WyzGuys Tech Talk

Phone Phishing Scam by Ammyy.com

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Usually I get my “phishing” done via email. This one used the good old telephone!! I just got a phone call from “Mark,” who was obviously from India. He called to inform me that I probably had downloaded some viruses and would I “please to like help” removing them?

I would have hung–up the phone, but a client of mine had received a similar call, and so I decided to play along. First he had me open Event Viewer, a windows utility that shows what has happened in your PC. It is normal from there to be warnings and errors, but Mark made it sound like this was proof I had a virus, probably many many viruses. Then he had me type a web address into the Run dialog box, instead of my web browser. Nice try. See below

I quickly did a Google search on the company, Ammyy, and found what I expected. This is a huge scam. So when you get the call just hang-up the phone. Do not go to the web site. Do not given them your credit card information. Do not let them take remote control of your computer or install anything.

This excerpt from Wilders Security Forums pretty much tells the story.

The Nerd Support is not a legitimate company. Here is what I know from my elderly father's experience:
1. They prey on the less computer savvy people they cold call with made up scare stories about viruses.
2. They claim to be from Microsoft or from the "mark's" ISP.
3. They take money for illegally pirated copies of Windows 7.
4. With the mark's assistance over the 'phone, they take remote control of the mark's computer. What they do in addition to bit-torrenting the illegal version of Windows 7, god only knows.
5. They take money for non-existent PC "support" services. My father is 83 and was persuaded to take a 10 year contract!
6. They leave a contact number which doesn't work.
7. Once they have successfully scammed a mark, they will keep calling back, again and again, presumably with a view to obtaining more personal information, or extracting more money for further illegal goods and fictitious services.
8. They are based in India, although financial transactions appear to go through Cyprus. No doubt the personal information they use is stolen from Indian call-centres.
9. These "people" are thieves and con-artists, with absolutely no consciences.
10. There appears to be absolutely nothing that can be done to stop them.

Need a Job? Start Your Own Business

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:03:00 +0000

I have wanted to have my own business since I was quite young. I started my first business while going to the University of Minnesota back in 1973. I started two other businesses before I finally started WyzGuys Computer and Network Support in 2001. 2001, for those of you who remember, was the LAST recession, the bursting of the Dot.Com bubble. I was one of the tens of thousands of technology professionals who got pink-slipped that year, and knew that I was not going to find a replacement job any time soon, so I did what any sensible person would do. I started a business. I started fixing computers.

As the economy turned around, I did manage to find a “real job” back in my industry. I kept my little business going on the side, which was a good thing because I was laid off from the “real job” in a little over a year. I accepted a couple more opportunities to work as an employee of another, and hated each new job more than the one before. Finally, I just quit. I decided I was done working for other people, and I have not looked back.

I look at the unemployment numbers and wonder why they are still so high. The reason is that people are waiting for jobs. Unfortunately, many people in America, especially those who were born here, and do not understand the difference between jobs and work. A job is something someone else has to create and hire you to fill. Jobs are scarce, and becoming more scarce with each recession.

People born elsewhere understand the difference. They flock here by the thousands every year, with a nickel in their pocket and the clothes on their back. They did not come looking for a job, they wanted to work and make money. And in five years they own a dry cleaners, or a restaurant, a cab, a lawn-care company, or some other booming little business that lets them feed their family and drive around town in pretty cool automobiles. The guy with the pickup truck and trailer full of lawn mowers? He probably made more money last year than you. A lot more.

Jobs are scarce. Work, on the other hand, is everywhere. Regardless of whether the economy is up or down, there is always plenty of work to do for anybody with the ability to see it, and the willingness to do it. Work that, yes, you can get paid to do. Work that other people do not want to do, or are unable to do themselves. Work they would willingly pay you to do.

