 |
Here's your
"Security
Alert News Reporter"
for April and May, 2005
This Newsletter
is sent out periodically to those people who have registered for the
Security Alert and Report Alert Services from one or more of the websites
published and maintained by
www.RichardPresents.com.
If you are no longer interested in up-to-date Security Alerts -
use the link at
the end of this letter to un-register. |
|
Thanks for being a
Loyal
Subscriber |
The "NewsReporter"
is published to keep you up-to-date on the latest information we
gather for avoiding and surviving the hectic hacker attacks on your computer
security and personal identity that take place constantly on the
internet. Many of our comments are based on personal experiences. Protecting
your safety, security, sanity, and privacy is not a simple task.
We are trying to make it a bit easier for you to accomplish.
_______________________ |
Latest Virus Threats
reported
May 07,
2005 by McAfee ,
US-CERT, and other advisory services. (US-CERT is the
operational arm of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) at the
Department of Homeland Security)
Full descriptions including virus characteristics, symptoms, aliases
and removal instructions are available by clicking on the
links. This virus alert is in addition to those posted in previous
month's News Reporter
issues. You can review previous Virus Alerts in the Archive files.
-
CLICK on
Red
Virus Name for
descriptions and Removal Advice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And if you've been told that the
Apple MAC never gets a virus, consider this - Apple
Computer Co. released security patches early this month to fix
20 vulnerabilities affecting its Mac OS X operating system.
Read about it at InternetNews. The flaws could be
exploited by remote or local attacks. The company recommends
users install Security Update 2005-005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A hacker has created a virus
that targets music lovers by deleting MP3 files on
infected computers, according to antivirus company Sophos. The
worm, dubbed Nopir.B, spreads over peer-to-peer
networks and appears to have originated in France, security
researchers at Sophos reported. It's designed to look like a
DVD-cracking program, to fool people looking for a program
that will circumvent copy-restriction technology on the discs.
When the worm is downloaded and run, it attempts to delete all
MP3 music files and wipe some programs from the infected PC,
Sophos said in its advisory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In its report covering security threats
during the first quarter, McAfee's Anti-virus and
Vulnerability Emergency Response Team (AVERT) stated that more
than 1,000 new attacks aimed at software vulnerabilities
emerged in the first three months of this year. The total
amounts to a roughly 6 percent increase, compared with the
same period last year. McAfee also noted that it received word
of more than 200,000 vulnerability-oriented attacks during the
first quarter.
|
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Here's our usual reminder that you can download a
FREE virus checking
and removal tool at the Firewalls and Virus Protection site.
STINGER checks and removes viruses already in your computer.
(compliments of McAfee's Anti-virus and Vulnerability Emergency
Response Team - AVERT)
The program fits neatly on a floppy disc - a perfect way to clean up
your computer if a worm or other 'rogueware' has disabled your ability
to use your computer to get back on the Internet and update your
security ware.
If
you don't have an online anti-virus program yet, I suggest you use
STINGER until you do....Richard
Download this FREE scanning and
removal tool from the Firewalls and Virus Protection
website at
STINGER. It finds and removes
about 45 other active viruses and worms.
Download the
May 02, 2005 update
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Look for the STINGER Icon

