For several years now I’ve used a neat tool at Gibson Research to test a clients firewall quick and easy from the web browser. They have a tool called Shields Up that does a limited port scan to determine of network ports are open, closed or “stealth”.
Tag: computer
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Brian Krebs talks to the FBI on cybercrime
Just found this interesting post at the Security Fix. It seems Brian has had a chance to ask a question of the FBI director Robert Mueller and to speak with the assistant director in the Cyber Division. There are some interesting answers to his questions.
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Google filtering some searches
It caught me by surprise at first. I had done a search and got the following…
“We’re sorry…
… but we can’t process your request right now. A computer virus or spyware application is sending us automated requests, and it appears that your computer or network has been infected.
We’ll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your computer is free of viruses and other spurious software.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we’ll see you again on Google. ”
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Web smarts is the main defence against spyware
Over at the Security Fix, Brian Krebs is talking about spyware and the fact that keeping up-to-date on patches, and running current antivirus with current definitions is not enough to protect your machine from spyware. He sums it up by saying common sense is the best defence.
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Itunes adware?
It’s an older post, but I just discovered it…. July 21st… spware confidential reports on a virus masquerading as an itunes installer that actually brings along some adware (4 different applications) for fun. This apparently was distributed over the AIM messenger network.
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Identity theft protection and update on Massive Identity theft story
Sunbeltblog has another update related to their earlier story about the massive identity theft ring. In this story they make clear that the keylogger was NOT directly related to coolwebsearch. It was apparently seperate and independant it was discovered during a coolwebsearch infestation, but appears unrelated.
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Applause for Dell
I usually work on desktop computers and so have complaints from time to time about the way desktop computer manufacturers design access to their components. They’re improving overall, but sometimes you’ll still find something that you’d just like to slap an engineer over… Recently I had to swap a keyboard on a Dell Inspiron 5150 laptop. (Spilled drink.) I must say, congratulations to whoever designed the laptop for the easy access to the keyboard replacement.
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Simple Backup
This is going to explain some ideas for a really simple way to make your own backup routine. (more…)
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The state of computer security
The Register has an interesting piece, reflecting on the current state of the computer security industry. The recent Blackhat convention has prompted this reflection and they conclude that not enough is being spent currently on computer security.
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Sunbeltblog on Windows Vista’s attempt to keep Windows up to speed
Sunbelt blog has an article about Microsoft’s plan to keep Windows Vista from becomming more sluggish as the system aged. Microsoft’s plan is to run defragmentation in the background and preloading commonly used components as outlined in this article.
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