The Register Goes down, People are asking is it the Conficker Worm?

By Paul | Apr 1, 2009

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I’ve heard stories from other Twitter Folks about it being Denial of Service attack:

Now it is possible to have Conficker to all botnets to try to go to the site but I am not certian it is the Conficker. It could be as simple as someone misconfigured a server and no one can get to it. People who want to check out what people on twitter are saying can search for it and see for yourself. I’ll update as needed when I find out more, but it will probably be a couple of hours before the site is back up, according to some reports. I’ll know more later today, so keep tune.

Update at 6:30pm EST

We speculate that the source of the problem may have been a large scale Denial of Service attack against UltraDNS, or an internal operations problem. When we were able to sucessfully query UltraDNS servers, responses were slow to come back, or largely timed out. The problem began to clear itself up around 10:00 am Eastern, when we saw DNS responses returning quickly again, and our favorite sites coming back online.
[Via DynamicNetwork Service Inc.]

Careless Facebook profiling can lead to Identity Theft!

By Paul | Feb 19, 2009

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I just got in contact with a old friend from High school and another friend of mine suggest the new friend. I was looking at her profile and couldn’t believe what I saw:

As you can see this is not good I was amazed at how many people are giving out there birthdays and who they are married to to friends and family. So we heard about how people are claiming they need help or are in need of desperate money. This is nothing new, as you know people are having hard economy times and people are using the social engineering to scam people out of money.

I feel that I should warn people the important necessity. You shouldn’t be broadcasting your DOB and who your married to to your friends, just in case they get hacked.

Recent activity indicates that identity thieves are hacking into trustworthy profiles before selling on the login details to interested parties. This information is used by spammers to target legitimate users, posting misleading links on their “walls” – personalized message boards.

[Via Computing.Co.UK]

Office Depot Closed 126 Stores

By Paul | Dec 10, 2008

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This just came from USA Today, According to them and I’ll quote:

Office Depot plans to close 112 underperforming retail stores in North America over the next three months. In addition, 14 stores will be closed in 2009 as their leases expire or other lease arrangements are completed, it said.

The retailer will also close six of its 33 distribution centers in North America, and says it plans to open about 20 stores in 2009, down from an earlier estimate of 40.

[Via USAToday]

Although this isn’t talking about layoffs but this will greatly impact people who will be jobless due to the closings. SO I wanted to talk about how many per store, I estimate it will be like 20 people per store on average. So that will be around 2,500 people will be jobless in the stores and I don’t know how many people will be jobless from the distribution center. If you want to check out my other posts just click here. If you search my site you will find even more tips and tricks to better help you be ready for the job market.

The Important Windows patches Released Today

By Paul | Dec 9, 2008

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As many of you know we talked about the Non-critical patches that Microsoft will release today. IF you want to read those please go and check it out. I’ll be talking about the REALLY important ones that Microsoft has kept tight until now. These are the more important ones but I will list the ones that I previous talked about to better help people recognize the non-important ones:

KB955839

KB957388

KB890830

KB905866

These are just the tip of the iceberg. although this list are not A lot. I’d wanted to let people know about what people coin “Exploit Wednesday“. I really don’t know if this is a Myth or actually does exist but I’d figure we discuss the problems associated with installing the critical updates and try to tell you which ones should be installed As soon as possible. Though people have in the past used a Virtual Machine to see if there is any problem, that should be your first step if you don’t want to have any problems with these updates. I don’t suggest testing it more than a couple days. Here are some good Virtual Machine software to try out yourself:

trojan.zlob removal tricks!!

By Paul | Dec 6, 2008

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Aliases:
Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Zlob.qyl (Kaspersky)
Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Zlob.qzs (Kaspersky)
Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Zlob.qzn (Kaspersky)
Trojan.Zlob.CPP (BitDefender)
Puper (McAfee)
SystemDefender (Symantec)

Trojan:Win32/Zlob.G is a component of Win32/Zlob that downloads rogue security programs, adware, and additional Win32/Zlob components.

