Lionheart Group Scam Prevention Toolkit

How Do The Bad Guys Use BitTorrent To Spread Their Malware?

May 23rd, 2010. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

If you are a person that is on the internet a lot then there is a good chance that you have heard of a technology called BitTorrent . You might not know what it does exactly but you have probably seen the name on some of the news sites that you visit. It has been a very controversial technology for a while now and, while its notoriety has been spreading, the software has been becoming ever more popular. While the technology itself, like all other technology, can be used for good and bad purposes by the average user, it is all of the sudden becoming a popular tool in the malware community. In the following article I will tell you what the technology does and why it is being used to spread malware around to unsuspecting computer users. BitTorrent And File Sharing Bittorrent is the name of the software and the protocol that allows you to share files quickly over the internet. Back in the day, you had to us a normal HTTP format to share files. The files would go from one location straight to the next place. With BitTorrent the file is split up and it is intended to be shared by a group of people. This way the file does not have to be downloaded completely by one person for him to share it with another person – they will just get the piece that he downloaded from someone else. There can be one or more seeders (people who have the original file) and a bunch of other people get the pieces from them. They get it piece by piece instead of all at the same time. With this system the file transfer goes quicker and everyone is able to get the most out of the bandwidth that is available. This technology is used for both legal and illegal file sharing which is the exact reason why it has been on the news lately. Spreading Malware Like any other technology, since it is becoming so popular, the bad guys are starting to use it more and more to deliver their malware. There have always been bad guys on the BitTorrent circuit but now there are more than ever. With certain attacks, they change the name of the files so that it confuses you and you download the wrong thing. They also hide the malware in illegally obtained software in the form of keygens or the executable itself. There have even been cases where they hide the malware in .pdf files . There are a lot of web sites that use BitTorrent to share their legal files so the technology is not going away anytime soon. This means that if you want to use the technology to get a file that you want you are going to have to take some precautions. There are certain precautions that you can take and they are the same precautions that you should employ any other time you download an unknown file from the internet. You must have an updated antivirus scanner and run it over everything that you download from BitTorrent sites – I would guess that maybe 99% of the items will come up clean but it is that other 1% that you have to worry about. If you scan everything that you download, you should be able to stop any problem before it is too late How Do The Bad Guys Use BitTorrent To Spread Their Malware? is a post from: Security FAQs

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How Do The Bad Guys Use BitTorrent To Spread Their Malware?

Can I Limit My Exposure To Malware By Reading Web Site RSS Feeds?

May 18th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

When you think of getting information off of a web page you usually think of it being a simple process – you type the URL of the site that you want to go to in the browser, go to the web page, and then read the content that is on the page. It sounds simple, right? Most of the time it is, but there are times when this is not so simple. Inside of the code that made it possible for you to read the page that you are looking at could be lurking some dangerous malware. Malware can be easily picked up and hidden on a web page. So, unless it is a trusted site, then you are taking a chance that nothing is going to happen to your computer when you actually visit the page. But there are other ways that you can get the information off of the site as well. Subscribe To Your Favourite Sites Via RSS You can use a technology called RSS that will allow you to see the content as well, at least most of the time. Some web pages will limit the amount of lines that the RSS feed shows so that you will be forced to visit the web page itself (this is typically because they are afraid of having their content scraped) . Other RSS feeds will only give you the title of the story that is being discussed – you must, again, visit the web page to get the full details. But by far, most web pages will allow you to read the entire story in the RSS feed itself. They may show little ads in the RSS feed so that they can provide you the content while at the same time they are still able to get paid. RSS Feed Reading May Be Safer If you are reading the information about the web page on an RSS feed then this means that you are less vulnerable to an attack as the majority of attacks happen when you are exposed to the code that is on the actual web page itself. With an RSS feed the actual page is not going to your browser, it is only the content of the site that is being delivered to you. Keep in mind; even though it may be safer to receive the content like this, it is not fool proof. If someone wanted to, they could easily attack the RSS feed as well. The main reason that this is safer at this point is because attackers do not bother with it. There are not that many reported attacks when it comes to the RSS feed. Even though RSS feeds are not one hundred percent safe, they seem to be safer than visiting the actual web page. So if you want to make sure that your computer is not attacked, try subscribing to the RSS feed of a site instead. Can I Limit My Exposure To Malware By Reading Web Site RSS Feeds? is a post from: Security FAQs

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Can I Limit My Exposure To Malware By Reading Web Site RSS Feeds?

Latest Coupons For Panda Offer Discounts Of Up To 40% On Their Security Products

May 17th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Panda really do offer good value on their range of internet security products and, luckily for any of you thinking of buying any, that value just got much, much better. I just received an email from Panda which contains the following links in order to get yourself some pretty impresive discounts on their key security products. Check them out now – Coupon USA : Panda Global Protection 2010 – 40% OFF – Exp. 05-31-2010 Coupon USA : Panda Internet Security 2010 – 40% OFF – Exp. 05-31-2010 Coupon USA : Panda Anti-Virus 2010 – 30% OFF – Exp. 05-31-2010 Coupon USA : Antivirus for Netbooks – 20% OFF – Exp. 05-31-2010 Coupon : Panda Active Scan 2.0 Pro – 10% rebate – Exp. 05-31-2010 If you take advantage of any of the great discounts above then please do let me know how you get on with the products. Latest Coupons For Panda Offer Discounts Of Up To 40% On Their Security Products is a post from: Security FAQs

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Latest Coupons For Panda Offer Discounts Of Up To 40% On Their Security Products

Are You Aware That The Biggest Security Threat May Come From Inside Your Workplace?

May 14th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

When a person first starts out in the world of being a cyber security expert, they have a different impression then they will have leaving the job. Their impressions are like most people and it is understandable. We get our ideas about hackers, and the threat that a computer contains, from Hollywood movies. They teach you that super smart hackers are able to infiltrate your system in little to no time at all. They also show that all attacks come from the other side of the planet by either some Russian or Chinese kid. Security Breaches Often Come From The Inside In reality, that is only a small portion of the problem when it comes to a company’s network security being breached. Usually the culprit can be found to be someone who either works there or has been fired recently. Basically if you have ever seen the movie Office Space then you will have a pretty good idea of how most cyber security breaches happen. In the movie a disgruntled employee and a couple of his friends find a way to be able to steal money from the company by using a piece of software that they wrote. This is how a great deal of breaches happen, yet people are mostly focused on protecting the network from users on the outside. This is very short sighted and can have dangerous consequences. Dealing With Internal Threats If you are an IT administrator, or the company’s security expert , then you must realize that you will need to have policies regulating the threat from inside of the network. There’s needs to be a hierarchy so that only the people who need a piece of information can access it. Not everyone that works at a company needs to have the power to access every file. Also third party USB thumb drives and DVD disks should not be allowed on the system. This is the perfect way to be able to infect a computer that is on the network (see the Conficker virus ) . If these types of portable media are allowed, they need to be heavily regulated. The problems that can occur from one of these devices is astronomical. Of course guarding your network from threats that are outside of the network is vital in keeping a happy and secured work place. Keeping that vector of attack safe is a full time job within itself. But if you are not protecting your network from threats that are inside of it, then you are not doing your job. Never give your workers 100% complete faith when they are working behind the network. A worker having one bad day can hurt your company for weeks and maybe even longer. Are You Aware That The Biggest Security Threat May Come From Inside Your Workplace? is a post from: Security FAQs

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Are You Aware That The Biggest Security Threat May Come From Inside Your Workplace?

How Can RAM Scrapers Be Used To Steal Your Company’s Data?

May 11th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

When you are dealing with cyber security you can almost have the same frame of mind as a general at war who is dealing with a smaller but versatile enemy. You have to worry about and guard every vector that can be used for an attack. The enemy only has to find one small crack in your infrastructure and they are able to do damage. This may not seem like it is fair but it is the reality of the situation. There are so many devices that are out now that can used against your network that it is almost too much to regulate. RAM Scrapers One of the new ways of attack that hackers have found, is that they can breach a system through the use of Ram Scrapers. Ram scrappers is actually a name that Verizon came up with, to describe a popular attack that is now making the rounds. It involves a piece of software that can be used to collect data. The data that it uses comes from items with volatile memory. Volatile memory is what most people would label Ram. Hence the name Ram scrappers. The way that Ram is supposed to work is that the data, when requested, is moved from the hard drive to Ram. After it goes to Ram, it then follows the path and heads to the register. After that it gets to the CPU. Ram is supposed to erase all data after it has no more electricity flowing through it. This helps solve the problem of old Ram sticks causing security breaches. Intercepting Data En Route The attackers have found a way to intercept the data that is going from the Ram to the registers. This allows them to capture the data that they unencrypted. There is a good reason why the hackers want the data that is coming out of the Ram of a device. Especially the most targeted device, a POS system. The letters POS stand for Point of Sale and are the computer systems used by retailers. When you are able to get a Ram Scraper into one of these devices, you are then able to get the data that you need readable and unencrypted. Hackers found the weak point and exploited it the best that they could. It has now become a serious problem and more research is being done to figure out how to stop it. The technique is used in more places than just a grocery store’s cash register. It can be used in atm’s and casino machines as well. This is just one of the many new attacks that a security professional has to be on the lookout for. It is hard to keep constant vigilance against so many types of threats but for right now, it is the best that we can do. How Can RAM Scrapers Be Used To Steal Your Company’s Data? is a post from: Security FAQs

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How Can RAM Scrapers Be Used To Steal Your Company’s Data?

Why You Need To Ensure That Your Company’s Database Is Secured From Two Types Of Threat

May 9th, 2010. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

One of the most important things that we deal with on a daily basis is data. As we have lived through the bronze age, and the industrial age, so this era is known as the information age. The Rise Of The Database Since this is the case, the database has become one of the most useful software tools around. No matter if it is a relational database or a flat file, any software that has the ability to store and organize information has become uniquely important. Most companies now run database software to handle the data that is both generated and received by their business. An owner or manager must be sure that this data is being handled in a safe, secured fashion. If not, they might find all of their industrial secrets are out there for the world to see. There are a couple of things that you must be aware of when you have a database system on your network. First, you must be aware of what the hacker could be looking for and, secondly, the different types of vectors for attack. These are not small details either. The Two Motives For Database Hacking Most hackers these days, when they break into someone’s computer network, are looking for two things that will bring them a lot of profit. They are looking for either business information or personal information. Information like this on a company’s server has a lot of value to it. So the manager must be aware and secure the system in a proper way. Usually that would mean bringing in a professional to do the job. A big worry for a manager is the different ways that the system can be attacked. You will have to worry about both the online and the physical world trying to get into your system. I think it is obvious, when we talk about online, what we are talking about. This is the type of stuff that you see in movies. A hacker sitting in his room or office, trying to do several different things to break into a system from a remote location. Most security professionals that you bring in to work for you will know how to take care of that kind of problem. Another concern that they might look past is the co workers that are at the job. A disgruntled employee is a very serious risk when it comes to protecting your database data. The one thing that is worse than a profit motive to steal your data is a personal one. Instead of just stealing your data, they might try to destroy the whole system. That is why the professional that you bring in must be aware on how to stop someone from killing the database in this manner. There are several reasons why people would want to get the information off of your database. It is you job to make sure that you hire the right people to stop them. Why You Need To Ensure That Your Company’s Database Is Secured From Two Types Of Threat is a post from: Security FAQs

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Why You Need To Ensure That Your Company’s Database Is Secured From Two Types Of Threat

How Can I Choose A Completely Safe BitTorrent Client?

