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| For clients and friends of Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. | December 2006 |
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SECURITY ALERT - SPAM is in the news. BOTS have infiltrated computer systems all over the world and are causing an onslaught of new SPAM. What can you do about it? Read on. . . NEWS - Some computer related news that may affect you or your company. SPYWARE RECOMMENDATIONS - What Anti Spyware programs do we recommend. GREAT NEW PRODUCTS - Mobile headset for noisy environments and a rollup keyboard! SERVICE INFORMATION - Need the services of a qualified computer professional? Read on. . . |
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SPAM SURGE LINKED TO HACKERS The recent surge in e-mail spam hawking penny stocks and penis enlargement pills is the handiwork of Russian hackers running a botnet powered by tens of thousands of hijacked computers. Internet security researchers and law enforcement authorities have traced the operation to a well--organized hacking gang controlling a 70,000-s-trong peer-to-peer botnet seeded with the SpamThru Trojan, which targets computers running Microsoft Windows. "With a botnet of this size, the group is theoretically capable of sending a billion spam e-mails in a single day." According to Joe Stewart, senior security researcher at SecureWorks, in Atlanta, the gang functions with a level of sophistication rarely seen in the hacking underworld. Read the complete article as it appeared in eWeek Magazine. Where did the term SPAM originate?From Oreilly's website: "Obviously, in the context of the Internet, spam doesn't refer to the tasty canned meat produced by Hormel Foods. How did it come to mean bulk messages? The genesis of this meaning can be found in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch in which a customer in a restaurant asks what's on the menu. The waitress tells him, "Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage, and bacon; egg and spam; egg, bacon, and spam; egg, bacon, sausage, spam; spam, bacon, sausage, and spam; spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon, and spam; spam, sausage, spam, spam, spam, bacon, spam, tomato, and spam; spam, spam, spam, egg, and spam" (and so on). Then a chorus of Vikings begins chanting "Spam, spam, spam, spam; lovely spam, wonderful spam." The first Internet use of the word originated in Internet chat rooms and on multiplayer Internet adventure games called MUDs (multiuser dungeons). According to Jennifer Smith, author of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for the rec.games.mud newsgroup hierarchy, a few delinquents would "say" the same message again and again in a chat room, filling the screen in the process, and other people would call these messages "spam." It was just like the song in the Monty Python skit--senseless repetition. From flooding someone's screen with repeated words to flooding someone's mailbox or a newsgroup with repeated messages seemed to be a natural extension of the concept." WHAT DOES THE SPAMTHRU TROJAN DO? The SpamThru Trojan relinquishes control of your computer to others. In turn your computer gets used for sending Spam to others including people on your personal mail systems ie. friends and workers are put at risk. All the work done by the trojan program on your computer slows down you computer and may even make it crash. All the mail sent by your system every day slows down your Internet Connection! DO YOU HAVE THE SPAMTHRU TROJAN? There are currently no stand alone anti SpamThru Trojan removers but we are sure it will not be long before there are. We will keep you posted once they are released. Because of the nature of the Trojan which blocks your anti Virus Software program from accessing its update site, it is possible that you may not find this Trojan even if you do a scan.
What you need to do.
1) Do Not use Kaspersky Anti Virus to do your scan as it may be the source of your problems. Please refer to the eWeeks article above.
2) Check your HOSTS file. If there are a bunch of links to Anti Virus Vendors pointing to IP 127.0.0.1 or some other non valid IP you are infected with a trojan or a virus.
3) Do a manual Update of your Anti Virus Software. If your Anti Virus software cannot update, there is a good chance your system is infected with a Trojan or other Virus. Please call your computer professional.
4) Do a FULL or COMPLETE scan using your current updated anti virus software.
5) Do a free on-line anti spyware scan using Spyware Doctor Anti Spyware:
Free SpyWare Doctor On-Line Scan
6) Do a free on-line anti virus scan using Symantecs On-Line service:
Symantec Free On-Line Virus Detection
7) If your anti virus software or any of the on-line programs find the SpamThru Trojan please call your computer professional. These utilities are currently not be able to completely remove the trojan and it may be activated again once you restart your computer.
Not sure about doing all this or having problems with your anti virus software or anti spyware software? Please call your computer professional or Cleroux.com Technologies. We can help.