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To Top
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Privacy Theft
- - The
Dangers Haven't really diminished since our
first issue a year ago
This is our Birthday Issue -- The Anniversary of One Year of
Publishing the
"Security Alert News Reporter"!
A review of the past issues demonstrates how much, and yet, how little
the cyber jungle has changed.
In addition to SPAM and popups, Spyware concerns were beginning to
alarm even the most casual users of the Internet, even though the
majority of them were uninformed about how to avoid or minimize the
threats.
In our first issue, we addressed the seriousness and dangers of this
scourge. We outlined some of the related areas that should have been
of major concern to all web surfer and Internet users:
Latest Virus threats and variations
Latest Anti-privacy theft measures
Children, teens and other Family security topics
Available publications
Latest Free resources
Excerpts and reviews of recent security
publications
Answers to security related Questions
One of the biggest problems we recognized then, was that most of the
everyday email users, web surfers, etc, did not have the proper
software tools to protect their computer security and the more serious
threats to their personal identities, nor did they fully understand
what they needed.
And today, a year later, the purveyors of spam, spyware, malware,
adware, and viruses continue fiercely, to dump this stuff on us, with
even more sophisticated methods and tools.
There's a critical race ongoing between the software safety and
security writers and the more sophisticated criminal types to outdo
each other.
A little over a year ago, many of our family members and friends were
telling us about the problems they were experiencing
with their computers. They were really unaware of the reasons
why their computers were crashing, popups were popping up all over,
spam was inundating their mail boxes, and other odd things were
happening to them.
Virus Grief and Computer Rage often resulted from these frustrations.
To help them, and everyone else encountering the same difficulties,
the "Firewalls-and Virus-Protection" website was published.
A news letter can usually be more current and timely than a website,
so the
"Security Alert News
Reporter" came into existence
to alert and advise of the current status of cyber world activities.
Subscribers are kept up to date through automatic mailings, which they
agree to receive.
Now, a year into publishing the
"Security Alert News
Reporter"
finds most of us still facing many of the annoyances and distraction
to safe and enjoyable Internet use. Just about all of last year's
defenses are actually out of date and ineffective. Being informed is
an urgent priority.
For the coming year, and for as many more as possible, the thrust and
purpose of these publications (including the new Security Alert Blog)
will be to inform and guide our friends through the ambushes and traps
in the Cyber Jungle.
Thanks to all of our readers and loyal subscribers. Your support and
interest during the past year are warmly welcomed and appreciated.
.... Richard
To Top |
Family Security and Caring
Family Caring - Here's a
site I became aware of just recently. It impressed me so much
that I'd like others to benefit from the resources posted there,
too.
At some time in our lives, family members and friends may need
caring support and special understanding. There's an outstanding
FREE manual published at the Senior2Senior.org website
titled "Care Giving/Care Receiving". I urge you to get
this valuable document, even if you aren't a Senior or aren't
now involved in providing care for a loved one. I've never seen
anything so well done.
You'll want to share this, I'm sure. The
download
is Free (and could be worth it's weight in gold to you,
someday).
......... Richard |
We post Kid Safe Sites, because like you, we care about
the safety and security of our children and grandchildren
...and to help parents,
grandparents and guardians guide today's young internet surfers to
safe sites. There are many other website creators who feel the same
concerns and responsibility. These are just a few of their sites that
we have personally reviewed and tested as safe for our Grandchildren.
Check them out and share them with the young people you care about.
Please note the 'AMBER ALERT" scrolling at the bottom of this
table
If you would like to help support the Code Amber project,
please
click here.
Reviews of
Family Safe Sites |
CRAYOLA
|
The Crayola
website goes
beyond being just for Kids with its sections for Parents
and Educators, too. We wouldn't hesitate to send our children
and grandchildren here for entertainment and education. Here's
the LINK |

|
PBS Kids is a respected and trusted site.
We would not hesitate to send our children and grandchildren
there for entertainment and education, either. Their Privacy Policy is
very assuring. Families visiting the site can feel safe
regarding potential threats to family privacy and their children's
welfare. Jump to it from
HERE http://pbskids.org/ |
 |
Our Firewalls-and-virus-protection.com
website has been Certified 'Family Safe' by the
Institute of Family Safe Businesses. |

Ask Jeeves for Kids |
Ask Jeeves is a
trademark of Ask Jeeves, Inc., Copyright 1996-2000 Ask Jeeves,
Inc.
Ask Jeeves for Kids has great Study Tools, Fun and Games and
News Resources, all Safe.
Visit Ask Jeeves
for Kids Home page Here |
Kid Safe Site from
 |
|
A really cool Index to the Web for
net Surfers ages 8 - 14. Parents will love this one, too. |
|
Check out the
Kid Friendly pages HERE |
and the
Parent Friendly Links
HERE |

