Dave Bytes

Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker!
December 24, 2004

A Periodic Newsletter for the Members of the Sarasota PC User Group and the World!!

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	Season's Greetings From Dave

2005: the year the virus gets nasty

Next year will see more and more viruses targeting users' financial accounts as organized crime moves online in a big way, according to security company Sophos.
Although Sophos found that half of this year's top viruses, i.e. Netsky and its variants, came from a teenager in northern Germany, 2005 will see more and more viruses that collect and forward online banking details.
Organized criminal gangs in eastern Europe and the Far East are hiring professional programmers to harvest these details and use them to drain funds from bank accounts worldwide.
"There will be a greater move towards the commercial side of malware," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
"Viruses have turned nasty this year, with attempts to get financial gains. Virus writing has gone from being a juvenile activity to something done by hard businessmen after money."
At the same time the amount of new viruses is such that updating antivirus protection should now be done daily, not weekly or monthly. Most antivirus vendors have daily updates and some recommend checking more frequently than that.
By far the biggest problem is the Windows operating system, according to Cluley. Regular patching is essential and there are too many homes and businesses still getting hit by worms exploiting unpatched flaws.
But the biggest security risk is still the user. Viruses that spread via attachments and require a user to open them are still in the primacy, and system administrators could save themselves a lot of hassle simply by blocking emails with executable code at the firewall.
The big 'no show' of the year was the mobile virus. Although proof of concept code was released buy Russian hacking group 29A, there have been no reports of widespread infection.
"What is absent is victims of mobile phone viruses," explained Cluley. "There is a danger that people will be so distracted by the low threat of mobile viruses that they don't pay attention to the real problem: Windows PCs."

Controversial Screensaver Inspires Trojan

E-mail users looking to strike back at spammers by installing a controversial screensaver are getting more than they bargained for. They're (Surprise!) installing a Trojan horse instead.

Antivirus company F-Secure has reported that a Trojan disguised as the "Make Love Not Spam" screensaver and distributed by e-mail is making its way around the Internet. The e-mail arrives with the subject line, "Be the first to fight spam with Lycos screen saver." The e-mail attachment is innocently named, "Lycos screensaver to fight spam.zip." If this beauty wanders into your inbox, don’t install it. Get rid of it.

The Trojan is an embedded key-logger that affects Windows operating systems. That means it records and reports back all the keystrokes a person makes on an infected computer, including usernames, passwords, and credit card details. This particular Trojan sends information to an e-mail address in Indonesia.

Moral of the story?: Never install files that arrive in your inbox as spam, especially ones that promise to help you get back at the spammers.

Here's A "Word" Tip

Turning Off Paste Options

Word 2002 and Word 2003 include a feature that really annoys some people: Paste Options.
When you paste some tidbit of information in your document, Word displays a small, floating "button" right near the end of the pasted information. The button looks like the Paste tool on the toolbar: a small clipboard with a piece of paper over it. This is the Paste Options button. If you move your mouse pointer over the button, you find that it is really a drop-down menu, and clicking on the menu gives you a few options that you can apply to what you just pasted.

If you find the Paste Options button distracting, or if you never use it, you may want to turn it off. Follow these steps:

1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
2. Make sure the Edit tab is displayed.
3. Clear the Show Paste Options Buttons check box.
4. Click on OK.

BITS

BYTES

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"Bits & Bytes"

site where you can listen to the most recent broadcast

I hope I've learned my lesson this time!
by Dave Gerber

The following is an excerpt from a column that I wrote when I was SPCUG President. The lesson still applies !!!