So the question is: how do I start to produce an income of my own? How do I start a business? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

What kind of work do I like to do? Make as big a list as you can. You never know what might pop out. And not just things you did in jobs you had. Your answer may be somewhere completely new.
What are you good at? These are not necessarily the same thing, but where they overlap you have opportunities.
What kind of work do I like to do that other people don’t like to do, or find hard to do themselves. This is called identifying your market.
What kinds of work are on this list that people would want you to do over and over again. Life is tougher for you if you do it once and have to find another customer. Look for something with some repeatability.
What do people need you to do regardless of the economy? This is not always easy to find, but it does exist. Funeral parlors are pretty recession-proof, for instance. People die all the time. It’s not like they are saying, “I’ll die next year after the economy turns around.” As it turns out, the computer business is as well, because if your computer craps out, well you pretty much have to fix it, especially if your business depends on what information is in that computer.

Well, that’s a start. Of course there is more, but the first thing to do is find something you like to do, are good at, and people would willingly pay you to do for them. Then START DOING IT!! Too many people spend a bunch of time planning and never get around to executing. TRY IT! Be willing to make a mistake or two. Be ready for rejection, and expect your spouse and your family and friends to tell you how crazy you are. Maybe your first idea doesn’t pan out, try something else. Be open to serendipity and inspiration. Be persistent. Tell everyone you know what you are doing and ask them to help you find customers. Get paid on the spot whenever possible. Cash is great, but you will make more if you can take credit cards too. Ask your customers to recommend you to their friends and associates. It’s really not that hard.

And here are a couple of articles to help you get started. Mark Cuban, serial technology entrepreneur and sports team owner, in Entrepreneur magazine, on “The 12 Rules For Startups.” And from INC magazine, “What’s an Entrepreneur?”

Open Applications and Files Easily in Windows 7

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:19:00 +0000

One of my favorite features in Windows 7 can be found at the bottom of the Start Menu. Click on the Start button, and look for the “Search Programs and Files” box. Simply typing the name of your program or file in the box will open it. once you start to use this method, you may give up rooting around in the Start Menu or the All Programs Menu forever. This works the same as the old “Run” dialog box for running utilities such as MSCONFIG or CMD.

Need to open a file? If you know the name, part of the name, or even some of the document contents, this Search utility will find and display several options and you can choose the one you need from the results.

Another wait to begin is to just press the Windows key. This will open the Start Menu and you can begin typing. Give it a try – you will be hooked in no time!

Happy New Year–Seven Tech Resolutions for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Happy new year friends and clients! Here are some technology resolutions for you to implement (finally!) in 2012.

Backup your files– Let’s all do this one in January. A good backup solution basically provides for 3 copies of your data: The original copy on your computer, a local backup of your data on an external drive, flash drive, or another computer in your operations, and an automated remote backup over the Internet, such as Mozy, Carbonite, or WyzBackup, the one we provide our clients here at WyzGuys.
Dump your SPAM – I have found a great spam removal product on the Android market that I got for my smartphone, but basically it killed all my spam including that which arrived on my laptop. For $15 a year, SpamDrain is a super bargain. Click here to purchase.
Upgrade to Windows 7 – if you are still running an XP machine, or worse yet,a computer running Vista, it is time to upgrade to Windows 7. Windows XP systems should just be replaced – the systems are at least 5 to 10 years old. Remember, Microsoft updates and support for Windows XP ends in 2014. Vista gear can be successfully upgrade to Windows 7 , if you don’t want to buy a new system, and you will experience a nice performance boost. And the next version of Windows (Windows 8) promises to include a complete revision of the user interface, so you might want to grab Windows 7 while you can and avoid the pain of learning a completely new operating system.
Upgrade your WiFi router – The current standard for wireless networks is the 802.11n or Wireless N standard. Wireless N, at 600 megabits per second, is over 10 times faster than the Wireless G speed of 54 Mbs, and almost 60 times faster than Wireless B at 11 Mbs. With everything we are pushing through our Internet connection (videos, movies, Internet TV and radio) you need to have the fastest speeds on your network to use them without issues. In addition, we are streaming more content inside our own home or business networks to from and to a variety of wireless devices: home theater systems, smartphones, tablets, music players, gaming systems. Faster WiFi makes the experience better.
More memory – Almost any system will run better with more memory. Older 32 bit operating systems can use up to 4 GB of RAM. 64 bit operating systems can use as much as 32 GB of RAM. What’s optimal for you depends on what your are doing on line and what software tasks you engage in. Windows 7 systems should have at least 4 GB of RAM, and would be so much better with 6 or even 8 GB. Vista and XP systems (see resolution 2 first!) need at least 2 GB and 1 GB respectively.
Bigger monitors or multiple monitors – If you are still working on an old 17” CRT type monitor, or an older 17” or 19” flat panel monitor, you should take a look an what there are in new monitors in the 23”-27” range. Not only will you be able to display more, but the images can be bigger if you need them to be, and the images are incredibly clear. And if you haven’t experienced the joys of working on two or more monitors, well this is the year. It is simply great to keep email and browsing on one monitor, and use the bigger monitor for your work area – Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc. If you are into any type of design work, a large 24 or 27 inch second monitor can make it possible to see your entire project plus all the toolbars and palettes you want.
Get a Smartphone – Sure, you think you just want a simple phone to make calls. Until you have tried a Smartphone, you just can’t know what you are missing. Lost? – get a map and driving directions on your smartphone (while safely pulled over on the shoulder, of course.) What am I supposed to do next? – synchronizing your Outlook or online calendar with your smartphone is a breeze. Need a quick look at a web site? – smartphones make that super easy as well. I am pretty happy with my Android smartphone, so there is no need to shell out big bucks for an iPhone. Samsung made Android phones are pretty great, and I like the ones that have the slide out keyboard so I don’t have to mess around with the on-screen keyboard display.

