|
Richard Rossbauer's
SECURITY
ALERT BLOG ARCHIVES Vital
Internet Security Alerts and
Information
for the everyday
Non-technical Computer user,
Internet
User and Web Surfer
who just wants
to be safe doing
basic stuff
without the hassle
of viruses, spyware, or worse.
I'm very
pleased that you're here today,
and that you're concerned about
your
computer security and family Internet Safety. I look forward to
your early
return to the Security Alert Blog.
Using the
 Web Feed or book-marking this page will make it a lot easier
for you to
visit
again.
Thanks, Richard Rossbauer
(Read About Us)
Save This Page
Blogroll Me!
|
|
Posts for
January, February and March 2010 |
March 23, 2010
WiMAX
Security - Is it secure?
WiMAX may be old hat to a lot of Internet users, but
there are some of us just getting onto the band wagon,
so to speak.
Because high speed wireless now provides broadband
access over distances approaching 30 miles, and is
available on more and more laptops and mobile devices, I
was curious about what makes it work, and if the
possibility of threats to our security were increased in
proportion to the technical advances - like the
gadgets we attach to our USB ports on our laptops.
Seems as if WiMAX and EV-DO are the buzz
words. If you want to know what they mean, my article on
"Wireless
Connectivity and Services" makes it a bit easier
to understand.
As far as the threats to our security, these networks
are based on Internet Protocol and are subject to the
vulnerabilities of any IP network.
Some of the Security Threats Perceived or Real include
* Rogue Base Stations
* Denial of Service Attacks
* Session Tampering and Highjacking
Which means to me that vigilance is still necessary even
though the WiMAX developers have made major efforts to
include state of the art methods for ensuring user data
privacy through Advanced Encryption standards and
prevention of unauthorized access.
....Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
March 12, 2010 Dozens
of ZeuS Botnets Knocked Offline - for awhile.
We recently discussed the ZeuS Botnets.
'Krebs on Secrity'* reported a few days ago that law
enforcement and other security researchers may have been
responsible for upwards of a 20 percent drop in the
number of reported active ZeuS botnets.
Some of these Bot networks are reported to have as many
as 20,000 to 50,000
infected computers under their command and control.
As far as it goes, this is good news, but the problem
remains that the computers
that were in those bot networks are still infected with
the ZeuS Trojan horse that steals banking information by
keystroke logging.
The ZeuS Trojan is difficult to detect and not all
'anti- protection' software will find and remove it,
although installing anti-virus software and keeping it
up-to-date can reduce the likelihood of a ZeuS infection
by 23%.
Zeus is a financial malware. It infects consumer PCs,
waits for them to log onto a list of targeted banks and
financial institutions, and then steals their
credentials and sends this information to a remote
server in real time.
Additionally, it may inject a code into the pages
rendered by your browser, so that its own content is
displayed together (or instead of) the genuine pages
from the banks web server. Thus, it is able to ask a
user to divulge more personal information, such as
payment card number and PIN, and one time passwords,
etc.
The malicious software that installs ZeuS on victim PCs
is most often distributed via spam, which frequently
shows up as a spoofed e-mail from the Internal Revenue
Service, Facebook, and other well-known organizations.
The messages typically include a link to a site that
attempts by exploiting software vulnerabilities or by
tricking the user into installing a small program that
lets the attackers seize control over the systems
remotely
In an Update on Mar. 11, 2010, Zeustracker reported that
more than 40 ZeuS
Command and Control servers are back online! That's not
good news.
Do a search for "How to Remove the ZeuS Trojan" and
you'll probably not find an easy way to clean up your
computer if it's infected. My belief is that the best
way to fully recover is to take your machine to a
professional computer service technician.
... Richard
*Krebs on Security
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
March 1, 2010
Entertaining and educational,
a timely cyber thriller
Fatal System Error:
The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet
Business Week review makes this Mystery
type thriller by Joseph Menn very interesting,
especially if you are even slightly concerned about protecting your
assets from online crooks.
The story takes place in Russia, where the misguided
antics of a young computer nerd sets the stage for "How
to Hack into computers anywhere in the world and
Blackmail for Money", and "How organized Russian Crime
Lords added this young hacker to their family of
mobsters"
While many such cyber-crooks evade capture and
incarceration - British and Russian investigators
eventually brought these crooks to justice - in the
book.
The
Business
Week editors summarize this "Why the Hackers are
Winning" story this way -
"Menn's real achievement is that he entertains as he
educates. One reason cybercrime persists is that it's
too unfathomable to the general public to generate much
angerdespite the fact that experts think it could be
costing that public as much as $1 trillion a year.
Readers may not follow every keystroke of Menn's story,
but they'll retain enough to get scared."