Has it ever occurred to you that personal computers were invented, manufactured and marketed solely to fill the void of stress in our lives?
Now I'm not referring to events such as "Blue Screens," losing your mouse, system crashes, freezes and lockups, and unexpected re-boots. If Windows is your operating system, these are commonplace. We expect them. As annoying as they are, we seem accustomed to them and accept this as part of "computing." Stressful? Sure, but if you really want to know what stress really is then don't have a current backup of your files. There have been numerous columns in the Monitor regarding the need for us to have a current backup of our important data, but few of us ever really do this. I'm not sure if an analogy would be
something akin to "The shoemakers kids don't have shoes" or "Those who don't do. teach" so now I must cleanse my soul and admit my failure to follow that important piece of advise. Recently my anti-virus program of choice, PC-cillin alerted me to a four-virus attack. I've received these alerts before and simply deleted the file and went along my merry way, but since in this instance there were four I became curious.
(And as a person with 15 cats, you'd think I'd know all about curiosity) Rather then simply deleting, I elected to submit the infected files to the folks at Trend Micro for evaluation. Within four hours I received an email response from Trend Micro with a description of the virus and step-by-step instructions on how to rid my system of these infected files.
And now for the bad news, the true beginning of stress. The procedure didn't work, although I admit to making a mistake with one of the steps. The virus was released and a critical Windows file (wsock32.dll) was gone. What I was about to learn was that without wsock32.dll none of my programs would run. At that point I succumbed to the inevitable, formatted my hard drives, reinstalled Windows and my programs thus having a "clean" system. (Do you see where I'm going with this?)

While I have been very diligent about backing up my most important data (business records, financial data) I kept procrastinating when it came to things like address books, email (yes, all of the "Tips" that I've sent in the past are G-O-N-E), password files, items in "My Documents" and even my AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List. Anyone else who, for whatever reason, has had to do the same will attest to the fact that this is a royal pain in the uh, neck. I hope I've learned my lesson this time (yes, there have been others) and that you might take the following statement to heart. You snooze. you lose!!

New Computer? Six Steps to Safer Surfing

To see the e-mail I get every day from readers about security issues is to develop a deep discomfort with the state of computing today. Keeping a Windows PC safe can demand a high degree of vigilance.

And yet all these attacks by viruses, worms, spyware and browser hijackers could have been prevented with some initial effort. It's completely feasible to put a computer on the Internet -- even one running Windows, the most attacked, least secure operating system around -- and never suffer a single successful attack.

Here's what to do to make that possible, starting -- as many people will this week -- when you take it out of the box and plug it in. Most of these steps apply only to Windows, but some pertain to Mac OS X as well.

Step one is to barricade your Internet connection with a firewall. Without this, network worms such as Blaster can try to sneak onto your computer the instant it goes online, even if you don't run a single Internet program.

Step two is to download and install every security patch available. Don't do anything else online until the process concludes. In Windows, select Windows Update from the Start Menu's All Programs listing. Then set your computer to download future fixes automatically (you should need to do this only in pre-SP2 versions of Windows XP, where you'd open the System control panel and click the Automatic Updates tab).

Step three is to activate and update the antivirus software on your computer. Most new PCs include only 90 days of updates, after which your protection will evaporate -- without a rap sheet on the latest viruses, your antivirus software can't identify them. Find out when your free coverage will end, then make a note in your calendar to renew your subscription before then. (If paying $20 or so for a year of virus protection bugs you, try repairing an infection.)

Step four is to update three core Internet programs, since older versions can suffer from security flaws. Get the latest versions of Microsoft's Windows Media Player (www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/), RealNetworks' RealPlayer (www.real.com) and Sun Microsystems' Java software (www.java.com).

Step five is a big one: Download the free Mozilla Firefox Web browser (www.mozilla.org) and use that instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer whenever possible. Firefox is not only simpler and more convenient than Internet Explorer, it's also much more secure -- since it's not hooked so tightly into Windows, it can't act as a transmission belt for viruses. And by not running Microsoft's ActiveX software, Firefox blocks a common route for spyware.

One thing you don't need to worry about on the Web -- contrary to what some security programs suggest -- is browser cookies. These small, inert text files are placed on your computer by most Web sites to customize your use of them; for example, your bank's site uses cookies to store registration info. These site-specific cookies are harmless.

Other, "third-party" cookies are set by ad networks to track ad viewership across multiple sites. They also pose no security threat. They do raise some privacy issues, but they can be easily blocked by any new browser without impeding your Web use. In either case, fretting over the nonexistent threat of cookies is a pointless distraction.