That’s my short list of New Years resolutions for you. And here’s hoping 2012 is full of growth and prosperity for all of us.

Fake AV Distributors Cough Up $8 Million to the FTC

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:06:00 +0000

For those of you who have had an experience with the Fake AV or Fake Anti-Virus scam, you know how annoying it is to be tricked into paying $40 to buy something that makes you computer worse. Well the Federal Trade Commission just wrestled $8 million from Mark and Maurice D’Souza and their company Innovative Marketing for perpetrating this fraud on about $320,000 victims.

And the biggest surprise? The FTC is actually sending $20 to each know victim from the settlement. How about that for your tax dollars at work?

Read the full article on Sophos.

Facebook Chat Worm–Did You Get One For Christmas?

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:51:00 +0000

We have been busy at WyzGuys over the last two weeks with an unusually large number of malware infections that have come into our shop. in almost all cases, you have to help the malware get on to your machine by clicking on a link in an email, or getting it from a fake look alike web site at the end of the link, or from a legitimate web site that has some been infected, or from a legitimate web site that has accepted an advertisement that has a malicious payload.

Add Facebook you your list of places where you need to be hyper vigilant. There is a Facebook chat worm that is spread by masquerading as a link to a shared picture (jpg) file. It will appear as if it is coming from a friend, but what has really happened is that their system has already been compromised.

For more information you can refer to the article on the Sophos web site.

Internet Explorer Drops Below 50% Market Share

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Anyone remember Netscape? The browser that started it all, but was quickly overtaken by Microsoft’s internet Explorer in 1998, and dominated the browser market with a 95% market share until 2004. An article on Ars Technica revealed that total browser market share for Internet Explorer fell to 49.59% in October 2011. Mozilla Firefox has a 21% share, and the Google Chrome browser in third place with a 16% share, and Apple’s Safari bringing up 4th place with a nearly 9% share. This comparison combines both desktop and mobile browsing.

What is most interesting in this article is the impact that mobile browsing is making to the overall numbers. Looking strictly at the mobile platform, the lion’s share is owned by Apple Safari Mobile at 62%, followed by Opera mini at 19%, Android at 13%, Symbian at 3%, Blackberry at 2%, and IE at a measly 0.16%. This does not bode well for Microsoft and it’s Windows Mobile 7 platform.

Considering that Microsoft is betting the farm, at least as far as the next desktop operating system, Windows 8, on tighter integration with the “Metro” tiled desktop of the mobile operating system, what we really may be seeing is the beginning of the end of Microsoft’s dominance of the computer marketplace.

Stay tuned – this will get interesting.

