PolyMorphic Win32:Vitro Most Viraulent Virus
This seems to be an virus that is getting some people hit hard. I wanted to blog about this because of the nature of Virus and Trojans. I have read reports that this might be from Online Movies, and I have to say this is one reason why you must stay away from certain online movies. I am going to take a guess that this virus requires a special CODEC, and you downloaded it and installed it. It Could also be the update the Adobe Flash player idea to but still results in getting the Virus.
As I said before you take a risk when you go to sites you don’t trust or know anything about. You also should know that if you need a “SPECIAL” codec, you should just go on to another site. These sites that claim they need this special codec means only one thing they want to install something without your Knowledge.
So what is this Virus:
The Virut family of viruses uses polymorphism to hide from all anti-virus protection, it infects executable files. File infection makes it very hard to repair a system that has been infected. W32/Vitro injects code in running processes and hooks the following functions in ntdll.dll which transfers control to the virus every time any of these function calls are made.
Crafty little Trojan:W32/DNSChanger.ARNF
Comments OffSaw this post and couldn’t resist talking about it. This was talked about on F-secure. It looks like they use a program call “Homeview Installer” and after you install it you get the Trojan:W32/DNSChanger.ARNF. So how do you get that off your system? Before we talk about that, let’s talk about what it does. According to F-secure:
This malware is dropped onto the system by Trojan-Dropper:W32/Agent.FLN. It is used to change the DNS settings on a system so that information such as passwords and credit card details can be retrieved.
[Via F-secure]
What you need to do to get rid of this of this Trojan is to scan your system. You will also need to understand that this is a really good Trojan, it sees to modify your DNS and also your Registry. Once you located and destroyed it you will then want to remove all your restore points. After that you will want to check my other resources to better protect yourself. You are the only one to prevent a virus from getting on your system. If you like this one check out my other post as well.
Google let your work from home with Task Lists!!
Comments OffAs the day go by we have all have tasks, and that means we have to keep a way to remember them. Google decided to add that to there Google Mail. Pcworld said it the right way:
[Via Pcworld]
Upcoming Patch Tuesday
Update for Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP
Install this update to resolve an issue that is caused by revised daylight saving time laws in many countries. This update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2008. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer. This update is provided to you and licensed under the Windows Server 2008 License Terms.
Update for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista
Install this update to resolve a set of known application compatibility issues with Windows Server 2008. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.
Facebook : Beware Spam for breakfast. (Virus)
Comments OffIn today’s society, we’ve been to complacent with people with people clicking links for the social group. In one such article on Channel Web, a nice little blog, says this:
The worm was discovered by IT security provider Kaspersky Lab, which said the threat, Net-Worm.Win32.Koobface.b, is targeting Facebook users by creating spam messages and sending them to the infected user’s friends via the site.
“Unfortunately, users are very trusting of messages left by ‘friends’ on social networking sites,” said Alexander Gostev, senior virus analyst at Kaspersky Lab, in a statement. “So, the likelihood of a user clicking on a link like this is very high.”
[Via Channel Web]
This seems to be a problem people thinking that a link someone sends them is a real good link but actually is a link to a video site. According to this article the links people are sending are actually a fake video link, telling you have to download some update to flash player, by downloading this program. The user gets involved with the virus and the fun begins. So how can you prevent this from happening, two ways one is a very good group of software to make sure you have the latest and greatest video codecs. That too can be something they’ll say you need and if you’ve already installed this list of codecs then you know they’ll not telling the truth and you can quickly get away from the site laughing.
Is this Windows 7?
Comments OffAs you can see that looks to be the final release of the start screen. In the past they haven’t change the start screen, it looks to be really polished and ready for use with Windows 7. If anything, I think the boot screen will be permanent and definitely not temporary. On a Side note, I found this video as well:
I also found one more little Video that looks to be promising, it’s called Windows 7 Super bar. This little Video looks convincingly like this will be kept in Windows 7 but you know how Microsoft is on beta’s. Any how, Here’s this one:
Windows 7 Super Bar from Paul Jenkins on Vimeo.
Google SearchWiki dies after two days!!
Comments OffAccording to Techcrunch Google Pulls the Google SearchWiki. Unsure as to way but here’s what they said:
Users are reporting that the recent changes to Google’s search engine, called SearchWiki, have simply disappeared from the site. It’s certainly gone from my account.
