January 2005

Another reason not to use P2P file-sharing applications.

It seems some Dutch Military Officer who was using Kazaa at home had it mis-configured - he was sharing his WHOLE COMPUTER with everyone over the Internet.

Included on his computer were classified military documents that were being worked on at home.

Oops.

Perhaps the moral of the story is don't take your work home?

Lexus cars may be vulnerable to viruses that infect them via mobile phones. Landcruiser 100 models LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems that transfer within a range of 15 feet.

Oh, great. Now your car needs to be rebooted?

Desktop Search Engine?

Well, ya - there is Yahoo, Google, Copernic and others, right?

Everyone and their brother is flailing away at this perceived need.

How about Microsoft? No, wait! Really. The story is so typical you will shake your head.

The patent pending PetsMobility PetCell collar phone will allow you to talk to your pet as well as allow you to request assistance should you need it. If your pet is lost and someone does find it, all they need to do is press a button on the device that will auto dial your number alerting you to retrieve your pet.

"Virus researchers at the U.K.-based security firm Sophos have identified a worm that takes its subject lines, message content and attachment names from headlines gathered in real-time from the CNN website. Named Crowt-A (W32/Crowt-A) the worm attempts to send itself by email to addresses found on infected computers."

Run away!!!

Oh-oh. Better use IMsecure.

Oh, my heavens! Here we have folks who have given up on broadband Internet access in the hopes that this will cure the problems of virii, spyware, malware, trojans and pop-ups on their computers.

The article has no mention of alternatives to Windows OS, browser alternatives to Internet Explorer or email alternatives to Outlook Express.

Sigh.

Well done Bill! Nice to see Microsoft taking quick action on critical problems. Time to fire up the old Internet Exploder and head on over to Windows Update to download the patches.

But, of course, you have your Windows 'puter set to automagically do this, right? Right? Hello?

This is why you should a) stay away from P2P (peer-to-peer) networks that distribute bootleg files and b) why you should be running a recently updated anti-virus program.

Internet Explorer blah blah blah flaw blah blah blah again blah blah blah best to use Firefox or Opera . . . ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

Microsoft has followed up last month's purchase of software maker GIANT with the release of a beta version of Windows AntiSpyware.

Security has always been a weak point at Microsoft and this problem has, up until recently, been solved by third-party software vendors who have produced well thought out applications to save us from evildoers.

Since Bill has seen the light we have received Microsoft Firewall and now the Microsoft Anti-Spyware beta.

I would suggest you at least try the Anti-Spyware and see if it offers any increased security when used in conjunction with established Anti-Spyware applications - remember this is BETA and may not work quite as expected.

Note also that it appears that unless Bill can validate your version of Windows 2000 or XP you may be denied the download.

Several lunatics at slashdot.org claim the validation procedure can be ignored. Your mileage may vary.

Comments welcome from all those with busted Windows OS's and you Windows 2000 beta users - you know who you are . . .

"On the Internet no one knows if you're a dog" goes the old joke.

If, however, that dog sends email there is every chance that somewhere that email exists - on a personal computer, as a USENET archive or on some hard drive in a long lost Hotmail account.

So . . . always assume that any email you send will be read by your Mother and then posted on the telephone pole outside your house.