Its late. You've been scouring the web for that perfect
present for your Aunt Bess in Idaho. You finally find it at
presents4aunties.com. The site looks a little rough on the
edges, weird colors and such. But they have that gift you
know will make Aunt Bess add you to her will. You purchase
the gift, log off and head to bed. Tired but happy.

The next day, coffee in hand, you turn on your computer.
That's strange you say, its awfully slow this morning.
Finally its booted and ready to go. You open your browser to
check the Cow Tipping Blog for the latest posts. What's
this you say, My Homepage is now longer the Log , but a site
trying to sell me a DVD of the Surfs vs the Terminator! Oh
well you say, not quite fully awake. You type in the URL for
your Log and wait. And wait, and wait. Finally its up! You
start to read the mornings postings. You're into the second
post about the upcoming Cow Tipping Championship in Vegas
when a Popup appears and says you need to go to
heartburn.com for the new revolutionary cure for heartburn.
Click here now it says and receive a free gift, the secret
cure for Baldness!

Weird you think, you click the X to close it.

You don't realize by clicking the X that a small hidden
piece of code has just been downloaded to your computer.
You finish the Log postings and decide to check your Bank
Account. You type in the URL and wait, and wait. Finally the
Bank Logon appears. You log in, completely unaware of the
code, which is actually a Key logger, is recording your
every keystroke. The Transaction is there for Aunties gift,
you're so happy. You log off and remember you forgot to
email that document for your Boss. That's ok you say, I can
log in from here and send it! Technology is so great ! You
log into your work portal and access your email program,
find the document, attach it to the email form and send it.
You vaguely remember it had something to do with the updated
personal info list for all of the employees at your job. It
includes their Addresses, email addresses and Direct Deposit
Account numbers, also their Logon Names and Passwords to
access the Computers at work.

Darn you say as another Popup appears, what's wrong with
this computer?

Well at least you didn't forget the Bosses Document.
Wouldn't want to get in trouble with the Boss. You've a
great job, working for the Trans Global Bank after all.
Offices all over the world don't you know.

Well time to check your Anti-Virus program for updates. Hmm
it says no updates kneed ed . You notice the Misspelling but
what the heck, those things happen. Gee the computer is
really slow! You decide to reboot, hoping that will fix it.
Gripes, now it wont even boot! At least there's a little
extra money in the ole Bank Account to get it fixed.

The above is fiction. No animals were harmed. But its scary
huh to think it could happen. Granted it's a worse case
scenario, but I wonder...

Be smart out there people, learn how to use your Anti-Virus
and Anti-Spyware programs. Keep em updated, and it they
don't work well for your surfing habits, find programs that
will. Keep your computer protected, your well being may
depend on it.

About the Author: Doug Woodall writes to educate about
computer security.
He also hopes you visit his website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com the next time you need a computer
securty product.

Tags: adware, antispyware, antivirus, computer security, malware, online safety, spyware, virus
Current Mood: cheerful

Once apon a time, there was a young lady who became lost
while traveling.

She decided to pull over at a rest stop and get online with
her laptop to find directions. As she booted up her trusty
laptop, she remembered her AntiVirus was about to expire.
Well, she thought, I'll just search online for something
that will get me by for now. The search engine results
offered a variety of results, all claiming to be the
best...some even claimed to cure gout!

First she reviewed the freebies. FreeAntiVirus4u.com looked
good, but wait, here's a review about it that says it's
actually Spyware! That won't do.

Ah, here's one that's only $ 12.95 and if I download it
right now, Wow,I get a Ginsu knife set for free with it!
They even cut pipe! But alas, she noticed that it had no
online protection and the signatures had to be updated
manually. This one won't do either.

Goldilocks was beginning to wonder if this was worth all the
trouble. After all she thought, I just need a quick look at
WolfsMaps.com and I can be on my way to Grandmas, but just
then she remembered the website she had been recommended to
last week. What a cute dog the websites Company Mascot was!
The site stated that a computer could be hacked very easily
without proper protection.