That last sentence is what caught my attention. It's not
understanding how insidious the threats really are that
leads to apathy - and to these horrendous losses.
Fatal System Error
is going on my reading list
....Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
February 25, 2010
More on the Kneber/Zeus botnet.
 Will
AntiVirus software protect my computer from this Kneber/Zeus
botnet, and what does the name mean?
Kneber is simply a name that Netwitness gave to a
variant of Zbot (also called Zeus.) It is not new.
Sunbelt Software Company's detections for some of the
earliest variants date back to late 2006.
The question has been asked, will VIPRE
protect me against
Kneber?
VIPRE
detections for Zbot/Zeus/Kneber have been in place
for some time at Sunbelt Software Co.. VIPRE
has been
rated among the top in the AV industry.
And if you're not sure about your AV (Anti-Virus)
program -
You can get your own FREE
30-day subscription to test VIPRE on all your PCs
at home, with FREE US-based toll-free technical
support 9am-9pm EST M-F at 877-673-1153
Worth a try?
CLICK HERE or on the VIPRE box image
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
February 20, 2010
About
the recent Zeus Botnet activity
Over the past few days I have read a lot of
media discussions and blog postings about the Kneber
group of organized internet criminals and their Zeus
botnets.
Much of this has been presented in technical jargon,
probably boggling the minds of the average home and
small business computer users.
There have even been some hints of in-fighting among the
Antivirus software providers as to the seriousness of
the current Zeus created botnet under the command and
control of the Kneber group.
This is not the only active botnet - a recent post in
the "Netwitness*" blog states that there are hundreds of
active Zeus botnets with many corporate systems
infected. (*Netwitness is a security firm in Virginia, USA)
As ordinary computer users and web surfers, this type of
news should have a major impact on our approach to
protecting our computers from Trojan intervention.
Maybe we aren't the main targets - larger businesses and
corporations appear to be - but if we don't take the
threats seriously, and make every effort to keep our
anti-malware software current, we could well be
unsuspecting accomplices of the botnet farmers.
If you use your laptop for work and personal stuff, if
you save files and read your flash drives at work and at home, you
could be part of the problem. And even with recently
updated anti-malware, you are susceptible to infection
by a virus released after your latest update.
What's my point? Nearly every user who goes online knows
'what to do', but they have to be really serious about
keeping their anti-malware protection up-to-date.
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
February 2, 2010
Valentine's Day: How to Send and Receive
e-Cards
Safely
Anti-Virus software
provider AVG just posted a timely Valentines Day caution
. Here's their message -
"With Valentine's Day just a few heart beats away,
millions of
e-cards and messages will be flying through
the Internet. But these low cost, eco-friendly
expressions of affection can expose your home computer
to security threats.
Internet security software distributor AVG (AU/NZ) warns
that criminals are using this increasingly popular
medium to deliver viruses and other malware to the
computers of their unsuspecting victims. Because risky
e-cards are typically made to look like they have been
sent from a trusted friend, they fool the recipient into
opening them".
Lloyd Borrett, Marketing Manager of AVG (AU/NZ), said.
"Most people will automatically open an e-card if it's
from a friend or colleague. To protect yourself from
unwanted attention from cyberspace be very careful what
e-cards you open and what you forward on."
"While receiving an anonymous card from a Valentine can
be exciting, opening an anonymous email with 'I Love
You' in the subject line could be courting disaster.
Don't let some nasty piece of malware worm its way into
the heart of your computer."
Only a tiny percentage of e-greetings will contain a
(continue reading)
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
January 30, 2010
Protecting yourself from "Net Threats"
Just
about everything we do these days seems to involve
the computer and the Internet. Our mails, family
contacts, children's pictures, flight reservations,
medical records, work documents, and financial
records have found their way into the world wide web
of information.
Making our lives easier through the use of the Internet has also
made us more vulnerable to the miscreants, racketeers,
and cyber-criminals of the world.
Identity Theft and Harrassment are some of felonies and misdemeanors that
any Internet user could be a victim of. Now more than
ever, we need to protect ourselves and our family from
these potential attacks. Here are some tips for your
Internet security.
None of this should really be new - and probably
isn't if you have made any attempt at all to protect
your computer - and family. But these are good
reminders, anyway.
1. Knowledge is power.
Learn as much as you can about the Internet. Books, magazines and,
of course, the Internet offer a lot of information about
Internet security through websites like this one.
Try to learn about basic computer Internet security like firewall,
anti-spyware, privacy policies, etc. Dont fret if you
cant understand them thoroughly. As you come across
more articles, youll gain a greater
(continue
Reading)
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
January 23, 2010
Do
You Know How to Recover from a Software Crash?
