Scam Warning

Scam Warning

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I received a call the other day. Person on the other end had an Indian accent. Told me he was calling about my "computer problem" and wanted me to walk through settings on my system.

I engaged this person in conversation, repeatedly asking him who he was, who he was with, how he got my number and why he was calling me.

He insisted that I had placed a support call and he was trying to help me.

I had not placed any such call.

Today I learned that my mother also received a similar call. (She has no computer).

Needless to say I didn't allow any "support".

THis link seems to indicate there's a new technique going around.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-698-9034

I'm uncertain what the scam exactly is, wether they collect your info directly, have you visit a link that installs spyware or a system hijack, but if you receive ANY calls from anyone offering support, I strongly suggest you reject them.

Also, be aware that Microsoft wont call you out of the blue, so be doubly aware of that.

Conflicker Eye Chart

http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/infection_test/cfeyechart.html

If you can see all the images, you're probably ok.

Conflicker

Make sure your firewall is up.
Try to manually run a windows update.

If both work, you're probably clean.

In the mean time, make sure that your antivirus is up to date, and actively running.
Spyware/Malware protection also is good to have running.

There's alot of hype about this one, but 3M out of 1B pc's isn't that big a deal.

There's over 100,000 worms, viruses, etc out there.

The same precautions count for all of them:
- Use a reliable antivirus, and keep it current
- use a reliable malware shield, and keep it current
- use an on system firewall, and verify it's on.
- use a hardware firewall and make sure it's working
- make sure your system is up to date software wise.

Also
- don't open strange email attachments
- scan your email
- use a spam blocker to cut down on your spam
- don't visit bad websites
- don't use bootleg software from crack sites that may open holes in your armor or install nasties. .

See also: iant Internet worm set to change tactics April 1

What is Virtual Hosting? By Bob Hubbard

What is Virtual Hosting?
By Bob Hubbard

Look everywhere on the Internet and you will see thousands of web hosts offering incredible hosting deals, for peanuts. How can anyone make money selling 20 gigabytes of space for $5 a month? Doesn’t it cost more than that for all the equipment and staff and whatnot? It sure does. Web hosts can offer this through a system called Virtual Hosting.

Virtual Hosting, also called “Shared Hosting” is where multiple web sites (www.anyname.com) are served off the same physical server. This saves each customer from purchasing their own expensive server, performing the setup, hiring support staff and providing the appropriate environment. The great majority of web sites are set up this way.

Virtual Hosting allows someone to run a website without having to buy equipment, maintain that same equipment, pay for expensive maintenance agreements, keep trained technicians on staff, install and maintain expensive high speed data connections, and provide expensive on site security for all of this expensive equipment.

It allows a web hosting company to divide the costs among many different clients who share part of the same physical server, at a great savings to their clients.

The pluses of virtual hosting are the lower costs and easy setup. You often don’t need to know more than how to use a free web page design tool to use it.

The minuses include poor support, too many shared hosting companies going under due to under charging, as well as all the problems one could expect if they were to live in an over crowded apartment complex due to a condition called “over selling.”

“OverSelling” is where your host sells more space than the server can physically provide. If your host is selling an “unlimited” space plan, or even hundreds of gigabytes of space, you can be certain they are “Over Selling”.

Budget hosts will cram hundreds of accounts onto a single server. Each account uses X% of the servers memory, processor and physical hard drive space. If a single account uses too much, you start to see server slow downs, connection problems, and errors.

Reliable hosts carefully monitor these issues, and will sometimes move accounts between servers to balance the loads and keep things working smoothly for all their customers. Sometimes that’s not enough, and hosts will recommend upgrading to a “Virtual Server”, or a real server, depending on the situation.

A “Virtual Server” is exactly what is sounds like. It’s a server, which is entirely in a larger servers memory. It functions like it’s physical counterpart, in that it has a limited amount of memory, and drive space, but it differs from conventional Virtual Hosting in that rather than share space, processor and memory, it’s all yours. Virtual hosting can be a short-term answer when you have out grown a shared environment, but can’t afford a full dedicated server of your own.

In most cases however, the great majority of websites will work fine in a Shared environment, as long as you choose a reliable hosting company that won’t overload their servers, and who doesn’t offer the unattainable.


===
Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2009 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. This article may be reproduced provided all text, the author bio and these terms are kept intact.

Q&A: Can you legally copy DVDs?

Question:
Can you legally copy DVDs?

Answer:
DVD copying is a controversial and highly sought-after process. Not sure if what you're doing is legal? CNET sets your mind at ease.

By Jon Jacobi, Don Labriola, and Justin Jaffe
(April 6, 2004)

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-5128652-1.html


The short answer is, you can, as long as you're not circumventing any copy protection.

Q&A: what are the best spywear and anti virus downloads on the market?

Question:
what are the best spywear and anti virus downloads on the market?

Answer:
The answer to this is often a matter of opinion. I've used a number of different programs over the years and in my opinion, the best are these:

Antivirus
http://free.grisoft.com/

Spyware
http://www.lavasoft.us/
Make sure you follow the free options, not the trial options

See also this discussion

Benefits of Computers For The Martial Arts Industry - Part 3 of 3 By Bob Hubbard

Benefits of Computers For The Martial Arts Industry - Part 3 of 3
By Bob Hubbard

Shopping for Computer Training

The last few years have seen an explosion in the number of training centers catering to both novices and experts. The options can seem overwhelming. Before spending the time and money on computer training, research your options. Here are several questions to ask and consider:

#How big are the classes?
Just as in martial arts training, smaller classes mean more personal attention from the instructor.

# Are the computers up to date?
All computers should be up to date running modern software. It does you little good to learn on old outdated equipment that won’t be much like the system in your school.

