TECHNICALLY SPEAKING VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF INTERESTING SITES
Here is one from Kim Komando. Now, if Kim or the questioner had attended our Advanced Users Class a month or so ago they would have know the answer. In addition Kim would have known that the problem is an Internet Explorer thing as far as the problem "About Blank" is concerned. We found a special little free free download program that eliminates the bad spyware called "about:Blank." It is called CW Shredder and can be downloaded from many sites. Here is one of them. http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html Most popular free or pay antispyware programs cannot touch the problem. Now to Kim. When is about:blank "about:blank"? I am using the Firefox browser. If I click on Tools, Options, and Use Blank Page under Home Page, I get about:blank in the title bar. Does this mean I have the about:blank spyware problem? Please advise in your newsletter how you can tell if you have about:blank. This is an excellent question. The fact that your browser says "about:blank" does not necessarily mean you have a problem. I'm sure that the people who wrote this spyware named it with the intention of confusing their victims. As the question says, you can set your home page to a blank browser window. The process works similarly in Internet Explorer and Firefox. When you do that, both browsers call the window "about:blank." That name doesn't make much sense to me, but it probably seemed like a good idea at the time! When the programmers and/or criminals behind this problem invade your computer, they set your browser to about:blank. So, how can you tell if you have the disease? Set your browser to another home page. For instance, change it to my home page (http://www.komando.com). Close the browser and reopen it. If it goes to my page, you don't have a problem. If it stays at about:blank, you do. (Hey I'd prefer that you KCnet readers use http://www.kcnet.org for your home page--Mike) now back to Kim: In the Jan. 29 newsletter, I wrote about a friend who had the about:blank problem, among others. When he opened Firefox, rather than Internet Explorer, the problem did not appear. I believe that this garbage is written specifically for Internet Explorer. Using Firefox is one of a number of things people should do to avoid the about:blank problem. Here is that Komando writing. It is one of her best. (Mike) It appears from my e-mail that the spyware problem is reaching crisis proportions. I am getting many complaints about About:Blank and something new (to me, at least)--SearchMiracle.Elite. Both of these programs, and others of their ilk, make changes to Windows Registry. When their files are deleted, the Registry entries download them again. To the uninformed eye, they appear impossible to eradicate. It's a real nightmare. As it happens, someone I know was infected last week with About:Blank, Cool Web Search and a number of other programs. He knows his way around computers, but it still took three or four hours to clean the machine. Argh! The infections occurred when he went to a site looking for information on a program. There was no indication that the site was troublesome. But a number of terrible programs downloaded automatically. He was using Windows XP and Internet Explorer, which were both fully updated. He was not, however, running any anti-spyware software. :/ Today, an anti-spyware program is a necessity. Had he been using a blocking program such as Spybot-Search & Destroy, Spy Sweeper or SpywareBlaster, he probably would not have had these problems. After the fact, he used a cocktail of antidotes to clean the computer: Spybot, Ad-aware, Spy Sweeper, CW Shredder, About:Buster and Microsoft AntiSpyware. But when he rebooted, everything was back. He discovered that all of the programs had inserted themselves into Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites. He cleaned that out. He then ran the cocktail of programs again, and this time was successful. The fact that this spyware was downloaded to an updated computer is disturbing. I believe Internet Explorer is fraught with danger. If you're using it, I suggest you switch to Firefox. You can get it at: http://www.mozilla.org/ If you have About:Blank, SearchMiracle.Elite or other invaders, get offline. Clean out the Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer. Click Tools>>Internet Options. Select the Security tab. Click Trusted Sites. Click Sites. Clean out everything and click OK>>OK. Then attack the spyware with the programs I've mentioned. Use Firefox to download any programs you need. Run the programs at least twice, to be sure they've gotten everything possible. You should also install a custom HOSTS file. Should you get a malicious program, the HOSTS file can block it from communicating over the Internet. I have more information on the HOSTS file at: http://www.komando.com/tips_show.asp?showID=8083 You need to use an anti-spyware program, both to block this malware and to scan your system for problems. There are several, as I mentioned above. I think SpySweeper offers the most protection. It performs both functions. It's the one I use on my systems at home and at the office. Others here use SpywareBlaster. It is a blocking program only. On last weekend's show, I mentioned About:Buster to get rid of About:Blank. It's available free on the Internet, as is Spyware/Blaster. You can find it them at, respectively: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4289.html http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/ Most of the other programs are available from my site at: http://www.komando.com/bestshareware.asp Anti-virus and firewall programs are still necessary. But they will not protect you from spyware. So you must install additional protection. You can subscribe to the Kim Komando Daily Tip Newsletter at: http://www.komando.com/ *******************************************
AVG Antivirus quirk explained by a Worldstart Techie. I get email coming to me with a paper clip preceding the sender but half the time there is no attachment. Is there a ghost attachment in there somewhere? I have this happen to me all the time in Outlook Express. Finally I decided to investigate and noticed that they always had one thing in common: there was a little message at the bottom... "No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus." Checking the source code I noticed that this message comes up as a second part to the email. When reading in HTML it treats the two parts as one message but still shows a paperclip in the attachment column. Switching to plain text mode it show the HTML email as an attached document that can be opened in a web browser. Now, if you have AVG antivirus you can avoid confusing recipients by preventing the message from being attached. Just turn off outgoing email certification. Messages will still be scanned but the attachment glitch will not occur. Go to the AVG control centre, click on "E-mail scanner", select the "properties" button, then the "configure" button. Under "E-mail scanning" deselect "certify mail". So don't be afraid of ghost attachments—it's just a quirk caused by AVG antivirus. **********************************************