May 7th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Even though the standard has been around for almost nine years, the world of BitTorrents is still a mysterious thing to a lot of people. When it comes to downloading files off of the internet, most people still use the traditional way of going to a web site and just downloading the file like they would normally do. Some people who may be a little more technically inclined may use one of the file sharing services like Kazaa to download files off of the net. But if you are a person that really knows computers then there are two ways that you are going to go – either use the Usenet service that has been around for ages or use bittorrent. Going Underground Even though bittorrent still remains somewhat an underground phenomenon, it is still popular enough that people make many versions of the client. Since the bittorrent client is an open protocol, anyone who feels like it can make their own version of it and can build it and use it themselves. Software and protocols being open like this is usually a good thing but there have been some bad guys that have tried to take advantage of this. They have created their own version of a bittorrent client and use it to spread malware to unsuspecting users’ computers. The tainted software does this by either pretending to be a real client when it isn’t, or it is a real client but it sends unauthorized downloads to your computer. Either way, both of these tricks can give a new user to bittorrent a bad impression about the software and the overall community itself. So, to make sure that you download a client that is safe, here is what you should do – The first thing that you can do to make sure that your client is safe is to go to a site that is well known and retrieve the client from there. If you look at a web site such as download.com or any other like that, you will find dozens of bittorrent clients waiting to be downloaded. This way you know the software is safe and has been tested. Peer Recommendations Another thing that you can do is to go and visit some forums to see what clients they are using. Ask the people for a link and you will surely be able to come up with a decent client to use. Once you start trying to find out what client you want to use, you will hear certain names that come up over and over again. Try a couple of these clients and see which one that you like the best. When a new person is entering the world of downloading torrents there is a steep learning curve to get past. Learning how to pick a safe client to use should not be on that list. Once you have a client remember also that there are some dangers inherent in downloading torrents . How Can I Choose A Completely Safe BitTorrent Client? is a post from: Security FAQs

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How Can I Choose A Completely Safe BitTorrent Client?

New PDF Flaw Leads To The Zeus Botnet

May 6th, 2010. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

When a hacker wants to create a botnet they will use a million and one ways to get it done. So far, in the age of botnets, there have been no tricks that they haven’t pulled. They will use any means necessary to be able to spread their warez around to people’s computers. Most people or groups who make malware focus only on a couple of ways to distribute it across the internet whereas it would seem that the people or groups who like to build up their botnets will go to any lengths possible. That is why they are so hard to pin down. The Zeus Botnet Now they are using an Adobe PDF flaw so that they are able to spread their malware to everyone. This flaw was recently discovered but since we know of several hacks and exploits that are available through the PDF format, we are sure to see more to come. The botnet that is using this flaw in the PDF software is called Zeus and they have a pretty ingenious way of accomplishing this. They accomplish this goal by having a person download the infected PDF file. Once the PDF file is downloaded, the person has to click on the file to activate it. Once that file is clicked, they are asked to download another PDF to their computer. The file claims that it is a PDF but in reality it is really an EXE file. If you are a Windows user, then you should be familiar in what an .exe file is – these are the files that will execute a program on your computer. This file does the same thing; it is executing a piece of malware, which is another name for bad behaving software, onto your computer. Once the malware is installed your computer will automatically become part of the botnet. The Consequences Of Being Trapped In A Botnet Once your computer is part of the botnet it will start to do things such as send out spam or deliver a DDOS attack to a server on the internet. Your computer is now part of a big web of computers that are performing criminal behavior around the web. The worst thing about it is that you may never know that it is going on – the one thing that people that run botnets know how to do is to hide the software that they put on your computer. They do not want you to be able to discover that their software is on your computer. If you do, then most likely you will try to get it fixed and that leaves them with one less computer as part of their botnet. So it is in their best interests to try and not do any damage to your computer. Most likely all the new updates to antivirus software out there will have the patches to find this new exploit – this is why you must keep your software updated at all times. If you do not, then a piece of malware like this may be able to sneak up on you. New PDF Flaw Leads To The Zeus Botnet is a post from: Security FAQs

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New PDF Flaw Leads To The Zeus Botnet

The Basic Anatomy Of A Program And How It Can Take Over Your System

May 3rd, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

There is a big mystery when it comes to the world of programming and how a program actually operates. If the person that you are trying to explain the system to is not a programmer then it is hard to put what is happening behind the scenes of the computer in abstract terms. Even a lot of programmers have trouble digesting what is going on behind the scenes, especially if they work on a language that is several layers above the “metal”. The “metal” is a term that is used when we are describing the hardware parts of the computer. Usually this means the actual CPU and motherboard. When a program runs on the computer, is actually going through several layers before it can execute. I can give you a brief synopsis on how this works and then follow it up with an explanation of how this can lead into someone taking over your computer. Execution When you first start up a program, most of the time the data is just sitting on your hard drive. We will think of it as “sleeping” on your hard drive. Once you click on the button, you are waking the program up. When you wake the program up, you are placing the data into the memory. Another name for memory is ram. Ram actually stands for Random Access Memory. Once the data is there, it is stored and then released to the CPU. But before it goes to the CPU, it must make a stop into two to three caches, depending on the quality of the motherboard. The more caches, the better. These caches are known as L1, L2, and L3. The L3 cache is bigger than the L2. The L2 is bigger than the L1. The data goes through the caches and ends at L1. Once there, it goes into a register and then to the actual CPU to be executed. This may seem like a lot of processes for a single piece of data, but your computer is so fast that you will not notice. The only time that you see a lag in the system is when there is a large amount of data trying this process at once. Once it gets to the CPU, you then witness the magic on your screen. Now that you know how the program executes, you might be wondering how a bad program can ruin this process. Messing With The Memory Well, there are many ways that this can happen but one of the more popular is by messing with the memory . A talented black hat hacker can change the flow of the program by placing something in the memory that is not supposed to be there. Usually this is extra data that causes the computer to skip to a part of memory that is not supposed to, giving a program permissions that it is not supposed to have. These part of the memory that we are referring to is known as the “address”. This is usually the more complicated of attacks. Most attacks are not this complicated but do a lot less damage than this type can. Hopefully I have given you a basic understanding of how your computer works and how the wrong program can do bad things. Once a rogue program is in the memory, it can spell disaster. The Basic Anatomy Of A Program And How It Can Take Over Your System is a post from: Security FAQs

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The Basic Anatomy Of A Program And How It Can Take Over Your System

How Can I Protect My Gmail Account?

May 2nd, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

For most people, even though it is still an older technology, email is still the number one way that they do business in the world of the internet. They are used to the ability of checking the account whenever they want and they still might not be comfortable with the real time aspects of most newer communication applications that are out there. Sure, email may be a slower way to communicate than some of the newer applications, but it is still one of the most effective ways to get your message across. Email Accounts Are Appealing To Black Hat Hackers But… black hat hackers know that a lot of people still use email as their main form of communication, so they have focused their latest attacks in getting past this road block. In particular they have focused on getting past the security barriers that are layed down by Google. Google’s Gmail service is one of the most popular email services out there and because of that, it has become a target. When you are dealing with Gmail or any other email accounts, you have to be careful who can gain access to it. There are a couple of steps that you can take to make sure that no one but you is able to access the account. Do not give the log in information to anyone else, or most of these techniques will be rendered moot. The first thing that you want to do before you try to protect your password, is to make sure that you have your reset password details set. In case you are hacked, you can let Google know that you are the real owner by answering a few questions. If you are not able to answer these questions, or if they are not set, then you will not be able to access the account. So make sure that you have this feature set. Password Security Is Paramount After that is done, make sure that you have a password that will not be easy to guess . When creating the password, use symbols, numbers, and Capitalized letters. Also make sure that the word is not a dictionary word. Using all of these precautions, you will be able to keep the attacker from guessing the password. Another thing that you should do, is to access GMail from as few locations as possible. Do not access your account from a public computer if possible. Some people forget to log out when they do this regularly and people are able to get in and see your information. When you log into Gmail, if anything seems off, you can check the IP address of whoever logged in last. At the bottom of the page, Google has set up a feature that is called “Last Known Activity”. You can check this to see if anyone besides you has access your account. To check your IP, go to WhatsmyIP.com and compare it to the ones that are listed on Google. Keep in mind that if you logged in from a remote place, such as work, it will give a different address. Or if you have an ISP that uses dynamic IP addresses, it will not be as effective as well. These are a couple of ways that you can protect your email . Make sure that you use them. How Can I Protect My Gmail Account? is a post from: Security FAQs

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How Can I Protect My Gmail Account?

What Is The Lebanese Loop?

March 5th, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

The number of instances of ATM fraud around the world is on the increase, and it represents a huge drain on profits for the banks, as well as a major inconvenience for the victims. One method of ATM fraud that you should be aware of, so that you can avoid it, is known as ‘The Lebanese Loop’. Here’s how this fraud is committed – The unsuspecting victim inserts their card into the ATM as normal. However, the machine will report back that the service is currently unavailable. Unfortunately, their card is not returned. Conveniently, a stranger happens to be passing by and stops to offer some ‘helpful advice’ – they will say that they experienced the exact same problem very recently but worked out how to get their card back. They will then go on to say that all they did, and all you have to now do, is enter your PIN number twice and then press ‘cancel’ and the card will then be returned. If the victim doesn’t realise what is going on here then they may well follow these instructions, only to find that their card is not returned. Moving on, they resolve to contact their bank later in order to retrieve their card. After the victim has left the ATM, the helpful stranger will show their true colours by removing the plastic bag that they hard hidden in the ATM’s card slot. What they had done was to capture the bank card in a manner that allowed the ATM to realise a card was present whilst not being able to read the data on it, hence the error message given to the victim. After ‘looping’ the card out, the scammer is then free to withdraw as much money as they wish as the victim has very kindly showed them their PIN number – twice! Remember, never accept help from strangers where bank or credit cards are concerned – you just can’t be sure of their motives. What Is The Lebanese Loop? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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What Is The Lebanese Loop?

Why You Should Beware Of Dance Studio Scams

February 15th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Dancing can either be a fun pastime or, for some gifted people, a great career opportunity. Dance studios can cater to both types of dancer, though they tend to be aimed more at those who are looking to have fun and socialise rather than pursue a career. Students can learn new techniques and have fun at a dance studio but they should, perhaps, be a little wary when signing up.. Dance studios generate large amounts of money for those who run them and so, just as with most types of business, scam artists become involved in a small number of them. HOW DANCING STUDIO SCAMS ARE COMMITTED Dance studios don’t tend to allow students to come and go as they please, preferring to organise agreements for minimum periods instead. Clients will be signed up for a certain amount of time, typically a year or more, during which will they be contractually obligated to continue paying fees. Dance studios that are looking to earn as much as they can from their clients then find ways of using those contracts, including adding terms and conditions that compel their students to make purchases of training materials or equipment solely through them or an agent of their choice (who will undoubtedly be giving them a nice kickback) . Additionally, such contracts may also compel clients into paying additional fees too, such as a contribution towards the cost of the venue, or for extra training sessions. Funnily enough, a lot of these ‘extras’ will either be unwanted or will go unused. HOW TO AVOID DANCING STUDIO SCAMS As with everything in life, common sense is key. Before joining a dance studio be sure to check them out and ask questions. Speak to people who are already members as well as searching for the studio on the internet. Whilst you shouldn’t believe everything you read it will be worth investigating any complaints you see or hear. Here are some ideas of the types of question you should be asking before joining a dance studio – What is the cost per dancing lesson? Will there be a need to pay for extra materials or lessons? What are the total costs of the contract? Are there any advance payments or deposits required? Will there be monthly or annual fee increases during the term of the contract? How many lessons you are paying for, when are they held and how long do they last? Can you cancel early and what would be the cost of doing so? Is your payment protected if the studio goes out of business? Check whether the answers to those questions will be contained in the contract and, before signing the contract, it may be worth consulting with an attorney to verify that you are clear on what you are paying for and what rights you have. Enjoy your dancing! Why You Should Beware Of Dance Studio Scams is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Why You Should Beware Of Dance Studio Scams