Click to visit Site |
Your Site Support
Supporting your Play Time with Kids
for Kid approved
activities that grownups love |
|
We receive no compensation for
displaying these links and you will be under No Obligation when
you visit them. They are here because we care about the safety
of everyone who uses the internet, especially our Kids. |
|

|
Home Edition Features:
-
Real-time protection in Instant Messaging, Chat Rooms, E-mail
and Attachments
-
E-mail notification to parents
-
Reviews both outgoing and incoming data
-
User defined library to prevent distribution of personal
information
-
Detects, captures, logs and reports violations
-
Works as a stand-alone application or with existing site
blocking programs (AOL Parental Controls, Cyber Patrol, Cyber
Sitter, Net Nanny, etc.
|
Predator
Guard is an Advanced Internet Management (AIM)
solution that provides real-time protection for children in chat
rooms, instant messaging, e-mail and attachments from online
predators and pedophiles. In addition
Predator Guard can prevent all outgoing personal
information, such as a child's home address, phone number and
school information or other information that is essential for a
predator to make contact with a child.
Purchase this
Inexpensive Protection Now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
To
Top |
Publications - Use these Free Reports to help your
family and friends:
Many people using the internet
sometimes wonder
if their firewalls and virus protection are good enough to
keep them safe. For
those of you who have visited our Firewalls website and Security Alert
Blog, you know that the information there is directed toward keeping
you safe from hacker and cracker attacks. Additions to our bookshelf
are selected with the same purpose - and we encourage you to share it
freely.
Because it isn't always convenient to share your computer
with family and friends, we have created small downloadable reports
that can easily be printed and distributed to the people you'd like to help
avoid 'virus grief'.

|
Bookshelf and
Special Report Alerts |
"23
CRITICAL ALERTS
You Should Consider
when Maintaining
Your Computer Security and Protecting
Your Personal Safety"
FREE Downloadable eReport for ALL Subscribers
to the Security Alert News Reporter
Already a
Subscriber?
CLICK HERE to get your Free copy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|

|
Protect Yourself
and Family from Dangerous Chat Rooms and Instant Messages.
If you use them, you and
yours are the Hacker's newest targets.
Hackers are already taking advantage of problems with today's IM
systems. People not familiar with these new threats could easily
open a new, harmless looking IM message that pops up on their
screen. With one well intentioned click of their mouse on a Hackers
phony message, could get infected.
It's no longer just the teen age Chat Room users that are in danger.
Whole families are threatened
In case you missed this FREE report on the
Firewalls-and-Virus-Protection website,
you can read
it here. Please print the report and share it with your
family, friends and associates. Help them avoid the hidden
dangers and threats often buried in IM messages and of predators
lurking in Chat Rooms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|

|
If you take your laptop computer with you on your travels, this
interview with the Author of "Travel Cheap-Travel Well" contains
tips and advice to help maintain your
Online Security while Traveling in the United
States and Abroad.
The author, Victor K Pryles, discusses computer security and
offers first hand advice on maintaining personal safety while on
the road, high seas and in the air.
Click to read it
here or Down Load it from this link and share this 10 page
report with the travelers you care about. (It's in eBook format
and takes less than a minute to download and zip open)
DOWNLOAD HERE
|
 |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is Your
Firewalls and Virus Protection
Safe
Enough?
This FREE report will help you identify viruses, prepare for attacks
and infections and guide you in their removal. It's a 9 page,
easy reading guide that covers the threats we all face in our
daily use of the internet. It's a basic education in
understanding and Avoiding Virus Grief
Down load it from this link (it's in PDF format):
http://www.RichardPresents.com/safefirewall.zip
The download includes a ReadMe page with instructions for
unzipping and using your Acrobat Reader, and even a link to the
Adobe website where you can get your own free Acrobat Reader if
you don't already have one |