[Via Windows Live OneCare]

This one just popped up today on my radar it seems to be a very low threat on everyone’s radar according to my sources say “Trojan.Zlob.G is a Trojan horse that may download and execute remote files and redirect the Internet Explorer home page and search page.” So to remove this little Trojan you would want to download one an Anti-virus and firewall. Once you install the software the program should fix the problem for you. This one seems to be really easy to fix. So Please read my post on how to better protect your self if you want to prevent this in the future.

Trojan.PWS.ChromeInject.A is not a Firefox plugin.

By Paul | Dec 5, 2008

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A new type of malware designed to harvest web passwords has been detected in-the-wild by BitDefender’s antivirus research labs. This latest e-threat – called Trojan.PWS.ChromeInject.A – is intended to be delivered onto a compromised computer system by other malware for subsequent download into Mozilla Firefox’s Plugin folder. Once installed it gets to work every time Firefox is started.

[Via Bitdefender]

So having seen this I thought I’d come up with ways around this to better protect yourself. One way to prevent this from getting your sensitive data is to get a program like Sandboxie. You could stop using Firefox that would be silly, because right now Firefox is more secure than Chrome and Internet Explorer. I’d also suggest checking out my Anti-spyware page and Anti-Virus page and get some more protection.

The key to this virus protection is just be cautious of where you go and keep all you system update to date to prevent all this from happening. It is also advisable to not have your passwords saved on Firefox, you should use something like Roboform, it is free to download and try. It will encrypt your passwords so if they don’t know the master password then they are out of luck. Roboform is also good for coming up with some strong passwords. Just some suggestions to prevent from people seeing your sensitive data, you don’t want anyone to get that data.

Are you patched, Secunia Says NO

By Paul | Dec 5, 2008

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Think you’ve got nothing to worry about, according to Secunia 98% of computers are not fully patched and are vulnerable to some kinda of attack.

So I wanted to talk about this a little and give you a few good ways to make sure you are patched. There are several ways to get your system up to almost 100%.

Some things to do is make sure you have your Windows systems updated. This is easy to make sure, if you have an internet connection you can just check for updates. If you don’t know how to do it, it is quite simple, Just go here. If you have Windows Vista all you have to do is hit Start and type in the search box “Windows Update” and hit Enter and you will be taken to the update page.

If you have a system that is off of the Net you could use the Clone of Autopatcher Program to do it for you. You also need to update all your secondary programs such as Audacity, Open Office, and other programs that you use weekly.

Vista To release Service Pack 2 in April 2009

By Laforge129 | Dec 1, 2008

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Some sources are reporting that Vista SP2 will be out in April. According to Engadget they claim TechARP is a bunch of Malaysian Kids that like to boast about how they broke the Vista SP1 and XP SP3 release schedules to the world. They claim though that Vista Release candidate is to be out around February.Microsoft has indicated that this SP3 will include Windows Search 4, Bluetooth 2.1 wireless support, faster resume from sleep when a wireless connection has been broken and support for Blu-ray. I personally think it will include some of Windows 7 features to better get people accustomed to Windows 7 when they come out.

Although this is speculation and no hard evidence I think it has some merit due to the fact that Microsoft has admitted in the past that Vista was a big Letdown. I don’t think they can any more to damage than they have already done. If anything Windows 7 will be a easy Success if they pull it off in the right way!!! Although with WIndows 7 be leaked online there is no telling what will happen. I am sure what ever happens will be interesting to say the least!!!

Technorati Officially laysoff 6 people!!

By Laforge129 | Nov 25, 2008

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Technorati released today they are going to Lay off 6 people and I will quote:

Unfortunately, this means sacrifices. Technorati’s management team members are taking pay cuts ranging from 15-25% and employees are taking 10% cut. This also includes the reallocation of staff. We’re laying off six employees today – including two executives — and there are two additional departures we won’t replace. These are high performers who have worked long hours to get us where we are now. They’re also friends, and we’re very sad to see them go. We simply need a leaner and reconfigured mix to get us through 2009.