# Do students have to share computers or does everyone get their own?
Each student should have their own computer to work on. This allows you to do more hands on training, rather than watching someone else do the exercises.

# Are the class times convenient?
In order to learn, you need to be able to attend the classes. Many places offer day, night and weekend classes. The more flexibility they offer, the easier you can schedule the time to attend.

#How long has the school been in business?
Older schools will have established track records. Talk to other people, especially those in professional fields for recommendations.

# What are the instructors credentials?
Computer certifications are a dime a dozen today. There are however a few names that will hold credibility. Do the instructors hold certifications from Microsoft, Adobe or other makers of the software you want to learn? For example, if you are going to learn Microsoft Word, looking for someone holding a certification from Microsoft is a good idea.

# Does this instructor regularly teach this class?
Many training centers rotate instructors with each one teaching various topics. You want someone who regularly teaches the class you are interested in as their skills will be sharpest, and they will be most likely to be properly prepared.

Some questions to ask:
# Can you observe a class before enrolling?
# What are all the fees involved?
# Can you talk to existing students for their opinions?
# How long will the classes run?

Some other advice:
# Don’t sign anything on your first visit.
# Don’t make a hasty decision, even if they tell you that seats are limited and going fast.
# Review all paperwork carefully before signing.
# Be certain to get a receipt for all payments.

With some planning and an investment of both time and money, computers and the flexibility and benefits they offer can be a great boon to your business, improving efficiency, cutting costs, and boosting your bottom line.

=========

Bob Hubbard is an administrator of the popular martial arts portal site MartialTalk.com and president of SilverStar WebDesigns inc., a web site design and hosting company specializing in affordable solutions for martial artists. Bob can be reached at webmaster@martialtalk.com
Article Copyright © 2008 - Bob Hubbard - All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction Without Written Permission of Author.

Q&A : PC Clock keeps resetting, what's happening?

Question:
My computer keeps resetting its clock backwards--sometimes a few hours, sometimes a few days, sometimes as much as two months. It's only started in the past week or two. I'm not hooking another device up to it, and trying to get it to synch with Micro$oft or NIST fails. It even happens while it's continuously powered up.

What does it think it's doing?

Answer:
The usual cause of this is a dead or dying internal battery. Easy fix in most cases following these simple steps.

Step 0 - turn off the PC and unplug the PC. Yes, unplug it.

Step 1 - open the case. This will usually involve removing 2-5 screws of some kind. Under no circumstances should you call an engineer. They will be there all week.

Step 2 - locate the battery. This will usually be a small round and flat disc somewhere on the mother board.

step 3 - GROUND YOURSELF! touch part of the metal case -before- touching the pc guts.

Step 4 - Carefully remove the old battery by prying it up with a small screw driver. You shouldn't have to force it.

Step 5 - Drive down to the local battery store or Radio Shack and ask the pimple faced person behind the counter for a replacement. Do not mix them up!

Step 6 - Ground yourself again before attempting insertion. If you can feel the zap, it's enough to fry your system.

Step 7 - insert new battery, close up the patient and power it on. Set your clock. It should now stay settled.



If that's too hard, find a local pc shop, call them and ask how much to swap in a new battery. It's a 10 minute job for most desktops.

See also: Discussion

Tip Of The Week : Why a Complex Password?

Because the more complex, the harder it is to crack, and the harder it is to crack, the less likely you are going to be hacked.

For more info, see below. :)

Interesting article on password strengths and time to crack.
http://www.lockdown.co.uk/?pg=combi&s=articles

When I worked as a network admin, I ran quarterly crack attempts against the server database. I had the inside edge of direct access to the server's password file. On the average, I cracked 80-90% of the 150 accounts overnight, on each attempt. They used standard mixes of complexity, and length. I usually had a dozen within minutes.

Today's complex cracking software uses combination's of brute force and dictionary attacks, and table lookups, which cut the time down, incredibly.

From one program's readme "A traditional brute force cracker try all possible plain texts one by one in cracking time. It is time consuming to break complex password in this way. The idea of time-memory trade-off is to do all cracking time computation in advance and store the result in files so called "rainbow table". It does take a long time to pre-compute the tables. But once the one time pre-computation is finished, a time-memory trade-off cracker can be hundreds of times faster than a brute force cracker, with the help of precomputed tables."


Discussion

Tip Of The Week : Security Warning

Security Warning!

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I'm noticing a lot more fishing attempts going on as of late.

Please note:
Under NO circumstances will PayPal, Ebay, your local Bank, Amazon, etc email you and ask you for your account information.

Under NO circumstances should you fill in the forms, etc.

Login to your account NORMALLY! (That means Paypal.com or ebay.com, etc, not the nice 123.123.123.123 or whatever address in the email you got)
Then contact their support normally.

Be forewarned, be safe.

Tip Of The Week : Dealing with all those "Forward this" emails.

No, Bill Gates is not going to send you $100 for forwarding on this email.
No, that little 11 yr old girl is not going to get money from teh Red Cross if you report this 100 times.
No, Microsoft ic not tracking this email.
No, sending me this email is not going to install the super duper antivirus tissue paper on my system.

Every day, I get at least 1 of these or a thousand other email chain letters. I am constantly surprised at this, because often those forwarding them are intelligent and educated people.

Before you forward on the next virus warning, sob story, free offer, etc, check it out with the guys who track these things.

http://www.snopes.com/

See also here

Tip Of The Week : What to do first with a new PC?

Some tips on what to do before using your new pc:

Remove Norton or McAfee.
Install Grisoft or another system friendly free AVS.
Install Adaware and/or Spybot spyware protection
Check that firewall is up and running correctly.
Make sure all Micro$oft updates and security packs are installed.

For more advice, check out this thread on MartialTalk.