|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is a Keystroke Logger Being Used To Spy
On You?
Many of the tools and tricks in use today to spy on
your internet activities are exposed in this 7 page report. This
look into spyware will alert you to the ease in which your
identity could be compromised, or stolen.
Open the FREE report in a new webpage by clicking
Are
Keystroke Loggers
Spying On You?
(No downloading necessary, and you can print it right from your
browser window.)
|

|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Much Money would it cost you to
regain the use of your computer after a serious virus infection?
It cost one of our friends a whole lot of money, much aggravation
and lost time, lost records, and a major inconvenience to recover
from the havoc caused by the worms and viruses that had infiltrated
their computer over a period of many months.
In case you missed this FREE report on the
Firewalls-and-Virus-Protection website,
you can read
it here. Our friends have recovered full use of their
computer and now encourage everyone to learn from their
experiences. Please print the report and share it with your
family, friends and associates.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
There are a lot more
Articles and Reports at the Firewalls and Virus Protection
website. Two of the most recent include a discussion about
● How to protect your privacy when using
computer cafes or public
computers. A strategy for maintaining online security
● Minimizing
the risks of File-Sharing.
File-sharing is a popular way
for users to exchange, or "share," files. (and even spyware)
|
Visit the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
website with its many publications relating to protecting the security
of your family, both on the internet and off. They are FREE. You can go to their pages covering
Consumer (family)
protection
HERE.
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To Top
|
Free
Resources
You can easily have the latest Firewall, anti-virus, spam blocking, and spyware removal software installed on
your computers. Download all of these programs, and more, mostly for FREE, from our
Firewalls-and-Virus-Protection website pages.
They're there for the taking. If you need to
block Spam,
check the links on the 'Spam and Spyware' page. Same thing for Cookie
Crumbling tools, Spyware protection, etc.
Most of them have a purchasable Up Grade option, and by trying the
free versions, you can upgrade the ones that worked best for you.
Browser Hijacking hasn't gone away. One of the outstanding
sources for information about browser hijackers and tools
to remove these predators is available on the
SpywareInfo.com/ website.
It's loaded with
powerful information and helpful advice that zeros in on the hijacking
problem. If you are experiencing any similar problems, be sure to
follow the link to their forum. There are literally thousands
of postings from which you will learn and possibly find the advice
that will help you resolve your own issues.
You can download HijackThis from the Software link on the
SpywareInfo website. Be sure to read and follow their instructions to
the letter if you want good results.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We learned about this program from the extraordinary website and
forums built and maintained by James Healan, webmaster of SpywareInfo.com.
|
DOWNLOAD latest cws shredder from Softpedia. It'll find and remove
those nasty Cool Web Search trojan horses. |
Here
are A few more helpful resources
"Keep
Your Private Information PRIVATE"
Lock away all of your Passwords, Images,
Documents,
Video and Audio into one Encrypted database for your eyes only.
Enigma enables you to Encrypt and store almost anything so that only
you can access the files through a master password chosen by you. Of
course, all or any of your Encrypted files can be restored to their
original state any time you choose.
You can even backup and restore the entire database to and from
CDs to ensure that you lose nothing even if your hard disk dies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever since I found the
eBook, "The Hacker's Nightmare" that tells how to
really Keep Hackers, Worms and Germs out of my PCs, it has
received my highest recommendation to family and friends.
This is an eBook by
the 20 plus year veteran of internet security consulting ...Mr Bill
Hely,
there's so much valuable information and just plain common
sense contained in this eBook, that we could fill this and
future issues of our News Reporter for the next
few
months just talking about it. Here are a few more things
we found:
In addition to the Free Anti-Virus program by
GRISOFT, we learned
that having just these three anti-spyware programs will
build a strong fortress against Trojan Horses:
Spybot-Search & Destroy,
AdAware and
SpywareBlaster.
Spybot S&D and AdAware scan and remove spyware from your
computer. SpywareBlaster
keeps spyware from being
installed.
Bill Hely has designed a webpage that describes many of the security
tricks and tools that will help keep that nasty stuff out
of your computer.
Review The Hacker's Nightmare Story HERE. Some
sample (Free) chapters are available to early visitors.
Here's a testimonial
Bill recently received -
"Bill, there is no way I can thank you enough for creating this wonderful
program. I have done little else since I got it
downloaded than print, read, experiment and learn.
You are truly a genius and a very kind person for
helping me 1-on-1 with my problem. The information
in that book is so all encompassing that it is far
more than a book on how to protect a computer. It
also gives all the basic information on different
concepts from Computer 101 to Advanced. My biggest
question is why you are not charging more?
All of that information would cost a fortune if it were sold
separately. At any rate, thank you again and again!!
I would love to be an affiliate as soon as I learn a
little more. It would be the only thing I ever sold
that I truly believed in. You are incredible!"
- Barbara Dingman (USA) |
The Hacker's
Nightmare eBook isn't just for Professionals and Small
Business Operators. Much of Bill Hely's information can
easily be applied to keeping even the less experienced
internet user out of the deep and murky depths of despair
resulting from Hacker attacks, virus grief and spyware
