Rogue Fake Codecs on the Rise

By Paul | Feb 27, 2009

Panda Labs has been talking about Adware/VideoPlay and they are seeing a lot of variants on this.   They even play a game, find the difference in the installation screen:

Now as you can see this look to be the same agreement in all those difference installation.  Some things to consider Never install any software from a website that you don’t know Nothing about about.

Panda Labs also talks about these new variants in regards to what they do:

This file spreads by making copies of itself in the removable drives and it also creates an autorun.inf in order to be run when they are accessed. This file collects the data stored in the browsers, such as cookies, passwords, profiles, email accounts, etc, and connects to a remote address to send the information.
[Via Panda Labs Blog]

And the Oscar goes to . . . Not these guys!

By Paul | Feb 23, 2009

Sans Internet Storm is reporting on Anti-virus Scareware tactic. I’ll quote from them:


ISC reader Gary wrote in to let us know that searching for “oscar presenters” and “oscar winners” with Google brings up a prominently ranked result on a web server in Poland, on a subdomain of “beepl”, which – surprise, surprise – includes a malicious JavaScript. The end result currently seems to reside on stabilitytracewebcom, and is yet another incarnation of the “Fake Anti-Virus Program” malware that we have covered repeatedly. Watch out, the EXE has a meager 6/39 on Virustotal.
[Via Sans]

I did my own research and it is true they are at least 3 sites with the .pl Domain that are used to send you to these fake sites. You should consider checking your system for possible viruses if you been to these sites and are worried. You should also report any site like this to Phishtank to fight this type of scare tactics. Please remember if you are worried about your system this is the best time to install software to prevent these types of scare tactics. Remember you don’t always have to buy software to be safe. There are free anti-virus and Firewall solutions at your fingertips, use them well. It is also a good idea to make sure you have the latest updates from Microsoft while your at it.

A fan wants to Release Windows 7 Now : My Security Concerns

By Paul | Jan 29, 2009

windows7now

After reading about this from Kelly Poe) to find out the site he put up and I am quite impressed.    Here are few things that I am concerned about starting with the website.

I love the idea and all but I am quite concerned with the privacy of my email account.  I don’t know if you have to submit your email account but I would caution people not enter one until the site says what it will do with your email address.

Now that being said that’s the only thing I can think of when it comes to security for your email address, you don’t want to someone to give out your email address to spammers. That would just make it even worse for your email account.   You could however use a 10 min Email account to use but that might make it harder for Microsoft to contact you if they want to verify these accounts!!

Now my main concern is Windows 7  right now and Security.   You know the Conflicker/Conflickr/Downadup Worm is currently loose on the internet.  It uses the the Ms 08-067 Exploit and currently Windows 7  does not protect against this Worm in fact Microsoft has released information that you would need to install the updates manually to fix this problem.

Viacom might be going to HULU

By Paul | Dec 31, 2008

According to some of the news post people are worried about Viacom leaving Time Warner. Now Here’s where Viacom might be going digital. What do I mean Digital, I am talking about going to HULU. If Viacom doesn’t sign a deal with Time Warner, that would leave a space ope for someone else like Hulu.

So Viacom isn’t happy with Time Warner, or They want to go IPTV. Some of the Headlines I’m seeing are:

These are just a few that I am seeing pop up around the internet.  So what does that mean to the internet user?  Well On one of there show’s like Dora the Explorer on Nickelodeon will begin to stream some of the shows previews on Dec 29, 2009 for it’s next show.  When you go to Nickelodeon Site you get this:

nickplea

Twitter Spam bots are hot to trot: http://gentai.com/revenge1

By Paul | Dec 29, 2008

Ok so I was curious why I all of the sudden got people joining my list. each one I look at just to see who these people are have only one twitter message saying this from two different accounts:

twitbot3

and this one also

twitbots2

and once you click that link it takes you to this website and see what they want you to do:

twitterbots

These people are trying to get you to click on there links and
get you give them email accounts.  This has been socially engineered to look like it is real.  I gave them a 10 min email account to see what they sent me.  It was a link to there porn site.  Wanting me to give them my credit card or checking account information and to join there site.  I don’t think so, not this old dog.   Anyways if you get this spam from a user you might just want to block these people.  Some of these people have followers.  Hmm I don’t know about these people.  I guess they want you to send an email to other people to spam them also.  How nice of them to social engineer this scheme so you can make your friends and family mad at you and probably not even talk to you.   So that is why it is good not to auto-follow people when they subscribe to your twitter account.   Some people have that set.  Some people just don’t learn. I am sure some people will like this site for other reasons but please don’t spam people with this little site. Please don’t put people on that list.

Pctv HD Mini Stick and My thoughts!

By Paul | Dec 22, 2008


Pctv HD Mini Stick

  • Includes mini-remote control and high-gain telescopic antenna
  • Compact size HDTV tuner for easy travel and storage
  • Instantly turn your PC into a personal digital video recorder
  • Record your favorite shows to your hard drive or direct-to-DVD
  • TV Standards – ATSC (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV) and ClearQAM (HDTV up to 1080i, SDTV) Inputs

Price: Click Link to See the Price

Just saw this and couldn’t resist talking about it.  This would be great on the road.  If you use this on a laptop, then you would have some really good channels as you travel on the road.  No more having to watch movies on your laptop.   You can now see the current events as you travel around the US.  With the Digital change over Coming Feburary 17, 2009.  You’ll want to have a way to watch TV, this would be one way.  Right now Amazon is offering it for 112.22 but that could change so check the link out to find out how much it is.

Facebook : Beware Spam for breakfast. (Virus)

By Paul | Dec 7, 2008

In 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.

Facebook Virus strikes again

By Paul | Dec 4, 2008


“Look you were filmed all naked!” read the subject header on one iteration of the virus-spreading message, which is being sent automatically from infected accounts to the “friend” list for that account. Clicking the link usually takes users to a page that looks like YouTube, and a pop-up message advises the user to download a Flash plug-in. The download contains the virus, which replicates by contacting everyone on the victim’s Facebook friend list and advancing the hoax.

[Via Boston Media]

This is a good social engineered attack, they seem to have you download a virus into your system.  I Keep talking about how you need to be careful with emails.  I also suggest that you do a complete Virus scan if you think you’ve been hit with this.  There is only one way to prevent yourself from getting this little facebook virus and that is not to click it. Some other things to consider if you found out this was a virus is to contact the person who sent this to them so they to could do a virus scan on their system.

You asked for it, Now it’s real — Vista SP2 Dec 4,2008

By Paul | Dec 2, 2008


Beginning Thursday Dec. 4th, we will be making the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Beta available to everyone through a Customer Preview Program (CPP). The CPP will launch on TechNet and be available to anyone interested in trying out this service pack. The CPP is intended for technology enthusiasts, developers, and IT Pros who would like to test Service Pack 2 in their environments and with their applications prior to final release. For most customers, our best advice would be to wait until the final release prior to installing this service pack.

[Via Technet]

Yes you heard right, you can get into the Beta of Vista SP2 and not have to wait till April.  Some things to remember:

  • It is a Beta
  • It will Have Bugs
  • It is for people who want to test it out
  • It should only be installed for people who need to test it out

Some program Vulnebilities Detected!!

By Paul | Nov 25, 2008

Just got done looking at some of my security sites and according to SecuriTeam there are are several programs that have vulnerabilities. here are the Ones that I’ve found:

Google chrome is vulnerable to URI Obfuscation vulnerability.
An attacker can easily perform malicious redirection by manipulating the browser functionality. The link can not be traversed properly in status address bar.This could facilitate the impersonation of legitimate web sites in order to steal sensitive information from unsuspecting users. The URI specified with @ character with or without NULL character causes the vulnerability.

iPhone Configuration Web Utility for Windows Directory Traversal
iPhone Configuration Web Utility lets “you easily create, sign and distribute configuration profiles using a web browser”. A vulnerability in iPhone Configuration Web Utility allows remote attackers to access files that reside outside the bounding root directory of the program’s files folder.

