tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:08:31 +0000A usually daily bite of security help for your computer.http://www.securitydawg.com/rhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)Blogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-6279302165669555086Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:07:00 +00002009-04-03T11:08:31.404-07:00Noticing that the Internet is still working after the big 'Conficker attack on 4/1/09.But there are lots of computers with the Conficker malware, as shown by this map http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/wiki/pmwiki.php/ANY/InfectionDistribution from the Conficker Working Group.That group also has a quick test for checking if you are infected is this Conficker "Eye Chart" http://http://www.securitydawg.com/2009/04/internet-still-working-after-conficker.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-5544749789436568696Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:59:00 +00002009-02-02T12:07:29.982-08:00So...where is your data? And what is your backup plan? Is it like Ma.gnolias (a free site to store your web browsing bookmarks)? Who apparently didn't have a backup plan, as the entire site was hosed by some unknown error (I suspect that their database got corrupted, and backups weren't' available). One place for the story here http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/magnolia-suffer.html .Or, in http://www.securitydawg.com/2009/02/is-your-data-safe.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-6855651642035259471Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:14:00 +00002009-01-27T12:23:52.422-08:00Some minor fine-tuning on the www.filehurl.com site (my absolutely free unlimited file transfers web site).There was a comment in a previous post about using another site. So I was curious about it, and looked at the site and compared it to FileHurl.The other site requires registration (FileHurl doesn't). It does have free file transfers (like FileHurl), but limits the size of the free transfers http://www.securitydawg.com/2009/01/looking-at-other-free-file-transfer.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-6129316016536292568Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:46:00 +00002009-01-05T10:49:38.537-08:00Ever need to transfer a file to someone, but it was too big for sending via email? There are some sites that do that, but most have a one-time or monthly charge, especially if the files are large. Or they limit the size of the file.That happens to me sometimes. So I decided to try to create my own file transfer web site. And I think that it is ready for my thousands of readers (well, maybe as http://www.securitydawg.com/2009/01/how-to-send-big-files-via-email.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-138876359303596670Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:03:00 +00002008-12-10T13:05:27.418-08:00A newer spyware program targets only Firefox users, according to these articles. http://blog.trendmicro.com/cyber-crimainals-target-firefox-users/ (which includes links to technical information). Of course, one has to allow the initial infection to install.It's not clear how the initial infection gets to your computer. But once there, it puts hooks into Firefox to allow the spyware to watch andhttp://www.securitydawg.com/2008/12/firefox-vuln-and-dns-changers.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-880568131872370541Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:28:00 +00002008-11-22T11:34:09.770-08:00One method of infecting a computer is through the use of AUTORUN.INF on a USB drive. This is a file that contains commands to automatically execute when the device is attached to a computer. If your computer is set to automatically execute that file, that setting can cause problems.An example is when a USB picture frame device has malware on it, and it automatically runs the malware when the http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/11/usb-auto-infection.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-7332056072821905554Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:43:00 +00002008-11-14T12:43:44.000-08:00Are you getting less spam? A big spam host in CA was taken offline on Tuesday. One good source for the story is here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111200658.html , since Brian Krebs (the WP columnist) was one of guys responsible. The 'co-location' (a big web site hosting firm) looks to be responsible for up to 80% of the world's spam, along with hosting http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/11/great-spam-news.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-1205164319264230949Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:07:00 +00002008-11-04T09:08:22.494-08:00Vote !Or don't complain about things.http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/11/vote.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-925139033433300852Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:20:00 +00002008-10-24T13:25:11.058-07:00To add to all the coverage of the extra special (and critical) MS patch released yesterday, for the benefit of my three (that many?) regular readers:My first reading of the various links about this vulnerability and patch (see below) indicate that, although the rating is critical, and the patch should be installed immediately, there is less exposure to Vista and Server 2008 and XP SP2+ systems http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/10/that-ms-critical-patch.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-8158969449467302720Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:32:00 +00002008-10-21T12:33:30.621-07:00Adobe has released their latest update to Flash (for multimedia on web pages) to fix the "clickjacking" bug. (This allows an evil hacker to place a hidden 'button' on a web page that will do nefarious things when you think you are just clicking on a link on a page. This exploit is not widespread, and not terribly easy to do, but is rather sneaky.)You can check their Flash version by going to thishttp://www.securitydawg.com/2008/10/adobe-flash-update.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-8551788213298059904Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:08:00 +00002008-10-10T13:12:31.495-07:00Our children are constantly on-line. Even down to pre-schoolers. A great resource for parents (and grandparents) to help understand the proper precautions for children (and to understand the things that are available for children), is the Keep Safe Coalition site called www.ikeepsafe.org .There are resources for parents and children to understand how to keep safe on the 'net. This is a place thathttp://www.securitydawg.com/2008/10/keeping-children-safe-on-line.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-517243661096983525Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:46:00 +00002008-09-19T15:02:23.935-07:00The Sarah Palin email hack was done by some simple Google-fu and stupid password reset questions. Like "what is the name of your high school?". How hard is that to find out?What to do? Well, set your password reset answers to something 'out of the box'. Example: "what is the name of your high school?" answer could be "1947 Chevy Impala". No way anyone will be able to Google that.And what should http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/09/those-password-questions.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-2727769466928571727Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:56:00 +00002008-09-11T14:56:29.582-07:00If you are worried about the Hadron Collider destroying the world, you can use this web site to answer that question:Has the large Hadron collider destroyed the world yet?And if you don't believe that site, here's another one:How 'bout now?Heh.