The sixth and last step is to use the most effective security mechanism ever invented, the human brain. In two words, be skeptical. Don't open unexpected e-mail attachments -- even if they come from a friend's e-mail address, since viruses scour infected PCs for e-mail addresses to impersonate. If you get an e-mail allegedly from your bank, ignore any links in it; log in by typing the bank's address into your browser yourself.

Most important, think twice about adding new, unknown software. What makes a program trustworthy? If a computer-savvy friend or a trusted publication says it's safe, that helps. If the program is available as "open source," meaning its programming code is free for anyone to inspect, that's another selling point.

If, after all these precautions, a malicious program does find its way onto your computer, Windows users can try using the System Restore utility to reset the computer to an older configuration (go to the Start Menu, select All Programs, then scroll up to the Accessories folder, then select its System Tools sub-folder). You can also limit the ability of other people to install software by giving them separate user accounts with limited access rights (select the User Accounts control panel on Windows).

But there is no replacement, on any computer, for common-sense caution, the same thing that keeps people safe in the face of far worse dangers in the real world.

Dave's "Smiley" Find 'O The Week

Got a cool or unusual "Smiley"?
Click here to send it to Dave

Best PC Games Of 2004

written by X-Play Staff

Sims 2
Remember the Sims? Or as we like to call it – the land of never-ending expansion packs. Well, it did end to make way for the Sims 2. It’s still the same game at heart, but now 3-D. If you know a Sims fan and their PC can handle the processing heft, go right ahead and let them lose their life through others.

Rome: Total War
The Total War series has always been impressive in its ambitions but faltered in the execution. This is so not the case with Rome: Total War. It’s complex, but accessible, pretty much you just have to like togas.

Half-Life 2
But what might be on the minds of most PC gamers capitalizing on the holidays for material acquisitions is Half-Life 2. Lightening has struck twice and this is the amazing follow-up to one of the greatest games ever.

Gale Force Winds In A Can

Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer? Look no further than your local office supplies store where you'll find something that no computer user should be without -- a can of compressed air. A few weeks ago, I picked up a can to clean out my keyboard. I never realized how dirty my keyboards and displays were until I cleaned them all with a shot of wind. Now I'm addicted. While it's not exactly the gift that says I love you, it's one of those practical gifts that fits perfectly into a low budget (or a stocking) and that no geek should be without.

The "Bytes" Beg, Bargain & Barter Basement

Got something "computer related" to sell? Looking for that rare peripheral? If it's computer related you can submit a short classified ad for exposure in Dave "Bytes". Be sure to include your name and e-mail address in the ad. You can also include a picture of the item. Now some would suggest that there be a charge for this feature but alas, since my bookkeeping skills leave much to be desired I've determined that this will be a free service to all SPCUG members in good standing. "Bytes" is currently sent to almost 1500 homes in the area. Ad requests will be included as soon as possible. I assume absolutely no responsibility as to the accuracy or completeness of supplied info. All transactions are between consulting adults which leaves me entirely off the hook. Please let me know by clicking HERE when your merchandise is sold so that I can remove it from the listing. I will try to run each ad for a month.

Click Here To Submit Your Ad

Popular File-Sharing Site Shuts Down

One of the Web's most popular file-sharing sites has shut down less than a week after Hollywood announced a flurry of lawsuits against operators of such Internet servers.
A note posted on Suprnova.org, which facilitated sharing among users of the BitTorrent program, said the site was "closing down for good." The collection of links to downloadable files, including music, movies and books, was taken down.
"We are very sorry for this, but there was no other way, we have tried everything," the statement said.
Reached via Suprnova.org's chat room, the site's anonymous operator refused to comment on why it had shut down.
Last week, movie studios sued more than 100 operators of U.S. and European sites that host BitTorrent links but did not name the defendants.
Suprnova.org was the most popular repository for links to files that could be downloaded using the BitTorrent program.
Another site that carried BitTorrent links, N4p.com, said it had shut down due to a civil complaint that cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Torrentbits.org and Phoenix-torrents.com also shut down.
Still, there were plenty of sites with BitTorrent links alive on Monday, including a "mirror," or copy, of Suprnova.org.
BitTorrent has grown quickly in popularity this year, and now accounts for more than a third of all traffic on the Internet, according to the research company Cachelogic.
The program owes its popularity in part to its immunity to industry attempts to confound it with bogus decoy files, which have swamped some other networks. BitTorrent also allows for efficient and speedy downloads.
The Motion Picture Association of America last week said it is planning similar action against operators of servers that direct data for the DirectConnect and eDonkey file-swapping services.