SpamDrain–Finally a Spam Filtering Product That Really Works

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:35:00 +0000

When I got my Android phone it was obvious to me that I needed something to handle the hundreds of spam messages that were making finding important emails in my smart phone inbox an exercise in futility. I went to the Android Marketplace and signed up for SpamDrain. Nothing to download or install, they just grab you email messages and filter out the spam before it drops into your inbox. What I didn’t realize was that it would also keep spam off my Outlook inbox on my laptop.

I get a once a day email that summarizes the spam that was blocked, and allows me to release newsletters and other mail that was trapped by mistake. And there aren’t too many of those, either.

This product beat my expectations, and works better than Outlook’s built-in spam filter, or the spam filtering I was supposed to be getting from my AVG subscription. At $15 a year, it is certainly affordable. Go to SpamDrain to sign up.

Google Gadgets for Web Pages

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I am working with a Google Gadget that is supposed to allow me to publish my most recent web posts via my RSS feed at FeedBurner. This posting is, in fact, a test case to see if it works.

I found instructions for this at the Digital Inspiration web blog.

Let’s see how it works. My test page is at www.wyzguys.com/BlogFeed.html

…….time passes…….

Huh! Not working as advertised. I suspect I may be doing something wrong, but exactly what I am not sure.

……more time passes…..

I am on Dynamic Drive, looking for another JavaScript code solution (why didn’t I try them first? Addicted to the Goog.) They mention something about placing the code inside a div. So I tried it with the Google code to see what happened. And I can report with some reasonable assurance – NOTHING!! That’s it for Google – now we will try something else.

Looked on Dynamic Drive and everything required PHP or Atom.

A little more searching and I found this site, CaRP Evolution. Works like a charm!!!

Malware Makes Files Hidden

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:25:00 +0000

One of my clients handed me a computer where all of her work and personal files in Documents, and Pictures and the like were missing. in addition, all of her programs were missing as well. She is running Windows 7 Professional. Her fear, as well as my own, were that they had been deleted. As it turned out, they had been “hidden” by the malware. The file attributes had been changed to “hidden.” Going to Windows Explorer, Tools, File, Folder options and setting the “show Hidden Files and Folders” option did not restore them to view. I was eventually able to find them using a file restoration tool I use in the business.

Any easy way to fix this problem from the command prompt is: Open command prompt from START MENU > RUN. Type CMD and hit enter. Go to the drive, for example drive C. Type “C:” and enter. The command we use to restore files is ATTRIB. Type this command : attrib –s –h *.* /S /D and hit enter.

Further research indicated that this was probably an example of the AUTORUN.INF virus. This bit of malware jumps from computer to computer via any USB key. It will “hide” files on the USB key as well. You can use the same method to restore files on an infected key, just change the drive letter from C: to E: or whatever drive letter that is assigned by your PC.

Most Internet Security programs will remove the AUTORUN.INF virus, but be sure to include your flash drive in the full system scan.

Quotable Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:01:00 +0000

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” – Rudyard Kipling

Beware: Fake Firefox Update Steals Your Passwords

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:25:00 +0000

Sophos has written about a new Firefox security threat. It comes as an email advicing there is a new update. The email reads:

Subject: New version released.

Message body:

Important notice
A Firefox software update is a quick download of small amounts of new code to your existing Firefox browser. These small patches can contain security fixes or other little changes to the browser to ensure that you are using the best version of Firefox available. Firefox is constantly evolving as our community finds ways to make it better, and as we adjust to the latest security threats. Keeping your Firefox up-to-date is the best way to make sure that you are using the smartest, fastest and . most importantly . safest version of Firefox available. A Firefox update will not make any changes to your bookmarks, saved passwords or other settings. However, there is a possibility that some of your Add-ons won.t be immediately compatible with new updates.
For security reasons please update your firefox version now
[LINK]

You can read the entire article on the Sophos web site.

Investing Results–and Miles Per Gallon

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:34:00 +0000

I occasionally will publish a joke in this space. These are courtesy of Carl Wegener from Glenbrook Lumber.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for the recycling refund, you would have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.

And as a bonus...

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that on average Americans drink 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that the average American gets about 41 miles to the gallon!

Tuesday Trivia

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:23:00 +0000

A tip of the cap to “Short Lady” on Computerworld’s Shark Tank.

