds have professionals protecting them. It’s an army of bad guys against an army of good guys. I’m just one guy.

Microsoft Issues Fix-It Workaround for IE Zero-Day – Microsoft has released a one-click “fix-it” workaround to help Internet Explorer users block malware attacks against an unpatched browser vulnerability. The Fix-It workaround, available here, effectively disables peer factory in the iepeers.dll binary in affected versions of Internet Explorer.

Off Topic:

The Microsoft Internet Driving License – Microsoft’s Craig Mundie is building on his legacy of advocating terrible “security” policy. This time, he has picked up the Internet Driving License bug.

Forget flying in a jet pack, try this hovercraft (video) – After 13 years and 800 hours, New Zealander Ruby Heeman has finally built a winged hovercraft.

Bathroom Tech: From Strange to Ridiculous – With these 15 lavatory luxuries, going to the bathroom will never be the same!

Infographic: This is why you’re fat, America – According to this chart of inflation-adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of food we generally deem “unhealthy” — soda, butter and beer have seen double-digit percentage price decreases as fish, vegetables and fruit have seen drastic increases.

Today’s Quote:

“The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps”.

–     Benjamin Disraeli

Today’s Free Downloads:

Vista Start Menu Juice up the Windows Vista Start menu and make it more useful – The Windows Start menu is a mildly useful tool for running programs and accomplishing other tasks. But what if you want something more than merely a mildly useful tool? Then get this program, which despite its name works with both Vista and XP.

CNET TechTracker – CNET TechTracker app is a free application that helps keep your installed software up-to-date by scanning your computer and alerting you when updates are available.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Download Shadow Defender – Virtualized Intrusion Prevention

Shadow Defender is an intrusion prevention system that is non-intrusive, and after initial setup, requires a minimum of user intervention – perfect for the average user.

Simply put, Shadow Defender, when active, creates a virtual environment on your computer by redirecting all changes to your system to an unused location on your Hard Drive. At, or before shut down, these system changes can be permanently saved to disk, or completely discarded.

Virtualization can be analogous to – “now you see me; now you don’t”, or “you think you can see me, but I’m not really here”. By handling security in this way, Shadow Defender prevents damage from intrusions, and malicious software: viruses, worms, spyware, key loggers, etc.

A case in point:

While surfing the Net, an inexperienced user mistakenly accepts an invitation to install a scareware application but realizes, after the fact, that this is a scam. Operating in a “real” environment, the damage, unfortunately, would already have been done.

Operating in a “virtual” environment with Shadow Defender active; operating in Shadow Mode, the system changes made by this parasite could be completely discarded, since the attack occurred in the, “I’m not really here” environment .

A system reboot would restore the system to the original state, as if the attack had not occurred.

So what’s Shadow Mode?

Shadow Defender clones an independent system platform with the same configuration, and functions,  as the existing system. The important difference between “normal mode”, and the shadow mode is: everything in Shadow Mode, including the file/s you downloaded, the document/s you created, or the settings that you changed, will disappear when you exit Shadow Mode.

The user interface is “follow the bouncing ball” simple as the following screen captures illustrate.

Since I’m not a fan of application auto start, I configured this application to start on an on demand basis – only at Browser launch.

At the following screen, I set the application to protect both partitions on my Hard Drive. Simple.

If a user choose to run Shadow Defender on a continuous basis, an option is available to exclude specific files and folders. Remember, since all downloaded files, all created documents, and all system changes will disappear when the user exits Shadow Mode, unless excluded, this is a critical option.

The administration screen allows the user to fine tune the application to their specific needs including allowing/disallowing auto start at boot.

Fast facts:

Prevent all viruses and malware.

Surf the internet safely and eliminate unwanted traces.

Protect your privacy.

Eliminate system downtime and maintenance costs.

Reboot to restore your system back to its original state.

Maintain a system free from malicious activity and unwanted changes.

Test software and game installations in a safe environment.

Protect against unwanted changes by shared users (suitable for workplaces and educational institutions).

During a quick test, I downloaded application files, video files, moved files between partitions, wrote and saved test documents, and made minor system changes with Shadow Defender active. On reboot, no changes were evident.

System requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit).

This application is not freeware but you may download a 30 day trial version at: Shadow Defender

Purchase Price $35.00

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – March 15, 2010

Top Free Troubleshooting Tools for Windows – These seven handy tools help you diagnose and cure a wide range of Windows ills, and they’re all free for the downloading.

Network Activity Indicator Lives Up to Its Name on Windows 7 PCs – This nifty utility does more than that, though. Hover your mouse over it and you’ll see the number of packets you’ve sent and received. Right-click it to get network statistics that only a techie could love, such as your active open connections, errors received, minimum timeout, and far more.

Hackers Not Playing Games With Gaming Sites – Internet gaming companies can be damaged by cyber attacks in a broader variety of ways than other companies.

StreamTransport Grabs Hulu Videos for Offline Viewing – It may not stick around that long once the powers that be find out, so if downloading and watching Hulu videos offline could help you out, grab StreamTransport. The tricky little app provides full-quality captures of streaming shows and movies.

