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March 18th Show Recap & Links!
Posted on: 2006-03-17 17:38:31 Credit Card Fraud is on the rise, we clear up the confusion, file of the week, website of the week, your calls and more! Download: http://www.thetechnologygeeks.com/shows/031806.mp3 Links mentioned: Feature: Feature: Credit Card Fraud is on the rise · Recent news stories have highlighted local websites that have been victimized but the reality is that internet purchases are safer than most other purchases. · We’ll clear up all the confusion and let you know what you can do to protect your credit cards and identity. Don’t forget to listen to us LIVE on the web at: o For Real Player go to http://www.WFBL.Com o For Wav format go to http://www.radioshowlinks.com. o Check out our past shows on our website –http://www.thetechnologygeeks.com Jim’s GEEK OF THE WEEK SOFTWARE PICK: Website of the week. - A site devoted to Engrish – humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design. - There are numerous categories to choose from. http://www.jibjab.com/Oddities/OddityRedir.aspx?full=1&oddid=58 Announcements: o Listen on Wednesday @ 6:15 AM – Mike will be a guest on the Bill Colley Show. o Of course your calls at 421-9325. News Items Mentioned: Norton update kicks AOL users offline http://news.com.com/Norton+update+kicks+AOL+users+offline/2100-1002_3-6050786.html?part=rss&tag=6050786&subj=news An incorrect update to Symantec's Norton security software on Wednesday blocked Internet access for some America Online users. The issue affected AOL customers using recent editions of Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security, Symantec said in a statement sent via e-mail on Thursday. The culprit was an update to intrusion prevention software that is part of the security software, the company said. As a result of the incorrect update, AOL dial-up customers lost their connection and AOL broadband users were unable to access AOL servers, Symantec said. The erroneous update was removed from Symantec's servers about seven hours after it was released, and a corrected version was posted, the company said. McAfee Update Flags Hundreds of Innocuous Programs http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/03/mcafee_update_flags_hundreds_o.html Anti-virus giant McAfee acknowledged late last week that a recent update to a number of its software products went terribly awry, causing them to flag hundreds of legitimate third-party programs as hostile and prompting users to delete or quarantine them. The files identified by McAfee as malicious included Microsoft Excel, Google Toolbar installer, as well as programs that run Macromedia Flash Player, Sun's Java application and Adobe update manager. The erroneous flags even apply to updaterui.exe, McAfee's own update program. Batches of so-called "false positives" like this latest round from McAfee are more common than you might think among the anti-virus vendors. TrendMicro had a problem with an update file last April that completely swamped the processing power of the machines running it, effectively shutting down some major corporate e-mail gateways. News.com quotes McAfee's director of operations saying the company is forced to do an emergency update about every three months because of faulty definitions releases. New virus seeks 'ransom' for computer files http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060315/tc_afp/afplifestyleusinternet_060315174932 In the equivalent of a holdup in cyberspace, a new computer bug locks up a user's file with encryption and demands a 300-dollar "ransom," security experts say. The so-called "ransomware" Trojan was discovered Saturday by the security firm LURHQ, which said it was based on a similar scheme perpetrated 15 years ago. In poorly written English, the message said, "Do not try to search for a program what encrypted your information -- it simply do not exists in your hard disk anymore. If you really care about documents and information in encrypted files, you can pay using electronic currency 300 dollars. Reporting to police about a case will not help you." LURHQ said it was not clear how the Trojan was spread, but experts said it could be through infected e-mails or from visiting certain websites. "Infection reports are not widespread, so it is not believed this is a mass threat by any means," LURHQ said. Malware of this nature is actually more successful when it is delivered in low volumes, as it is less likely that anti-virus vendors will have detection for it, and more attention means the likely closing of the accounts used for the anonymous money transfer. Judge tells Google it must hand over data http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/15/wgoog15.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/15/ixworld.html Google will have to hand over details of users' internet searches to the United States government after a judge said the company must comply with a federal investigation. After hearing arguments in a key battle over internet data privacy, the judge said he was inclined to force the company to hand over at least some of the records sought by the justice department. James Ware, US District Court Judge for northern California, said the case was in essence about the government seeking the search data to test child-safe content filters to decide on the relevance of the request, was inclined to give the government "some relief". Judge dismisses Google copyright case http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060317/wr_nm/google_copyright_dc A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Google Inc.'s Web search systems infringe on a publisher's copyright, a minor victory for the company which faces numerous suits charging that its services trample on the rights of authors. In a ruling issued last Friday and made known on Thursday, Judge R. Barclay Surrick of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rejected eleven allegations contained in a civil complaint by plaintiff Gordon Roy Parker of Philadelphia. Parker, 39, an online publisher of sexual seduction guides with titles like "Why Hotties Choose Losers," is a former paralegal who was acting on his own behalf in suing Google. His site also offers racetrack betting and chess-playing tips. The eleven claims against Google had included accusations of copyright and trademark infringement, invasion of privacy, negligence, racketeering, abuse of legal process and civil conspiracy, according to the court documents. Judge Surrick's ruling found that Google enjoys projection under an exemption to the Communications Decency Act for online service providers acting as an automatic redistributor of published material. Parker's original 72-page complaint had argued that Google was responsible for anonymous Web postings attacking him in Usenet newsgroups that Google archives on its computers and via the newsgroup and general Web search systems it offers. |