Oops, I Pressed *Esc

February 8th, 2010. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

The following email has been circulating around the internet in many guises for several years, but I still find it amusing. Dear Microsoft Technical Support, I am desperate for some help. I recently upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 and found that the new program began giving unexpected errors and also took up a lot of space and valuable resources. This wasn’t mentioned in the product brochure. In addition Wife 1.0 installs itself into all other programs and launches during system initialization where it monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Boys Night Out 2.5, and Cricket 5.3 no longer run and crash the system whenever selected. Attempting to operate Saturday Sports Bar 6.3 always fails but Saturday Shopping 7.1 runs instead. I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background whilst attempting to run any of my favorite applications. I am thinking about going back to Girlfriend7.0 but uninstall doesn’t work on this program. With regards, ……………….. THE REPLY: – This is a very common problem resulting from a basic misunderstanding. Many men upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 thinking that Wife 1.0 is merely a UTILITIES & ENTERTAINMENT program. Whereas Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM designed by its creator to run everything. You are unlikely to be able to purge Wife 1.0 and still convert back to Girlfriend 7.0 as Wife 1.0 is not designed to do this and it is impossible to uninstall, delete or purge the program files from the system once installed. Some people have tried to install Girlfriend 8.0 or wife 2.0 but have ended up with even more problems. (See in manual under alimony Support and Solicitors Fees). Having Wife 1.0 installed myself I recommend you keep it installed and deal with the difficulties as best you can. When any faults or problems occur, whatever you think has caused them, you must run the C: I APOLOGISE.bat program and avoid attempting to use the *Esc-key. It may be necessary to run C: I APOLOGISE.bat a number of times but hopefully eventually the operating system will return to normal. Wife 1.0 although a very high maintenance program can be very rewarding. To get the most out of it consider buying additional software such as Flowers 2.0 and Chocolates 5.0. Do not under any circumstances install Secretary36.24.36 (Short Skirt version) as this is not a supported application for Wife 1.0 and the system will almost certainly crash. Thank you for using the program!! I received the latest version this morning and it reminded me why I’m getting divorced.. I just couldn’t bring myself to run the I APOLGISE.bat program which she requested, even when she was the one in the wrong If you haven’t been able to work it out, the above is, of course, an email hoax and not a genuine reply from Microsoft. Oops, I Pressed *Esc is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Oops, I Pressed *Esc

A Top 5 List Of The Most Common Security Hoaxes On The Internet

February 1st, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Most people tend to ignore the email that may appear in their spam folders, with good reason of course. Sometime, if you are expecting an email and it hasn’t appeared yet, you may check the spam folder to make sure that it didn’t end up in there. Otherwise you will just most likely ignore it. Sometimes, the opposite might happen and a piece of spam email may appear in your normal inbox. The spammers will find a way to circumvent the filters. So now that it is in your normal email inbox, you will tend to trust it a little bit more. It will tell you a story that may come off as a serious piece of news or a rumor that is going around. It may sound credible or it might sound crazy, the main thing that the email wants you to do, is to click on the link. Once you click on that link, they have won the battle. Dangerous Places It’s not the email itself that is dangerous, its the place that it is sending you to. There are a lot of hoaxes that are discovered everyday floating around the Internet. These new stories are passed around, just to see what sticks. Along with the new ones, there are some that have been around forever. They are still used by hackers and spammers, because people will continuously click on them. They are worded just right, so that they do their job and make people click on to somewhere they do not want to be. They may think that by clicking the link, they are getting the rest of the story, but in reality, they are being sent somewhere that will damage their computer. Some of these hoaxes have been around for years. At this point, maybe even decades. No matter how many warnings are given, people still tend to click on them. As long as that happens, they will never stop. The Top 5 Email Hoaxes Here are some of the top five email hoaxes that are being spread around on the Internet – A.I.D.s virus – this hoax tells people that they have to be aware of email messages that state “OPEN: VERY COOL” or “aolfree.com”. It then ask you to warn everyone in your message book. Evocash – This hoax sends a false alert, saying that it contains a worm. It doesn’t but the page that it sends you to might. Just delete it. John Kennedy Jr – This is another one that tells you to watch out for a virus being spread by a screensaver called “John Kennedy Jr”. Big Brother – This is an old hoax, that comes around every year while the show big brother is on. This is another one to just delete and not pay attention to. PANDEMIC COMPUTER VIRUS – This is another that tells users about a fake computer virus, called “Microshaft”. Again this is not real and you should not pay attention to what it says. These are the 5 most common email hoaxes that are out there. If you see any of these hoaxes, to not be concerned. Simply take your delete key in your email and use it. Do not click on any links or take any actions that these emails may suggest to you. A Top 5 List Of The Most Common Security Hoaxes On The Internet is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Johnny Depp Killed By Malware. Savvy?

January 25th, 2010. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

There is a story currently going around the internet that claims that Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp is dead. Don’t believe it! The reports about Depp’s supposed death are nothing new, having first been spotted way back in 2004 – Johnny Depp dies after fatal car crash BORDEAUX, France (CNN) — Johnny Depp’s car was found along side a road outside Bordeaux, France, with the guard rail embedded deep inside the car. If you click on that link you’ll be taken to what looks like a real page from CNN about the actor. If you read past the first few paragraphs, however, you’ll discover that the story is in fact about some British divers working in France. Whoever was behind the original hoax simply changed the start of the story to create their hoax. So how does this link into malware? Well, hackers watch the internet for trends and the story of Depp’s supposed death was certainly hot over the weekend. If you go Googling for news then there are now sites popping up about the alleged tragedy that contain links to videos… or so it seems. Over to Graham Cluley from Sophos for a better demonstration of where the malware may come from – You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video So, remember, stories of Johhny Depp’s demise are very much a hoax, just like previous ones about Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson dying in car crashes. Johnny Depp Killed By Malware. Savvy? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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The Conficker Worm Proved To Be The Biggest Problem In 2009

January 14th, 2010. Published under Scams. No Comments.

One thing about the year 2009 is that it saw it’s share of online threats. As a matter of fact, there were probably more threats seen in 2009 than in any year prior. There are more and more hackers that are seeing the financial benefits that can be made by introducing new exploits to the average computer user. Also, there are a lot more hacker kits that are available. They allow a person who is not skilled in creating an exploit to have the ability to use one anyway. All of these factors mixed together made 2009 and dangerous year on the Internet. The Conficker Worm None of the threats  that were out there caused more problems than the conficker worm. This worm took traction in 2009 and wouldn’t stop. The conficker worm could be easily one of the worse infections that has spread through the Internet for the entire decade, not just 2009. First found in the wild at the end of 2008, this worm quickly spread to users of the Microsoft Windows operating system family. After the worm was first discovered, it was hard to stop the infection on user’s computers because the worm itself kept transforming. The creators of the worm would monitor recent developments that would hopefully help stop the spread of it and they adjusted accordingly. This is part of the reason why the worm goes by so many different names. Besides Conflicker, it also known as Downup and the Kido worm. The worm was able to spread so much and so quick that Microsoft offered a huge bounty on the heads of whoever wrote the worm. They were determined to eliminate the threat if not by technology, then through old fashion police work. They were able to discover what region of the world the worm was originating from, but they were not able to find the person or persons responsible for it. Antivirus Avoidance For a long time, antivirus software was not able to get rid of every variant of the worm. Now they all claim to be able to detect and dispose of the worm on a users system. This seems to be true since the spread of the worm has rapidly decreased in the last couple of months. The worm was so successful that there is no doubt that the creators of it are working on a 2.0 version. Since they haven’t been caught, they get the chance to work on all of the mistakes they made. This time, they can make it even more untraceable. Out of all the malware that was released in the past year, the Conficker worm proved to be the biggest pest. It was able to baffle network administrators and security professionals everywhere. The Conficker Worm Proved To Be The Biggest Problem In 2009 is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products

December 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Everybody wants to feel safe and secure when surfing the internet and the best way to achieve that goal is through having quality products protecting your computer. That means an antivirus program at the very least and quite possibly a full internet security suite. One of the most notable security vendors is Trend Micro who have today announced a 30% price reduction on many of their products. Make it a Merry Christmas for both of us by bagging a great discount whilst earning me a commission To benefit from this great discount just use the coupons below between December 25th and January 10th – For United States customers Save 30% off Trend Micro Internet Security! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Save 30% off Trend Micro Antivirus plus AntiSpyware 2010! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Save 30% on Trend Micro Internet Security Pro! Coupon Code: shoptrendm For my fellow Brits Save 30% on Trend Micro Home & Home Office products! Coupon Code: shoptrendm For everyone else Spar 30% av Trend Micros hele linjen av Home og Home Office-produkter! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Bespaar 30% van de gehele lijn van Trend Micro’s van Thuis en Thuiskantoor producten! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Sconto del 30% della intera linea di Trend Micro Home & Home Office prodotti! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Économisez 30% de toute la ligne de Trend Micro of Home & Home Office produits! Acheter maintenant Sparen Sie 30% der gesamten Linie von Trend Micro Home & Home Office Produkte! Coupon Code: shoptrendm Trend Micro Announces 30% Discount On Internet Security Products is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Investor Scam

December 21st, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Finding someone to invest in your ideas in this day and age isn’t easy. You develop a new idea, a unique plan or a superb niche which you think could earn you a good income, but you don’t have the money to put it into fruition. So what do you do? You look for people, who are willing to invest in your idea. You should remember though, that there are many scammers lurking out there on the internet. Therefore, be very careful before disclosing your plans to anybody, especially someone whom you have just met on the internet. Forums Something that fraudsters have begun doing is visiting forums, communities, and announcement boards, and posting that they have cash waiting to invest in new products or ideas. The victim thinks his luck is in, gets talking to the scammer and reveals all his plans in the process (scam artists are very good listeners after all!). Afterwards, the scammer disappears and never returns, leaving the victim thinking that maybe their idea wasn’t as attractive as they first thought. On the contrary, however, the scammer WAS interested. ‘Investor’ Turns Copycat So much so that he has extracted all the information required to go and implement the plan himself without the need to partner with the victim at all. If you are looking for an investor the best plan is to give them as few details as possible at first until you are sure you can fully trust them. Even then, ensure you have genuine contact details for them, not just free email accounts and mobile phone numbers. It may even be worth getting them to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement before divulging the best parts of your plans in order to retain your usefulness in the bargain. Investor Scam is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Have Researchers Found A Way To Bypass Microsoft Bitlocker Security Technology?

December 18th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

In the last several iterations of the Microsoft Windows operating system they have touted the availability of higher security on the system. The newer security features included the forced nag screen that came up when installing a program that could be harmful to your computer. Also, the new command that you must have administrative access to be able to change certain settings that could damage the computer. One security feature that was praised above all was the Bitlocker system. You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video This technology allowed people to encrypt their hard drives in case it was stolen. It now seems that the technology has a flaw that allows it to be bypassed. The security test lab named Fraunhofer SIT discovered a way that they could get around the Bitlocker encryption. The way that they bypass the system is completely software based and requires physical access to the machine. It involves booting the system with Bitlocker on it from a separate device. This device can be a USB drive or another computer. Once it is ready, the attacker can then replace the boot code of the Bitlocker system with a piece of code that records the user provided key. Once that key is recorded ,the person is able to reboot the system back to its unmodified state. This attack even works if a person has the Trusted Platform Module turned on. The Trusted Platform Module is another part of the Microsoft security system that until now was not able to be bypassed. I’ve obviously made this sound simpler than it is as I don’t want to be teaching anyone how to do this but, in reality, it is far from simple. It is very involved and not at all easy to pull off. Overall the Bitlocker security system is still a very safe way to encrypt your files and folders. They did not find a way to break the actual encryption, they merely found a way to bypass it. You will not have to worry about your average attacker knowing how to do anything this complicated. The system is still very secured and should keep you worry free. Have Researchers Found A Way To Bypass Microsoft Bitlocker Security Technology? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Inheritance Scams

December 16th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

If you receive an email, or notification via regular mail, from an ‘estate locator’ claiming that there may be an unclaimed inheritance to which you are entitled then don’t get excited too quickly. Sure, there are times when someone dies and leaves a sum of money to people who didn’t know them, or didn’t expect to inherit anything from them, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule. So, if you do receive such a notification from an ‘estate locator’ suggesting that you have an inheritance due then remember that if something sounds too good to be true it typically is. THE INHERITANCE CON Con artists will adopt any scheme that they think will part a fool from his money. They will tell you that you are due an inheritance and that they have found you by undertaking extensive research. Don’t feel flattered that they have found you though – inheritance scammers bulk mail the same message to hundreds, or even thousands, of people at the same time, hoping that one or two may reply. Those people who do reply are then enticed into a classic advanced fee scam , being told that they need to pay for various expenses before they can claim their inheritance. Such fees can include estate reports, legal costs and processing fees. Needless to say, this money disappears without a trace and no inheritance is ever forthcoming. PREVENTION Keeping yourself safe from inheritance scams is relatively easy and just requires some commonsense. If you receive mail from an ‘estate locator’ then check sources other than the ones they quote to you, such as relatives and obituaries. Additionally, business services such as the BBB and the AG’s office could tell you if you are being approached by an individual or company that has been investigated in connection with inheritance scams. Remember too that legitimate law firms and executors of wills will never require you to pay a fee in order to determine whether you are entitled to an inheritance or not. If you have been unfortunate enough to become a victim of such a scheme then report it to the authorities so that others do not have to experience the same fate. Inheritance Scams is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Safety Tips For Twitter