The thought of losing all of Grandmas recipes stored on her
hard drive gave her a chill. The site also said, be it free,
cheap or expensive, make sure it works for you! Read the
agreement, read the manual, educate yourself in its use,
also check reviews for customer satisfaction. Sounds like
good advice she thought.

Goldilocks now felt purpose in her quest. She would insure
her online safety, and then get directions over the hill and
thru the woods. Wait a minute, That Website with the cute
dog! She was sure it would have what she needed. It just
felt....safe, like Grandmas house. After all, her Internet
Security was paramount! She had heard horror stories about
those wolves lurking online to take advantage of
unsuspecting souls. Especially during full moons. (Opps,
wrong story)

As the site loaded, she gasped! Ah, this is just right!

After just a few minutes she found an Anti Virus Product
that ranked in the top 4! And it was not even expensive.
Happily she downloaded and installed it. It only took her a
few minutes to set it up. Before she rebooted to finish the
install, she bookmarked the site so she could return later.
She wanted information on Anti Spyware Products too. And
there was a article titled "Facts about Firewalls" that
looked interesting.

A few minutes later at Wolfsmaps.com she found where she had
made her wrong turn. The way she was going now led to
"Wolfsburg" where the "Lil Red Riding Hood Memorial" was. As
she pulled back onto the freeway she thought, this would
have made a great story!

Goldilocks was one of the lucky ones. Many have no idea they
are not adequately protected while online. Some suffer
incidents of identity theft which is rising drastically.
Insure your Online Safety.

About the Author: Doug Woodall writes to educate about
computer security.
He also hopes you visit his website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com the next time you need a computer
securty product.

Tags: adware, antispyware, antivirus, computer security, malware, online safety, spyware, virus

This season, if you have receive a new computer or new software, check em for the gifts you might not know about. Many computers come with bundled software that includes Adware, Malware and even Spyware. You may not find it until you launch the software program. It may give you a message that says it needs to connect to a site to complete the registration. Make sure you read the entire license agreement.

I know of many stories about how a user had to do a complete restore on their new computer just days after getting it. These stories involve the user spending hours on the phone with customer support trying to resolve the problem. In previous years, Dells customer support has been swamped after the holidays with calls from new users asking for help. Before you get online with the new computer, insure the AntiVirus and Firewall is functioning. The computer will probably prompt you that it needs to get updates. Check what the update is before agreeing to the install. Make sure you get the MS updates needed too.

If after all this, you still don't know which updates or installs to agree to, there are help sites that provide assistance.

Check the products site first, they may have customer support or even a Forum.

Visit Spyware Warrior for a list of rogue/suspect Anti-Spyware products and web sites.

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Test your Firewall at Hacker Watch to make sure you're able to block attacks.

http://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/

If you're unsure of a process thats running, check it at UniBlues process library.

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/

These are just a few of the help sites out there, there are many excellent sites that can help you.

If after all the searching, you still need help, I recommend the Major Geeks Help Forum.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/

It will involve you registering and downloading the Hijack This program, running it and then uploading the log results to the Malware Forum there. They are good people there and will help you get your computer happy.

Think you've got it covered? Do the “How safe are you” quiz at Stay Safe Online.

http://staysafeonline.org/basics/quiz.html

Also a point to ponder. If you're giving instead of receiving, make sure what you give is safe and reliable.

Don't forget to create a restore point and maintain backups of important data is my last bit of advice.

So after the gift giving, after the clean up, after the nap on the couch, check your computer to insure your online safety.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Tags: adware, antispyware, antivirus, computer security, malware, online safety, spyware, virus

It was late, I had put off going to the Software Convention
till the last minute. I just had to watch my favorite show
on TV, "S-Files".  Its that episode where the Computer
Salespeople all turn into Pod People and ,,,,well never
mind. Its really scary! 