Here's A Windows Tip

Making Movies Play Better

Movies don't always play back smoothly. If the computer and its video card aren't fast enough and expensive enough to keep up the fast pace, the movie looks jerky. The problem is that Media Player skips part of the movie to keep up with the sound track. Here are a few tips for smoother sailing when watching movies:

Be sure to use the latest drivers for the video card. If that doesn't work, buy an accelerated video card. If that doesn't work, buy a faster computer.

Computers take longer to grab files from a compact disc than from a hard drive. Try copying movies from the compact disc to the hard drive.
Or buy the fastest compact disc player you can find — nothing less than 32 X.

The Defrag program that comes with Windows can organize the hard drive so that Media Player can grab the movies a little more quickly.

Movies play back at their fastest when they are either full-screen (not contained in a window at all) or in the smallest possible window.

From "PC Today" Magazine

Banish Junk Email
Control Spam With Outlook 2003’s Filtering Settings

With the spam rate (percentage of emails sent) hovering around 65%, it’s no wonder computer users are looking for easier and better ways to eradicate these pesky, unwanted emails. Numerous companies offer software that promises to banish spam from your inbox, but you may not need to purchase a third-party solution. If you are using Office 2003, you already have a great spam fighter, Outlook 2003, installed on your system.

Built-In Safeguards

Outlook’s antispamming technology has several components. During setup, it turns each of these components on at a basic level.

Safe/Blocked Senders. During Setup, Outlook 2003 uses your Contacts list to create an internal list of allowed senders whose emails will pass through the spam filter without scrutiny.

Email filtering. Outlook 2003 automatically turns on the Junk E-Mail Filter, setting its threshold to Low. Low is best for many users initially because it will minimize the occurrence of false positives (good email erroneously marked as spam). By default, Outlook 2003 also blocks the download of pictures, sounds, and other content in HTML email messages from unknown senders. (The program downloads content from people on your Contacts list or from sites in your Trusted zone).

Tips & Tweaks

For best results, you should tweak Outlook 2003’s settings. To manage spam filtering, select the Junk E-mail option on Outlook 2003’s Actions menu and choose Junk E-mail Options.

Options tab. Outlook offers four junk email filtering settings: No Automatic Filtering (blocks only email messages from blocked senders), Low, High, and Safe Lists Only. High is your best option if you receive huge amounts of spam, and it is ideal for all users after the first few weeks of using Outlook 2003. If you select High, you should scroll through the Junk E-mail folder periodically to locate good email erroneously marked as spam.

Safe Senders tab. Here, you can add senders not on your Contacts list to the list of Safe Senders. Additions can include an entire domain, such as systers.org, which is nice if you receive email from a discussion group with a dedicated server.

From this tab you can also disable the default setting in Outlook 2003 that makes all contacts safe senders. (Deselect the Also Trust E-mail From My Contacts checkbox.) This is an attractive option if you have an out-of-date Contacts lists filled with unwanted names. However, if you select this alternative, you must add all allowed senders back to your Safe Senders list or risk having them marked as spam. An easier option is to clean up your Contacts list on a regular basis.

Safe Recipients tab. If you send email to trusted individuals who are not on your Contacts list, you can add them to your Safe Recipients list.

Blocked Senders tab. Here you can add email addresses or domains for senders from whom you never want to receive email. You can add not only spammers, but also any individuals or companies who send you objectionable mail.