(fromhttp://www.securitydawg.com/2008/09/hadron-collider-world-destruction.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-7976665309365527194Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:42:00 +00002008-09-04T11:45:48.761-07:00There is lots of press and user interest about Google's new "Chrome" browser.It's important to know that this is a 'beta' product. And that there are, even after two days, some serious security vulnerabilities, including the potential to allow a malicious web site to silently install nasty software on your computer. There are also risks of user information disclosure.There's even ways to easily 'http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/09/google-chrome-warning.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-218161907495083575Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:02:00 +00002008-09-02T07:45:34.687-07:00The Internet Storm Center (http://isc.sans.org/ ) has the usual warnings of bogus domain names related to the Gustav hurricane. These always crop up during high-visibility events.Don't go there. If you want to help out with donations, use the Red Cross or similar known organizations.And ignore those 'news alerts' about the hurricane (or anything else). Clicking in those links will add your http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/09/gustav-wen-site-warnings.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-2223286921505682159Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:07:00 +00002008-08-13T11:11:42.326-07:00Don't click on links in those CNN or MSNBC "news alerts"! Or similar ones that will appear in your mailbox.Bad viruses and spyware will happen, along with possible identity and financial theft. Don't even try the "unsubscribe" links.If you think you have problems with spyware, then a great resource is the "Hijack This" folks. Start with their tutorial here to get the HijackThis! software, and tohttp://www.securitydawg.com/2008/08/news-alerts-are-not-your-friends.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-3539407048732198886Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +00002008-08-07T11:01:12.177-07:00Watch out for email messages about the Olympics that ask you to click on a link to watch a video or get more info. They will probably look a lot like that CNN spam that you might have seen earlier this week. The links in the CNN spam resulted in installation of viruses/spyware and keystroke loggers on computers. The Olympics spam will try to do the same.When (not if) you get those "Olympic" http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/08/olympics-spam-warning.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-8409443416824646223Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:59:00 +00002008-08-07T11:00:13.976-07:00Watch out for email messages about the Olympics that ask you to click on a link to watch a video or get more info. They will probably look a lot like that CNN spam that you might have seen earlier this week. The links in the CNN spam resulted in installation of viruses/spyware and keystroke loggers on computers. The Olympics spam will try to do the same.When (not if) you get those "Olympic" http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/08/olympic-spam-warning.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-6921500335337959346Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:02:00 +00002008-08-05T13:08:48.686-07:00New malware'd email with subject of "CNN.com Daily Top 10", or something similar. The emails come from random users, probably nobody you would recognize. The message provides links to the 'top 10' CNN videos, many with 'attractive' titles.But the links will send you to a page that only looks like CNN's video site. The page is actually hosted on a compromised web site. The page name is usually 'http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/08/cnn-top-ten-spam.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-1770504468603420226Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:54:00 +00002008-08-04T13:55:56.117-07:00The recent earthquake in LA showed that the phone network will probably get overloaded in any localized emergency.One of the things that you want to do in emergency preparedness is to be able to contact you family. You establish a central meeting place, or a way to communicate with your family. Most people will automatically reach for their cell phones. And they'll probably get a busy signal, http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/08/lrn-2-txt.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-3453474891367451877Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:58:00 +00002008-07-19T20:16:10.781-07:00I was reading Peter Glaskowsky's blog (Speeds and Feeds here) where he posits that some of his mail sent through Comcast (his ISP) is being blocked because his Comcast IP is on a blacklist.I was going to add a comment, but it was getting long, so I thought I would explain my theory here. So, first, go read his blog entry. I'll wait. Then come back here for my theory.Welcome back.I don't think http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/07/spam-blacklists-and-peter-g.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-5782727233334578836Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:21:00 +00002008-07-15T11:23:41.445-07:00So, who has the passwords to your network? Is it possible that this could happen to you?From the San Francisco Chronicle:" A disgruntled city computer engineer has virtually commandeered San Francisco's new multimillion-dollar computer network, altering it to deny access to top administrators even as he sits in jail on $5 million bail, authorities said Monday. "Story here .If there is only one http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/07/locked-out.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-7481403401127054542Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:33:00 +00002008-07-14T13:36:35.291-07:00Do you have a good backup for your money? The story about the "IndyBank" takeover by the FDIC should remind you that you need to be careful about the insurance level of your bank deposits.Deposited amounts over $100K (for single person) are not insured by the FDIC. Maybe it's a good idea to make sure that your deposited funds are insured for the full amount. If you've got over $100K in one http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/07/money-backup.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-1173879042371775704Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:28:00 +00002008-07-09T13:32:41.360-07:00Although it hasn't happened yet, it is inevitable that you'll see that headline soon. The town of Paradise has given 14,000 people immediate evacuation notices. On a map, that's almost all of the east side of that town.The Chico Enterprise Record (nearby newspaper in Chico CA) has a great map of the fire and evacuation areas here . There's a great potential for damage if the fire gets into the 'http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/07/headline-prediction-paradise-lost.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1502661309999383792.post-6923212070906986153Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:49:00 +00002008-07-08T09:55:50.504-07:00The Microsoft Snapshot viewer, which is part of all versions of Microsoft Access except Access 2007, has a vulnerability that is being actively exploited by rouge web pages (or web pages that were not secure to begin with). The vulnerability allows the attacker to run a program on your computer, like a keystroke logger, or other 'bot' software that gives the attacker full control of your http://www.securitydawg.com/2008/07/microsoft-snapshot-viewer-attack.htmlrhellewell@gmail.com (Rick)0