Disclaimer: Always make sure you backup your DATA before attempting to install any new programs or running any utilities, specially if you suspect you have a Virus or Spyware!! If you have any doubts or require any help, please call your computer specialist. Attempt any suggestions or recommendations in this Newsletter at your own risk. |
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WINDOWS VISTA IS HERE! Microsoft announced the availability of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 for businesses on Nov. 30, an event company CEO Steve Ballmer said was the "biggest launch we've ever done." Microsoft's Windows Vista sports a new look, greater usability and much greater security. The retail version should be available to consumers early in the new year. (At this time Cleroux.com suggest NOT updating your computer to this new OS. For more information on why, please call.) APPLE RELEASES MAJOR NEW PATCH Apple Computer has shipped a monster security update to correct a total of 31 vulnerabilities in its Mac OS X operating system. MICROSOFT WINDOWS INTERNET EXPLORER 7.0 Microsoft has released MSIE 7.0 as part of its "critical updates". If you have automatic updates turned on you may have noticed that you Internet Explorer now looks completely different. You cannot un-install this update but your computer professional has access to a Microsoft Tool to revert you to the previous version if required. This new version is faster, includes TABS (very nice), and is more secure. Although it is different, once you get used to it it is excellent. NINTENDO Wii and SONY PLAYSTATION 3 RELEASED Both the companies have release their products just in time for Christmas. The Nintendo Wii is targeted at a younger audience and families whereas the PS3 is intended for teens and serious game players. Both these units are competing againsts Microsofts popular XBOX360 which was released last year. The 360 now boasts over 100 games while the Wii and PS3 are limited in games for now. The PS3 is very scarce and priced at $800 CDN. The PS3 was slated to be backward compatible but a recent announcement from the president of Nintendo stated previous games may not be compatible. |
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SECURITY SUITES There are numerous Security Suites out there including some from Symantec (Norton), McAfee (McAfee), ZoneLabs (ZoneAlarm) and others. These security suites try to provide you with complete system security often offering Anti Virus, Anti Spam, Anti Spyware and a System Firewall. Most of these suites are lacking in certain areas and many suites like Norton's Internet Security Suite 2006 can bog down your system to a crawl. None of the suites (or any security software for that matter) can fully protect you. We have tested several and from our hands on service of clients machines we have identified ZONEALARM INTERNET SECURITY SUITE as our preferred suite. But, even with this product installed you may have some Spyware Issues creeping in. This suite was recently given the "PC Magazine Editor's Choice" Award. FREE ANTI SPYWARE PROGRAMS There are many free anti spyware programs, the most common being:
Lavasoft's Ad-Aware
Personal Edition 1.06 (www.lavasoftusa.com) Our favorite here is LAVASOFT'S AD-AWARE PERSONAL EDITION 1.06. Microsoft's Windows Defender is still in Beta and we have seen some issue with it. We absolutely love EWIDO NETWORK'S FREE ON-LINE SCAN. It doe an excellent job and we use it as a secondary scan of home computers when we think there are on-going issues with a system. Because it is an on-line scan, it does not protect you at all times. COMMERCIAL ANTI SPYWARE PROGRAMS The top rated programs are WEBROOT SPY SWEEPER 5.0 (www.webroot.com), and PC TOOLS SPYWARE DOCTOR 4.0 (www.pctools.com. Note that both Spy Sweeper and Spyware Doctor received PC Magazines Editor's Choice for 2006. We like both of these products but we have had a few issues with Webroot's Spy Sweeper recently. OUR RECOMMENDATIONS None of the products offer complete protection. There is so much new Spyware out every week that it is impossible for all the companies to keep up with it all. The non-commercial companies like Ad-Aware and SpyBot do not have the resources that the Commercial Companies have and thus are clearly not as good in our tests and as show by our field work. We use a triple protection approach, use either WEBROOT SPY SWEEPER 5.0 or PC TOOLS SPYWARE DOCTOR 4.0 as your Active (always on) Anti Spyware. Have LAVASOFT'S AD-AWARE PERSONAL EDITION 1.06 installed but not running as backup which you should run every week. If you think you were hit by something nasty or you continue to have problems after a Virus Scan and an Anti Spyware Scan, use the Free EWIDO NETWORK'S FREE ON-LINE SCAN. As mentioned in our previous news letter there is an abundance of fake Anti Virus and fake Anti Spyware programs out there that are themselves Spyware. Please verify that you are using legit software. Not sure? Call your computer professional.
Disclaimer: Always make sure you backup your DATA before attempting
to install any new programs or running any utilities, specially if you
suspect you have a Virus or Spyware!! If you have any doubts or require
any help, please call your computer specialist. Attempt any suggestions
or recommendations in this Newsletter at your own risk. For more information, please contact Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. at 604-779-7099 or by e-mail at fcleroux@cleroux.com. |
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MOBILE HEADSET FOR
NOISY ENVIRONMENTS: theBoom v4 Whisper and be heard. Have you ever tried to use your cell phone headset in a really noisy environment like downtown in a noisy restaurant, a busy airport or a meeting hall? While most headsets claim to have noise-canceling features, theBoom v4 ($150 US) is the first unit that really works.
The key to theBoom's success lies in the physical design of the microphone. Developed by UmeVoice, this technology ensures that only the sound going directly into the front of the microphone is taken as input, while all other noise is discarded. TheBoom is a wired headset (for extra security) with a microphone that sits in front of your mouth and an earpiece that sits inside the ear. You can speak very quietly and still be heard, so eavesdroppers are less of a worry. If you really want to keep your conversation private, step into a loud bar and speak softly. The noise floor will mask your voice to those around you, but theBoom will ensure your caller hears every word. Check out theBoom v4 at theBoom.com (www.theboom.com).
MOST USEFUL USB
POWERED GADGET: USB Roll-Up Piano
The $46 US piano features 136 instruments (eight of them percussion), six tones, 100 prerecorded rhythms, a built-in metronome and even tone effects such as vibrato and portamento. You can record what you play and use the piano software's learning mode to practice. All programming and sounds are activated with the Windows XP-only software. Power comes through the USB cable -- no batteries required. Check out the USB Roll-Up Piano at usb.brando.com.hk (usb.brando.com.hk). |
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| Thank you for
reading the Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. Newsletter. You have received this e-newsletter for one of two reasons: 1) You signed up for it on one of our web sites. 2) You are a client, customer or friend of Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. Manage Your Subscription Contact Information Disclaimer Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. (Canada) Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. (US) ©2006 Digital Technologies Alliance, Inc. All rights reserved. SpyCatchers is a division of SpyCatchers Alliance Inc. Cleroux.com is a division of Cleroux.com Technologies Inc. |
