You know about phishing, what about "pharming"

Heard about pharming? It's more difficult to detect than phishing.

Now is a good time to learn more about this new technique for online identity theft.

Study: 43% of Adults get "Phished"

A recent study states that 43% of Adults get "phished". Are you sure you know how to avoid indentity theft while running your computer?

Read today's AP article about the survey results and more.

TrendMicro to Enhance Spyware Solutions

TrendMicro is set to aquire InterMute as an effort to expand their efforts in the anti-spyware arena. A press release details the aquisition.

Security Alert: 3 New Medium Risk Alerts

3 worms/viruses/spyware are listed as medium risk alerts with TrendMicro. Read here for more information.

And, as usual, do not open attachments you are not expecting, be sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date and your systems are patched.

"Practice safe computing and you're in the clear." Cook Group Technology.

Sony introduces new laptop line integrated with cellular service

OK, Sony isn't my favorite brand of laptop for business computing but this is an interesting laptop release for integrated wireless service.

If you haven't heard about Verizon's and Cingular's move to an increasing number of cities with higher speed cellular service, then you must take a peak.

Read here about Sony's venture in the market to take advantage of this service.

Spam is out, what's in?

According to a recent survery of IT professionals, the New York research firm TheInfoPro Inc. (TIP) conducted a survey on behalf of San Jose, Calif.-based Secure Computing in March and April regarding key areas of concern for IT managers.

Read here about what are the 2 key areas of concern per network security.

A bad day for Trend Micro

I've worked with Trend products for more than 5 years. I couldn't recommend their security software line any higher. They have been outstanding for combatting viruses, worms, spyware, attachment blocking in email, anti-spam and more. And, get this, their pricing is exceedingly low for businesses and the ease of use and setup is unprecedented.

But alas, in the world of computers and software, things can go wrong. A couple weeks ago, Trend issued a pattern file update that caused PCs and servers to use so much CPU power that they appeared to freeze. Read here for Trend's report and fix for it.

So, what's the moral of this story... it is always critical to continuously monitor and manage your systems. Things can go wrong that have never happened before and troubleshooting becomes paramount. Monitor, document, plan for disaster, plan some more, and implement best practices.

To read about the negative impact this had on certain businesses, take a look at the article from Small Business Pipeline.

Worm Alert: Sober variants spreading fast

Worm Email Alert:

The latest variants of the Sober worm are spreading fast around the world and are exceedingly wide spread in Internet email. TrendMicro has issued a Medium Risk alert, Sophos states that currently 79% of reported viruses are the Sober Worm.

How to protect yourself:

• Be sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date.
• Be sure to NOT open any attachments you are not expecting (particularily .zip attachments)
• Best advice: "When in doubt, throw it out".

Read more from on the worm from zdnet, the TrendMicro website and Symantec.

"Always be sure to practice safe computing".

--Cook Group Technology "IT Consulting for a Progressive World"

Security Alert: Instant Message, Instant Virus

IM Viruses Increasing... from the washingtonpost.com blog
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"Four out of ten of the top online threats at the moment arrive via instant message"

Judging from several recent reports from Internet security organizations, virus writers are increasingly targeting instant messaging programs. The SANS Internet Storm Center said today that it has received multiple reports over the weekend of viruses spreading via AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and Microsoft Messenger. Websense also put out an advisory today about an AIM virus.

According to the latest virus information from TrendMicro, four out of ten of the top online threats at the moment arrive via instant message. Given that Microsoft recently released patches to plug several "critical" security flaws in its Messenger program, the threat of viruses and worms through instant messaging could worsen in the near future.

One of the most pervasive IM worms, dubbed by some anti-virus companies as "Kelvir", has spawned at least 27 variants since it first arrived on the scene in early March. One version of the worm struck online news service Reuters last month, crippling the company's messaging service for 24 hours.

Instant message viruses usually spread by tricking recipients into clicking on a link in a short message that says something like "Hey, check this out." Based on the information provided in a writeup of the latest Kelvir worm from Symantec Corp., IM users definitely do not want to do that: Once downloaded to a machine, Kelvir quietly downloads more software that turns the victim's computer into a spam relay. Kelvir also can log anything you type on your keyboard and e-mail the data to identity thieves, even capture snapshots of anything that you see on your computer monitor, snag footage from your Web cam, as well as any information stored on your computer's clipboard.

Instant messaging also is becoming an increasingly popular medium for "phishing," scams that try to trick computer users into visiting an authentic-looking Web site and entering personal and financial details, according to a report released late last week by the Anti-Phishing Working Group.

Free Wi-Fi Hotspots in DC

Below is a list of free Wi-Fi hotspots in DC. There are many more added in DC all the time. Use this list as a starter.

• Asylum - 2471 18th Street NW
• Columbia Heights Coffee - 3416 11th St. NW - (202) 986-0079
• Cravings - 1110 U St. NW - 202.797.8584
• Crumbs & Coffee - 1737 Columbia Rd (Adams Morgan) NW - 202.232.1733
• cyberSTOP Cafe - 1513 17th St. NW - 202-667-3338
• Domku - 821 Upshur St, NW (Petworth) - 202-722-7475
• Dupont Circle - the circle
• Federal Communications Commission Offices - Twelfth Street, Courtyard and Eight Floor Levels - 445 12th St. SW
• Five Guys Famous Burgers & Fries - 1335 Wisconsin Ave, NW (Georgetown) - 202.337.0400
• Health Bar - 1612 U St. NW - 202-588-9255
• Juice Zone - 1990 I St., NW
• Leftbank - 2424 18th St, NW - 202-464-2100
• Maranon's Cafe/Bar and Lounge - 3521 14th Street N.W. - 202-726-0767
• murky coffee - capitol hill - 660 Pennsylvania Ave SE - 202-546-5228
• Open Park Project - provides coverage in front of the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the Capitol Visitors' Center site
• Politics & Prose Bookstore Cafe - 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW - 202.364.1919
• Quizno's Subs - 1300 L St. NW
• R & B Coffee House - 1359 H St. NE
• School Without Walls - 2130 G Street, N.W.
• Soho Tea & Coffee - free for customers - 2150 P St and 22nd St NW - 202.463.7646
• Sparky's Espresso Cafe - 1720 14th Street, NW- (202) 332-9334
• The Love Cafe (coffeeshop) - at the corner of 15th and U Sts NW
• Tryst Coffeehouse Bar & Lounge - 2459 18th Street NW - 202 232-5500
• Hotel Helix - 1430 Rhode Island Ave, NW - 202-462-9001
• Omni Shoreham Hotel - 2500 Calvert St NW - 202-234-0700
• Wonderland Ballroom -1101 Kenyon St, NW (Columbia Heights) - 202-232-5263

Editted with most pulled from http://www.wififreespot.com/dc.html

Enjoy!

Study: Hackers aren't just picking on Microsoft

Microsoft typically receives all the bad press for security holes in software but the truth is all software has security vulnerabilities inherent in them. Since hackers like to make the most impact they go after the big players like Microsoft. The truth is just about all software vendors write security updates for their software... you just might not know about it though.

The moral of this story, always keep all software on your system fully patched to avoid big security related problems.

Here's an article with a bit more info on that topic:

Hackers aren't just picking on Microsoft

--Cook Group Technology "IT Consulting for a Progressive World"