intrusions. Visit
now and Learn the Truths About Computer & Internet
Security. (Bill expects to increase the price sometime in
the near future. Visiting now could avoid that price
increase)
I feel it's really worth it, even at a higher price. ... Richard
P.S. here's the link to
Grisoft's AVG anti virus software, in case you
missed it in a recent issue
... R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
To Top |
Reviews
of the News (some encouraging news
about controlling SPAM, pornography, and Consumer Personal
Information)
 |
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Cyber Investigation activities that we may not have heard about,
but are pleased to know are ongoing. (from the fbi.gov website
report on their current investigation activities)
Operation "Web Snare" |
Operation Web Snare is a coordinated effort targeting
an expansive array of Cyber Crime schemes victimizing individuals
and industry worldwide. This initiative highlights numerous
investigations that have been successfully advanced through
coordination of law enforcement, and a growing list of industryand
international partners.
The development of international resources is closely coordinated
with the DOJ, the U.S. State Department and a growing list of
E-Commerce industry partners.
Criminal schemes included in this initiative include: criminal spam,
phishing, spoofed or hijacked accounts, international re-shipping
schemes, Cyber-extortion, auction fraud, credit card fraud,
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Computer Intrusions (hacking),
economic espionage (Theft of Trade Secrets), International Money
Laundering, Identity Theft, and a growing list of traditional crimes
hat continue to migrate on-line.
Operation Web Snare has been coordinated at the Federal level
with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and
the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Numerous state
and local law enforcement agencies contributed significantly to this
nitiative as well.
Operation Web Snare includes more than 150 investigations, in which
more than 870,000 victims lost more than $210 million dollars. Through
these investigations more than 300 subjects were targeted, resulting
in 100 arrests/convictions, 116 indictments, and the execution of more
than 130 search/seizure warrants.
Although significant in number, these investigations represent only a
fraction of the Cyber crime problem, underscoring not only the need
for sustained law enforcement focus, but the continuing development
of expanded industry partnerships as well.
(We'll add more 'Good Guys' credits as the results come in, but here
are our
'Good Guy Check Marks' to date )
√ √ √ √ √ √
√
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"User Education" is the
focus of our Firewalls and Virus Protection website and the "Security
Alert News Reporter".
How many of your IM and Chat Room Buddies are alert to the
growing Instant Messaging threats?
In case you missed this FREE report on the
Firewalls-and-Virus-Protection website,
you can read
it here. Please print the report and share it with your
family, friends and associates.
As a P.S. to the above comment,
encourage your friends to check out our new "Security Alert Blog".
The
most recent Blog entries
include these helpful and timely posts:
2 posts on our experience to date
with the Mozilla Firefox Browser
▪ Updating to the
latest version of Firefox
▪
How to protect against the latest Firefox vulnerabilities
▪
Are PC users ready for another Operating System?
▪ Instant messaging - the
Hacker's newest target
There are dozens more posts available in the Blog
Archives.
Read our
Blog Posts HERE. I urge you to Comment, Challenge and
add your own opinions to ours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To
Top
Are you campaigning with
us?
(Computer Virus Awareness Campaign)
|
Please help us help your family, friends, and associates enjoy a
safer and less frustrating internet experience. We encourage you
to share this information with them or suggest they subscribe to
the news letter below.
|
________________
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that
no man can sincerely try to help another without helping
himself.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
_____________ |
All of us, too, need to act, by educating ourselves and by making
sure we obtain the necessary programs to protect our computers.
Those programs include installing a firewall; installing and updating
anti-virus software; using anti-spyware software that can identify and
delete programs that have migrated to our computers; using spam
filters to protect
e-mail; and downloading patches that update
software. |
|
Keep in mind that these programs are only as good as their latest
updates! |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To
Top
|
NewsReporter
Reader's Questions
??????????
Send in your questions.
There is no such thing as a stupid question. Some people are bashful
about asking, but there are always many others who share the same
question, and will benefit from the answers to yours.
email your questions to us at
Questions@Firewalls-and-Virus-protection
With your permission, we'll publish your questions and answers in
future issues of the
"NewsReporter".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharing ?
If you had the opportunity to help
family members, associates, or friends by sharing any of the
information in this
"News Reporter",
please suggest that they subscribe for their own personal copy.
They can subscribe here and we'll never share their information with third
parties.
If they are hesitant or uncertain
about the benefits of visiting with us,
suggest that they review the help that's readily available at
this one page summary of the Online Security Consideration and
Protective Tactics that are designed to keep them be safe on the
Internet.
They Can Check out these Considerations and Tactics HERE.
And finally for this issue,
we hope you can take our one minute
mini- survey (We'll give you a nifty and entertaining Free
eBook on Coping With Your Stresses for your time)
and visit our new
Blog Pages, read our postings and contact us with your comments
and opinions. Everything you have to offer will help us do a better
job of helping you. Thank you. ...Richard
Read our Privacy Policy