Another Worldstart goodie. I love it. I've been burned on this one a bunch. Why didn't I try that? Bev, the Advanced Users Group Drag and Drop Specialist would have. I've just sat there doing that yelling and profaning they talk about. (Mike) Dragging to Minimized Windows Do you know what I hate? Trying to drag something to a folder when the stupid thing is minimized. There you are, looking like an idiot with your finger down on the left mouse button with nowhere to drop. What can you do? Easy—yell at your computer and curse at Microsoft. After that, try this: 1. Grab the item and drag it to the taskbar button of the minimized folder. 2. Hold the mouse cursor over the button for a few seconds, the folder will open back up. 3. Drop the file into the folder and take back what you said about Microsoft (well, you don't have to do that last part :-) ************************************************************ The next two were in a recent Microsoft email Newsletter 5 impressive Windows XP tricks There are a couple of good ones here. (Mike) Are you looking for cool new tricks that can help you work faster and more efficiently in Microsoft Windows XP? Here are five neat tricks for Windows XP http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=2108644 that you may not have heard before - and that are sure to impress your family and friends when you show them! ************************************************************* What's New Try the new Microsoft anti-spyware software http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=2108645 Help protect your computer from spyware and other unwanted software. Download the beta of the new Microsoft anti-spyware software today. *************************************************** Scot Finney of Scot's Newsletter gives opinion on The next Firefox Upgrade (Firefox 1.1) and then he takes some very strong pokes at Thunderbird (the new Mozilla Email Program) Firefox 1.1 Slips to June 2005 -- With Firefox's lead programmer Ben Goodger now splitting his time between Google and Mozilla, the young programmer has announced on his blog</a> that the forthcoming 1.1 version of Firefox is now expected three months later, sometime in June 2005. The Mozilla Firefox roadmap has also been changed to reflect the new time frame. Realistically speaking, June is still a target date. There's every chance version 1.1 could slip further. We'd rather they get it done right anyway, instead of rushing to some arbitrary release date. Ben Goodger's January 25 Blog Entry: http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/007407.html Mozilla Firefox Road map: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/roadmap.html More from Scot -- Thunderbird Is No Firefox -- A lot of you have been bending my ear with the suggestion that I try Mozilla's Thunderbird. I don't really make a habit of reviewing email software, even though I do write about the subject a lot. Why don't I review email products? Because I've learned over the years that my needs are a lot more demanding than most people's. For example, I need an email program whose message rules can filter both incoming and outgoing messages. Thunderbird can only filter incoming messages. I need an email app that can pull dozens of email accounts into a single inbox and folder hierarchy. Thunderbird is primarily designed to handle multiple accounts in separate inboxes. It has a feature that allows it to merge those accounts into a single inbox, but Mozilla decided to protect us from ourselves by creating a default SMTP server that's designed to serve all of your accounts, and that frankly turns the whole program into a giant mess for experienced email users who are able to work with multiple SMTP servers. I also need an email program that provides true individual account controls (plus an "identities" or "personalities" feature, which lets you create multiple account-like entries for a single mail account). Thunderbird makes a stab at this, but it's fatally flawed, primarily because of the compromises already mentioned. One other pet peeve. Many of Thunderbird's settings dialogs are modal. Once opened, they prevent anything else from being opened. That can be annoying when you want to copy and paste settings from one account to another, for example. I also had trouble getting ThunderBird's import tool to import the Eudora address book, even though it offered an option to do so. My Eudora installation uses the default locations for all Eudora files, but Qualcomm made a change a couple of years back on those defaults. My guess is that some Thunderbird developer was using an old version of Eudora when writing the import script. After just 30 minutes with the finished product, my assessment is this: Thunderbird looks a lot like Outlook Express. In fact, it reminds me of a cross between the cult-favorite Calypso emailer from the 1990s (which is now being marketed and developed by Rose City Software as Courier) and Outlook Express. It's actually less powerful than Outlook Express (though OE has other severe problems) and more powerful than the original Calypso. Frankly, all, you can do better than this. There's a product called PocoMail that might be worth a look if you haven't tried it. It has much of the power of Eudora with a cleaner interface more like Outlook Express. My only qualm about PocoMail has been that the product is updated sporadically, and reliability hasn't always been excellent. Rose City Software Courier: http://rosecitysoftware.com/courier/ Poco Systems PocoMail: http://www.pocosystems.com/pocomail/ Sorry to pour cold water on Thunderbird when I know so many of you are newly fond of it. The interface is very slick but I do not like Mozilla's underlying strategy. The very same approach is perfect for the Firefox browser. But the world doesn't need another light-weight email package -- there are already far too many of them. What we need is something that can go up against Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora head on. Something with significant features that will give us a real alternative. It's clear to me that Mozilla is more than capable of creating such an email application. They just went in a different direction. As a result, I find Thunderbird to be a bitter disappointment.
