|
Torian Group Times
“Technology with Integrity”
|
Service pack 2 for Office 2007 is out. It is about 290 MB – best downloaded once then manually installed on each pc. www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5&displaylang=en
Windows updates: Only one patch for PowerPoint was released Tuesday May 12th. This fixes the flaw mentioned in the newsletter last month. www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-may.mspx
Internet Explorer 8 is now being offered as windows update. If you decide to update, remove all add-ins and toolbars, update to IE8, then reinstall the add-ins. Plan on spending a little time getting the new features set to your needs.
www.winsupersite.com/live/ie8.asp Review
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/dd441788.aspx Known issues
IE 8 in-private ad blocker removes ads from web pages.
http://www.megaleecher.net/Advertisement_Blocking_In_Internet_Explorer
http://www.megaleecher.net/IE8_Ad_Blocker
Windows 7 release candidate is out, and available as a free download. Current predictions are that it will be available for sale around September.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=tnflash
Virtual XP will be a part of Windows 7, allowing you to run incompatible XP only programs in Windows 7. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/
Review: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_beta.asp
You might want to wait until June 1 to buy your next PC. . Buying a Vista system after that date will likely make you eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade license. (This applies to Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate editions.)
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=609&pgno=0
Another critical patch for Adobe. Be sure to install the update.
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/ http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/05/adobe_reader_issue_update.html
Researchers hijack botnet. The botnet, known as Torpig, Anserin and Sinowal, infected PCs through drive-by downloads when they visit compromised websites. It harvested 70 GB of data, including email passwords and online banking account information.
http://arstechnica.com/security/news/2009/05/researchers-hijack-botnet-score-56000-passwords-in-an-hour.ars
www.cs.ucsb.edu/~seclab/projects/torpig/torpig.pdf
Map that tracks confirmed Swine Flu outbreaks:
http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/
Spam emails target swine flu fears http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2009/05/waledac_shifts_to_swine_flu_va.php
Firefox 3.0.10 and Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 address a bug that caused the browser to crash in certain situations. The crash issue could result in memory corruption. Update to the latest version.
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6274
www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/30/firefox_week_bug/
Another tool to bypass the login password on most computers. Remember that any skilled person with physical access to your computer has access to your files.
www.security-database.com/toolswatch/Kon-Boot-root-a-box-on-the-fly-it.html
Mastery TV – self development videos online from Brian Tracy, Les Brown, etc. for a small fee.
http://members.masterytv.com
Kindle DX – larger format eBook reader.
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346639,00.asp
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Amazons-Wireless-Generation/dp/B0015TCML0
Newer hard drives have built in tools to predict a failure, called SMART monitoring. This utility allows you to see the error count and usage data on your SMART drive. www.megaleecher.net/DriveLED
We are recommending this Fire and waterproof USB drive for onsite backups. Watch the video of it being dropped in a pool then torched at 1500 degrees. This handles the primary concern that prompts offsite backup – fire. You can bolt it to the floor or wall as well, mitigating the risk of theft. Cost is about $300 for 1.5 TB, about $100 more than a similar USB drive without fireproofing. https://iosafe.com/solo
Video http://gizmodo.com/5125113/video-iosafe-solo-fireflood-hard-disk-test-puts-will-it-blend-to-shame
We are also offering offsite backups, using Storegrid backup.
http://www.vembu.com/storegrid/network-backup.php
For more on backup recommendations: www.toriangroup.com/backups
Tim Torian
Torian, Group, Inc.
http://www.toriangroup.com