Internet

During the preholiday crush last December, a computer maker asked staffing company Adecco SA for 300 additional factory workers — immediately. Using an instant-messaging program, Senior Vice President Steve Baruch tapped managers in three states to line up the workers within hours. If he had relied on email and phone calls, Mr. Baruch says, the …

Details Vulnerable Systems:  * BIND versions 9.4.0-9.4.1  * BIND versions 9.3.0-9.3.4  * BIND versions 9.2.0-9.2.8  * BIND versions 9.1.0-9.1.3  * BIND versions 9.0.0-9.0.1 Immune Systems:  * BIND version 8  * BIND version 4 1. Introduction Attacks against DNS, and particularly the concept of DNS cache poisoning has been known for over a decade (e.g. [2] section 5.3 was published in 1989 and [3] was published in 1993). A concise threat analysis for the existing DNS infrastructure can be found in [4]. The focus of this paper is on DNS cache poisoning attack. Typically, a DNS query is sent over the connectionless UDP protocol. The UDP response is associated with the request via the source and destination host and port (UDP properties), and via the 16 bit transaction ID value (the response’s transaction ID should be identical to the request’s transaction ID). Assuming that an attacker knows that a DNS query …

I came across a disturbing story on Yahoo! News last week called “Confessions of a former spammer”. It detailed the practices of a former email spammer named “Ed” who earned a as much as $15,000 per week sending emails that promoted pills, porn and casinos. Like any good opportunist, Ed has written a book about his exploits. But just a read of the news story will give you a feel for what it’s like to work in this seedy sector of the internet. Read the full story Once my nausea subsided, reading the article got me to thinking about our own spam challenges. While we have powerful anti-spam protections in place on the Yahoo! network and in Messenger specifically, the ultimate spam protection comes from our millions of users who take the time to report unwanted messages. It’s vital that when you encounter spam on Yahoo! Messenger, you take the …

Microsoft offers no-charge phone support for virus and spyware problems, and for other security-related questions for consumers. Before you call, make sure to take these four steps to help protect your computer: 1. Keep your firewall turned on. 2. Keep your operating system up-to-date. 3. Useantivirus software. 4. Use antispyware software. If you’re unsure if your antivirus software or anti-spyware software is up to date, you can get a free scan of your computer at the Windows Live OneCare Safety Center at http://onecare.live.com/scan, if you’re still having trouble, you can call: 1-866-PCSafety or 1-866-727-2338 Support engineers are available 24 hours a day for the U.S. and Canada. For phone numbers outside of the U.S. and Canada, select your region Note: Do not call with the same phone line that you use to connect to the Internet. You might have to connect to the Internet while you’re on the phone with …

Can’t Read Reader You can’t consider a Windows operating system installation complete until you’ve got Adobe Reader on your system. So many assets on the Web come in Acrobat form, and unless you have the full program on your software shelf you need Reader to check them out.If you’re the kind of power-user who turns off User Account Control, or if you log on right into the default administrator account, you might notice that Adobe Reader 8 won’t install after download—or after you discover it on some other media that included it. That’s a known problem, and you’re not alone. You’ll have to solve this problem through one of two ways. If you’ve turned off UAC, turn it back on. Go into Control Panel, click User Accounts, and click Turn User Account Control on or off. Restart the computer. Then, install Adobe Reader normally. When the installation is complete, you …

1. If you think you’ve received a phishing e-mail message, do not respond to it. 2. Report suspicious e-mail. Report the e-mail to the faked or “spoofed” organization. Contact the organization directly—not through the e-mail you received—and ask for confirmation. Or call the organization’s toll-free number and speak to a customer service representative. Report the e-mail to the proper authorities, including the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Anti-Phishing Working Group. For more information on how to report phishing scams, read What to do if you’ve responded to a phishing scam. 3. Don’t click links in e-mail messages. Links in phishing e-mail messages often take you to phony sites that encourage you to transmit personal or financial information to con artists. Avoid clicking a link in an e-mail message unless you are sure of the destination. Even if the address bar displays the correct Web address, don’t risk …

Computers are great tools, but — like it or not — surfing the Web, downloading files and using e-mail can potentially put your PC at risk. If you’re nervous, you need not be. We’ve got the tools to help. To avoid potential security concerns, guard against losing important documents, and ensure your computer runs at its best, we’ve compiled 12 articles that will help you take better care of your PC. Since you use your computer all the time, wouldn’t you like it to perform as well as it possibly can? 1. What’s a firewall? A firewall helps guard your PC against hackers and some computer viruses that try to reach your computer when it’s connected to the Internet. This article will help you understand why you need a firewall.

Like many mothers, Andrea Grace will sit down at her PC to check e-mail, only to find that her kids, Jason, 8, and Rachel, 10, have installed some new programs. “Between those CD-ROM games found in cereal boxes and downloaded Neopets, there are now icons all over the place,” says Grace. “And of course they don’t play half the games. If I ran out of space I wouldn’t know how to delete them,” she admits. Grace isn’t alone—it’s not uncommon to fill space on a hard drive with games, productivity programs, or files, such as music, digital photos, and video clips. Some technology analysts believe that we use less than 10 percent of the programs installed on our computer.

No more web mail.  Offline access to Hotmail messages.  Microsoft released this a couple o0f weeks ago… With Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta, you can use Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to access and manage your Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages and contacts for free! Download it from here...