[via TechCrunch]
I’ve got my theory on this, and it’s quite a good theory. I think it was a making search results come up wrong or not at all. The last two days they’ve had that going my page views have drop BIG time. According to my Stats I’ve had 236 Unique Visits for Thursday, and 232 Wednesday. My Friday stats show that I only got 185 Unique Visits, dropping 40 to 50 people. My stats for today which is incomplete shows that I’ve only gotten 136 unique visits. Although that is complete you can see where I dropped drastically. I think Google was getting yelled at by websites due to the stats dropping. I am guessing people could tell if they wanted to go to a site just by reading the comments. This will hurt every site, including TechCrunch. I will say this is only a theory and this might or might not be the case.
Google Creates the ultimate Search Wiki!!
Comments OffGoogle has started to do let people rate the searches and help find the better articles. Google is calling it Searchwiki. Here is a screen shot:
Some other Websites talking about this are:
These are just a few but I wanted to let you see what other websites are talking about this new feature. I do want to hear what you think about all this and what is likely to come later on?
Get your Cricket Broadband to Activate Manually!
Comments Off
Once your are to the Quicklink Mobile Menu you will want to hit Control-D:
It will bring up this:
The Password to get into manually activate your Broadband USB card is six zeros no more no less!!
Once your enter the password your will get this screen:
Activation Code : Same from above Six Zero’s
Phone Number : The Phone number that is your broadband card
The IMSI (Min) Code : You will find that in the Indirect Dealer Copy. It will be the one telling you another number. In mine it said this:
“In order to program your phone, you will also need the following number (###)###-#### (MIN)”
Enter that number in there without any special characters it would be ########## and then press enter. Close out the Quicklink Mobile menu and reload it. Then click Connect and you should be ready to go!!!
Antivirus Professional 2008 uses Scare tactics
Comments OffWe came across a rogue today called Antivirus Professional 2008 that uses GeoIP Lookup as part of its scare tactics. This site uses Flash and script to create the effect of an online scan, that then attempts to push an installer at the visitor. The NoScript extension for Mozilla Firefox is an excellent way to mitigate against this kind of garbage.
[Via F-secure]
It seems that there is a site out there, that seems to be trying to scare you into downloading there software. If you have any questions about this site please feel free to check out what I’ve found out:
Registration Service Provided By: ESTDOMAINS INC
Contact: 1.3027224217
Website: http://www.estdomains.com
Domain Name: ANTIVIRUS-ONLINE-SCANNER.COM
Registrant:
N/A
Serento faloimitator@list.ruMinskay str. 27-14
Kiev
Kiev 237293
UA
Tel. 044.2901732
Creation Date: 07-Jun-2008
Expiration Date: 07-Jun-2009
Domain servers in listed order:
ns2.antivirus-online-scanner.com
ns1.antivirus-online-scanner.com
Administrative Contact:
N/A
Serento faloimitator@list.ruMinskay str. 27-14
Kiev
Kiev 237293
UA
Tel. 044.2901732
Technical Contact:
N/A
Serento faloimitator@list.ruMinskay str. 27-14
Kiev
Kiev 237293
UA
Tel. 044.2901732
Billing Contact:
N/A
Serento faloimitator@list.ruMinskay str. 27-14
Kiev
Kiev 237293
UA
Tel. 044.2901732
Windows update is getting a revision!
Comments Off“Over the next couple of months, we’ll be rolling out another infrastructure update to the Windows Update agent (client code),” said an unidentified Microsoft employee on the Windows Update team’s official blog. “This update makes it possible for users to install more than 80 updates at the same time.”
[via Computer World]
Now if your like me and have several computers who need to be updated at a given schedule, you sometimes worry about these updates that come along that might just break your system. I have been using a program call Offline Updater, which does what Autopatcher does really nicely. So why is Microsoft sending out this patch? Two reasons, one they want you to be able to update your operating System without hurting your system integrity.
Now lets talk about the integrity of having to reboot your system. You see, every time you reboot the system, it causes the system hardware some strain. It is something like having starting up a car, sooner or later you will have the starter go out, because of to much start up.
