Tech Corner
WHAT If you have any announcements, requests, or suggestions that are newsworthy, please submit them to [email protected]
[Cybertown wishes to thank citizens for independently creating Colony-related websites. As the sites are outside of Cybertown, Cybertown is not responsible for the content on those websites.]
Sinister Spam
By markjut
Reports claim that most spam messages are now trying to defraud internet users rather than sell them products.
According to email filtering firm Clearswift, over the past twelve months spam has evolved from being "annoying and indecent" to "illegal and malicious."
Clearswift, which offers a monthly index measuring different spam content, reports that when it launched the index a year ago spam was dominated by a mix of pornography, financial, healthcare and direct product spam.
But pornographic spam has now fallen from making up 21.8 per cent of spam to just 4.8 per cent. Clearswift claims organised crime gangs have been moving their operations online and spam provides a virtually invisible channel for this kind of activity.
It reports that spam is now a hotbed for a variety of financial scams, such as web-phishing and serves as a black market for illegal goods such as fake pharmaceuticals and counterfeit software.
http://www.clearswift.com/news/PressReleases/488.aspx
Microsoft's Security Troubles
By markjut
It seems as if Microsoft's problems are never ending. Over the last few months we have seen more viruses and hackers exploiting Microsoft based internet users systems than in the whole of last year.
The company has issued patches for seven security vulnerabilities in total, two of which are crictical. Experts say the holes could be exploited by a future internet worm.
One recently discovered hole, which affects Windows users, could let an attacker execute code on an affected system and take complete control of the computer. Microsoft has had many such problems discovered over the past year.
Security company Sophos has urged home users to patch their systems now before these vulnerabilities are exploited by virus writers.
"The gap between Microsoft announcing a critical hole and a worm exploiting that vulnerability is shrinking - with the Sasser worm it was just eighteen days," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.
"Home users are particularly open to attack, because they don't often download the latest security patches from Microsoft, and may not be running a personal firewall. All computer users should ensure their systems are properly protected," added Cluley.
Microsoft has posted details of the flaws and made available security updates to fix the issues on its website. Home users of Microsoft Windows can visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com to scan for critical Microsoft security vulnerabilities.
Related links:- http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200407_windows.mspx
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/criticaljul04.html
Amazing Article From MSNBC
found by jdb_educator
Somehow you don't think of virus creators as in competition, but this article opened our eyes to the craziness of The Virus Wars .
ANTI-VIRUS ROUND UP
By markjut CVN Tech writer (Tech CD/ePlex Chief)
There are many things that can go wrong with your PC, but catching a virus is one of the worst. Viruses have simple goals - to get onto your computer, replicate themselves and infect other computers. Because the internet has linked so many computers together, viruses can spread from computer to computer, and country to country, at the speed of light. But you can often stop them in their tracks with the use of updated anti-virus software.
The damage done by a virus varies depending on its type. Some will delete particular files, such as images. Others will trash your PC, erasing everything on your hard disk. So that they can reach the maximum number of computers, viruses are written for the most widely used software. Microsoft programs such as Windows, Office and Outlook, are the most at risk.
Many PCs come with anti-virus software already installed. Even so, you should make sure that it has the right features to meet your needs. If you've had your program for a while now, it might be time to consider upgrading. If you haven't got any virus protection at the moment, then get some, now. We can't stress this enough - there could be a virus winging its destructive way to your machine right now, and if it hits, you could end up with significantly more damage to your valuable machine than the price of some anti-virus software. Are you really willing to take that risk?
Here is a round up of some of the best software for anti-virus protection. We are not making product recommendations:- Free versions available are marked by (*)In most cases you will go to Store or Downloads for trials or to purchase. US Links are provided with approximate prices in English pounds and U.S. dollars. They will vary with time, special offers, and specific products or bundles:
*Grisoft AVG 7.0 £27 $33.40 Two year license of AVG Professional Single Edition
Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Pro 4.0 - £42 $39.00
McAfee Virus Scan 8.0 (2004) - £30 $49.99 Annual Subscription $34.95
Panda Antivirus Platinum 2004 - £38; $39.95 six months for $19.95
Steganos Security Suite - £30 $59.95
Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2004 - £40 $49.95
Tend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security US $49.95
Free Virus Scans are available in the US from:
Panda
McAfee
Trend Micro Housecall
http://msn.mcafee.com/
Read About.com for more information on the Antivirus topic.
FAVORITES ICON
By markjut CVN Tech writer (Tech CD/ePlex Chief)
Have you noticed that when you add a website like MSN.com to your favorites on internet explorer you see the MSN butterfly logo instead of the small internet explorer logo? This is easy to emulate. You can make your own! It makes your site look better and adds some personality. When people click your site in favorites, they will see your icon branding and remind the user of your site at a glance!
When someone is browsing their favorites it is fare more likely to stand out and therefore more visitors may visit and revisit your website. Just make a 16 by 16 icon in any piece of imaging software. Then you will need to save the file as a Windows Icon file ico. Most image pieces of software can do this. Once you have created your new icon, save it in the root directory of your website, this is where the index.html file is located. You can upload it using a file manager or an FTP client, you can use internet explorer for this. Save the file as favicon.ico.
HOSTING ARTICLE
By markjut CVN Tech writer (Tech CD/ePlex Chief)
Many of you require hosting for your images and other tech needs, in this article I will go over some different types of hosting and which might be best for your particular means and needs.
If you don't want to pay for your hosting then there are a number of problems that you need to think about, first of all if you want to be able to hotlink images from your webspace you need to make sure you get a host that allows hotlinking, a good example of that is http://www.boomspeed.com , if you don't need hotlinking and want your webspace advertising free, a good example would be http://www.brinkster.com .
Often free hosting isn't good enough for your requirements due to the low amount of space and bandwidth available for use. But if you shell out as little as 3 dollars per month you can get a nice amount of ad-free webspace with enough bandwidth and disk space for any average user. Usually this type of hosting is linux based. I would personally recommend http://www.moon-hosting.com for a good personal webhost. They offer a range of packages which all have merits.
I wouldn't recommend windows hosting as it is usually more expensive with very little benefit.
If you want to be able to run a large website you will either need a large hosting package or even a dedicated server. A dedicated server is when the hosting company rents the use of one of their servers to you. Such costs can run from 30 to 100 dollars per month and you will get a lot of flexibility with them. I would recommend http://www.rackshack.net or if you are located in the UK http://www.oneandone.co.uk . You can discus webhosting with other users by visiting a website such as http://www.host-forums.com
If you want to comment on the article or ask for any help please email markjut at [email protected]
We hope this article will of help to some of our Cybertown citizens. Send CVN a note with your comments, questions, or suggestions for future articles etc., to [email protected]
}