|
To
Top
As promised in our first
issue, we aren't going to stuff your mail box with un-ending mailings every
day, week, or whenever. When there's important news about the
topics we've noted, we'll let you know, usually monthly.
To avoid unwanted and unnecessary filtering of our messages, we will
send a very brief text email to you. It will have a link to this
News Reporter and an un-subscribe link.The email subject line will identify the contents as
"Latest Security Alert News Reporter - Issue ##" and the
email "FROM" address will be "richard@richardpresents.com"

|
Thank you again, for your interest and trust.
We'll do our best to
honor and preserve it
Richard Rossbauer
|
Take part
in our Computer Virus Awareness Campaign by Sharing this with a friend |
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list, or
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It's our First Birthday!
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Latest Virus threats |
Privacy theft |
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Publications |
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Education
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Reader's Questions |
Archives
Volume
1, Issue 01
Volume 1, Issue 02
Volume 1, Issue 03
Volume 1, Issue 04
Volume 1, Issue 05
Volume 1, Issue 06
Volume 1, Issue 07
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Volume 1,Issue 11 |
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CERTIFIED SAFE
for All Family Members
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Get the latest News
Take a look at our Security Alert Blog
HERE.
A Blog (web log) is a quick and easy
way to share timely information (nearly daily updated news, trends,
developments), answer questions, express opinions and exchange views. |
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What's
your
No. 1 Use of the Internet?
Please take this one
minute Mini-Survey. Tell us how we can best serve your primary interests
while avoiding
Hacker attacks and spyware intrusions.
We'll give you a nifty and entertaining Free
eBook on Coping With Your Stresses
as a Thank for your time
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