Other settings. You can use Outlook’s Options and Rules And Alerts settings to manage how the program processes email. To manage how Outlook 2003 handles content in HTML mail, select Options from the Tools menu and click the Security tab. Click the Change Automatic Download Settings button. You can adjust the default to have Outlook 2003 download all HTML content, or you can have it restrict content even from Safe Senders or sites in the Trusted Zone.

Because Outlook 2003 processes rules before it filters junk email, you can use Rules And Alerts (on the Tools menu) to allow mail through that contains specific words, even if the sender is unknown. For example, if you don’t mind getting unsolicited offers for ink toner and cartridges, you could create a rule for these words.

A Partial Solution

Outlook 2003 has several drawbacks that may lead you to purchase a third-party solution. Outlook 2003 does not “learn” from emails you mark as spam, although it can add the names to your Blocked Senders list. Additionally, you cannot alter Outlook 2003’s filtering parameters. However, Microsoft tweaks these parameters periodically, so download Outlook 2003 updates for best results.

Even with these weaknesses, Outlook 2003 is a valuable addition to your spam-fighting arsenal. When paired with a clean Contacts list and a filter setting of High, it does a remarkably accurate job of discerning between good email and junk.

"Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing.

Visit http://www.smartcomputing.com/groups to learn what Smart Computing can do for you and your user group!"

Why not give the gift that keeps on giving all year round? I'm referring to a subscription to either Smart Computing, PC Today, CE Tips or CPU Magazines. If you are a current subscriber and order a gift subscription, the folks at Smart Computing will add 2 additional issues to your current subscription at no charge. And remember that even gift subscriptions will be credited to the SPCUG account so that we can accumulate free subscriptions to give away to our membership. If you aren't a subscriber you should be. These publications are geared towards the very same thing that caused you to join a PC User Group which is easy to read and understand computer information for folks at any level. If you already subscribe, be sure to use the appropriate SPCUG code when you renew !!!

To order call 1-800-733-3809 and be sure to give the following Code Numbers so that SPCUG gets proper credit.
Smart Computing (11607) CPU Magazine (272)

PC Today (146) CE Tips (219)

Free Tech Support

Many people view “free” as one of the nicest words in the English language. “Tech Support,” however, may not be such a positive term to computer users, especially if it evokes memories of the hours they’ve spent on the phone trying to get help for various computer problems.
The thing is, there’s a lot of troubleshooting we can do ourselves without relying on tech support reps, but we just need a little nudge in the right direction. Well, that’s what SmartComputing.com’s Tech Support Center tries to do: help people fix their own problems.

On SmartComputing.com’s Search Options page, combining a phrase and a category search can produce more targeted results.

For instance, if you keep seeing an error message appear on-screen that doesn’t make sense, you can take advantage of the Tech Support Center’s alphabetized, searchable list of error messages to get both a translation of the error and a possible resolution.

The Security & Privacy area and the daily Weblog keep you current on the latest malware (software created for malicious purposes) news. The Preventative & Regular Maintenance section should be required reading for all computer owners, and the Driver Education area helps you find device drivers online. But don’t go anywhere yet; the Tech Support Center offers much more. Need a list of file extensions? Trying to find info about eliminating viruses? Want to know more about stopping spam? Tech Support Center addresses all of these questions and more.
Plus, it’s not just a resource for solving problems; you can use it on an ongoing basis to learn more about preventing computing problems.
Spend 10 minutes a day at the center for a few months, and you won’t have to call your brother for help again; heck, he may even start calling you.

Ready for the best news? If you’ve exhausted all of the site’s resources, including the Q&A Board (see the next section), you can call the Web Services staff at (800) 368-8304, and someone will try to help you with your problem. And it’s still—there’s that nice word again—free.

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Here's A Digital Media Tip

Memory cards (on which you store your digital photos in your camera) can become damaged very easily. To protect your memory cards, as well as any pictures you have stored on them, follow these care instructions.

Don't remove the card while the camera is turned on. Doing so poses a big risk to the card and all the pictures it holds.

Don't turn the camera off while it's in the process of writing the last picture file to the memory card. An indicator light on the camera should let you know when the camera is done with this step.