[via Technorati Weblog]

They will also be taking pay cuts all through the company. So the recession is hitting them also. I am sure CEO Richard Jalichandra has the company interest in mind. According to Techchunch, they have added these recent layoffs ticker. You can also search my blog for other layoffs that have happened or will happen.

Some program Vulnebilities Detected!!

By Paul | Nov 25, 2008

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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.

How to disable autorun the easy way!!!

By Paul | Nov 21, 2008

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I read a report from Cnet about USB devices spreading Virus and I will quote:

The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices,” said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM’s ISS security division. “They are today’s floppy drives.”

An infected computer can spread a virus to a clean USB thumb drive that is inserted. That USB drive will then be spreading the virus onto other computers if the operating system on those machines has an AutoRun-type feature enabled. The AutoRun function in Windows launches installers and other programs automatically when a flash drive or CD is inserted. The Mac has an equivalent function, according to Ollmann.

[Via Cnet]

In order to disable “autorun“, which in Vista is called Autoplay. In order to disable Autoplay from starting when you insert media into your computer here is how you do it:

You will need to be Logged in as Administrator before this can be done:

Next click start and type “Autoplay” without quotes. It will bring up a screen but all you have to worry about is this:

Avg detected Trojan Horse Generic 12.htc?

By Paul | Nov 8, 2008

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Just got a warning from AVG about, trojan horse generic 12.HTC, haven’t heard of it, anyone out there hear if this one? apparently it infects explore.exe, and after months of explore.exe crashing I’d say it’s a legit virus.

[Via Answer Bag]

Some tricks and tips to remove this little virus is quite simple. It is embedded in your system so how do you remove this threat? Easy follow these steps and you will have a better chance of getting rid of the virus:

Find out all you can on the virus – Finding out the extent of where the virus lays is really a good idea. Just because you found one place doesn’t mean it isn’t also hiding some other place. Some good ways to figure out where it might be is to download Hijackthis and Then onces you download it and install. Run it, and when you get the LOG file you will want to go to HijackThis Log Analysis Site 1 and HijackThis Log Analysis Site 2, and see what it says.

Mattel introduces the new Welfare Barbie.

By Paul | Nov 6, 2008

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Mattel will be introducing the new welfare barbie doll,or laying off 1,000 jobs. According to Bloomberg and I’ll quote:

Mattel Inc., the world’s largest toymaker, said it would cut about 1,000 jobs, or 3 percent of its global workforce, as it faces higher manufacturing costs amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

[via Bloomberg]

If you’re like me and you want to cringe every time you hear another place is laying off people. I say we are still in a downward spiral. Everyone is saying that even Jason Calacanis, in his recent email he sent to all his fellow readers, he talked about the Rich not buying anything they didn’t need. He said that is good, I however wonder how far the hole goes before we hit rock bottom.

According to some analysts, they are talking about this lasting another year or more. On another note, according to Kotaku and I’ll quote on this one to:

We have received a letter purportedly sent by THQ CEO Brian Farrell to explain to his employees the reasoning behind the company closing five studios and laying off staff from two others. The closed studios are Helixe, Sandblast Games, Locomotive, Mass Media and Paradigm.

Peek Email tops Time Gadget of the Year!

By Paul | Nov 3, 2008

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I’ve not seen this yet, I will do my research on this Peek Email Device. This is fascinating that I didn’t know that there was something I’ve never heard of. Anyways, I can’t beleive they don’t have a netbook or the new Gaming Laptop. Please, a WII fit, Now how did they get there too? How did The T-Mobile G1 get number 5th in the list. I’m surprised that the GameBoy Advanced wasn’t one to be on there, After all they sold so many this year. Why not the Xbox 360? It seems people can still vote but don’t expect anything to change.

Go Vote and lets make our voice heard!!

Some bloggers are Hyping Windows 7 operating System.