Originally the WWW prefix was used by the scientists at CERN (the European laboratory for Particle Physics) to distinguish Web files from other Internet documents. Today, it's a completely unnecessary part of a Web address. (Personally, I can't forget to stop using it :-)

The word "boot" or "booting" comes from the concept of bootstrapping, or pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. Before PC's, computer operators would run a program called the bootstrap loader. This loader did the initialization that is now automatic. The process became known as bootstrapping and later booting.

And “Joon Clod”

My trivia contribution: Mickeysoft Windows 1.0 was originally developed on and for the Tandy 2000, an 80186-based PC that was not fully compatible with IBM PCs. I had a friend who bought a 2000 with the whopping 10Mb hard drive that you needed for Windows (my 2000 only had two 760K floppies - that's right, 760K). Never got Windows to actually work, ON THE MACHINE IT WAS DEVELOPED ON. That should have been a hint for all of us.

Spamdrain–Great Android App–or Just a Great App Period!

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000

When I went to the Android mobile phone platform, one of the things that was really annoying was the amount of SPAM messages I was getting in email. The server side SPAM filter provided by my email host was still catching 90% of the 800-1000 spam messages I receive every day (yeah that’s right – 1000). That still left 50 to 100 spams getting to my phone, and those of you who have a smart phone know that it is a pain getting through your good messages on the phone without dealing with all the spam.

So I went to the Android App Store and found Spamdrain. It’s $15.00. I set up an account, and downloaded it to my phone. The process of setting up the account let me filter the entire email account through Spamdrain, and an unexpected side benefit was that it cleaned up the small amount of spam that was slipping by my AVG and Outlook spam filters on my laptop, I have a clean inbox for the first time in ages!!

I get an email daily from Spamdrain that let’s me look at the messages it blocked. When I click on the allow option in the email for false positive items such as newsletters and legitimate marketing mail, it send the mail to my inbox and trains my account so that future message from them get through. Even though I can manage this from the email (which is super easy and the first time I’ve seen that feature anywhere), I usually go to my Spamdrain archive online and manage it there. The online site shows how many message you received, and displays a great bar chart showing how many were valid, spam, and viruses. That’s right – Spamdrain blocks virus laden emails, too.

This awesome program is worth the money – big time! Even if you are not using a smart phone, but just want a great bit of spam filtering for your email account, Spamdrain would be a great buy

Upgrade to the Latest Windows Service Pack

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Microsoft offers periodic major upgrades to its Windows operating systems. These are called “Service Packs” and are usually of a combination of improved security, bug fixes, and feature enhancements. If you have not taken the latest service packs for your computer, Microsoft has this handy Service Pack Center site.

To find out the service pack version you are running, go to the Start Menu, right click on the Computer or My Computer icon, and select Properties. The service pack installed will be listed right below the operating system information. If you are running Windows XP, you should be on Service Pack 3 (SP3). Windows Vista is at Service Pack 2 (SP2). And Windows 7 is on Service Pack 1 (SP1).

To install the latest service pack click on the link above, or Google Windows Service Pack Center, and choose your operating system from the three available choices. You know which operating system you need from the little exercise we just did.

Serpentine

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:17:00 +0000

My son took me out for a round of golf yesterday, for System Administrator’s Day, which is tomorrow. Well, I like to think it was for SysAdmin Day. We got shoehorned into an afternoon tee time between a threesome that was walking the course, and shooting poorly enough that it was likely we would be waiting for them often. Behind us was a tournament, champing at the bit to get started. It looked like it would be a slow afternoon of golf with a constant pressure from behind. Not my favorite kind of golf.

We finished the first hole, and turned onto the next tee. The slow threesome was nowhere in sight, but since it was a short par three I thought nothing of it, except that maybe they were better than I thought. We never saw them again.

Soon we were on the fourth hole, but the terrain and layout was nothing like the picture on the scorecard. We played on, and as we drove away from the green, there was a sign that said “Thanks for playing Sawmill Golf Club, please come again.” I flipped the scorecard over and looked at the pictures again. We had just finished 18!

Basically, what we thought was the second tee was actually the 16th, and now we were just done with 18. What to do? We couldn’t go back to 2 without getting in the middle of the tournament.

