Dave Murphy's Student Resources Blog
The offer advertised in that e-mail message is awfully tempting. Microsoft Windows XP Professional for only $39? The entire Microsoft Office Professional suite for less than a few sawbucks? It’s real software, isn’t it? Well it sure is, and it’s a lot more, too.
Pennsylvania State University now urges all students to stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer and use an alternative web browser, such as Firefox, Opera, or Safari. This week the university, famous for its Nittany Lion mascot and graduates who seem to never forget their alma mater, took serious notice of the security issues caused by Microsoft’s flagship web browser and took the public step of recommending students use an alternative. The university’s decision is based on reports in the media and a long series of warnings by Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency and Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC).
Lycos Europe has, temporarily, perhaps, discontinued its controversial Make Love Not Spam screensaver; however, crackers have picked up on the antispam application’s popularity and are riding its coattails right onto your computer. Should you invite the crackers in, you’ll be installing a keylogging application that will track everything that you type at your keyboard.
Following a major digital brouhaha, Lycos Europe has turned off it’s antispam screensaver, named Make Love Not Spam. The service’s website urges users to stay tuned; however, it’s unclear whether the service will be restarted, after savvy users realized what the service really did.
A flaw in the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) in Windows NT Server 4.0, Server 2000, and Server 2003 creates a security hole that would allow a cracker to gain full control over the network server, thereby putting corporate data at risk.
Make Love Not Spam, regardless of it’s poorly-punctuated name, is an antispam effort lead by Lycos Europe. Users who download the screensaver allow their unused processor time to go toward flooding the websites advertised in spam e-mail. Sounds good, but there are two catches, and they are both significant. First, what is flooding.
Today may mark a watershed for web designers and users. America Online, Inc. released a preview version of its Netscape web browser. The new version is based on the open-source Firefox browser; however, it has a twist: it is designed to better display and interact with websites that are designed to specifically work with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser.
Secure Sockets Layer, the fundamental security service for the world’s websites and many networks is at risk in the face of a new spyware application, Marketscore, an application that promises to speed up web browsing. The software is bundled with iMesh P2P (peer-to-peer) software and is popular with university students.
Users of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) are vulnerable to infection by the Bofra worm, downloaded through website banner ads.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is developing its own, private, computer network and web, a la the Internet and World Wide Web. The new computer network web, called the Global Information Grid (GIG) will provide military commanders a “God’s-eye view” of the battle. The GIG will enable real-time digital communication and data dissemination through a familiar technology, similar to the World Wide Web, anytime and anyplace, under any conditions, with requisite security.
Lexmark International, Inc. reportedly acknowledged installing tracking software (aka spyware) that reports printing and scanning activity, as well as consumables use, to a database managed at a cryptic domain, registered by the Lexington, Kentucky-based company. The DLL (dynamic link library) file located in the computer’s c:\program files\lexmark500 folder tracks and reports printing use to http://www.lxkcc1.com/.
I have a favor ask of you. I am researching how the personal computer (PC) has affected the face of America. Specifically, I am interested in the PC’s effect on American culture and attitudes. For example, how has access to a PC affected behavior and expectations? To do this , I’m asking for your experiences that were brought on by the PC revolution.
Internet e-mail scammers are using the popularity and allure of Google’s Gmail service to phish for personal data, including e-mail addresses and passwords. Gmail e-mail accounts are one of the most coveted holdings for hip and techie Internet users. A quick eBay search proves the popularity of invitations to join Google’s upcoming e-mail service that offers 1GB of mail storage.
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced, in a public report, that a system of monetary rewards would help improve the enforcement of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2002 (CAN-SPAM Act.) That Act, which became effective on January 1, 2004, required the FTC to conduct a study and provide a report to Congress on a CAN-SPAM “bounty system.” While the fact that bounties may be offered to those who help authorities in nabbing spammers doesn’t unusual, what is very much out of the ordinary is the projected bounty amounts necessary to make them effective.
How sure are you that your security policy is effective. Let’s say that it is, so how effective is it? What costs are incurred by the policy, and I don’t mean just monetary. One way to answer these questions and ensure the policy is not only effective, but also efficient, is to apply the Six Sigma approach.
Students, faculty, and staff at seven campuses of the California State University (CSU) system are at risk for identity theft after a hardware technician improperly disposed of a computer hard drive with unencrypted database tables that included Social Security numbers and other personal details. The CSU is required, under California law, to notify all affected parties.
You’ve seen them; they’re small, colorful, probably attached to a lanyard. They’re USB flash drives, a.k.a. flash keys or key drives. The USB flash drives had replaced floppy disks and CD-RWs as the media of choice for on-the-go computer users. I’ve noticed the portable drives dangling from the backpacks of college students and the necks of corporate employees. While a worker could hardly carry a laptop out the employee exit without raising suspicious, a USB flash drive would raise no eyebrows. However, which is ultimately more important: one computer or an department’s sensitive data files?
Microsoft Corporation reports that users who have installed the Windows XP Service Pack 2 (WinXPSP2) and wish to use the popular Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer (MSBA) must update the security application due to changes in the way the new operating system handles security.
Metropolitan-wide broadband services may soon be coming from overhead. Sanswire Networks, LLC hopes to bring broadband to entire metropolitan areas via tiny airships. Atlanta, Georgia may be the first city to benefit from this interesting digital communication service, starting as early as next week.
Gustav Hendrickson, the current Director of the ECHO, the Electronic Communications & Honesty Organization, will announce tomorrow that all new computers delivered after March 2004 should include free e-mail service.