Sony recalls 340,000 batteries.
Comments Off
Sony Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Previous Fires
The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: Rechargeable, lithium ion batteries containing Sony cells used in Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation, Gateway Inc., Sony Electronics Inc., and Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. notebook computers.Units: About 340,000 batteries (an additional 3,080,000 battery packs were sold worldwide)
Battery Cell Manufacturer: Sony Energy Devices Corp., of Japan
Hazard: These lithium ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: There have been 16 reports of notebook computer batteries overheating, causing minor property damage and two minor burns. All of these reported incidents and injuries have been associated with earlier recalls of notebook computer batteries containing these Sony cells. There have been no incidents involving batteries sold by the notebook manufacturers participating in this announcement.
Windows 7 Milestone 1 Leaked!
Comments Off
Many people have been wanting a copy of this so called elusive copy from PDC to test out and see where Microsoft is going. Most developers are wanting to start to get into the stage of figuring out how they can get a step ahead of everyone else. That being said, people have started to leak the Windows 7 on the Torrent sites.
We must assume Microsoft expected this and kinda wanted this to happen because when they gave this out they didn’t make it have any major copy protection. Although we must not forget that there will be fakes out there and people are downloading this at a tramendous rate. Most people will download it in under a day if you let it go!! I have not downloaded it because I am trying to get into the beta team for Windows 7 and don’t want to be to critical on the system.
With Black Friday for 2008 quickly approaching!!
Comments OffSince Black Friday is approaching next month, I Figured it is time to point to places where you could find them. Now that being said, I don’t think people should take some of these ads serious because of all the possibility. Where these ads are being placed is not going to be the absolute final end all price. Knowing these competitors like I do, they are going to have an ace in the hole. You will probably not find out until a week or a few days before black Friday.
They will of course try to keep the really juicy stuff out of the hands of people who blab about this on the net.
Why do they have Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).
[via Wikipedia]
Help stop those slow boot up!!
Comments OffI was searching for a program to help boot up my system a lot quicker. I came across this little program call Startup Delayer. In a nutshell, it allows you to pick which programs to start up first and then lets you decide how many minutes between each program that is asking to load.
In the best way possible you can download this program and use it for yourself. Although they seem to be having a little server problem right now. Go download Startup Delayer, and decide for yourself.
Mahalo Lay’s off around 10% of it’s workforce!!
Comments OffWe’ve laid off a just under 10% of our full-time staff, cut our overhead by doing smart things like renting desks (we have six desks/offices available fyi), and reorganized our editorial department to focus on freelance positions over in-house editors. The net result
of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of “dry powder” (or runway) to complete our mission.
This is not to be unexpected after all the talk about the recession coming our way. It does however emphasizes the need for companies to consider there profit margins and accounting strategy.
Mahalo was launched in May 2007 as an Alpha test. That is to say only a select number of people were able to access the site and create feedback to the development of the site. As of January of 2008 it is in what we call the Beta test phase. Which means more people are testing it out and find out it’s flaws to report back about where they need to improve. Mahalo’s directory employs human editors to review websites and search engine results.
Apple reports there earnings for the quarter!
After all that happened today, Apple decides to talk about there earnings for today. Some things to consider are:
Apple ships more than 2.6 million Macs and 6.9 Billion Iphones. Now let’s do the numbers on this 6.9 billion Iphones at an average over 500$ a piece would mean quite a earnings for Apple. This according to Applewatch and I’ve got to think is this showing the real economy or is this all hype from Steve Jobs?
According to M&G Business they are up 24 per cent this fiscal year. Which means that they have gain ahead from the recent problems in the stock market. Are they going to be able keep that going?
Last but final least saying of the day Gizmodo is stating : Steve is on the call, says that iPhone is now 39 percent of their business, Apple is now world’s “third largest mobile phone supplier.”
Now what about the Google Phone is that going to out sale the Iphone? I would like to know the current status of how man Google phones they have estimation sold on pre-orders? Are they going to be able to out do the Iphone or is it going to be even more of a problem when they release the final numbers on the G-phone!!
Harold and The Purple Crayon
Comments OffI was looking on Youtube. I and found this great little video that everyone was watching. It’s call Harold and The purple Crayon. Check it out really cute.