Well, what we did was go to 10 and play the course through to 15. We already had 16, 17, and 18. We looked around until we found the second tee, and finished our round at hole 9. We managed to play all 18 holes, just slightly out of order.

The good part was that we took ourselves out of the middle of the traffic jam, and had a nice leisurely round of golf. No one was in front of us most of the way, and no one was behind us until the last 3 holes.

My bride had a good laugh about it, because it was further evidence of how I seem to have become directionally challenged recently. For most of my life I have had a great sense of direction, but lately I have been getting turned around, confused, or just plain lost. This is what she calls “serpentine,” after the hilarious movie “The In-Laws” with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. (Or maybe the more recent remake, with Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks.) What she means is that I get us there eventually, but with a lot of driving around back and forth in a serpentine pattern, instead of the straightest and most direct route. Seems like I am having “serpentine” trouble on the golf course now, too.

Good Question–What Are These Huge Files?

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:53:00 +0000

A client of mine sent me the following question:

Bob:

I saw these files on my C drive, created on July 19:

hiberfil.sys 2,095,252 KB

pagefile.sys 4,190,208 KB

WTF??? Should I be concerned?

J

This was my reply:

hiberfil.sys is the file created when you hibernate your computer. It is the image created of your system state, and is always big.

pagefile.sys is the area of the hard drive dedicated to transferring data and applications from the hard drive to the system memory or RAM. The bigger this partition the faster things should load and run. In your case this is like an additional 4 GB of RAM on your system.

Nothing to worry about. Also - not a good idea to delete them either.

Bob

I was glad he sent me the question before going ahead and deleting the files. First of all, Windows would have prevented these files from being deleted, but I have seen clients get creative about deleting operating system files like these and leave themselves with an unbootable computer. It also meant that this client was being vigilant about just what was on his system.

An easy way for anyone to get answers to questions like these is simply to enter your question into Google. A quick search on hiberfil.sys yielded this helpful article on Wikipedia. A search on pagefile.sys got us this useful article from the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) that tells how to optimize your pagefile to enhance system performance. I recommend to my students and clients that whenever you get an alert message or virus warning or are unsure about a computer term, Google can be a great way to get an instant answer.

But it is always better to ask, than to be sorry later.

System Administrator Appreciation Day is July 28th

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:29:00 +0000

This year I am hoping for a car.

Seriously, though, if you have a computer professional in your life, give them a big surprise and remember them this year on Thursday June 28th.

Personally, I would appreciate a card, beer, pizza, or a golf coupon. Hint, hint.

Fake Anti-Virus “Scareware” Scam Busted By Interpol Had Minneapolis Connection

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:14:00 +0000

Many, many of my clients (too many) have fallen victim to one of the many Fake AV exploits. This happens when you inadvertently browse a web page that has been infected with executable software code. The executed code is inserted in the legitimate website one of two ways. The first requires the cyber-crooks to hack the web server using an automated brute force password attack, and is usually possible because the web master is using weak and easy to break passwords. The second method involves purchasing advertising from the web site owner. This is actually easier, because web site owners are eager for the advertising revenue, and often have no serious controls over the content of the advertising.

This will automatically install the Fake AV product, which generates a phony “Your computer is infected!” pop-up window. Usually it also installs a remote access Trojan horse, and sometimes a Proxy Server Redirection into the web browser application (such as internet Explorer).

In a recent St Paul Pioneer Press article from Thursday June 23, 2011, this exploit was explained in an article titled Foreign “Scareware" Scam Busted – Plot targeted Star Tribune website. The article described how a couple of Latvian cyber-criminals bought advertising in the Star Tribune online web site, and then switched out the first ad with one that was carrying the malicious software code. Anyone who accidently moused-over the ad was infected. That’s right, just driving your mouse OVER the ad was enough, no clicking required.

A longer article on computer security firm Sophos website provides more detail into this and similar exploits that have been taken down by the FBI and Interpol. Unfortunately, the article from the Pioneer Press is only available for a fee from their archives, because these ink-stained wretches just don’t get the Internet. (You wouldn’t want me to send traffic to your web site for free, would you?)

