Archive for September, 2010
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
There appears to be a new email circulating with the subject line of LinkedIn new messages, and LinkedIn Alert. These look like they are coming from LinkedIn Communication.
The body of the email looks legitimate as it has a privacy policy link at the bottom along with copyright information. The colors are also correct.
As with other similar types of attacks, the perpetrator is attempting to get the recipient to click on one of the links embedded in the email. Proper protocol states you should never click on a link in a email unless you have absolutely no doubts whatsoever, as to the legitimacy of the email.
If you receive an email from LinkedIn indicating you have pending messages, the best thing to do is log into your LinkedIn account and check.
Incoming search terms:
- linkedin spoof email
- linkedin messages
Tags: Cisco Systems, email, LinkedIn, malware, Security, Shareware, Web browser, Windows
Posted in Security | No Comments »
Monday, September 27th, 2010
This past week two hackers were convicted of defacing Comcast’s website in May of 2008.
Their methods were fairly simple, as they used social engineering to get a Comcast employee to give them user and password information to Comcast’s DNS account. Once the hackers logged into Network Solutions (the company hosting the DNS entries), they just pointed the DNS record to their own website.
Whether someone actually gains access to a website or redirects visitors to a different site, the result to the business is the same; lost revenue.
What procedures does your company have in place which could prevent this type of security breach from happening? Who has access to your DNS account information? Are you using a strong password? Have you made any employee changes which require a new password?
Answering these questions now could prevent a major incident in the future.
Tags: Comcast, DNS, Domain Name System, Network Solutions, Protocols, Security, Social engineering (security), Website
Posted in Security, Web | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Well, once again we are faced with a new critical vulnerability from Adobe Flash player. This one is for version 10.1.82.76 and earlier, running on Window, Apple’s Macintosh, Linux, Google’s Android and Solaris.
If exploited, the vulnerability crashes the computer, thus opening it up for an attacker to control the computer. While there have been reports of this exploit in the wild, Adobe states they are not aware of any attacks from this vulnerability at this time.
At the current time there is no fix for this, as Adobe is working on a patch. Your best solution is to use Mozilla Firefox with scripts disabled, blocking Adobe’s Flash player.
Tags: Adobe Flash, Adobe Systems, Apple, critical, Google, Linux, Mozilla Firefox, Solaris (operating system)
Posted in Security, Web | No Comments »
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Yesterday, many companies found their computers coming to a halt as a result of a computer virus which was circulating the Internet. The virus was called “here you have”, because of the subject line, is a Trojan-Horse which arrives in an email. As with many viruses of this sort, the major problems come as a result of a user clicking on the link, which then infects the computer.
One of the many benefits to having a system like our hosted email system in place, is that the internal network does not take a traffic hit. This is because the email server resides outside the local network. Our spam filtering and the initial phase of our virus scanning also takes place outside the network.
While there is no sure way to be safe on the Internet, aside from abstaining, our clients did not face the same issues as that of CBS, Disney, AIG, NASA, and many others.
Incoming search terms:
- yesterdays internet virus
Tags: Computer virus, E-mail, E-mail filtering, Google, here you have, Message transfer agent, NASA, Spam, spam filtering, Trojan horse (computing), Walt Disney Company
Posted in Security, Technology, email | No Comments »
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Last month I had the opportunity to put in some track time at the Monticello Motor Club. In one of the driver sessions the instructor asked everyone what they should do if the go into a skid. Having been fortunate to have taken similar training sessions, I was familiar with the answer. Look where you are going.
Almost every time I turn on the news, the economic forecast is not good. This educed thoughts of my driver meeting mentioned above. While not everyone will spend time on a race track, I believe this information is invaluable to all. We need to look where we want to go.
If our thoughts are of how poorly the economy is doing, that is where our intention and energy will seek to go. If however, we direct our attention to where we want our lives to go, we have a much better chance of obtaining that. Not that there won’t be bumps in the road, because there will be. And we will also need to make corrections along the way, but if we keep our awareness on our ultimate destination, we will have a much better probability of getting there.
Each of us needs take action in our own lives. We can’t control the other drivers and we can’t control the economy. We can however control our own cars, and at least for the time being, our own lives.
Tags: acheivement, Auto racing, Automobile, Device Drivers, focus, goal setting, goals, life, Monticello Motor Club, Motorsport, Race track, Road, Sports
Posted in Life Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
First there was the smartphone operating system battle between the Palm OS and Windows Mobile. Then Research in Motion (RIM) stepped up their effort. Next in the progression was Apple with their iOS, and then Google’s Android.
Recent numbers from Quantcast showing that Apple and their iOS hold a 56% market share for mobile operating systems being used for browsing the Internet. Google’s Android however is quickly making inroads as it now holds 25% of the market. RIM is left in the dust with 9%, while other mobile operating system account for 10% of mobile browsing.
Since last year, iOS has dropped off by 11% and RIM by 10%, while Android has increased by 17%. During that same timeframe mobile browsing of the Internet has increased by 110%.
Tags: Android, Apple, Google, ios, Mobile operating system, Palm OS, Research In Motion, Windows Mobile
Posted in Smartphones, Technology | No Comments »
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Apple just introduced a new and improved iPod Touch. Some of the new features such as the better display and front facing camera are nice additions. Not having a camera on the latest version of the prior iPod seems like a complete miss though. How can a company which so many people are drawn to for their technological advancements, take years to come out with a fully developed product?
It seems like this is Apple’s modus operandi though. The iPhone had issues so Apple introduced a new version called the iPhone 3G. Not enough memory initially, no problem, bring out a new and improved version with the amount of memory the original product should have come with.
The new iPhone 4 has had issues with being uses as of all things a phone. The temporary solution was for Apple to provide a temporary program, giving people cases, which resolves the issue. Maybe the iPhone 4 4G will have a bumper case built in.
A client dropped off one of their iPad’s because they need it to print, which it doesn’t. Who could have imagined that anyone would want to print something? Certainly not Apple! Not to worry though because the new iPad 4G might be able to print.
Which leads me to the question; is it Appleade for the user or for Apple?
Incoming search terms:
Tags: Apple, Handhelds, ios, iPhone, iPhone 4, IPod, ipodtouch, Smartphones
Posted in Smartphones, Technology | No Comments »