Streamripper Multiple Buffer Overflows
Streamripper “records Shoutcast and Live365 MP3 streams to a hard disk, creating separate files for each track. Runs under Unix and Windows.” Secunia Research has discovered some vulnerabilities in Streamripper, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system.

Get your Cricket Broadband to Activate Manually!

By Paul | Nov 18, 2008

I recently bought a Cricket Broadband USB for 40$ a month. I tried to get the system to activate it automatically but that kept on failing. Finally called the tech support and found out this little tip. So here is how you manually activate it:

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!!!

Hulu Launches the Hulu for the Holidays!

By Paul | Nov 17, 2008

This is near and dear to my heart.  Hulu finally launches the Hulu for the Holidays sponsored by Wal-Mart.   I have talked about what they might bring to the holiday season and if you want to find out what I thought might come to Hulu check out these links:

Some movies or show that will probably come to Hulu are going to be Christmas themes.  I would wager it will be Charlie Brown, Peanuts, The Grinch who Stole Christmas.  I am sure there will be even more later on, ones that I didn’t think would come to Hulu.   We shall see what comes from what they want to do the next few weeks.  To bad they aren’t doing clues this time around people seemed to like doing that.


You have an undelivered UPS/FEDEX Package. (Virus)

By Paul | Nov 12, 2008

From what I’ve seen so far. There seems to be a new rash of email going around with the heading that makes it look and feel like either UPS or Fedex. Saying that you have an undelivered package from them and to either print the order confirmation or to click a link. I will say this once, if you get this delete it. Fedex and UPS will never hide the link and tell you have an package waiting in the email. They will leave a note your door. You must ask yourself how Fedex/UPS found out your email address to tell you have a package waiting? They don’t and they won’t, just a fact.

UPS/FedEx Delivery Failure : Snopes

TROJ_DLOADR.GG and TSPY_ZBOT.NM Trojan, which will Monitor and try to steal your data. The other one is a ZBot and will try to steal you data also. If you need help removing this virus, I’d suggest checking out my other virus article Avg detected Trojan Horse Generic 12.htc?. There are a lot of ways to remove this virus but the first step is never click on any links in your emails. I also wrote about Some Important programs to prevent yourself from having viruses and Malware!! This will help prevent and fix the common virus problems you might have.

Comfirmed: DHL to Lays off 10,000 workers!!

By Paul | Nov 10, 2008

[COMFIRMED]

According to The Press-Enterprise has announced all 18 U.S. Hubs will close and that means 10,000 workers will be out of a job.  They will keep 3,000 for international business.   I wanted to tell everyone about this as soon as I found out.

There is a rumor that DHL might layoff some of it’s employees. About 8,000 Jobs will be announced to tomorrow when they release the earnings report. Now I know very little about this parent company but they have 475,100 employees and that would mean 1.6% of the people would be laid off!!

According to Business Week there Volume have been going down this year.

(CNN) — A southern Ohio community is bracing for possible layoffs as DHL Express — the largest employer in the area — planned to announce its quarterly earnings report and restructuring details. [Via CNN]

Circuit City to layoff employees and might close several stores!

By Paul | Nov 7, 2008

Some sources are say this:
The newspaper cited one of the affected workers, who indicated that between 500 and 800 employees would be let go. The layoffs reportedly began yesterday with the departure of several “upper management” executives, the source said.

[via Twice]

Now I know people hate when I blog about this because it is so depressing but I do like to let people know about this stuff so you can know what to expect in the coming future. This is all due to the economy and the recession that is on our doorsteps. If you would like to find out what other companies are laying off that I know about just click this [LINK] and it will show you all the other blog posts that I talked about that have or are laying people off.  I keep telling people to keep there resume’s ready for just this type of outcome.

Paypal is having troubles today.