So I'm driving down the lonely one lane road from my house
to the Convention. Its dark and the shadows are creepy, I'll
never watch S-Files again, I swear! I pull into the parking
lot, the convention is being held in the old YMCA. Geez, its
dark, only 1 parking lot light and its flickering on and
off. As I walk up to the entrance, I remember the old story
about how, back in the Dot.Com days, when they tanked, the
building was used as a makeshift morgue, to hold all the
bodies of the CEO’s who committed suicide. 

I get this really creepy feeling on the back of my neck as I
go in,,,,oh, its just a Linux software salesman at the first
booth. Is it my imagination or are his eyes glowing? 

I head to the registration desk to get a program. I see the
place is kind of empty, guess cause its so late. Well, I'm
here to see who is offering the latest demos and what kind
of freebies I can score. 

The front booths are usually the big sellers and they never
give away freebies or demos. So I head to the back, hmmm,
the lights back here are terrible! 

Here's a booth, Anti-Spyware 4 U. The salesman shuffles up
to me and says "Please take a demo of our new product". I
look at it, it says this is the latest greatest software to
combat Spyware. I take the CD out of the plain paper cover
and look at the Logo. Its just a plain shiny cd? Wow I can
see myself in it I remark. 

"We spared no expense" a voice says behind me, making me
jump. I didn't even know he was behind me. Wait, I should
have seen him behind me in the reflection off the CD. I I've
got to be imagining things I say to myself. 

I ask the salesman for a brochure about their other products
and as he hands it to me, our fingers brush each others.
Jeez! His fingers are as cold as ice! Well, he is a salesman
after all. 

I thank him and head off to the other booths, seeing that
I've gotten here too late after all, everybody is leaving. I
decide to swing by the refreshments table to see if I can at
least get a drink and some cookies. 

It sure is dark in here I think again as I come up to the
table. As I scan the table, a little old lady comes up and
asks me if Id like any milk and cookies. Yes Mam I reply.
She hands me a little plate with cookies and paper cup of
something white. I assume its milk, but its so dark in here!
And there seems to be a fog or steam on the surface of the
milk. Well beggars cant be choosers I think to myself  as I
thank her. She gives me a freaky cackling laugh as I turn
away, stunned I turn back around and to my Horror, there is
no-one there! Where in blazes did she go ? 

I'm out of here my mind screams to me as I head for the door
at a ever faster walk. In a minute I'm in my car with the
doors locked and the engine warming up. 

Whew, That was the strangest Convention I've ever seen. All
the way home I've got a death grip on the wheel, just
waiting for something to jump out of the shadows. Like a IBM
salesman, now that would be scary! 

If only I had known the other horrors that awaited me! I
breathe a sigh of relief as I close and lock the living room
door behind me. Still shaking my head I head over to my
computer to try out this latest and greatest Anti-Spyware
Software. As it boots, I get a message to disable my own
Anti-Spyware program. I thing this odd, but I remember
reading somewhere online that some programs can conflict
with others so I comply. 

After a few seconds I get a message that the new Program is
installed and it needs to connect to get possible updates.
So I get online and let it do its thing. A reboot is needed
it says, OK so I reboot. The computer comes up and I get
online to check out the latest results of the Mullet
contest. what's this ? This isn't my Homepage, it’s a site
where you can ,,,Holy Hand Grenades! Its Porn! 

I close the Browser and man alive, I'm beset by about a
dozen pop ups offering me things that, well, no decent
person would want. I'm figuring now that I've been had by
this Anti-Spyware CD. 

I do a Restore and get back to my Online Mullet competition
site. Then I remember that I need to transfer some money in
my savings to my checking account. So I head to the Bank
site and take care of it. I must be tired, the computer
seems slow to me. I check my mail and the wait to login is
frustrating. 

