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ABC Nightlife 2 June 2006 | |
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Posted 4 June 2006
The June show looked at the most dangerous words to search the net with, ransomware and some important security bugs and updates.
Three major updates came out this week, the Microsoft
Word security problem, the latest
update of Firefox and a serious flaw in Symantec's
corporate anti-virus programs. Of the patches and bugs from last week, the
most immediate one is the update to Mozilla Firefox, we'd recommend Firefox
users install this immediately. The Microsoft Word 2003 bug is also serious
and it's important users apply the patch as soon as possible.
Our main topic was the recent
research into the most likely words that would result in a seach engine
sending you to a spyware infected site. The results were clear: Music, celebrities
and free software were the most likely to send you to bad places. The worst
words to use were "free screensavers".
We also discussed the latest "ware" to infest your computer. Ransomware
locks up all your data and demands a ransom to release it. It's an important
reminder of how you must backup your data, but it's unlikely to affect many
users. As usual, our callers had far more important questions.
Cameron had a spyware infection he couldn't remove, we'd recommend running
the SmitRem tool
as the first step to getting rid of peristent spyware. We also find that no
one tool can remove this rubbish so we recommend hitting it with the Windows
Defender, Spybot,
Adaware
and the SpywareInfo
Online Scanning Tool.
One of the strangest aspects of Bigpond's email service are the server settings. The official settings shown on their webpage work for most people however we still come across the odd Bigpond user who finds the new settings will not work. Geoff was one of these, having problems sending email.
The older settings for Bigpond broadband users are mail-hub.bigpond.net.au for the outgoing mail and pop-server.bigpond.net.au. The user name should be just the name, so take the @bigpond.net.au off the end and the same email address. It is also possible that a firewall is blocking access, checking mail.bigpond.com is trusted might be a good idea.
An unfortunate side effect
of the spyware wars are the number of dubious programs that take advantage of
people's concerns. Error safe is one of them and Greta had unfortunately downloaded
and installed it. We'd recommend uninstalling it and giving the computer a good
scan with the four spyware scanners mentioned above.
Regular listeners know we are not fans of Norton AntiVirus, System Works or Internet Security. One of the reasons we aren't impressed is the difficulty un-installing these products. Peter called in asking how to remove it and we've posted the instructions for removing an anti-virus on an earlier Nightlife spot.
Symantec are aware of
the difficulties removing Norton products and have a tool
to remove them on their website. Unfortunately the latest versions of these
tools require you to be connected to the net, which is a serious security risk.
Make sure you have turned on the Windows Firewall before running these utilities.
As usual our apologies
to the many callers who couldn't get through. The next Nightlife computer spot
will be at 10pm July 14, but that is to be confirmed. If you"d like to be
kept up-to-date with our schedule then subscribe
to our newsletter
Spyware Removal
Bigpond Email Settings
Error Safe
Removing Norton Anti-Virus
info@pcrescue.com.au
PC Rescue Pty Ltd, Suite 236, 4 Young Street Neutral Bay NSW 2089
ABN 082 635 765
ŠTechnology Publishing Australia, 2007