Before they were caught, this pair netted over $2 million dollars. Not bad for a quick days work, eh?

By the way, the Sophos article is well worth the read, so get to it!

Android and Linux–Brothers or Cousins?

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:35:00 +0000

I have been keeping an eye on Android because it seems like an excellent operating system platform for laptops and desktop PCs – perhaps. Android has already made it into the tablet space,and two laptop manufacturers, Toshiba and Asus, have announced Android based laptops. This represents a very real edge of the wedge into the operating systems space dominated by Microsoft Windows for two decades. And with the money, marketing savvy, and technical expertise of Google behind Android, there is a very real chance that Android could become a very real third alternative in the operating systems space – Windows, Apple, and Android.

But wait, what about Linux. Don’t they already represent a third choice? Well, yes they do. The question is: is Android a fourth option, or just really another Linux distribution, like Ubuntu, Fedora, or Suse? Maybe the version that finally gets the kind of momentum behind Linux that it has been lacking?

At it’s heart, in the operating system kernel, Android and Linux are very similar. Where they differ is in the Application Interface. Current Linux distributions use KDE, Gnome, or Xfce for application interfaces. So from a certain perspective Android simply is another application interface.

There are some repercussions for Google if Android is indeed Linux, then it is probably subject to the GNU General Public License, and should put Android in the public domain. But Linux distributions and Android both stand on the shoulders of UNIX, which was created by Bell Labs in 1969, and was the first operating system that was compatible with almost any computer, and portable from one computer platform to another. There is evidence that Apple’s OSX operating system is also quite UNIX-like as well. So is Android really Linux, or just another Unix product?

Do we care? Probably not. The fact that there is a super capable smart phone operating system to compete with Apple’s iPhone platform, and Blackberry, and Windows Mobile 7 is the driving force behind the rapid adoption of Android. It makes sense that for people who like it on the phone and tablet should want to see it on a full fledged computer, and was probably unavoidable. And more likely part of Google’s long range plan for Android. This positions Google as the first real competitive threat to Microsoft and the Windows operating system in a long time. We can hope, and expect, that this will begin to drive down the higher cost of Windows and Microsoft’s popular application suite, Office. And, while we are mentioning it, maybe this is force Apple off it’s high horse and get the outrageously high price points for Apple gear to come down to something more competitive as well. Which should be good for everyone, regardless of which platform you prefer.

When Doo-Doo Happens: A Study in World Religions

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:32:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite bits of humor. Thanks to http://glory4ever.net/public/ministry/humor/cr.htm

Agnosticism - Maybe doo-doo happens, maybe it doesn't

Atheism – There is no doo-doo

Buddhism - If doo-doo happens, it's not really doo-doo.

Catholicism – If doo-doo happens you deserve it.

Christian Science - The doo-doo is in your mind

Confucianism - Doo-doo happens when you don't honor your ancestors

Existentialism - What is doo-doo anyway?

Hare Krishna - Doo-doo happens. Rama Rama.

Hedonism - There's nothing like good doo-doo happening

Hinduism - This doo-doo happened before

Islam - If doo-doo happens, it's the will of Allah

Jainism - The doo-doo is sacred. Don't step in it.

Jehovah Witness - Knock. Knock. Doo-doo happens.

Judaism - Why does this doo-doo always happen to us?

Protestantism - Doo-doo happens because you don't work hard enough

Puritanism - Doo-doo happens so burn the witch

Rastafarianism - Let's smoke this doo-doo.

Stoicism - The doo-doo doesn't bother me.

TV Evangelism - Send us your doo-doo

Taoism - Doo-doo happens

Zen - Just in this moment doo-doo is happening

International IPv6 Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:51:00 +0000

June 8th was the first International IPv6 Day. Huh? What is that?

IP or the Internet Protocol, is part of the TCP/IP communications protocol that modern computers use to communicate with each other. We have been using IPv4 or Internet Protocol version 4 since the early 90’s to provide addressing and routing on the Internet. IPv4 uses a 32 bit binary (ones and zeros) addressing scheme that commonly looks something like 207.46.131.43, which happens to be the address of Microsoft’s web site.