I decide to call it a night. I'll take care of it tomorrow.
After a tossing and turning night and dreams of my computer
melting, the new day dawns. With a cup of coffee I head to
the computer to see who won the Mullet Contest. The boot
takes forever and the login freezes the first time so I have
to power off and back on again. 

I'm really mad by now. I've been had by some sleazy software
company! I finally get online but the Mullet competition
site wont load. I cant tell if it’s the computer or maybe
the online connection. 

As it dawns on me that I'm going to  have to take it in for
service, I hope I've got some extra in my savings to cover
it. I head to the Bank site but it wont load either. Then I
notice the Hard Disk light blinking away. I'm not doing
anything at the time so it shouldn't be accessing anything.
Cursing, I turn the computer off and pick up the phone to
call the bank. 

I get a live person after waiting only 5 minutes so I figure
the day may be improving. I give her my account info and she
comes back saying "I show that account being closed last
night after all money was withdrawn"! . 

There must be a mistake I say, she checks it again and says
its true. The money in the account was transferred to a Bank
she has never heard of in ,,,,Transylvania of all places. As
I hang up in shock, I could have sworn I heard her laughing
just like the old lady at the convention did last night. 

I figure I better head to the Police Station to get some
help. In a Panic I head for town. As I make the last turn
into town, I glance towards the location of the YMCA, where
all this started, only to see its not there! Its burned to
the ground! Stunned, I stop in the street and get out.
Nothing but ashes. The Man in the car behind me gets out and
asks me if I'm ok. I mumble I'm lucky to be alive, I could
have died in there last night. Puzzled the man says, but the
YMCA burned down 2 nights ago! 

As I get back into the car, I glance at the spot on the seat
where I put the CD and the Pamphlet. Gone. Just a little
pile of dust. At the Police station, a sergeant takes down
my story and informs me I've been the victim of online
Identity theft. As I'm leaving, A couple of kids run by, in
costumes, yelling "Happy Halloween" 

Are you scared ? You should be!

About the Author: Doug Woodall writes to educate about
computer security.
He also hopes you visit his website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com the next time you need a computer
securty product.  

Tags: antispyware, antivirus, computer security, spyware, virus
Current Location: California
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Newest Eagles Song

I received a spam email the other day and the subject said
"Tired of reality shows? Make your own!"

Of course I deleted it and proceeded to go about my online
chores, but later that email got me thinking, what if there
was a 'Online Safety' reality show?

Hear me thru ok?

There would be contestants.... Say on a sunny south sea
island beach, and each contestant has to accomplish a
variety of tasks to win. You would get to vote one or more
contestants off the show if they were too good or maybe a
ringer. The same for the really dumb ones,after all, it
would have to be exciting to keep the viewers interested.

So the basic task would be to succeed in staying safe online
while  surfing the web, and completeing various online
challenges. For example, they would have to insure the
computer given them was secure.... Ya know, updated with the
latest from MS, etc. Then they would have to get online and
insure their provider was also credible and choose which
browser they want to use too.

Oh, don't forget their anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall
programs, gotta make sure those work.

Now they are ready for the competition. They would have to
send and receive, and reply to emails. 

Hopefully they would know how to set up their email program
to protect against attachments and pictures infecting them,
and if not they would have to learn. Not only that, but in
addition they would have to know weather or not to reply to
a email, because in today's game it could be a phish or
worse, a scam to get them to enter their personal info at a
fake bank site.

Ok, on to the rest of the challenges, like buying a product
and insuring the website used is safe. 

If the checkout does not have that lil' lock icon at the
bottom right, they could be in for trouble. Continuing on,
they have to visit a variety of  websites to gain knowledge
about a given subject, hopefully they wont pick up a 'drive
by download', resulting in a keylogger or a bot being
installed on the computer used to compete.

Another task would be to register at a forum or blog and
participate. Some programs that run forums and blogs are
susceptible to hacks, hopefully they wont lose their
personal info they gave when they registered to nefarious
users set to sabotage their computers.