December 14th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

So, you know how to stay safe on Facebook . What about Twitter though? You do have a Twitter account, right? That may be a question that isn’t even worth asking these days. After all, having a Twitter account has become almost as common as having an email account. Twitter is one of the best social networking services available on Internet. Tweeting tweets has become as necessary as breathing for some people (you know who you are!) People can use Twitter from a variety of locations and many different devices. I, for instance, I use my mobile phone for reading tweets at work, though I much prefer my desktop computer when it comes to writing anything. Twitter Social With Twitter, the way people socialize has completely changed. Now people prefer to share their thoughts and their daily activities on Twitter with their friends. Twitter is so much different from other Social Networking services. In other social networks people cannot read your status messages and bio details unless they are in your friends list. But in Twitter, you can follow absolutely anyone. Following means that you can read their tweets regardless or whether or not they follow you back. The implication of this is that Twitter exposes you to a far greater part of the social internet than other services. Twitter And Shortened URLs For this reason Twitter users need to be more cautious and careful while they are Tweeting. Since each tweet needs to be kept to a maximum of 140 characters people use URL shorteners to shorten them. With shortened URLs you are, under normal circumstances, completely unaware of the web site that they will take you to until you click on them. For that reason it is highly advised to either click on only those links which are posted by known members or to use a service which will reveal the real URL behind a shortened one. Twitter Passwords You also need to guard your Twitter password too. There are number of Twitter applications which can make your tweeting easier and more interesting. Most of these applications request access to your account for information. Before you actually allow any application to crawl into your account, do some basic research about that application in order to ensure your security level. Ensure that you are following a real person or a firm instead of a spammer because you do not want to end up reading junk or following people who link out to malicious web sites. Keep Your Tweets Close To Your Chest Never reveal too much about yourself on a social network. That applies to Twitter as well as all the alternatives. Identity thieves are now using social networking sites and the more info you give them the easier their job becomes. There have been cases where identity thieves have hacked into accounts on some social networks and then attempted to use the information available through them to trick friends of the account holder into sending money. If you are a parent, you need to educate your kid about all the risky elements involved in Twitter. Convince your kids to come to you whenever they see or read a subject which they are not supposed to. I have seen children giving away their personal information and photographs on Twitter. As I parent I wouldn’t want to see my kids doing that! Ensure that your kids set their profile as a private one. Also make sure your kids allow you to view their tweets from time to time so that you can be sure they are following any rules you have set down. This will surely help your kids to experience the good part of Twitter. Be cautious and be secured. Happy Tweeting. Safety Tips For Twitter is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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In The World Of Online Crime, The Drive By Method Is Most Effective

December 9th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Everything that you do in this world, if you are to have some kind of success, involves hard work and planning. The average person has the misconception that people who do crime are able to wake up in the morning, do a crime, and then receive a lot of money. This may be true for criminals that make a little bit of money in their endeavors but for the criminals that hope to be able to commit the big score, it takes lots of hard work and careful planning. This is the same reality when it comes to online crime. Viruses And Trojans Virus authors have to be very creative when they create a new infection. They also have to be creative when it comes to delivery. Let’s talk about one of those creative methods. One of the best and most creative methods that are available to malware authors today is to create a Trojan package that is able to upload and install on your computer without the victim having to do anything. Usually when a person gets an infection on their computer they must be part of the process to cause the damage. This is usually done by tricking the person to do some sort of activity. This activity usually involves them installing a program on their computer that is not what it pretends to be. It then starts to take shape and does it’s damage. Most of the time the damage is done behind the scenes and unnoticed by the user. Some advanced virus and Trojan writers have found a way to be able to leave you out of the process and upload the infection on its own. Well to be honest you are not completely out of the process. For this attack to work, they will usually need you to go to a web site that will deliver the attack. Once they trick you into going to the web site then your involvement is no longer needed. There is a method of doing this, that is making the rounds among virus authors now. IFrames It involves having you go to a web site with what is called an IFrame embedded in it. An IFrame is the ability of web page to display another web page on the same screen. This IFrame is then pointed to page where they use a corrupted PDF file to deliver the payload. Once the payload is delivered it is able to execute and infect your computer. This is why it is called the drive by method. It requires you to only pass through to the web site and with no other activity needed. You are then infected. This is not an easy to attack to create so it is not as propagated through the Internet as other attacks would be. As you can see the drive by method of delivering a virus or Trojan can be very effective in its execution. This is why you must be very careful when you go to visit a web site. There are attacks such as these that can be performed and cause you to have a very bad day. In The World Of Online Crime, The Drive By Method Is Most Effective is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Hackers Looking To Exploit Windows 7 Already

December 8th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

When it comes to secure operating systems, with the release of Windows 7, Microsoft can finally claim to be one. Windows 7 has proven that Microsoft has taken security seriously and that they have attempted to prove that through their actions. Even though Windows 7 has improved a great deal of security issues that used to be a concern for Microsoft products there are still some legacy issues that continue to be a problem. This is why Windows 7 is becoming a favorite attack vector when it comes to cyber crime. Windows 7 is a trim operating system going by previous Windows OS standards. The reality is that the operating system still has more lines of code than it’s nearest competitors, Mac OS X and Linux. It is because of Windows 7 legacy support that this is still a problem. There are still vendors out there that need a new version of Windows to be able to operate programs that are 20 years old. And Windows 7 still has the ability to do this. To be able to have this feature though, it means that you must leave old code in. The more code that is in a program, the better the chances that a malicious hacker will find an exploit that has not been discovered yet. Security experts have already seen a rise of communication between groups of bad guys discussing vulnerabilities that they have already found. Microsoft has already released security patches for their new operating system and you can expect several more. The large code base and the wide amount of usage means that the Hackers will have fun looking for new and creative ways to attack innocent victims. Some attackers are using old school techniques to exploit the release of Windows 7. They are using emails that either pretend to be a support ticket for the new operating system or the email pretends to have a link that allows you to download an upgrade for the operating system. This is why if you want to do an update of your operating system never go to a third party that pretends to do this. Always visit the official Microsoft web site and follow their instructions on how to update your OS. As you can see, even with all of the security that Microsoft has baked in to Windows 7, the security issue still remains. This is why you must not rely only on software security to keep your computer safe. You must be on the lookout as well and learn to be able to tell when something is wrong. Hackers Looking To Exploit Windows 7 Already is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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The Use Of Charities To Run Scams On The Internet

December 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

One of the things about the holidays is the good feeling that people seem to display that is not there during the rest of the year. A lot of this goodwill gets displayed in the form of giving to charities . It helps a person feel good about themselves. They feel like they are helping someone else in need. That feeling is unrivaled to anything else in the world. This mood can be spoiled very quickly when they find out that their good deed went punished. This happens a lot on the Internet in the form of a scam . The bad guys of the Internet never take a day off, even during the holidays. It is up to you to make sure that you keep yourself on guard during the holiday season. There are several ways that an attacker will try to take advantage of your goodness this holiday. The number one way that this will happen is through a charity email that will be sent out to hundreds of thousands of people. This email will be a legit email but from a fake organization. They will try to sell you a sob story on how needy their cause is and how it is up to you to help them. They may even try to do a hard sell by sending information to your house about the charity in question. Do not fall for it. You have the Internet, be smart and use it. Do some research on the charity. This will let you know very quickly if the charity is a legitimate organization. If they have a negative rating or no record of the charity at all then you know that they are a fake organization. Another way that people will use a charity against an unsuspecting victim is to send you a tainted email. This email will try to pull at your heart strings so that you will visit the site in question. This site will be loaded with malware that will be used to infect your computer. Once again this can be avoided by doing some research on the charity in question before you visit any suspicious links. If you do click on the link, then having the latest in anti virus software protection will help to large extent from having your computer become infected. You must be careful during this holiday season. People have bad intentions 365 days of the year. Just because it is the holidays, do not let down your guard while you surf the Internet. The Use Of Charities To Run Scams On The Internet is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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How To Communicate Securely Through A Network With SSH

December 1st, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

When you take your computer onto a strange network, it pays to be highly suspicious and even paranoid about the situation. There are many tricks that are out there now that allows malicious hackers to gather your information as the packets transmit through the air. Many people need to access their work computer when they are in a remote location and this action requires traveling over strange networks. Some people only need a command line client to be able to access the office server. The SSH  protocol allows a command line client to be able to access a work server securely through encrypted data packets. Let’s explain how the program works and why it is one of the best solutions out there. SSH The SSH protocol has been around for a long time. It started in 1995 as a small free project but turned out to be so useful that the project just grew and grew. When the idea of networks first came about, the thoughts of security were secondary to thoughts about the speed of the network. People would use programs such as Telnet to access from remote locations and transmit data back and forth. Then in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s security proved to be a real big issue and tools were created to address that issue. A replacement for Telnet, which was lacking encryption and other secure features, was needed. This created the desire for a program such as SSH. SSH is just the security protocol and there are plenty of clients that make use of that protocol. The most popular being the putty program. It has gained the respect of the security community and seems to be the favorite by a large margin. Once you have installed a client such as putty you just put in your log in information and pick which type of encryption you would like to use. After that is done you can now use it to log into your server. You can now transmit your data back and forth without the gnawing feeling that somebody can be easily dropping in on your communications. The use of SSH to log into your remote server is one the best ways to make sure that your data stays secure. If you in any way concerned about a network that you are using remotely then make sure that you pick the best way to keep your communication secured. How To Communicate Securely Through A Network With SSH is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Would You Forward A Virus Hoax?

November 30th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

If you received an email from a friend or family member, warning you about a dangerous new virus and telling you how you could prevent it, would you forward it to all your own contacts? Most people would as they like to look out for their friends. In some respects thats a good move as warning your friends will help them prepare themselves so that they can keep their own systems secure. Unfortunately, however, the majority of these emailed messages are not true, they are virus hoaxes . It would be simple then to dismiss virus hoaxes as just a distraction but that would be missing the point – they actually deflect attention away from real threats and can lead to someone becoming infected after they have developed a blase approach to any future warnings they happen to read. Spotting A Virus Hoax Spotting hoaxes, whether they be about viruses or not, is a relatively simple affair. Most of them follow a similar theme in that they will claim to have originated from a large, well-known and legitimate company. This is a deliberate ploy from the writer of the hoax who will be hoping to add an element of authenticity to their claims. The companies named in a virus hoax may respond to virus warnings but rarely, if ever, make them. If a warning was legitimate then the email would almost certainly link to a web page with more information, whilst a hoax obviously wouldn’t for obvious reasons. Another way of spotting a virus hoax is to look at the style of the message. As hoax warnings are not written by bona fide security companies their wording tends to differ from what you may see in an official press release, for example. Also, the warning may be lacking in information, such as – Precisely who is at risk? Which operating system? Which software? Which versions? When will a patch or fix be released? Where on the Internet should you look for it? Why is there no cure? All of the above details would be present in a legitimate virus warning, but tend to be missing in a hoax. Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, a virus hoax will always ask you to inform all your friends which is the whole point – the writer wants his bogus message to spread far and wide. Confirming A Virus Hoax The above advice on how to spot a virus hoax will only take you so far – the writers of such messages don’t tend to be stupid and are always evolving. Sooner or later you are bound to receive a virus warning that includes just enough information for you to believe that it may be genuine. If you’re not completely certain whether the message is legitimate or not then conduct further research. There are plenty of online sources, such as Snopes and Hoax-Slayer , that examine and confirm/debunk all sorts of rumours. There are also millions of bloggers who will write about the odd virus hoax here and there too so you should be able to find plenty of information. Just remember to check more than one source. If you discover that a warning you received is a hoax then be sure to tell whoever passed it on to you in the first place – they’ll then be less likely to pass on the next hoax that turns up. So, don’t automatically believe every email warning that arrives in your inbox, but don’t assume an attachment sent to you by a friend , or a file you downloaded yesterday, is virus free either. Check everything and stay safe. Would You Forward A Virus Hoax? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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Protecting Your Computers With A Personal Firewall

November 28th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

A firewall protects your network from unauthorized trespassers. Many routers have firewall functions built in to check traffic leaving or entering the network, but you also should run a personal firewall on each client computer on your WLAN . Personal firewall software usually costs around $40 and it is often bundled with antivirus software. A personal firewall is an application that runs on your computer and protects it against unauthorized access. Like a hardware firewall, it’s configurable to allow or disallow different types of traffic to enter and leave your PC. Personal firewalls monitor ports, which are numbered software addresses that your computer uses for different networking tasks. For example, a Web server communicates through port 80, an e-mail server through port 25. Many of these ports aren’t needed by your PC, and a good personal firewall closes or blocks unused or unneeded ports to prevent an intruder from accessing your computer through one of them. A personal firewall also can monitor activity on your PC and alert you when an application attempts to reach the Internet or your WLAN. This is important because some worms and Trojan horse software attempt to use your computer to infect other computers, or to “phone home” to a cracker so that he can get into your computer. Personal firewalls are an effective way to protect individual computers on your WLAN. Read more on Firewalls .