How To Disable Microsoft SpyNet In Windows 7 – The program is automatically running after installation of the operating system. Users can configure the option to send data to Microsoft during Windows 7 installation in the “Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically” screen. The default option is to use recommended settings which will enable Microsoft SpyNet. (submitted by Dar).

TeamViewer’s iPhone App for Remote Access – TeamViewer has just launched a remote access application for the iPhone.

New Layout Tool Makes Google Blogger More Customizable – The Blogger Template Designer includes ready-to-use professional designs, pre-built templates that can be further modified, a color-adjustment control to tweak the blog’s color palette, stock photos for background use and an advanced interface for publishers who know HTML and CSS.

Apple Now Taking iPad Pre-Orders: Five Things To Consider – Apple is now taking pre-orders for the iPad; before forking over your money consider these five things.

Off Topic:

Pre and Post Earthquake 1905/6 San Francisco’s Market Street – In 1905, an unknown cameraman filmed a streetcar trip along San Francisco’s Market Street. The following year, the Great Earthquake struck, and he filmed the trip again. This is a five-minute silent film that edits together excerpts of his two films. Footage from the Prelinger Archives. (submitted by Dar).

From the Bubble to the Burst: A Look Back at 25 Years of Dot-Com – The following Websites represent some of the biggest successes, along with some of the most spectacular failures, of the past 25 years. For millions of users, some of these Websites will seem like old and long-gone friends; others continue to dominate the Internet to this day.

Tying light in knots – The remarkable feat of tying light in knots has been achieved by a team of physicists working at the universities of Bristol, Glasgow and Southampton, reports a paper in Nature Physics this week. (submitted by Dar).

Today’s Quote:

“When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package”.

–    John Ruskin

Today’s Free Downloads:

Bullzip PDF Printer – Occasionally a freebie surprises me with a feature or two I wasn’t expecting. In Bullzip PDF Printer’s case it was the ability to password-protect PDF files and even watermark them. Both features–as well as the basic PDF printing–worked perfectly.

VLC Media Player – VLC Media Player is a long-time open-source favorite, and the latest version is also the first to be out of beta development. It’s not the only option for free video playback, but it’s one of the best, and the feature updates in version 1 make it well worth the upgrade.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Nightmare Scareware – Be Prepared

Scareware, otherwise known as “rogue security software”, is the stuff of nightmares.

Scareware is a particularly vicious form of malware, designed specifically to convince the victim to pay for the “full” version of an application in order to remove what are, in fact, false positives that these program are designed to display on the infected computer in various ways; fake scan results, pop-ups and system tray notifications.

Delivery methods used by these parasites include Trojans, infected websites, misleading advertisements, and Internet Browser security holes. They can also be downloaded voluntarily, from rogue security software websites, and from “adult” websites. As one of my friends put it “It’s easy to be bitten by a dog like that”.

The average computer user that I speak with informally, has no idea that rogue applications exist. But they do, and cyber crooks are continuing to develop and distribute scareware at a furious pace; there are literally thousands of variants of this type of malware currently circulating on the Internet. It’s fair to say; distribution has now reached virtual epidemic proportions.

One of my Internet friends runs a specialized site, 411 Spyware , that deals specifically with malware removal advice, and virtually every day, she posts an article on a newly discovered scareware application.

Scareware is designed to continue to load on boot up, and will then generate its fake or false malware detection warnings. Even if the victim is tricked into paying for the “full” version, scareware will continue to run as a background process, incessantly reporting those fake or false malware detection warnings we talked about earlier. Over time, this type of software will essentially destroy the victim’s computer operating system, making the machine unusable.

While it’s true that reputable anti-spyware software is often capable of detecting rogue software if it attempts to install, this is not always the case. Anti-malware programs that rely on a definition database can frequently be behind the curve in recognizing the newest threats.

It’s all about the money:

So how much money is involved here? Lots – according to Panda Security, approximately 35 million computers are infected with scareware/rogueware each month (roughly 3.50 percent of all computers), and cybercriminals are earning more than $34 million monthly through scareware attacks.

At a personal level, I have heard some horrendous stories from readers where the common thread has been the debiting of their credit cards, multiple times, by the cyber-criminals responsible for the distribution of scareware.

What can you do to ensure you are protected, or to reduce the chances you will become a victim?

Consider the ramifications carefully before responding to a Windows Security Alert pop-up message. This is a favorite vehicle used by rogue security application to begin the process of infecting unwary users’ computers.

Be cautious in downloading freeware, or shareware programs. Spyware, including scareware, is occasionally concealed in these programs. Download freeware applications only through reputable web sites such as Download.com, or sites that you know to be safe.

Consider carefully the inherent risks attached to peer-to-peer (P2P), or file sharing applications, since exposure to rogue security applications is widespread.

Install an Internet Browser add-on that provides protection against questionable or unsafe websites. My personal favorite is WOT (Web of Trust), an Internet Explorer/FireFox add-on, that offers substantial protection against dangerous websites.

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