We
have a lot of software on our computers today. Everyone should
know how to take care of their computer as well as manage the
hidden dangers and avoid the risks of a crash.
Understanding the meaning of these terms will help
understand this post.
1. Crash - When a program or your entire computer stops
working and
you cannot move the mouse or use the keyboard, and
the screen is
frozen.
2. Reboot - When you restart your computer after a crash.
3. Control Panel - A feature of Windows that will give you
access to
system utilities and settings.
OK, so what should you do first if your computer crashes?
 Try to STOP
and do nothing for a few
minutes. Often, the computer is trying to do your
commands and might just need a little more time to
complete them.
Pressing more keys could add to the computer's
problems, maybe even forcing a crash.
Check your connections for the keyboard and make sure the
pins are not bent. Maybe there is a jammed key on the
keyboard, maybe some liquid has spilled. Check the
computer connections as well.
Also, the mouse may just
be dirty and need the inner ball that rolls cleaned with
soapy water. Dry it and remove any dust in the mouse
body itself and replace the mouse roller ball.
Be sure to check the batteries in your keyboard and mouse if
they connect to your computer by wireless.
(Continue reading)
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed!
|
|
To
TOP |
January 8, 2010
Are
you responding to out-of-date security advice?
InfoWorld's
Security Advisor, Roger Grimes, in his Security Central
December 28th 2009 post points out why yesterday's
advice won't protect users from today's worms, viruses,
and scams
"Yesterday's advice" is still valid - Don't click on
links in emails from strangers, Keep you Operating
systems up to date, have current antivirus and firewalls
software, etc.
But Mr. Grimes points out that this advice falls short
because it does not teach web surfers that they are
likely to be infected by Web sites they trust and visit
every day.
- Further, it does not tell them that the majority of the malware threats
they will be exposed to is from very official-looking
Web warnings that trick them into installing software
they shouldn't.
- Does not tell them that malware purveyors often break into legitimate
Web sites, which then launch malware attacks on innocent
visitors using inserted JavaScript.
- Does not tell them that official patches don't come in e-mail.
- Does not demonstrate how to distinguish between a fake anti-virus
warning and a real one.
- Does not tell them that they can be infected by Adobe PDF, Microsoft
Office, and Macromedia Flash graphic files.
- Does not tell them about spearphishing, where the phishing attacker
knows their name and the e-mail appears to come from
someone inside the company and references a product or
group the user is involved in.
- Does not tell them that the top search results from their favorite
search engine often brings back legitimate-looking, but
very malicious Web sites.
We can't agree more with this, and even if we've heard
it all before, there's a lot of good to be said for
presenting these reminders.
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed!
|
|
To
TOP
|
January 1, 2010
Greeting and Best Wishes for the New Year
I hope it will be a
better year for all of us - better health, greater
prosperity, and an all around safer and more secure
world...
... and not just for those of us who enjoy the
privileges and the freedom we have as citizens of the
United States of America and other areas of the Free
world,
... but also for all of the citizens of the world who are
ruled in tyranny, who may lack habitable shelter,
healthy and sustaining food, disease free water,
opportunities to be educated and better themselves, a
chance to live as free human beings.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here's the latest word I found on Free Anti-virus software. It's
the result of tests reported by Charles P. Jefferies,
NotebookReview.com Contributor on four free products.
They report all are good, and rank them as follows.
Avast,
Microsoft Security Essentials(*),
AVG(*), and Avira
I use two of them(*) on my computers and am absolutely satisfied with
their performance.
... Richard
If you found our Security Alert Blog interesting, please
subscribe to our RSS feed!
|
|
To
TOP |
|
Don't
hesitate to express
your views and opinions on my Security Alert Blog and Cyber
Security Alert postings (easily done by clicking on
the highlighted 'COMMENT' |
at each post. Watch for postings on fraud alerts,
virus alerts, worm alerts, Internet Security alerts, security scams,
parental controls, online predators, net security, and more. Be sure to visit our
Firewalls-and-Virus Protection website for even more help |
|
|
|
To
TOP |
Evergreen
Free report -
"Avoiding Current Security Threats"
There are still some unresolved issues with the
Conficker worm and Cyber criminals are flooding the
Internet with bogus "Anti Virus and Anti Spyware"
programs designed to steal your personal information,
add your computers to world wide "botnets", and generally
prey on unsuspecting web surfers with unprotected
computers.
But you can take steps to avoid these security threats,
and I have outlined them in a special report you can have
for
Free.
This report is an update and a bit of an overview of the
information published in my newsletters, blog and
websites.
It covers the basics of what to look for and
how to prepare your computer to avoid the next high risk
threat. It's a quick download (PDF file) which you
can obtain by going to the registration page and leaving
your email address so that the download instructions can
be sent to your email inbox.