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How To Stay Safe On Facebook

November 25th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Social networking websites have become must visit sites for a great many Internet users. If you are such a person then you probably find that you check your social networking accounts more than your e-mail accounts! In fact, social networking has become a daily activity for millions of Internet users. People have loved Facebook since the day it was launched and that is the reason why, within a span of few years, millions of people have registered to the Facebook network. It is a cool place for people that allows them to get in touch with their friends, share photographs, share videos and much, much more. Security Risks But because of its huge popularity, Facebook has become a huge target for all the spammers, hackers, identity thieves, cyber criminals and every other bad element that exists on Internet. And then you have other threats, such as Koobface , which is a cyber infection that was specially designed to steal the private information of Facebook users. Facebook Security Measures The first step you should take is to mark the privacy settings of your Facebook account. Make sure that you keep you profile private so that strangers cannot peep into it. To do that, simply log into your Facebook account and click on the link named as Settings which can be located at the right side of the page and then click on the option labeled as Privacy. Then click on the option Only Friends which allows you to keep your profile locked from strangers. Whenever you so accept any friend requests ensure that the person is actually your friend because adding strangers could lead to unneccesary risks. Also avoid publishing confidential details, such as your phone number, account number or social security number on your wall as this information could, potentially, be used for identity theft . Facebook Security For Children As per the rules in the Facebook Safety Policy, all users need to be a minimum of 13 years old. If you are a parent, then you need to be aware of your kids’ Facebook activities. You should educate your children about all the benefits, as well as the risk factors, involved in social networking. It would be wonderful if you teach your children to come to you whenever they find a disturbing subject on the Internet as you could then work together to ensure your kid’s safety. Remember that, since you are not seeing the person behind the keyboard, there is a chance that they may not be who they say they are. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you never agree to meet anyone for real. If you do, make sure you have a black belt in karate! (I do, but still wouldn’t choose to meet random strangers from social networking sites!) Once you sign up with Facebook, it automatically becomes your responsibility to report any kind of inappropriate content to the administrators of the Facebook service. Be cautious and have fun in the wonderful world of Facebook. Happy Social Networking!

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How To Stay Safe On Facebook

How Can I Help My Elderly Friends And Relatives Protect Themselves On The Internet?

November 24th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

For many of us, we have grown up in an age of computers and electronic devices all around us. So when the era of the internet came to pass, there was a leap of knowledge that was needed to adjust but the divide was not that great. For the elderly among us, they can remember a time before the digital age and some of the new technology can seem enticing but yet strange and alien at the same time. Most scams run on the internet today are perpetrated against the elderly. Hopefully I can give you some tips to protect your loved ones. Protecting Your Loved Ones Some people will make a joke and say if you want to protect people from the dangers of the Internet then get a Mac or Linux box and tell them not to use Windows. This is funny but not true especially these days. Macs are becoming more and more popular and everyday new exploits are being found that can be used against them. Exploits are becoming more common and big business on all systems so security is a top priority for all of them. The fact is that most people use a Windows version operating system so you will have to show them how to protect themselves on such machines. Email Security The first thing that you will want to tell them is to be skeptical when it comes to email. People believe that it takes a highly technical genius to scam people on the internet. This is simply not true. Most attacks on people, especially the elderly, are low tech email scams. They will either involve sending a link to a person to get their information through phishing or just a straight out direct scam to get the person to send them money. A lot of the elderly believe everything that they read in their emails and have to be told the many, many different ways that people can be scammed through them. Malicious Programs Another thing that they must be instructed on, is not to open any programs that are sent to them outside of their family or friends. Scammers will send friendly looking e-cards and other digital goodies through an email attachment. Most people would not think that an e-card with hearts and flowers on it would hold a digital ticking time bomb. Looks can be deceiving though. The elderly, just like everyone else, must be taught that attachments, no matter what they look like, can be dangerous. Safe Communications A new attack but one that is growing everyday is the use of the software program Skype to send links to a phishing site. There are a lot of elderly people that use Skype as a cheap and easy way to talk to and see videos of their loved ones. Their relatives might set it up for them so they can be confused as to who is sending a link to them. Skype has a lot of spammers now and the elderly must be warned that it has become just like their emails so they must remain vigilant. Hopefully I have gone over several ways that you can help protect the elderly in your life when they use a computer. It is a new world that they are in so maybe you can help them navigate it.

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How Can I Help My Elderly Friends And Relatives Protect Themselves On The Internet?

Using A Virtual Machine To Protect Your Computer

November 22nd, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

If you are a person who works with a computer on a daily basis then you will gather a lot of data on your computer that you are going to want to keep secure. The first level of protecting your data is to create back ups that will make sure that your data is available if anything goes wrong. Also, if your operating system supports it, you can create a kind of restore point for your data and installed programs on your computer. This will create an image that will bring your computer to its form on the date of the restore point that you set. Virtual Machine If you do not have time for that or a back up, a great way to protect your data when you are surfing the web or doing other dangerous activities is to use a virtual machine. A virtual machine is a program that you can set up on your computer that will allow you to use another operating system on top of the one that you are already using. It will give you the same rights and abilities that using the host operating system gives you. You can run programs and surf the web, all in an protected environment. There are ways for hackers to get around this security blanket but they are very complicated and not widely distributed. With software like this you can now run a Windows machine and if you feel an operation is not safe for that machine you can open up the VM and run it in Linux. VMWare The most popular virtual machine that is out there right now is called VMWare . This is the leader in the world of Virtual machines as of right now. They give you a very good free version of their software that you can run indefinitely. This is great when you already have a VM Image already set up. If you want to create your own virtual machine then you will have to use the paid version of the software. Alternatives Other companies that are in the same space include Microsoft and several open source versions that are available on Linux and Windows. The Microsoft version is called Virtual PC. They also give away a free version that will allow you to run other operating systems. There are several different variants of virtual machines on Linux. The most popular being Xen and Virtual box (which also runs on Windows). Also if you want to run a VM without a lot of hassle, there is a Linux distribution that is call Wubi. It is sort of a virtual machine but instead of being a program that runs an operating system, it is itself the operating system. You can install this on Windows just like any other program and when you open it up it will be running the Ubuntu distro of Linux. This is also a very reliable way to keep your data secure from any dangerous operations. I have given you several ways that you can keep your computer’s data secure from any unruly virus that might infect your computer. If you have important files and you need to go the extra mile past antivirus then running a virtual machine is a good way to go.

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Using A Virtual Machine To Protect Your Computer

Being Proactive About WLAN Security

November 21st, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Perhaps the most important defense is to be proactive in securing your WLAN . Don’t wait for threats to emerge before taking action. Now that you know the threats to your WLAN and some ways to deal with them, you can take what you know and put it to work. Each vendor maintains patches and updates on its Web site. You could go to every Web site and search for all the vulnerabilities that affect your devices. You may even find most of what you’re looking for after quite a while. The best place to start is the Security Focus Web site. Security Focus maintains an exhaustive list of vulnerabilities for hardware and software from every vendor. If it’s vulnerable, it’s listed on their site. Often vulnerabilities are listed on Security Focus even before the developers of an application or device know about the problem. In those rare cases when a company refuses to acknowledge an issue, this Web site may be the only place where you’ll find it listed. Make it a habit to check the site regularly for new threats. Many vendors will send you an email warning you of vulnerabilities if you took the time to register your product (and lets face it, most of us don’t). For the 90 percent of users that use a Microsoft operating system, the Windows Update feature will help you keep the operating system patched and save you from becoming a casualty when the next worm surfaces. Most cracker tools exploit holes that have not been patched. If you don’t maintain your systems, you are remaining vulnerable when you should be safe. Taking the time to patch software and update the firmware on devices will minimize your risk and reduce your headaches.

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Being Proactive About WLAN Security

Using Software To Recover Your Data

November 20th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Data recovery can be a really hard process if you don’t understand or know what it is that you are doing. When a person is having to perform data recovery that means that either their folder or file has become encrypted. After your file or folders are encrypted, it can cause damage to your computer and you must take certain steps to get the data back that was lost. There are lots of ways that you can recover data from your computer. Some people download freeware that walks them step by step on how to recover their data while others do it straight from their computer. If you decide to do it yourself you will find that the method of data recovery will vary depending on what kind of computer that you’re using. Mac, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are all a bit different when it comes to this process. That’s another reason why people decide to use a free program to recover their data. For beginners, the best way to go about getting your data back is using the free software program. Most of the programs require you to download the software. Before you begin, they usually ask for your email address. Once you provide them with your email address you can review the directions that they give. When you have problems, you can contact customer service and they will be there to help. That is another reason why downloading and using software to recover data is a really good thing when you are new. If you decide to do this by yourself, you won’t be able to have any help. In order to make sure that you have a really good program, do some research on it first before you decide to download the software and see what people are saying about it. After you have downloaded and finished the data recovery, make sure that you back things up. You can back them up with buying a flash drive or floppy disk. If you haven’t backed up your files and pictures, you should do it soon. Mistakes can happen at anytime and they are called mistakes because we didn’t plan on them happening. Another word of advice is to make sure that your computer is password protected and that you have your firewall on plus virus protection turned on too.

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Using Software To Recover Your Data

Cyber Security: Why Is So Important?

November 19th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Do we actually need cyber security? I strongly believe that we do. Everybody has their own thoughts on cyber security, some of which are valid facts, and some of which are misconceptions. The Internet is a dynamic technology and you can never predict the changes that are constantly occurring. Furthermore,  every change can lead to more dangerous threats that had not been previously imagined. That is why there have been number of incidents in the past where the Internet has been used as the medium for some serious crimes which are named as ‘Cyber Crimes’. If proper means are not used to tackle this problem then the rate of cyber crime will just continue to increase. Below are some of the reasons behind the need for cyber security – 1.) Who are hackers and what do they do? We all are aware of hackers . But do you actually know how they operate? A hacker could be anyone. He might be your business rival, your friend or any other person who is trying to hijack your computer’s resources. They somehow enter into your computer with the help of many malicious programs and scripts, all of which can be found on the internet or easily coded by someone with a little know how. Once he succeeds in hijacking your computer, then he can misuse your confidential information such as e-mail accounts, bank accounts, credit cards and any other useful information he finds stored on your system. 2.) Online fraud and identity theft. Cyber criminals follow a number of techniques in order to acquire e-mail Ids, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and passwords which are then misused by them. These kinds of scams are known as ‘ phishing ‘. These criminals cheat people by pretending to be spokespeople of big organisations or deceased millionaires and sending emails to their victims which will try to trick them into revealing confidential information. 3.) Cyber thefts are increasing daily. Conventional thefts can be compensated by insurance cover but once you lose your confidential data from your computer, no-one can help you. These kinds of incidents are not only restricted to individuals but huge companies and institutions are falling prey to cyber theft too. 4.) Computer viruses can really mess up your system. Viruses can not only slow your system down, they can make it crash too. There are number of ways in which viruses can enter your computer. One of them is through accessing insecure web sites and downloading infected files. Its not only household computers that can be infected as even big business can be affected too. For example, in 1999 the Melissa virus lead to the termination of many services in Microsoft and other huge companies. 5.) Spyware keeps tabs on your activity. Spyware is a form of malware that can enter your computer and install itself automatically. It is not only meant to spy on you but also steal information from your computer. The dangerous part is that people do not even realize its presence on their computers. Some reports suggest that about 92% of computers are infected by spyware and that users are unaware of it! 6.) Adware is annoying. The main purpose of adware is to pop up unwanted ads as you are surfing the Internet. This can quickly become extremely annoying and frustrating. Nowadays adware is often integrated with spyware in order to exploit your computer to great heights. These are just some of the different ways cyber criminals steal your resources and information. They are always a step ahead and the security industry is forever trying to keep up with their new plans and codes. Therefore, it is very necessary to protect your system for all the threats caused by cyber criminals. Wouldn’t you agree?

