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Torian Group Times
“Technology with Integrity”
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Spam Increasing
Several clients have called to complain about the increase in spam, particularly greeting cards and .pdf attachments.
“You have received a Greeting Card from a Friend”. Typically it will be someone who has you in their contact list. If you open it and click on the link, it will send the message to everyone in your contact list, and download software to flood you with unsolicited advertising.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072002116.html
These should be caught by updated antivirus software.
PDF spam/viruses show up as an email with a .pdf attachment, usually with an ambiguous subject like “invoice attached”. It bypasses spam filters, since there is no suspicious content in the email itself. It is difficult to detect, since the content of the attachment is not checked by anti-spam software. There is a virus which is being spread by .pdf attachments as well. It also may contain Stock buying promotions.
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1264240,00.html
www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194766/pdf-spam-hits-record-levels
www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5373 - .pdf spam decreasing
http://newsletters.trendmicro.com/servlet/website/ResponseForm?mgLEVTTA_TBTW_.40ev.2e_ew_eHmLlm0okLHm
Here are some possible solutions:
If you are on outlook 2002 or earlier, upgrade to outlook 2003. It is much better at catching spam.
There is an update to the Exchange message filter which catches about 2/3 of these types of spam. This will be installed automatically as part of windows update on your exchange server.
Exchange Defender is a hosted solution, which pre-filters your email before sending it to your mail server. Pricing is based on number of users. www.exchangedefender.com
GFI has released an update to MailEssentials – their server based spam filtering software product - that catches .pdf spam. http://kbase.gfi.com/showarticle.asp?id=KBID003114
www.gfi.com/whitepapers/pdf-and-image-spam.pdf. More info on GFI solution.
Deep6 is a standalone spam filtering appliance that is quite effective, but costly ($1,200). It works by identifying the source IP of the email, rather than looking at the content. /www.deep6tech.com/product-overview.php
https://sales.tyrnstone.com/default.aspx
Virtual worlds – Live another life online in these online interactive worlds.
www.secondlife.com – over 8 Million members, including many corporations. Includes online stores, real estate, entertainment, virtual money (with exchange rate for dollars).
www.entropiauniverse.com – similar to Second Life, more game like.
www.forterrainc.com – Corporate meeting and training tools using virtual reality software.
www.virtualworldsreview.com – directory of virtual worlds
One laptop per child project goes into production. Some very innovative technology is involved. http://etech.eweek.com/content/desktops_and_notebooks/meet_the_xo.html
Video www.technologyreview.com/video/laptop
Laptop parts in short supply, delaying deliveries.
www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2164635,00.asp?kc=EWKNLNAV080107STR5
Comcast email is being changed for some users. If your outgoing email from Comcast suddenly stops, try this fix. As usual, it is not in their online help or documentation.
www.lockergnome.com/nexus/usrbingeek/2007/04/12/comcast-blocking-port-25/
Another low cost online backup site. 2GB free, $4.95 unlimited http://mozy.com
McAfee Rootkit Detective is designed to detect rootkits (Malicious software that takes over full control of your computer, then hides itself). Be aware that the tool isn't for the novice. Mistakes in a removal process could easily crash your system. http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/rkstinger.aspx
Outlook 2007 still has serious performance problems. Stay away from it for now, even if you upgrade the rest of MS Office. It runs better on Vista than on XP.
Security Updates
Nearly every add on you use has security problems this month. Most will prompt you to update automatically, but be sure to check what version you have installed. Also, Java updates do not uninstall previous versions. You must go to add / remove programs and manually uninstall earlier versions. The flaws they contain make your pc vulnerable even after you update to a newer version.
Adobe reader versions earlier than 8.x have a security flaw.
www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerupdate082005.html
http://news.com.com/PDF+security+risk+greater+than+originally+thought/2100-1002_3-6147428.html
There is another Firefox update, to fix security flaws. It should be handled by automatic updates within Firefox. Current version is 7.0.0.6 Thunderbird also has an update.
www.mozilla.org/security/announce/2007/mfsa2007-26.html
Yet another Quicktime update fixes security problems. Current version is 7.2.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305947
Download here: www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime72forwindows.html
Critical Flash player update. Current version is 9.0.47.0
www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb07-12.html
Java flaw requires update. Current versions: Java Runtime JRE 6 release 2; Java development environment version 1.5.0-12
Show versions installed:
www.javatester.org/version.html
How to uninstall older versions of Java:
http://java.com/en/download/help/uninstall_java.xml
Get updates: www.java.com/en/download
Microsoft security updates will be released Tuesday August 14th this month.
Tim Torian
Torian, Group, Inc.
http://www.toriangroup.com