Try not to touch the contact area of the card — that is, the part of the card that interfaces with the camera's recording element.

Keep the card in the storage case, if one came with it. Or keep it in the camera.

Although memory cards aren't exceptionally fragile, they can be damaged by heat, humidity, dirt, static electricity, and a strong magnetic charge, as well as your puppy's teeth and the heel of your shoe. Don't leave your memory card anywhere you wouldn't leave your camera or other sensitive equipment.

Don't use memory cards for long-term storage of your pictures. Instead archive pictures on a more secure, non-erasable storage media, such as a CD-ROM or DVD disc, or your computer's hard drive.

Microsoft announced that it will beef up Windows security after buying
Giant Company Software, a developer of anti-spyware and internet security offerings.

The Redmond firm will use intellectual property and technology from the acquisition to develop tools that will give "near-term relief" to Windows users by enhancing defences against spyware and other deceptive software.

This relief will come in the form of a beta version of a spyware protection, detection and removal tool, based on the Giant AntiSpyware product, which will ship "within one month" for users of Windows 2000 and later versions.

The forthcoming beta will scan a PC to locate spyware and other malware threats, and enable customers to remove them.

According to Microsoft, the tool will also be configurable to block known spyware and other unwanted software from being installed on the computer.

"Spyware is an industry-wide challenge, and it is encouraging to see Microsoft take strong action to protect Windows users," said Chris Christiansen, vice president of security products and services at analyst IDC.

"This announcement, and the release of the free beta, will help consumers regain control over their PCs."

Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Security Business and Technology Unit, added: "Spyware is a serious and growing problem for PC users, and customers have made it clear that they want Microsoft to deliver effective solutions to protect against the threat."

Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Details of the Microsoft solution beyond the planned beta, including product plans, pricing and a timeline for delivery, are not yet available.

Pause For Thought

Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
-- Thomas Alva Edison

And Now Here's

Dave's Cool Downloads

The following is an email that I received the other day. I have installed this program and it works like a charm
Dave

Dear Mr. Gerber:

I came across your newsletter when doing a search on Google for phishing. (It looks like you did a special piece on Phishing in your September 28, 2004 newsletter).

I work for a company called FraudEliminator, and I thought our anti-phishing/fraud product (which is completely free) might be of interest to your subscribers.

We are an anti-fraud and anti-phishing company, and our main product (also called FraudEliminator) prevents you from falling for phishing scams and other fraudulent websites. The product prevents your browser from accessing known phishing websites, and uses advanced techniques (such as identifying where the website is "hosted") to determine if a website is a scam. For example, a website with similar text as CitiBank.com, but hosted in Russia, would be identified as a scam. We also allow people who use our product to report phishing sites, which makes our network even stronger. The list of "known" phishing sites is updated every 15 minutes for everyone using the product.

As you probably know, A LOT of people fall for these scams, because most computer users don't know better---I know my grandmother wouldn't. They have gotten to the point where they can look really perfect.

Even without the problem of phishing, there are numerous fake websites that are proliferating across the internet. If you search on google for "television" some of the sites that come up might be fake and just trying to get your credit card info.

Our product is completely free, and has no adware or spyware. Our goal in making the product free is to build a large base of users, which helps everyone because it allows everyone to report fraud as it is identified. We also work with banks and other financial institutions to help identify and stamp out phishing scams. The product will *always* be free. It's also 100% anonymous, and we don't collect any data on our users.

Our goal is to get people to use our product and to protect them from the growing danger of fraud and phishing.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance. I haven't put you on any sort of mailing list or anything---this is just a one-time e-mail.

Sincerely,

Alan Randall

Click to Download

Internet Spy

I don't usually like spy software, but I do believe parents should be aware if their children access unsavory internet content, and that employers have a right to monitor employee Web activity.
This is a tiny freeware utility that continuously monitors every Web page accessed on the computer and makes a chronological record of all visited URLs. Internet Spy is compatible with all versions of Internet Explorer, may load at startup, and can optionally run in the stealth mode, where it is impossible to detect. All visited URLs are written to a text file that may be accessed from any other computer in the local network.
Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.