On Feb 3, 2011, IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, assigned the last blocks of available IPv4 address to the Regional Internet Registries, which will distribute them to Internet Service Providers in their regions until they are gone. Each block of address represents about 16 million machines, but the current rate of take up is around 200 million per year, which means that available IPv4 addresses will be exhausted this year, or early next year.

This was foreseen years ago, in 1998, and the industry has developed IPv6 to replace IPv4. IPv4 has a total address space of about 3.5 billion addresses. IPv6 uses a 128 bit hexadecimal (base 16)numbering system with a total address pool of approximately 340 undecillion. Or 3.4 billion billion billion billion. How big is this? Using grains of sand, this would be about the volume of four earth sized planets. This is a lot of Internet connected devices, and should last us for another 50 years or so. (That’s right, only 50 years). Converting from IPv4 to IPv6 is a daunting task that has been compared to changing out a jet engine on an aircraft while in flight. It would be somewhat similar to changing the telephone numbering plan from 10 digits to 40 digits, and updating all the phones and telephone switching equipment to handle it.

Anyway, as usual, almost nothing has been done in a significant way to actually deploy IPv6 on the Internet. Everybody is pretty much waiting for someone else to start, so they can see how they did it, what worked, and what didn’t and then do it themselves. There are several options to select from as far as deployment goes, but the most obvious on is to use both IPv4 and IPv6 together until IPv6 is fully deployed everywhere, and then retire IPv4.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems support this dual protocol approach. We will have to have two address per machine, an old IPv4 address and a new IPv6 address. Machines which can’t support this dual stack method would be unable to see or connect to machines which have only an IPv6 address. These kinds of resources (IPv6 only) will have to exist, since there will soon be no more IPv4 addresses to give out. There are currently 3 billion or so Internet connected devices, and these all have to support an IPv6 address or be replaced with devices that can support IPv6. If this were to happen in a 5 year time frame, this would mean a conversion rate of 15 million machines per month.

Do you see a problem? Me too.

What does this mean to you? You may need to get your ISP to replace your cable or DSL modem. If you are running a server or some sort of resource that is accessible from the Internet, you will need to get an IPv6 address for that device, too. You don’t have to ditch your old XP system since a clever little IPv4 technique known as Network Address Translation can continue to supply local addresses on your home or business network, behind that IPv6 cable or DSL modem or router. You will still be able to connect to anything you can connect to today. New sites and services that arrive after IPv4 exhaustion in 2012 and beyond may be difficult or impossible to connect to unless you and your ISP are completely IPv6 capable.

We live in interesting times. Keep an eye on this issue, it will eventually affect almost everything we do.

Joke of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:04:00 +0000

Tech support guy: "Can you still see the cursor?" Customer: "No he just left the room!"

Courtesy of Jerry Nolan

Harmon Killebrew

noreply@blogger.com (Bob WyzGuy) — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:53:00 +0000

Today is Harmon Killebrew’s funeral. As fate would have it, the Twins are playing in Phoenix Arizona, and so they are able to participate in the funeral as pallbearers. How fitting.

As I was listening to Soucheray’s radio show, they kept referring to him as a “hero” and it finally occurred to me that he was and still is my very first boyhood hero. As a boy growing up in St Louis Park, I had a genuine Harmon Killebrew Louisville Slugger baseball bat. What a magnificent piece of timber it was, heavy, long, a big grip. Most of the kids on my block could barely lift it much less swing it. Man, I could hit homers out of our little dirt-lot ball field all day long with that bat. Just like my hero, Harmon.

Everybody that is anybody in baseball gets a nickname, and Harmon’s was “the Killer,” which considering the great soul he had, was sort of ironic. He was a great, kind, and generous man. He never got angry, and was always in a good mood no matter how the Twins fortunes were going. Many years back my son and I were at Twins Fest one winter in the Metrodome, and I got a picture of Harmon, my son, and I that was taken and made to look like a baseball card. I have it hanging on the wall of my office, with Wally the Beerman, another baseball picture of my son, and 1963 American League home run leaders card that features Harmon, Dick Stuart, and Bob Allison, another Twin.

The world is a better place because Harmon Killebrew was in it. I already miss him. Rest well.