By Paul | Oct 30, 2008

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After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come to the realization that people are starting to get hyped up over Windows 7. In one blog post from it.toolbox.com:

Windows 7 is due to hit beta and release in 2009, and odds are likely that if the pundits, all of us on the blogosphere and other places like PC World, Cnet, and others all agree that this works the way a computer was supposed to work will help drive sales. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is really pushing to get this puppy out. Along with the bloat are gone the five years of development.

[Via It.Toolbox.com]

I totally agree with what he is saying on the possibility to have an operating system actually do what it is told. Some things people have been looking for in there Searches in regards to Windows Vista are:

Fidelelity to Lay off more than 4000 people in 2008.

By Paul | Oct 28, 2008

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Fidelity Investments acknowledged yesterday it is studying cost cutting but declined to comment on an industry report that it plans to lay off up to 4,000 employees as plunging stock markets cut into the value of its mutual funds business.

[via Boston.com]

Now this is another example of all the layoffs that are coming due to the recession. If you want to find out all the other layoffs that I have found just search my site. There are far to many for me to list now. I am not happy with what seems to be and down ward spiral.

Mahalo Lay’s off around 10% of it’s workforce!!

By Paul | Oct 22, 2008

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In an email he sent to the readers of his publication, Jason Calicanis talks about having to lay off around 10% of people from Mahalo. Here’s the quote:

We’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.

AVG detected trojan ; Generic11.BEOG

By Paul | Oct 17, 2008

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I had a Friend tell me his system detected this Trojan GENERIC11.BEOG. I did my research and right now. It looking like Adobe added something to there recent updates *see updates below*. I’ll Have to check with some other sources but it looking like AVG over did it again and found something that might just be an AVG issue. (correction)

I usually wait before updating something like adobe. It is sure to be some minor change to adobe but if your are worried here’s the link to watch and see what people are asking or talking about this false positive:

Malwarebytes Security Forums

It seems that AVG is calling this possible virus but yet it looks like it is a false positive. So don’t you worry. If it was a true virus you’d probably would never know!!

*UPDATE*

I installed Adobe 9.0 and updated the virus scan database for AVG. It hasn’t found any thing yet but I am still scanning my system. I’ll let you know if it finds this false positive on my Vista machine!! I’m doing this to test it out!!! Come back later to find out the results of the test. (if you like this website by all means google this website so it too can be on google trends. I want to see it be up on google trends for a day or two.)

Scam ALERT: NATIONWIDE MARKETING!!

By Paul | Oct 14, 2008

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*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,

Just got this nice little letter from Nationwide Marketing. This was sent snail mail, or Postal mail. I came home today to find I got mail from 30 Centurian Drive/Markham, ON L3R 8B9 Canada. I opened it up and find a check from Nationwide Marketing. it’s the old routine, they want you to cash the check send them $3,500 and you keep the rest. The fake check that I know is faked, I call the bank in question. It says you have to do a 2 hour evaluation training and get paid training for 200$ per Hour. The fake check was for $3,990.00 and $3,500 was supposed to be sent through a Wal-mart Money Gram. The so called position was Customer Service Evaluator (Rep ID#: KB0C0608). I am supposed to call 1-905-598-1519 I received this assignment to validate the enclosed payment.Thank goodness I did a little searching and found out this was a scam.

Backup your Mozzila Thunderbird profiles

By Paul | Oct 7, 2008

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So you have all this mail you want to back up in case something terrible happens to your hard drive. So here is ways to backup your email and other programs in Vista. I think Vista has a new way of keeping program profiles in an hierarchical setup. So what is the HIDDEN directory it is:

C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles

Now as you can see your Thunderbird profile is in a hidden directory in the AppData Directory. You can easily get to the hidden directory by typing %appdata% {enter} in the search bar of Vista. Now How do you backup and restore. The program I use to backup is GoodSync. I send the data to the cloud and when I need it I can restore it back to the directory. Now what about restoring, if you have to do a complete re-install of Thunderbird you can always copy over the back up to the Thunderbird Profiles directory and install Mozilla Thunder bird and it should see it. If by chance you load up Thunderbird and you have to re add everything you would have to delete everything in that directory and then restore from the back up.