Then it gets tough. They have to download and install a
program, something like a weather update service or maybe
one that tracks favorite sports scores. A lot of these are
loaded with spyware, adware or even malware.

At this point, some will have failed. They will have
forgotten to update their antivirus or said yes to a popup
that allowed some evil program to glean their passwords or
such. The show will be down to a few who were knowledgeable
enough beforehand or will have learned sufficiently while on
the show to stay in the running.

After the last commercial, its only a half hour show ya
know, it all climaxes with them visiting their bank to pay
bills and access their account balance. If they can safely
do this and not have given up their holy grail of
information, the bank account info, they will be the winner.

The prize? Vegas of course. After all, not insuring your
online security is gambling, and the house always wins. By
the way, who do you think they would pick to be the host of
the show? 

Me of course, I wrote the article! My lovely wife would be
the Vanna White style woman wearing my "Spywarebiz" t-shirt,
and telling the contestants what they have won.

About the Author: Doug Woodall has a website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com There he provides free
information and recommended products to combat
Spyware,Viruses and other Online Nasties.

Tags: antispyware, antivirus, computer security, spyware, virus
Current Location: California
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Doobies

Today, on most internet user's computers, we have the
ability to employ software, along with our intelligence, to
prevent viruses and spyware.

To put this article about online safety into proper perspective,
we'll use Medieval defense tactics.
 
This is accomplished by 3 methods. First, a firewall...'The
Castle Moat' so to speak. A firewall can't see inside your
computer beforehand though, so if any viruses or spyware
were present before the firewall was installed then its of
no use. Of course, its extremely good at preventing new
attacks.

Second, a anti-virus program.... 'The Castle Drawbridge!
They will not provide much help with spyware, but good virus
protection is as desirable as one of Avaris's dreams! 

One drawback can be the updates, of course. If you've just
updated Wednesday night and a virus hits the next day, then
you may not be protected till next Wednesday night, and by
then it may be too late. If you're smart, you will have
signed up for email alerts with the provider, or even
better, you'll have a anti-virus program that has a real
time update feature. 

I get the tingles when I see that little pop-up saying a
update is available and click here. Its downloaded
,installed, and updated in about 20 seconds! A new virus or
Trojan or God forbid, a new keylogger can hit the internet
and spread in a matter of days, and I'm sure this must make
the definition writers lives a living hell. 

I have great admiration for them as they could have been
wealthy doctors, but they have chosen to help us... the end
users. (moment of silence here)

Last, we have anti-spyware programs,'The Flaming oil'! (my
favorite). Their update features are like the anti-virus
programs, so you have to be as vigilant with this method of
defense too as you would be with the others. 

I've heard there are people out there that don't even know
when their updates run, or even if its configured to do so!
I refuse to believe this sordid rumor!

So you've got your defenses set up, you're looking good. But
the best defense is a good offense, attack! That's what some
organizations do. They prowl the net looking for websites
that harbor drive-by downloads, URL Re-Directing and such.
When they find them, they shut them down, or report them so
effective protection can be manufactured. 

These people have my sincere thanks for what they do. With
identity theft on the rise and Websense reporting that the
average computer has 28 items of Spyware on it, we need all
the help we can get. 

Oh sure, you're saying not my computer !

Well, lets discuss those little boxes that you click "I
Agree" to when you download something. Do you read the
entire statement? This is one way spyware has become so
rampant, because so many downloads have extra software
included in them. These can be harmful to your  computers
well being. KeyLoggers, popups, adware, malware...

Need I go on?

So my idea is that we need these shining knights from the
castle to journey forth on a quest. They will be little
robots or spiders like the search engines use. They will be
given absolute power over harmful programs they find. They
will be like Gort in the movie "The Day the Earth Stood
Still".

Dell recently reported that 12% of their calls were for
spyware damage, Microsoft says half of their reports of
system crashes are caused by spyware. These calls cost these
companies millions of dollars in revenue, which they then
pass the costs of onto us, the consumers.

