2010-07-21T13:47:00Z

Thieves get away with it in small amounts!

Small amounts of money make thieves very successful.  We often think that identity theft is going cost us a great deal, but often it is only a small amount.  Thieves have found taking a little from many or a little consistently over a period of time can be very rewarding.

Why? Most of us will not be overly concerned if a small charge like $0.10 appears on our credit card, so many of us will not even report it.  However do this to 10,000 people and it can be a nice prize, $1,000.00. Now do this monthly and it amounts to $12,000.00 a year.  That is exactly what was being done to the ton of 10 Million dollars.  On MSNBC's blog the Red Tape Chronicles you can read all about the case "Card Thieves Steal 10 Million, $10 Dollars a Day ". 

This case is about phoney companies making small charges and then funneling the money to foreign banks.  In our industry we similar issues like software being sold that is not really functional.  It can be in the form of Virus, Computer Tune-up, and other Tools.  By the way it does not stop with our computers, there are tons of bad apps being written for cell phones and other hand held devices.  Often this software is so low cost that when it does not function we just say oh well the amount was only a few bucks, and that is exactly what they are counting on.  Beware and be willing to fight to get your money back this way we can help stop scams and hopefully reduce this type of crime.  Research software you are going to buy and try to do you research at reputable sources not just any website that may actually be ad sites for the product.

Good information from your support staff at www.end2endsupport.com and www.gotavirusbug.com.

2010-07-17T14:18:00Z

Twitter fan? Be aware of the Twitter Kit.

Trend Micro posted a bulletin about the Twitter Kit in their security newsletter this week. 

What is Twitter Kit, it is a tool that  allows the sending of spam to other Twitter users in ways that would normally be blocked or stopped by the account limits set by the site. For example, the sending of spam to thousands of followers.  Additionally Trend indicates the Kit can also search through other users? followers and send Follow invites, thereby letting cybercriminals send spam to even more users.    A quick summary of this Tool is that it allows a user to Spam out of control and continue to find new targets by  infiltrating existing users following list.  For more details read the Security Bulletin from Trend Micro.

Risk awareness brought to you by the Guy in carge at www.end2endsupport.com and www.gotavirusbug.com.

2010-07-08T14:52:00Z

Tips from Sunbelt software 7_08_2010

Sunbelt software includes weekly tips in their newsletter and I wanted to share with my readers some of the current risks on the internet.

Danger Zone Topics

Be on the lookout for these threatening searches and spams: World Cup, Justin Bieber and Eminem's (fictitious) death video.

This Week's Top 10 Spyware Threats

1. Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT: Trojan
2. Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen: Trojan
3. INF.Autorun (v) (fs): Trojan
4. Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra: Trojan
5. Worm.Win32.Downad.Gen (v):Worm.W32
6. Trojan.Win32.Generic!SB.0: Trojan
7. Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen (v): Exploit
8. Packed.Win32.Tdss.q (v): Trojan
9. Trojan.Win32.Malware: Trojan
10. Adware.Win32.FLVDirectPlayer: Adware Installer

Looking for a good Antivirus Protection visit our link for Vipre at www.gotavirusbug.com and at checkout use the promo code "WORLDCUP" and get the second year free at checkout.  This is good only on the Home Unlimited versions of Vipre.

Offer presented by the penny pincher at www.end2endsupport.com.

2010-07-06T12:38:00Z

Apple security invincible, I think not.

In 6 years of owning my shop one of the most frequent questions is "Should I buy a Mac all my friends say they are more secure?", and this is what I have told people.  The Macs are less vulnerable at this time due to their penetration in the PC Market.  But as they become more popular and software becomes similar on both platforms the risks will increase.  Like I said I have been saying this since I started my shop in 2004.  Why am I touting this or even patting myself on the back, I'm not  I am just trying to remind everyone that the world is not simple you can not just buy a Mac and wish a way all the bad people.  No the internet is not like OZ unfortunately we are back in Kansas, Chicago, Tampa and what makes it worse is we are only one little hop away from the unknown.

Connecting to the internet even when you are not surfing without some form of protection is like building a tall building in the lightning capital with out grounding. It is just not safe nor is it up to code.  The Apple platform has grown sharply in the last 5 years and with the release of the iPAD you have I believe over 3 Million new users in just a few weeks.  That is a lot of new money to the con-artists and thieves, not to mention the pyramid marketeers and the multi-national lottery scams.  Oh and just for a good laugh don't forget about the guy in some foreign country who is trying to get his fortune out after he has died with no heirs so you are the lucky person.  I hope that put a smile on everyone's face.

Apparently ,Apple has been hit with sever different types of security woes in the past few months, the most recent not involving their OS but the iTunes market place.  Yes, if you are un aware keep an I on your accounts associated with iTunes because they have been compromised.  Check out current news on this issue an example of this news at Switched.com.  Ah, back to the original message Apple security is vulnerable please take a look at this article from Larry Walsh at the Channel Insider, he writes the Blog/Column Secure Channel.  I believe you will find the information interesting after that you may also want to re-visit my Blog entry from 7/28/2009.

So for all of you Mac users, follow some simple advice surf safely and invest in some protection if it is available. I read a blog entry from Dave Greenbaum regarding Mac Antivirus at theAppleBlog.  I can not recommend any software at this time but be careful on what you choose and check out known Mac review sites to assist in your evaluations.

This web safe reminder brought to you by the Techies at www.end2endsupport.com and www.gotavirusbug.com.

Happy and safe computing.