With the coming Valentine's day! I very much love you. Attachment: Valentine.EXE
Attachment: Valentine.EXE
The Saddam Worm Another good tip from Worldstart writers. With all the on-tap information about the every changing world, whether it's cable news or one of the many resources on the Internet, more and more of us are becoming news junkies. I am here to warn everyone of a new threat that plays on the desire to have breaking news, or should I say instant news. There sure are a lot of interesting events going on around the world and it's easy to get caught up in the media bombardment of information. There are RSS feeds, emails, cable TV, Websites, Blogs, and Forums. Hackers know this too, and as they often do, they try to exploit your healthy intuitive nature with unbelievable news attached to worms and Trojans. The Saddam Worm, or Bobax Worm by its proper name, attempts to enter you system with one of these deceptive emails. It poses as an attachment to an email that may say something to the affect of "Saddam Hussein shot while attempting to escape", or even something like "Captured bin Laden", and can have file extensions of .pif, .scr, .exe, or .zip). Of course it's not true, but they are eye catchers and can prove hard for some to deny opening. In addition to entering your machine the old trusty email attachment way, the virus can also exploit the Microsoft LSASS vulnerability, just like the old Sasser Worm did. So watch out you XP Service Pack 1ers, and non-updated 2000 users—you're vulnerable. You can go out to the LSASS link for updates—go down the page for your OS. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms04-011.mspx Now for the payload: what does this worm do once it gets in your system? The purpose of the Bobax is to recruit your system to relay spam. Do I have any volunteers? I didn't thinks so—that's why these hackers must get recruits forcibly. The virus does this by installing a Spam relay on your machine, which not only is going to slow your PC down, but can also get you in some trouble (or at least accused) for spamming. Bobax will also attempt to shut off any antivirus and other protective applications you may be running as well in order to increase the time in which it is undetected. The biggest thing you can do to protect yourself from one of these attachments and, believe me we will see more in the future, is to NOT open the attachments from unknown sources, no matter how tempting it may be. News emails are easy enough to disprove by simply going online and doing a search or by skimming your favorite reputable news sites. Link out to the Microsoft link and read over the LSASS vulnerability to see if you need the update listed there or not. Update you antivirus software, and be suspicious of strange emails and you'll be OK. ****************************************************
IF YOU SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE A VIRUS OR IF YOU HAVE NOT SUCCESSFULLY SCANNED YOUR DRIVES FOR VIRUSES LATELY... THESE NEXT SITES ARE FOR YOU. Free Virus scans. Computer Associates, a reputable and reliable anti virus developer introduced a new free program which allows anyone to do a virus scan without downloading any software or registering for an anti virus program. You must use Internet Explorer for access to Computer Associates and to perform the scan. This is a good one and very simple to operate The address is http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Trend Micro, more commonly referred to as Housecall, offers free virus scans and in most cases can fix damage down by a virus or worm that your computer may have contacted. The program works well. The first time one uses the free program it is necessary to download a small program. Trend Micro walks you through the process. Then the virus scans are quite simple for each return. Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/ then choose the link "Scan without registering". Follow the directions.
You should disable any anti virus program that you have running. If you do not have a virus program I recommend that you use one of the programs offered above first and then download and install one of the free programs listed below or install any anti virus program you have purchased.