Who knows, if viruses and spyware ever get controlled, the
average computer may only cost a dollar!

About the Author: Doug Woodall has a website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com There he provides free
information and recommended products to combat Spyware,
Viruses and other Online Nasties.

Tags: antispyware, antivirus, computer security, spyware, virus
Current Location: California
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Newest Eagles Song

The ships bell had just sounded the dogwatch as Captain Skag
began to check his email. He had just began to read his
favorite E-zine, "Pirates gone wild" when his first mate
burst into the cabin. "Captain, a dark ship approaches!"
He cried. 

The captain, after running up on deck, examined the ship
with his spyglass. "Shiver me hard drives" he bellowed as
he saw the lay of her jib. 

"Shes a wardriver! " (Note of historical Interest, a
Wardriver is a term used to describe a way of searching for
unsecure wireless networks.) 

"They be after plundering information on the ships server!
Quick me mateys, prepare to repel boarders." The crew
scrambled to turn their laptops off while the Captain rushed
to turn the wireless router off. 

Up on deck, the crew watched as the dark ship faded into the
night. 

The Captain had no sooner settled back at his computer when
again the cabin door burst open, this time it was the cook.
"Blimey Captain, all my recipes files are gone!" This was
bad news because the cooks famous secret recipe for chile con carne
was highly sought after since winning 1st place at the
Pirates ball last year. Thank the Kraken we have our
backups" the Captain growled. The cook, cursing, left. 

Well, back to my email the captain thought. He pushed the
send/receive button on his email client. "Blow me down" he
bellowed, (Pirate Captains bellow a lot) "Whats all 
this SPAM mail doing in my inbox?"

This was getting as back as a case of scurvy.

As he sat, his rage boiling, he became aware of a lot of
yelling coming from the crews quarters. "Now what" he
cursed as he made his way forward. Upon entering the crew
area he was assailed by a thunderous din of curses. (Pirates
curse a lot) 

The Spainiard was yelling he couldn't get his new game,
"Pirates Revenge " to load. The Italian couldn't get into his stock portfolio.
(Yes pirates have retirement plans too). The others were
drowned out by the first mate yelling about his Blog being Hacked.

As he surveyed the carnage, the captain noticed one of the
crewman sitting calmly, using his laptop with apparently no
problems. Bellowing loudly for quiet, he asked the crewman
who he now remembered came from the land of Unix, why he was
not upset. 

He looked up, and said "Why Captain, I've got a AntiVirus
program along with good AntiSpyware and a reliable Firewall. I'm
protected from brute force attacks, Phishing emails and
drive by downloads." He went on to say that it looked like the ships
server was accessed through the wireless router, which was not
secured with WEP (wired/wireless equivalent privacy). 

"Arrrgg", he bellowed, the IT dogs back at the Island
hideaway had told him all was peachy with the network when
they sailed to pilage and plunder. 

The crewman whose name was Billy said he could get things
ship shape by giving the other crewman the CD's of his
AntiSpyware, AntiVirus and his 3rd party Firewall.... for a
price! "Aye," the Captain replied wit a feeling of dread,
"Whats your price?" 

Soon all onboard were back online and secure. Billy had his
pockets stuffed with pieces of eight and of course, was
wearing the Captains hat, looking mighty pleased with his 
bargaining skills.

The Captain headed back to his cabin, worried that mutiny
may be afoot. He had heard Billy telling the crew about those
cursed Macs! 

The lesson learned here was obvious; You need to secure your
network. AntiVirus and AntiSpyware is a must, So is a
reliable Firewall. Anything less, you might as well be
walking the plank, Matey! 

Arrrrgggg!

About the Author: Doug Woodall has a website at
http://www.spywarebiz.com There he provides free information
and recommended products to combat Spyware, Viruses and
other Online Nasties. 

Tags: antispyware, antivirus, computer security, spyware, virus
Current Location: California
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Eagles newest