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Cyber Security: Why Is So Important?

Security – Windows 7 Vs Mac OSX

November 18th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Comparing the relative levels of security between two vastly different operating systems is, of course, a rather subjective matter. After the much hyped, and sometimes maligned, Windows Vista the spotlight has once again been placed over Microsoft who have recently released Windows 7 . This is hot on the heels of Apple’s latest operating system for the Mac, Snow Leopard. Nowadays security is one of the biggest concerns for any operating system. According to security experts Secunia, Mac OS X is much safer than the Windows operating system as they found only 9 security issues with Mac OS X compared to 29 issues with the Windows product. Does this paint a fair picture though? Everybody knows that the Windows operating system is installed on many more computers than Mac OSX and that makes it a big and lucrative target for malware authors. Therefore isn’t it just a case of scale that makes Windows appear to be less secure on first glance? Windows 7 is, in my opinion, a far better product (in terms of security) than its previous versions. A whole host of features, such as Biometric Framework, fingerprint scanners, BitLocker and others make Windows 7 an amazingly secured operating system. At the same time, the smaller market share of Apple Mac OS X, and the absence of third party programs, makes their operating system harder to hack (or less appealing at the very least). For this reason, systems powered with Mac OS X suffer less attacks than their Windows counterparts, making the Mac appear to be extremely secure. On the other hand, Windows 7 comes with dozens of security tools but its openness makes it’s monster security system look like an ordinary one. Recently Windows Vista post-Service Pack 2 has been named as the safest operating system on the planet. And it is quite obvious that Windows 7 will incorporate all the features of it’s successful predecessor. If you are not satisfied by the security parameters of Windows 7 then you can tweak it further by using third party firewalls, antivirus and other protection programs whereas such a feature is absent in Mac OS X. But, Windows Operating Systems are easily undone by hackers , so the story MIGHT remain the same with Windows 7. So this might compel you to use Mac OS X. Comparing the security levels of Windows 7 and Mac OS X is difficult as both have their benefits and weaknesses. Although operating systems have a major role to play in the security of your computer the ultimate responsibility lies with you, the user. Having a secured Internet connection and good surfing habits are probably a more important consideration than which operating system you use. Which is the most secured Operating System, Windows 7 or Mac OS X? That is a never ending debate and one that can get quite emotional, as evidenced by the comments last time I wrote on the topic of whether an Apple Mac was more secure than a Windows machine . What do you think?

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Security – Windows 7 Vs Mac OSX

How Do I Configure Windows 7’s Firewall?

November 17th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Since the addition of a Firewall in Windows XP, Microsoft has been working to improve it with each new version of their operating systems. Windows 7 is expected to the best operating system designed by Microsoft so far. Windows 7 comes with a robust firewall included and this can be tweaked by the user according to their needs and computer resources.. Firewall plays a huge role in protecting your computer from external malicious programs. So until and unless you grant permission, external programs will not be able to use the resources of your computer. Like Windows Vista, the fundamental (basic) settings of the Windows 7 firewall can be configured from Control Panel. But unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 allows you to tweak the advanced settings of it’s firewall directly from your Control Panel, instead of accessing empty MMC. Manually Configure Your Windows 7 Firewall Below is the procedure to manually configure the firewall Settings of Windows 7 – Step 1: Click on the START button and then click on the CONTROL PANEL option. Step 2: Now, in the Control Panel window, locate System and Security and then click on it. Step 3: Once you open the System and Security window from the Control Panel, you can see a direct link to Windows Firewall. Click on it. Step 4: Now, you will be able to access the Windows Firewall window. There, you can see number of options like Turn Windows Firewall on or off, Change notification settings, Restore defaults and Advanced settings on the left side of the panel. And on the right side of the panel you can alter the type of network associated with the firewall settings of your computer which are Home or Work (Private) networks and Public networks. And the Firewall will be ON / ACTIVE for both the networks, which is a default setting. Step 5: Now, you can see the Change Notification settings link on the left side of the panel. Click on it. You can use this option to Turn OFF the firewall settings of your operating system by simply clicking on Turn off Windows Firewall button. Step 6: If you are unhappy with any settings you have selected you can retrieve the default settings by clicking on the option labeled as Use recommended settings which can be located on the right side of the panel or by clicking on the Restore Default link on the left panel. You need to confirm your choice once you click on the Restore Default button. Step 7: You can also alter the Advanced Setting of the Local Computers by clicking on the Advanced Settings button visible on the left panel. Step 8: If you want to tweak the inbound rules, you can click on the link labeled as Inbound Rules on the left side of the panel. If you click on Disable Rule, it will disable the selected rule and if you click on Enable Rule, you can choose the actions you want from the list displayed in Actions Pane. Step 9: You can even keep an eye on the things like Logging settings, General Settings, Firewall State, Active Networks by clicking on the Monitoring option on the left side of the panel. I hope this guide has given you a basic idea of how to set up your firewall in Windows 7.

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How Do I Configure Windows 7’s Firewall?

What Is Disability Fraud?

November 15th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Its a sad thing to say but it seems that earning money illegally is becoming easy these days. One such method I’ve noticed, and it really upsets me, is disability fraud. Personally I think it is right that we, as a society, look after those who are unfortunate to be disabled. However, there are many individuals who feel that it is ok to play the system and claim benefits for disabilities they do not have . In both legal and medical terms disability does not mean that a person is physically handicapped. Just because a person is able to do all the things that a normal man can do it does not really imply that the person is not disabled. There are a number of medical conditions which are not physically visible but they are still termed as disabilities. Invisible Disabilities Such disabilities are known as “invisible disabilities”. This is the area in which criminals are taking advantage of the system and literally cashing in. Below are some of the common types of invisible disabilities – Chronic Dizziness: This kind of disability is related to an improper functioning of the inner ear. Such a problem would cause problems to a person whilst performing some of the basic tasks like walking, sleeping or working. Chronic Fatigue: If a person does not feel like working and always feels totally tired, then he might be suffering from Chronic Fatigue. This can have a very negative impact on the person’s daily life routine. Mental Illness: Some forms of this disability can make a person mentally so vulnerable that they find basic and common daily tasks very had to perform. Disabilities like agoraphobia, depression, lack of concentration and schizophrenia are categorized under mental illness. Chronic Pain: Some bone or physical injuries and back problems can lead to chronic pain. This kind of pain or disability might not be visible to everybody but people linked with the medical fraternity will easily detect such disability. Of course there are a great many people with invisible disabilities such as those above who are perfectly genuine and who are suffering. Unfortunately, however, there are also many people who fake such conditions for financial gain. Types Of Disability Fraud Below are some of most common types of disability fraud – Doing legitimate work despite claiming to be suffering from disability: It has been found that people suffering from various invisible disabilities are working in jobs they claim they cannot do while enjoying the benefits offered for the disabled. Pretending to be suffering from any kind of Injury: People do pretend to be suffering from some kinds of illness and even doctors can’t prove that wrong. So they intentionally pretend to be disabled, in order to enjoy the benefits offered to them by various agencies. Continuing to claim benefits even after recovering from disability: Not all disabilities are permanent and people are cured every day. Some, however, continue to claim benefits for many years afterwards regardless though. Tackling Disability Fraud Disability fraud is extremely hard to prove and prosecute. Many governments have already initiated various methods to tackle disability fraud but cynics, such as myself, wonder if they are doing enough, especially when recategorising such people as being merely unemployed could prove detrimental to their boasts of keeping jobless figures to a minimum. Doctors cannot always detect whether a claim of disability is genuine or not and the politically correct society we live in now means you really ought to be very careful about questioning whether benefits claimants are legitimate or not. Having said that, here in the UK we are encouraged to grass on our neighbours (another ploy designed to destroy society no doubt) but could you tell whether the disabled person living next door to you was faking it? Probably not. I don’t know what the answer is but I do know that we need to cut out disability fraud. I’m of the opinion that far too many people claim benefits for fake disabilities in order to avoid working and we really ought to get them off their lazy backsides and into work so that they can contribute to society, allowing us to divert the money saved to those who really need it.

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What Is Disability Fraud?

What Should I Do If My Website Has Been Hacked?

November 13th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

If you paid attention to yesterday’s post about website security then you should have already minimised the chances of having your own site hacked . But what if it has already happened? How Would I Know That My Site Has Been Hacked? You may have had your web site hacked if one or more of the following is true – The search engines now says you run an attack site You’ve noticed spam email being sent from your account When you search for your own site (yes, we all do it!) your antivirus program suggests it may be being used for phishing You now have some political statement or graffiti all over your pages Of course there may be other signs but the above are the main ones that I can think of. What now? Change Them There Passwords Do it. Do it now. Assuming you still have any kind of access to your website then you need to change all of your passwords – cPanel, email, admin passwords, etc. Remove Old Scripts Next, go through your hosting space and remove every old script installation that you find. Also, update or remove old plugins too because they are also at risk of being hacked. Check Your Error Logs By checking the Error Logs in cPanel you may be able to discover suspicious requests. Typically, a hacker will give themselves access to your website by adding code or files so look for such within your public_html folder. If you find any code or files then take a note of the details, such as date and time that the file was uploaded, the file name, folder it was in, etc and then inform your web host as they may then be able to offer some assistance. Of course it goes without saying that you should then also delete said codes or files. Minimising Risk Web sites are hacked all the time and all you can do is ensure that you have made it as hard a task as possible and then hope that the hacker moves on to an easier target. By keeping your files up-to-date and secure you will have increased the workload for a potential hacker . You then just need to cross your fingers and hope that encourages them to pass you by.

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What Should I Do If My Website Has Been Hacked?

I’m Worried My Web Site Might Get Hacked – What Can I Do?

November 12th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

If you run your own web site then security is something you really ought to be paying attention to. Hackers are targeting websites on a daily basis and for many different reasons. It used to be the case that hackers would merely look to plaster graffiti on your home page to bring attention to themselves (or some cause) but nowadays they also have far more sinister motives. Criminal hackers are now part of large and well organised cyber gangs who see the internet as a huge source of potential profits and they may see your website as a tool that can help them make money, either by stealing your personal information or that of your visitors. Often this can be through the use of Trojans and other types of malware. Here, then, are some tips on securing your website against such attacks – Always Remove Or Update Old Scripts You need to be aware that that old installations are vulnerable. If you run a blog on WordPress then you will know that the platform is regularly updated and that one of the main reasons for that is to patch security holes as and when they are discovered. So, if you have an old installation then you should either update it now or remove it completely if you aren’t using it. Otherwise, a competent hacker could be into your blog in a matter of seconds. Ensure Strong Password Security You should never use easy to guess passwords , or the same password more than once, anywhere on the internet. Think about it – if a hacker finds a password of yours then they may well try to use it everywhere in order to gain access not only to your web site but also to other sensitive areas such as your online banking account. In terms of website security, how would you feel if someone else had access to your cPanel or email account? Cloak Your Folders Another good tip is to keep a blank index.html file in all of the folders inside your public_html folder. This will make sure that the contents cannot easily be viewed on the internet. CPanel offers such a function – check out ‘Index Manager’. It is always a good idea to keep your files and folders as secret as possible. Password Protect Your Admin Folder You should always password protect the admin folder of any scripts you are using as this provides an extra layer of security. Such action is highly recommended and you can do this in cPanel by clicking the ‘Directory Protection’ link.