I thought this was really good animation. What do you think? Cute littel animation for kids. I might go by the book at Amazon. Clement Hurd was a childrens illistrator and I think he also made this book also but not entirely sure. Does someone know?
Scam ALERT: NATIONWIDE MARKETING!!
*Update* Seems to be that they’ve went and changed to another name. They are now using Excel Marketing, and I plan on keeping people updated. Read the comments to find out about what people have said!!!
Hi all,
5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.
Having seen the economy this week, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is time to redo all the important essentials and get all my ducks in the order as they say. I’ve been thinking of how best to be ready in case the dreaded day comes when my employer no longer needs my assistance and what could I do to be prepared.
- Get Someone to Critique your Resume — This is the most important step because this is the first place employers look when they want to hire someone. So how do you get it critiqued? Here are some good links to help you start off with: Careerbuilder Critique, Mind of Root Peer Critique(Last until Oct 30, 2008).
- Have your Resume Ready to upload to Resume sites – You should always register at all the important resume sites just in case. The Sites that I recommend are : Monster, Career Builder, Hot jobs, Dice, US jobs, Best Jobs USA, Computer Jobs, and Nation Job.
- Use your website as a place to put your Resume – Have your resume available in case some contacts you and tells you they know someone who is looking to hire people. Have this resume hidden and only give it out to people you know. This is also known as networking.
The Anime Channel comes to Hulu
I was exploring Hulu and I see they added the Anime Channel. I check it out and they have some good shows that I wanted to get add. You see most Anime I like is, well Japan Animation. Hulu adding that will make more Japan Animations be seen. So What do they have available:
As you can see they are making channels for you to watch. This is getting really good. If you want to check out what channels they have just go to Hulu and there will be Scroll down bar called Channel. I am thoroughly liking how they did this!! I hope to see more Naruto in the future. I hope they can get all the episodes and be up to where they are in Japan. I am also hoping they start put the new episodes directly to Hulu. That would be nice!!
Is Spore Worth 49.99?
Comments OffSo I been doing a little digging and trying to find out what the heck people are complaining about and I found some great reviews telling me exactly why people hate EA. They don’t necessarily hate Spore or Will Wright, but the Security around The Spore game.
So In a couple of these comments. These reviews talk about Creating the creatures and All. I’ll submit some of the reviews that I thought was relevant and let you decide for yourself. I would however wonder the one big question? Is Spore Worth the Money? Here’s the details that I know of right now:
- You can only install it 3 times before you have to call EA to get an override code. (Although I heard rumors that if you unistall it, you will get a credit for an Install)
- You can not Install new hardware or upgrade your hardware because if you do, it’ll count as an install, According to this one person.
- The game only allows 1 login per Install. So you can’t have more than one character and one universe according to this person.
Hot, sexy bot sweet-talks personal data out of chatters
Comments OffSecurity software company PC Tools warns that the bot can easily be used for malicious purposes. The company said that the program’s ability to mimic human behavior to dupe chatters is worrisome, and could readily be used to collect all manner of information. “As a tool that can be used by hackers to conduct identity fraud, CyberLover demonstrates an unprecedented level of social engineering,” said PC Tools senior malware analyst Sergei Shevchenko in a statement. “CyberLover has been designed as a bot [robot] that lures victims automatically, without human intervention. If it’s spawned in multiple instances on multiple servers, the number of potential victims could be very substantial.”
[Via Arstechnica]
This is really a security issue here. Never give out your personal information online. I just want to post this to remind people not everything online is safe.
Verizon Shares Your Call Data Unless You Opt-Out (Update!)
Comments Off
The folks from Skydeck just received a written notice from Verizon Wireless for an opt-out system for sharing your call records to third-party advertisers. Unless you call them and opt-out, Verizon will sell what numbers you called, how often you called, and your call length with “authorized companies,” which includes their “affiliates, agents, and parent companies.” Although it doesn’t include your own name, number or address, something like this should be opt-in, not opt-out. If you’re a Verizon customer, call 1-800-333-9956 and tell them you want to opt-out. Why should you let Verizon get even richer off your data for nothing in return? [Skydeck via Crunchgear]
I hope people realize just how bad this is for you!! Would you like them to know who you called? What if your number is Private, It isn’t no longer!!