Get Free Report here and share this web address with
your friends so the emails you get from them are clean
and free of malware.
http://www.richardpresents.com/avoid-threat-registration.html
...Richard
If you found our Security Alert
Blog interesting, please
subscribe to the RSS feed! |
|
To
TOP |
|
|
|
To
TOP |
Evergreen
Please accept our
INVITATION
to Help Parents
Teach Their Kids to be Safe Surfers
an Invitation to Help other Parents, Grandparents and Guardian by Sharing Your
Experiences of
Teaching Your Children To Be Safe When
They Were learning to Surf
the Internet.
Please
Tell Us
About It HERE |
|
|
To
TOP |
Evergreen
Update your Emergency Virus Protection program
 If
you don't have your Virus Protection program yet, here's an
Emergency Step you should take,
Right Now!
McAfee offers a FREE Virus Scanning program named
STINGER.
It has grown in size a little over the past few years and no longer fits on a single floppy Disk.
But so many of the newer PCs, including lap tops don't have a "A" floppy
drive anyway, you should burn it to a CD or memory stick for an offline back up tool.
You can use it as we do, to check
any of your PC computers for viruses, without being on line.
It is an 'After the Fact' application, which means that it does not scan
incoming email files, attachments or downloads, but it does scan whatever
you have already received online.
It currently checks, and repairs over 200 recent viruses. It's FREE
to download from
McAfee
STINGER
Stinger
- Click
for Latest Version
... Richard
|
|
To TOP |
More Tags: Internet Safety Rules,
kids
Internet safety , parenting teenagers,
cyberbullying,
 spam,
Firewalls,
Keyloggers,
Disaster Recovery,
 botnet,
 identity theft,
phishing,
 teen age bloggers,
Trojans,
 virus removal, anti spyware,
 spyware
Conficker,
virus removal,
anti spyware, Rogue
software
|
|
To TOP |
CLICK to Visit our
Internet Security Website
 
|
|
►SUBSCRIBE ME
to the
Security Alert Blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POSTS for
CURRENT Week
Contact Me
Unlike the
people who use
Twitter to tell you they've
walked their dog, I Tweet
Only the things that I believe
all my followers will find useful.
So, grab a Twitter account and
Follow me on Twitter
Visit our
Family Friendly Internet Security
Website
CLICK HERE
_______
|
90 Percent of PCs are infected with Spyware -
IS YOURS?
Get your
FREE
anti-spyware
Download Trial HERE
CounterSpy -
IT WORKS! |
Log
Out
|
Archives
Jan-Dec 2010
Oct-Nov-Dec09
Jul-Aug-Sep 2009
April-May-June 2009
Jan-Feb-Mar 2009
December 2008
Sep-Nov 2008
June-Aug 2008
April-May 2008
Feb-Mar 2008
Dec
- Jan 2008
Oct-Nov 2007
Aug-Sep 2007
Jun-July 2007
Apr-May 2007
Jan 2007,Feb-Mar 07
Oct 2006,Nov 2006,Dec 2006
July 2006,Aug 2006,Sep 2006
April 2006,May 2006,June 2006
Dec 2005,Feb 2006,Mar 2006
Sep 2005,Oct 2005,Nov 2005
June, 2005,July, 2005,Aug, 2005
March,
2005,April, 2005,May, 2005
February 2005
January, 2005
December 2004
|
|
CURRENT CYBER NEWS
|
Some of my
favorite Blogs
--------------
▪
Blogged By RichardPresents
▪Sunbelt Blog
▪Cnet Download Blog
▪Bill
Hely's Computer & Online
Security Blog
▪FaceTime Security
▪"Kenneth
A. McArthur
Marketing Thoughts"
●Basic
Computer Skills Blog
●PC
Maintenance
●WhyWait?
Start it Now
●Security
Fix Blog
|
Checkout the eBook "How to
Protect Your Privacy and Security
Online"
CLICK HERE for the Security Tips ebook, bonus
PC Security ebook
and
Free Resale Rights
Instant
Access - Instant Download - Anytime of the day or night
(These are electronic books that you
will download upon purchase...there will be no book mailed to your
address) |
|
|
|
|
CLICK HERE
for your
FREE Guide to
Stopping Spam - Once and For All
Instant Access
- Instant Download - Anytime of the day or night
(This is an electronic book that you
will download upon purchase...there will be no book mailed to your
address)
|
Disclosures
Material Connection
You should assume that the owner of this website has an affiliate
relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of
goods and services mentioned in this message and may be compensated when
you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence
before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.
-- (Terminology used with permission of
Ken McArthur)
|
|
Get
your Subscription to th