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I’m Worried My Web Site Might Get Hacked – What Can I Do?

Protecting Data With Encryption Or Lockout Software

November 11th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Most people have introduced encryption as a way to secure communications on your WLAN. You can also use encryption to secure at-rest data or data that is located on a hard drive or similar storage medium (CD, DVD, and tape). There are several software solutions available to encrypt your data, whether you choose to encrypt the entire contents of your hard drive or just specific folders. Note: An easy-to-use’ effective utility for encrypting your files and folders is File Warden , available for download from the utilities section of the PC Magazine Web site: www.pcmag.com One thing to consider before using encryption is that it takes a lot of CPU horsepower. If you encrypt your entire hard drive you may notice significant slowing when you use your computer. You might consider only encrypting the contents of a couple of folders and storing all sensitive files in those. Smaller devices like PDAs and smart phones lack the horsepower to use significant encryption. There is effective security software for locking a PDA after it’s turned off or after it spends a certain amount of time idle. This software locks all unauthorized persons out of the device and prevents wireless connections, synchronizing, or beaming of information. Whichever device you use, install either encryption or security software to lock down your data if your computer ever falls into the wrong hands. Always set up your device so that it asks for a password and use a security screen saver with a strong password to make it harder for criminals to get to your data.

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Protecting Data With Encryption Or Lockout Software

I’ve Been Infected But My Antivirus Program Isn’t Working – What Do I Do Now?

November 10th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

You are up late at night, finishing your latest presentation for the boss. You then decide that you need more information to go with what you already have, so you decide to do a little surfing on the Internet through Google. A site pops up on Google that shows some promise, so you decide to click on it. The next thing that you know, your computer is going crazy and there is a load of pop ups that are now appearing on your pc. Your worst fears have now been realized, you have been infected with a new virus on your system. You try to run your resident antivirus program that is installed on your computer but it is not working. So what do you do? This is what I hope to answer here. Scareware There are certain types of viruses or malware out there that will take control of your computer and not release it until you perform a certain action that they request. It is a scam to make you buy a fake antivirus product or get your credit card number. Most of the time they will not even release your computer even if you do go through with it. The best thing to do at this point is to bypass the system. You can do this with either a live CD or hooking your hard drive to another computer. I will go over both solutions – Use Linux When you use a live CD of what is normally a Linux distro, this allows you to be able to boot up your computer and run an operating system on top of it. (Usually through your CD/DVD player or the USB port of your computer). This operating system, usually Linux, can see your hard drive and other hardware that you may have on your system but the operating system itself is not connected to it. You will have to run a Linux command called ‘mount’ to have access to your hard drive to be able to scan it. Once you mount the disk, there are several antivirus programs that will run on Linux, and will see a virus on a Windows partitions as well. Run this antivirus and disinfect all of the viruses that it sees. There are ways to be able to update and save the antivirus database so that it sees newer viruses but you will have to look that up. It is different in each live CD distro that you may use. This solution is the best solution when you are dealing with a nasty virus on your laptop. Connect Your Hard Drive To Another Computer If you are dealing with a nasty virus that is on your desktop that will not let you access your antivirus program, a good solution is take out the hard drive and connect it to another computer. You can look up several places online that will give you a walk through on how to disconnect your hard drive and then connect it to another computer. Once you have connected this second drive to the other computer you can now look at the files and folders just like you would do on any other drive. You will have to be careful while this second drive is connected to your computer – you do not want to click on any files and infect this second computer! So as soon as you get the second drive working on the computer make sure that you scan it right away. Once all infections have been found and removed you can reconnect the hard drive back to the original computer. Hopefully these tips will help you solve your virus problem on your computer. A nasty bug can ruin your day, especially when it will not let you do anything on your computer and scareware is an altogether different type of annoyance.

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I’ve Been Infected But My Antivirus Program Isn’t Working – What Do I Do Now?

The Top Reasons For Hardware Failure And Data Loss

November 9th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Aside from impact damage and electrical spikes, there are sources of hardware failure that can arise from lack of maintenance or through improper maintenance. Different sources rank these threats differently, at some point touting each of them as the number-one threat or cause of hardware failure. I haven’t ranked them in any particular order, preferring that you consider each and protect yourself from all of them. Electrostatic discharge Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can destroy components within your computer. A common way for ESD damage to occur is when you open your computer case to install new hardware (drives, RAM, and so on). If you don’t properly ground yourself, any electrical charge that your body carries will jump from your fingers to conductors in the computer, such as chips. The same thing happens when you rub your feet on a carpet, generating an electrostatic charge. When you reach out to touch another person or a metal object, sparks fly. Unfortunately, when the sparks fly from your fingers to a computer component, you may destroy the component. You may not think there’s enough power to do any damage, but there is. A static discharge from your hand can be quite powerful at times – maybe even in the kilowatt range! The best way to prevent ESD from occurring is to use a grounding wrist strap or stand on a grounding mat if you have to open the computer’s case. You can also make sure that you are at “zero potential” by constantly touching a bare metal surface. Damage from ESD only occurs if you are working inside a computer or handling a component like a RAM chip or video board, not when you are touching the case. Dust Accumulation of dust can damage some components and cause your computer to overheat. It doesn’t take a thick layer; even a thin layer that you can barely see can raise the temperature in your computer a few percent. That small raise in temperature is enough to shorten the life of your components. Heavy dust buildup can also short out components and damage hard drives. Heat Overheating damages many computers. Excessive heat increases resistance in semiconductor materials, which in turn produces more heat. This heat buildup and increase in resistance causes logic circuits to behave erratically and ultimately fail to function. Heat can also destroy data on hard drives by causing the metallic layer to expand, potentially putting data tracks out of alignment. Repeated heating and cooling can compound the problem until the drive fails completely. It doesn’t take a lot of heat to do this, either. The CPU of your computer is especially susceptible to heat damage. Because of the number of circuits on the CPU, it generates a lot of heat. CPUs have a heat sink that helps radiate heat away from the CPU, and most computers have one or more fans that cool the CPU and other components. Bad Hard Disk Sectors Occasionally, sectors on a hard disk fail due to physical problems on the disk. These problems can result from dust infiltration, heat, or degradation over time. Your computer cannot write or read data from a sector that has failed, and any data already written to that sector is lost. Through proper maintenance, however, you can prevent hard disk damage and detect failing sectors before they fail completely.

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The Top Reasons For Hardware Failure And Data Loss

I’m Scared Of Getting A Virus – What Sort Of Sites Should I Be Wary Of?

November 8th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Most people, when they get on the Internet, do the same thing that everyone else does on it, and that is surf. People may have a couple of sites that they go to on a regular basis but for the most part they surf around the net. This, of course, is the best part about the Internet – the ability to travel around the different web sites and see places and things that you may have never known before. There is a dark side to all of this wonderful discovery that you can do on the Internet though. The dark side is that when going to sites that you don’t know you can always pick up a virus or some other type of malware. Of course this can happen on any type of website but is more likely on some types than others. Whilst many of the following can be perfectly safe, the risk of picking up a virus may be higher from these types of sites – Beware Of Adult Sites The first type of site that can cause you damage whilst you are surfing the Internet are adult sites . Maybe 99% of adult sites are safe but there are a minority that can cause your computer to have serious troubles. Adult sites are known to attract very high amounts of traffic so they are a favorite of Hackers trying to target innocent victims. Another attack vector that has been used lately is planting viruses in the adult tube sites that have popped up in increasing amounts lately. The technology that runs the site and shows the video is known as Flash. This technology is known to have serious exploit problems if the right safeguards are not in place. Make sure that you are extra vigilante when surfing adult sites. Beware Of Warez Sites The second type of site that is known to cause a lot of trouble to a person’s computer are sites that are known as warez sites. Warez sites are web sites that people go to to get pirated software, serial numbers, etc. These types of sites are breeding grounds for malicious hackers trying to inject very nasty software into your computer. When you are visiting a warez site you are generally asking for trouble, not only in terms of copyright violations, but from malware too. Not only can the site itself  pose a security risk but any software you download may well do so too. Beware Of Credit Card Offer Sites The third type of site that can be a potential problem for your computer when you visit are credit card offer sites. These sites set up a sweet attractive low interest offer and then in the background can download a Trojan onto your computer. A relatively new attack phenomenon, these sites are increasingly becoming more dangerous. These sites are being used more and more by Hackers for phishing schemes and planting Trojans onto your computer. These types of site attacks are increasing all over the Internet. This is a fairly new attack vector but with credit cards now a little bit harder to get people are falling for these traps more readily. Stay Safe I’ve showed you several different types of sites that you must be aware of when surfing the Internet. For the most part these types of site are safe to visit. But… When a Hacker decides to strike, these types of site are usually on the top of the list.

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I’m Scared Of Getting A Virus – What Sort Of Sites Should I Be Wary Of?

The Top 5 Antivirus Programs For Windows 7

November 6th, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

The most important and challenging thing for computer users is protect their computers against all threats like viruses, worms, and other malware. There is an old saying that ‘prevention is better than cure’ so protect your computer with the best antivirus you can get now . Many viruses, worms, and other types of malware are released every day and most target machines that run Microsoft Windows operating systems. As you are probably aware, Microsoft has just released the newest version of their operating system – Windows 7. As ever, it promises to be more secure than previous versions but which are the best antivirus programs you can use with Windows 7? AVAST! Windows 7 Anti Virus: Avast! antivirus is one of the top antivirus programs that is known to be compatible with Windows 7. Avast! is offering full desktop security including a resident shield. Besides good performance it also offers the following – It is very easy to use and doesn’t take up too much system resource. Comes with changeable skins so you can customise a look you feel happy with. Anti-spyware protection is included. All Avast! products are available to download for a free 60-day trial period. Trend Micro Antivirus for Windows 7: Trend Micro Antivirus is one of the top 5 antivirus programs which is compatible with windows 7. Trend Micro is an antivirus company based in Japan ant they offer some exciting features – Trend Micro provides security for your computer against computer viruses, worms, Trojan horse programs, and related security threats. It blocks virus infections that arrive via emails. It provides excellent protection for your PC. This groovy antivirus program protects your files from being sent without authorization. Trend Micro Antivirus does not interrupt playing games or watching videos while scanning. Take 10% Off Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010. Coupon Code: trendtav AVG Antivirus for Windows 7: The most familiar antivirus program for many computer users is AVG, a product from AVG technologies. AVG is compatible with Windows 7. Many people use AVG because of its excellent features such as – Having a good user interface that is simple to understand. Having a quick installation time that doesn’t require your system to be rebooted. AVG has come up with three new components called Web Shield, Link Scanner and AVG Toolbar. Link checker is from Exploit Prevention Labs – the main advantage of this technology is to block dubious content in websites. Kaspersky Antivirus: Kaspersky, the Russian security specialist, offer an antivirus program with the following benefits – The new Kaspersky is attuned for Windows 7. Kaspersky provides real time scanning of files, web pages and e-messages. It scans and protects your PC against all viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft. Has an excellent look, very ease to use and has a good user-friendly interface. The newest feature is Kaspersky Toolbar for Internet browsers to warn you about infected or unsafe websites. Check out the Kaspersky Lab Online Store for more information. AVIRA Antivirus Software: Another windows 7 compatible antivirus is Avira antivirus. This program offers the following features – Avira is provided with a free version option. Good user-friendly interface.. Virus database is automatically updated. Automatically blocks websites which may harm your PC. Overall the new Avira is compatible with windows 7 without any problems. Which is your favourite antivirus program for Windows 7?

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The Top 5 Antivirus Programs For Windows 7

What Is A Trojan Horse And Why Should You Worry About It?