By Paul | Nov 6, 2008


According to Sue Bailey and I’ll quote:
Many sellers are reporting a problem this morning with PayPal withdrawals: attempting to move cash to your bank account throws up an error page beginning Sorry, an error occurred after you clicked the last link.
[Via Tamebay]

It seems to be something going on with Paypal. I’ve not tried it to day but I might just to see what happens. If anyone else is having this trouble let me know. Accord to Sue it seems to be limited to Merchants but that doesn’t mean sellers and others are having the same trouble. I also don’t know if it is just affecting the United Kingdom area or not but I wanted to let everyone know that this might affect you to. So let’s find out if it is affecting the US also.

Today everyone is doing there homework! Links to Election Day Results

By Paul | Nov 4, 2008



Yep, You see it just like I do. People are studying to vote. People have been doing this from the time they went to school. It never fails the day before. To see who wins the election you might check out these links:


Now I won’t tell you who to vote for but I will tell you  that today we will be making History in more ways then one.  Whoever we pick will be historic, a black president or a Lady VP.  You decide go Vote and Here are some links to find out where you can vote at:

These should help you go and vote. Now go and vote and remember to think about who you will vote for.

Alien Ware Extreme Gaming Notebook M17 17 Inch

By Paul | Nov 3, 2008

Looks like they are out of stock on this Laptop but they do have Alienware M17x-2857DSB 17-Inch Laptop (Black) which looks to be an upgraded version of this one!!!

  • Windows Vista® Home Premium (32- and 64-bit)(default)
  • Windows Vista® Ultimate (32- and 64-bit)
  • Intel® Core™2 Duo Or Quad and Extreme Processors (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
    Intel® PM45 + ICH9M-E Chipset up to 4 GB
    ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 (Also Comes with CrossfireX Enabled)
  • Dual Harddrive In Raid 0 Config or you can have a single hard drive
    1. 5400 RPM – Up to 1TB (2 x 500GB)
    1. 7200 RPM – Up to 640GB (2 x 320GB)


So I saw this and had to tell people this is a sweet laptop for people who like to go and play games in a large group. You would be able to play for hours on end, all you would need is an power cord. I would love one of these to try out.  If you want to go check it out or buy it. Here’s the Alienware M17x-2857DSB 17-Inch Laptop (Black).

Find Other Alienware Products

The Magazine Time, plans to elimate 600 jobs in the near future!

By Paul | Oct 29, 2008

According to Time Inc. Editor in Chief John Huey is planning on Laying off over 600 jobs:

Time Inc., the world’s largest magazine publisher, plans to cut 6 percent of its work force — more than 600 positions — and will revamp the organization in a way that could radically alter the culture at the company.

[via Nytimes.com]

With the way the economy is, we have more and more people who are having trouble with Layoffs.   I got a list of companies right now who is laying people off.  If you want to check it out just CLICK HERE.

Now let’s talk about the bigger picture, people are worried and want to get through this with out getting hit hard.   So what is true hardship, that comes when you least expect it and want it.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it will happen in the best of times.  You see most people don’t know what hardship is until it hits them in the square on the head.

With Black Friday for 2008 quickly approaching!!

By Paul | Oct 27, 2008

Since 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]

UPS expected to layoff people also

By Paul | Oct 24, 2008

According to New York Times:

United Parcel Service reported a 9.9 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday and said it expected consumers to cut back on holiday gift purchases.  The company is planning cost cuts, including layoffs, in 2009. It said it expected profit for 2008 to be toward the low end of a range it provided in July.

[Via NYtimes]

So that creates more of a demand on Jobs and if you want to hear some other layoffs that I’ve seen on the go, just search my site.   Some useful links to check out is:

Adobe released the latest version of shockwave.

By Paul | Oct 22, 2008

Just saw this on the net, thought people would like to know where to get the information for the latest updates to shockwave.  Some stuff that they improved upon are:

  1. New [3D effects]
  2. New [Custom filters and effects]
  3. New [Advanced text support]
  4. New [Dynamic sound generation]
  5. Updated [Drawing API]
  6. Updated [Hardware acceleration]
  7. And much more

Brought to you by Adobe. To see all the features of what is new with Shockwave 10 please click link.

Download it now

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