A few days ago – while musing about the botnet take-down of Blue Security – I said something along the lines of “Make sure your pc’s are clean from “bugs†and help your friends do likewise. Spread the word, we need a “worldwide clean your computer with antivirus and antispyware day†or something like it. (Kind of like the installfests, Linux User groups have only an uninstallfest.)” Anyway, it looks as though Switzerland does something like this… According to incidents.org it’s called Swiss Security day.
Tag: computer
-
Nugache the latest in bot-net technology… and why you should care about botnets…
To show you where the threat with bot networks is going there’s a story today on Nugache (Symantec summary) which is a bot that takes advantage of a number of clever tricks to avoid having the whole bot net shut down, allow command and control on an encrypted channel and essentially have no “human readable strings” in any of it’s communications. The encryption of it’s connections makes it harder for IDS to catch it (as they rely on signatures of traffic.
-
Netcubicle, you’re personalized network based linux desktop..
As they say on their site “Experience Linux without the hassles of installation and adminstration.” Inqub has a new product out called Netcubicle which basically is this…. for $4.50 a month, you can have a Gigabyte of storage and a linux desktop accessible from most any computer in the world. (Or command line SSH access too.) Apparently it’s based on Ubuntu/Kubuntu (They say gnome/kde are both available). The KDE Dot calls it a KDE Desktop Hosting Service.
-
Late afternoon test run of Google Notebook
So, I finally got down to about 5 tabs left in my firefox window and decided I could kill it off and restart it without really losing my place so I could get a good look at the Google Notebook plugin. First impression is that it’s fairly unobtrusive and is in the notification bar with the rest of my plugins (google mail notifier, google calendar notifier, noscript, adsense notifier and adblock…) Clicking on it gives the chance to create a new notebook and then loads a little Web 2.0 looking box complete with resize/close widgets and an Add note button and Actions menu.
-
Warner Bros and 180solutions….
I think somewhere along the line, Warner Bros missed the memo that 180solutions is not a brand that many people would jump to associate with. Apparently 180Solutions has started making two Warner Bros shows (a soap opera and animated series) available for download on some of their sites including zango. Of course, the episodes come with bundled adware downloads which, I’m sure, “enhance your web browsing experience” by popping up relevant ad windows on your desktop.
-
Clickbot – new bot tactic…
There is a new twist on the bot networks that have been the plague of computing in recent years. This one is called ClickBot. The story is from Incidents.org Many sites, (like this one) use adsense to “monetize their content”. The idea is that advertisers bid on “clicks”. So, if I wanted to advertise on the keywords “asheville computer repair” I might bid 5 cents for every click on one of my ads. The problem is many content owners are less than scrupulous.
-
Vista UAP (User Account Protection) – too much?
First let me tell you I have not seen first hand Microsoft’s Vista UAP (User Account Protection) I cannot then claim firsthand experience with it, the following is and will be based on what I have read plus how it relates and compares to linux and “run as” functionality. George Ou thinks that UAP is getting a “bum rap” from people, some of whom want it both ways, tighter file access security, but this is annoying… Another ZDNet columnist has done a more detailed look at UAP. One of the articles cited by George Ou is this post from Paul Thurrott which is highly critical of UAP
-
Ubuntu Center – web control for your ubuntu machine
I ran across ubuntucenter today, which aims to be a web based control panel for any ubuntu based machine, providing file access, etc. Here’s their summary…
Ubuntu Center is a web based interface for accessing all kinds of information that’s being stored on your computer running Ubuntu Breezy, Kubuntu, XUbuntu, or even nUbuntu box. Ubuntu Center accomplishes all of this by integrating PHP software licensed under the GPL license in one giant package suitable for use on a Ubuntu computer. This release adds tons of new features and bug fixes and is suitable for everyday use.
-
Top 10 things to do when throwing out a computer
This is going to sound familiar to those that have been here before, but I’ve just had a once over of a batch of machines that are going to get thrown away tomorrow and felt compelled to make a list of the top ten things to do before you throw away, give away, pitch or otherwise dispose of your computer…..
-
Cleaning out a few draft posts….
I really like a lot of features about WordPress. One is the ability to start a draft post and hang on to it indefinitely. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning out a batch of some of the many draft posts I’ve accumulated over the last few weeks. (Along with some items that are fresh in the last day or two.) What I like about it is an opportunity to do a quick link in a post with a title and be able to retrieve that from any web-accessible computer to follow up on. It acts as a neat reminder or post-it note system as well.