November 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

The Internet in many ways is still like the wild wild west. Overall it is safe but there are bad guys lurking around every corner that will try to infect your computer and steal your information. Luckily most attacks can be easily thwarted by the right technology and common sense. To use common sense though, it helps to know the different ways that your computer can be attacked. One of these ways is through a technique known as a Trojan. I will explain what it is and how to avoid getting your computer infected by one – If you know your Greek mythology then you would know that the Greeks used a giant wooden horse to enter the gates of Troy to finally conquer them. Trojan Infection A Trojan infection on your computer uses a similar methodology. A Trojan on your computer masquerades around as a simple little innocent program that will not hurt a flea. It may look like the latest coldplay mp3 or might look like a word document that someone has sent to you. Trojans have also known to pretended to be real upgrades to different programs on your system, such as a Microsoft upgrade. That is why it pays to go directly to the vendors site and download the upgrades from there. The Trojan will look innocent until you double click it to try to run the program. It will then make its intentions know on your system. After the Trojan is run on your system, most of the time you will not even know that it is running. It will hum along in the background, very quietly, performing a function that you will not know anything about. Password Stealing Some of these functions maybe stealing your passwords , becoming a botnet that someone else is using, viewing your screen as you are working, and all kind of other nefarious stuff that you do not want to think about. Trojans are very bad news on your system, so you must be prepared to stop them from getting on your system. There are several ways that you can avoid getting a Trojan on your system. Most of the ways that you can avoid such a fate involves common sense on the user part. Also a little technology to go along with that common sense will go a long way to helping to achieve these goals. The first that you will want to do, as we discussed before, is to avoid downloading software updates from any web site other than the vendors own web site. Also when you download software make sure that it is from a trusted web site. If you have never been to the web site before do not download software from it or at the very least keep your guard up. Another step is to avoid accepting email attachments from unknown senders. This is one of the most prevalent ways of spreading Trojans to people. Always Back up! After you have used your common sense to avoid getting a Trojan on your system it will help to have a little back up. Back up usually includes having a good antivirus program running on your system. A good anti virus program will detect contamination as soon as it introduced onto your system. There are numerous different vendors that are out there for you to choose from so read up a little about them to see which one suits your needs. The prices and the packages will vary. Also once you have picked a good antivirus be sure to confirm that it is updated daily. An anti virus is no good if the person doe not keep it regularly updated. As you can see, a Trojan can be a very nasty to thing to have unleashed on your computer. Prevention through common sense and anti virus is the best way to avoid any trouble from them.

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What Is A Trojan Horse And Why Should You Worry About It?

How Do I Restore A File That I Accidentally Deleted?

November 4th, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Recovering a file that you deleted from your flash drive can be really difficult if you don’t know how to do it nor have it saved anywhere else. This is another reason why it’s vital for you to back up all of your information and you should do it on a regular basis. There is a simple way that you can track your deleted files that a lot of people don’t know about. There are a lot of free programs that can restore any file on your computer. These programs don’t take up much space either. A recommended program is called REST2514. Its very easy to install on your computer. This program is designed to recover any file that was deleted on your computer. It guides you step by step on how to find that file and even lets you pick the drive that you want to search. This program allows you to restore any of the files by simply clicking on one and highlighting it when it comes up. You can find it on any search engine or you can look up restoration freeware programs. Whilst it’s very easy getting a file restored on your computer, it’s still recommended that you backup your information on a USB flash drive. You should update your flash drive once a week if you do a lot of work on your computer but if you forget, you now know how to restore a file so you won’t need to panic if it happens.

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How Do I Restore A File That I Accidentally Deleted?

Internet Explorer 8 Privacy Features

November 2nd, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

Microsoft used to have a stranglehold in the Internet Browser market place. Just as much, or maybe even more, than they did the personal computer market. Now this is not as true anymore. They still have a dominance in the browser market place but the competition has quickly caught up. With newer offerings such as Firefox, Opera, and the new Google Chrome browser stepping up as quality alternatives, Microsoft has seen their browser percentage fall off dramatically. (There have also been issues in Europe that have led to Microsoft no longer bundling IE with new versions of Windows 7). This has arguably led to Microsoft increasing the quality of their internet browser offerings. One of the things that has greatly improved are the privacy features that the browser offers. Now I will take you through the enhancements of these features and why you should use them – Added Privacy Features The first thing that Microsoft has done to protect your privacy is to add a feature in Internet explorer 8 that will block out advertisements that are directed towards you. Ads are not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes they can become overwhelming and start to decrease your Internet surfing experience. On some sites, ad blocking technology can be just what the doctor ordered if the owner of the site has made the user experience miserable. Ad blocking counts as a privacy feature because a lot of these ads now have tracking technology behind them that can monitor your surfing habits. The ad blocking feature can reduce their functionality. To turn on the ad blocking feature, all you have to do is click the ‘Safety’ button that is on your browser. Once you do that, click on ‘InPrivate browsing’, and your ad blocker is now turned on. You also have a feature that is included in Internet explorer 8 that is called ‘InPrivate Filter’. This feature will do explicitly what I talked about earlier; stopping your private information from going to other sites. This feature goes a little bit further than just stopping the advertiser from sharing your information with other sites though. It will also stop web applications, analysis tools, and other such features that you may find on a web page from collecting information about you. If you do not want any web site to be able to gather information about you without first visiting that site, then this the feature is the one that you will want to go with. To turn it on just do the same as I mentioned above – Hit the ‘Safet’y button but instead of clicking ‘InPrivate Browsing’, click on ‘InPrivate Filter’. I have gone over the two main options that Internet Explorer has on keeping your web sessions private. If you are worried about all of the monitoring that goes on through web pages these days then these are great features to use.

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Internet Explorer 8 Privacy Features

Just How Secure Are PDF Files?

November 2nd, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

One of the great things about computers and the Internet is how easy it is to create document files and then share them between machines and users. There are several formats that you can use to create files, the two most popular being word documents and PDF files. Hacker Manipulation Over the past couple of years, however, hackers have found that they can manipulate these types of files. They are now able to hide exploits within these files that can compromise your computer. They also use the knowledge that since these files are so popular, they can disguise a harmful .exe file as a pdf file and people will not question whether it is safe or not. We will hopefully show you that for the most part PDF’s are safe but you still need to be careful with them. These types of files have turned into another attack vector for hackers. In the last 12 months Adobe has released patch after patch trying to protect new vulnerabilities found in pdf files. Buffer Overflow There was the vulnerability that was found that let hackers send an attack to your computer through the use of a buffer overflow created when the PDF file was opened. There was also an attack found a month after that that if you were looking at a PDF file in windows explorer, that was all that was needed for it to attack your computer. You didn’t even have to click on it to activate the attack. This is why you have to be careful with opening all types of files on your computer. Most people, even tech savvy people, have never heard that a PDF can be exploited. So people will download them from strange sites and never ever bother to run an antivirus check on them to see if they are secured. Hackers are using your trustful nature against you in this case. Exploited .exe Files Since people are more trustful with opening a strange PDF file more than .exe file there is an older attack that will exploit the trust factor that I talked about above. This is an old trick of hiding your exploited .exe files as PDF files. They shape the name of the file so that it shows up with an PDF icon on the file. This is an easy attack to spot if you have “show file extensions” turned on in your operating system. Just go into your control panel and then go into the file manager. You will then see the option to turn this feature on. Also you can avoid being trapped by this attack by running a virus scan on the file. Any file that you get over the Internet you should run an antivirus scan on anyway, just to be on the safe side. So I have gone over how a PDF file can be dangerous to your system. Now that you know that there is a risk, hopefully you will not take any file lightly.

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Just How Secure Are PDF Files?

How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer?

November 1st, 2009. Published under Fraud. No Comments.

In this day and age people are relying more and more on their computers to be able to do their jobs but they are still not paying enough attention to backing them up. Yet every computer user’s worst fear is that something will mess their computer up and they will not be able to access their files. That is why cloud computing is perhaps becoming such an attractive offer. It allows you to back up your files on a remote server. This lessens the chances that all your data will be destroyed by a catastrophe as it won’t all be kept in the same one place. For other people local back up storage may be an alternative for them to consider. Backing Up With Windows 7 Windows 7 offers you several different ways to back up your files. I will go over a couple of them now – If you hit start and look to your right you will see the button that will lead to you to the control panel. Click on it and then look at the top where it says ‘System and Security’. Here you will see the option to back up your computer. Click on this and it will take you to the backup area of your computer. Once you are there you will see that two options are being given to you. The first option is to back up your computer, which is what you want. The second option is to set a restore point on your computer. (This is similar to backing up your computer but instead of just certain files this option actually creates an image of how your entire computer looks at that moment in time). If you subsequently had a problem you could then restore your computer back to how it was at the time you last created a restore point – a very useful feature but not what we are looking for right now. So now that we are again looking at the back up option lets go ahead and press ‘Set up backup’. Once you click that button it will ask you where you want to save your back up to. Pick the drive or Network that you want to save your file information to. After that, Windows will ask you if you want to choose exactly what is backed up or whether you would like windows to choose for you. It is up to you which option is best for you but just remember that if you let Windows pick the backup then it will skip formatted Fat files, and files that are in the “program files” folder. After Windows 7 asks you whether would you like to review the files or not, you can then watch as it starts to backup your files. When it finishes the backup the data will be stored in a backup folder and you will be able to access it anytime you need it. You can either restore all of the files that you backed up or you just a single file. Hopefully the short tutorial above will give you a good idea how to backup your computer using Windows 7 . The backup feature is a great way to feel secure about your data, knowing that it is safe. How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer? is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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How Do I Backup My New Windows 7 Computer?

SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter

October 31st, 2009. Published under Scams. No Comments.

Email spam is one of the biggest concerns in present scenario for many home as well as business users. Past records show that email spam has been used to spy into your computer to steal your personal details and spread deadly computer viruses, apart from keep annoying you constantly. For this very reason, many computer users feel the requirement of a highly effective spam filter , which can kill the spam before reaching our inbox. SpamWeed is the new innovative spam filter that combines many state of the art spam-filtering technologies to achieve a high rate of filtering. Features of SpamWeed It uses statistical techniques to identify spam SpamWeed is a highly accurate and an intelligent spam filter SpamWeed works with many email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Eudora and various POP3 email clients. The software even supports different webmail accounts like Hotmail and Yahoo. SpamWeed is designed to prioritize your email communication thus saving a lot of your precious time. One can classify the email according to the sender and the keyword. It has a superb feature of recognizing emails in more than 25 languages and you can even block foreign language spam A perfect solution for people who have to deal with thousands of emails daily so that your inbox is less cluttered It protects your computer from email viruses as it scans your mails before opening them, not matter who is the sender SpamWeed is the only spam filter in the market, which can be programmed for more complex spam filtration rules. Only thing you need is to know programming The program has a very simple user interface, which is very easy to install and use Thus if you are looking for a spam filter then SpamWeed is your best bet. You can try the demo version before buying the full program. SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter is a post from: Scam Types dot Com Check out The Best Internet Security Programs Of 2009

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SpamWeed – An Innovative Spam Filter

Protecting Your Computer With Backups And Antivirus Programs Is Essential

October 30th, 2009. Published under Fraud, Scams. No Comments.

Backing up data is really important and not enough people do it. It’s really easy to back up your data. If you don’t back up your data, you could get into major trouble later. The reason why you must back things up is because it will help protect your data, including those pictures you love and all those mp3s you play. Backing Up Data Should Be A Habit Many people make the mistake of only backing up their data once. After they back it up, they think that they won’t need to do it ever again. You should at least back up your data once a week or more. Whenever you save a lot of pictures or files, back it up right away. It’s not very expensive to back up your data. All that is required is for you to get a USB drive, floppy disk, CD or DVD. After you have one of those items, put it in your computer and then you can drag and drop the files you wish to keep onto the media you have inserted. Saving your files on the computer is not the only way that you can back up data and protect it. There are a few other things that you can do in order to protect it so hopefully nothing won’t happen. Protect Your Data By Having An Antivirus Program Installed One thing that is very important is that you must have antivirus virus protection on your computer. If you don’t have money for a virus protection you will find that there are many who offer a free edition, such as the ones in my list of the best free antivirus solutions . If your antivirus program detects a virus it will show you how to remove it from your system. If you see that you are having problems and a virus scan does not help, try doing a SpyWare and MalWare scan. There are free programs for these too that work great and you should do a scan at least every other day. The other way you can protect your data is by having your files and documents password protected. If you have more then one person on your computer then it’s vital that you do this if you want to save your documents. Make sure that you choose an effective password that you can remember. Writing passwords down in a private notebook is one way to help you remember them. When you are having problems with your computer, don’t put off fixing it. Some people think that the problems might go away in time only to then find out the next day that their computer is ruined.

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Protecting Your Computer With Backups And Antivirus Programs Is Essential