Free Anti Virus programs for download. Quite a few KCnet members use these programs and like them. Be careful if you download a virus program and you already have one installed on your computer. You need to at least disable the program already installed.
AVG Free AVG Free Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements). http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
Avast Avast has been "anti virusing" for quite awhile. The following info comes from their download page: Avast! Home is now free of charge for HOME users for NON-COMMERCIAL use. You can find more info here. http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html Note: This product is free for home non-commercial use after registration! HINTS: Click on the English Version Link and download the installation file. Then click on the installation file and follow the directions. You will need to return to the download page and click on the link to get the registration key. It will be sent to you in an email after you provide some registration information. This will give you 14 months of coverage including any updates which can be set to auto download. You can reregister for additional free coverage at the end of the 14 months. You will want to browse around and choose from the many options available for operation. This process will take some time and digging.
Another good free program is: http://www.free-av.com/ This one installs a bit easier than Avast.
Top 5 Viruses for January 28 to February 03 from Trend Micro.
1. WORM_NETSKY.P 2. HTML_NETSKY.P 3. JAVA_BYTEVER.A 4. WORM_NETSKY.D 5. SPYW_GATOR.D
Here are a few sites of many that can help you determine if an email is a hoax or real.
http://www.quatloos.com/ http://www.snopes.com/ http://vil.nai.com/VIL/hoaxes.asp http://kumite.com/myths/ http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html http://www.scambusters.org/VirusHoaxes.html http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/hoaxes/ http://www.truthorfiction.com/
Valentines Day Sites. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/ http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/ http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/valentin/fun.htm
The Aviation History Online Museum Amanda found this one. You'll notice that navigation is to the side and that it starts with Aircrafts. If you click the description link you are taken to photo of that airplane along with some information. You will notice on the airplane page you are viewing that you can click the link Full Text to learn more about that aircraft. The list of planes in the "Aircraft" section is in alphabetical order, and shows who manufactured it and whether the photo is in color. Some of the aircrafts come with the text already on the same page as the photo of the plane. My favorite aircraft off of the list was Lockheed P-38 Lightning. In the "Photo Gallery" you will find another great selection of airplanes. Just click the description link and you will be taken to the photo of that model of airplane. Here you get less information, just how many were made, when the photo was taken, and the location. My favorite from in the Photo Gallery was the Aeronca C-3 (Razorback). The "Airman" section is a listing of airmen, with the subject they are talking about listed, and the country and whether or not there is a photo. Each one tells a very thorough story. I particularly enjoyed the story of Alcock and Brown who flew across the Atlantic "in 16 hours, and 12 minutes sometimes upside down through dense, icy fog." I'll be honest though, I ended up reading them all because they were all so interesting. In "Engines" you can take a look at 12 airplane engines, complete with photos and text. If you check out DB 605 you even get a sectional view of the engine which lets you get a good look inside it. "Early Years" is a very historical section—go back all the way to 1849 and start learning about the history of flight with George Cayley and end up with information from 1908 with Glenn H. Curtis. And who can neglect to mention the Wright Brothers in 1903. Very interesting section that is worth reading, you will get a real feel for how flight progressed. "Theory" covers the scientific theory behind flight. I think this is an interesting site that pays homage to something that most travelers take for granted: it wasn't always so easy to go catch a flight to wherever you wanted to go in the world. http://www.aviation-history.com/
February 7, 2005 -- President George W. Bush’s FY 2006 budget request includes a total of $41.1 billion for the Department of Homeland Security. This is an increase of seven percent over the enacted FY 2005 funding, excluding Project BioShield. DHS has made great strides since it was established in March 2003 in integrating the 22 distinct agencies and bureaus, each with its own employees, mission and culture into a single, unified Department whose mission is to secure the homeland. This year’s budget request includes several key initiatives that will allow the Department to integrate and consolidate existing security functions to more effectively serve our overall mission and make America safer. http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/
Sam's Mailbox Picture Collection I'll guess there are more than a hundred graphics here. Good ones too. I have always been intrigued by the ability of a craftsman to take a boring mailbox and make it into a thing of interest, adventure or beauty-- Or simply mount it in a way to catch my eye-- I know that we all see them every day but some are really neat. Also there are some neat hand painted mailboxes-- you'll want to check them also. http://sblom.com/mailbox/
Color by Number for the Digital Age! Segmation products utilize state of the art image processing science to reveal wonderful patterns and designs previously hidden in images. Segmation brings out the simple essence and beauty in today's digital photography. Our exciting products allow users of Adobe Photoshop™ and 3D Studio Max™ to create wonderfully detailed images and models. http://www.segmation.com/