If you haven’t been paying attention to the news, a big virus is set to launch tomorrow. The Conflicker Worm will take control of your computer without you even knowing it. Apple users you are safe for the moment.
What can you do to prevent infection of your PC?
A friend of mine received a telephone call recently from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete a test they should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, they were suspicious and refused.
Upon contacting the telephone company, they were informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number.
They dialed ‘0′ and asked the operator who confirmed that this was correct. They also checked Snopes.com and it applies to cellphones too.
A friend of mine recently suffered through the Reunion.com SPAM attack, so read below and don’t let this happen to you! Reporter Chris Walter from the Consumerist exposed the scam last April and unfortunately it’s still thriving.
What is the big deal with Reunion.com?
In a nutshell: Signing up for their service initiates access to your private email address book which in turn creates an endless circle of spamming.
According to Walter, “Reunion.com dupes new members into signing up by sending them an email that pretends to be from an acquaintance who’s been looking for them (on Reunion.com, naturally). After signing up, the site sucks in your contacts and immediately begins spamming them to join by sending out a similar email. If one of those people then signs up at Reunion.com, their contact list is scooped up and the cycle starts all over again, like a social engineering version of a virus or parasitic infestation. Maybe this is why Reunion.com can claim to register about 1 million new members every month.”
With the holidays fast approaching, watch out for the UPS Delivery Failure virus. You will receive an email from UPS Packet Service along with a packet number.
How do I know if I get this virus?
It will say that they were un-able to deliver a package sent to you on such and such a date. It then asks you to print out the invoice copy attached. Do not try to print this email because it launches a virus.
Snopes confirms this virus is real.
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/ups.asp
If you don’t have a web cam, then you are in a growing minority of computer owners. Now web cameras are built standard into most computers and if not they can be cheaply purchased. With the increase of broadband and the decline of dial-up Internet service, the ability to easily communicate via video on the web has increased two fold. With this new found speed of data, the quote from Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility” seems relevant. Webcams create a new reality and safety measures should be considered.
For example, I stumbled upon Paltalk while I was searching for instant messaging programs. Paltalk is an all-in-one instant messaging, group video calls & chat room program. With this Swiss army knife program, now you are not only chatting with others online, you are utilizing your web camera to take it to the next level.
Teen Webcam Safety Tips:
Are you concerned about the impact of web cams and your teen? What steps do you take to ensure children are using them appropriately?
Last week Alaskan Governor and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account was deliberately hacked. The offender’s took screenshots of her email inbox and posted them for the world to see. Besides the fact a government official shouldn’t be using a free public email service to hold classified federal documents, a normal consumer can take precautions so it doesn’t happen to you.
How did the hackers get into Governor Palin’s Yahoo email? Yahoo asks a series of security questions to reset your password. These security questions you can choose, however most of them are generic such as, “What city were you born in?”. The answers to all the security questions could be discovered with a simple Google search. Thus, you must pay attention to your email security settings.
Tips to improve email security:
Do you have any tips to keep your passwords safe?
Read story -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7624809.stm
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