Virus Mr. Coolface kembali hapus mp3

Kamis, 7 agustus 2008

Sebuah virus yang merupakan varian dari virus yang terkenal dengan julukan 'muka keren' alias 'Mr. Coolface' kembali beraksi. Virus ini merecoki pengguna komputer yang doyan dengan musik MP3.

virus ini akan menghapus semua file dengan format MP3, .INF dan VBS. Agar tidak mencurigakan, virus ini menyamar dengan menggunakan icon Windows Media Player dan berekstensi .EXE.

Virus yang terdeteksi sebagai W32/Smallworm.BZH ini menyebar lewat media Flash Disk. Smallworm.BZH lalu akan menghapus file berekstensi MP3, INF dan VBS serta membuat file duplikat dengan icon Windows Media Player dengan ukuran 64 KB.

Virus ini tidak melakukan blok terhadap fungsi Windows seperti Task Manager, Regedit, Folder Options, tetapi memblok akses "services.msc" agar korban sulit menemukan dan membersihkan komputer yang terinfeksi oleh virus ini.

Browser Safari rentan phishing

Rabu, 6 Agustus 2008

Pemakai browser internet Apple Safari disarankan berhenti memakainya dan beralih pada browser lain. Hal ini agar pengakses mendapatkan perlindungan anti phishing (pemalsuan situs oleh penjahat cyber-red) yang lebih memadai.

Itulah bagian dalam laporan tahunan majalah konsumen terkemuka Amerika Serikat, Consumer Report. Laporan itu memaparkan, Safari berisiko karena tidak disertai tool yang memperingatkan apakah sebuah situs berbahaya atau tidak.

"Browser yang banyak digunakan pengguna Mac, Safari tidak punya perlindungan anti phishing yang memadai," demikian disebutkan dalam laporan itu.

Consumer Report melakukan survei pada sekitar 2000 rumah tangga di Amerika Serikat yang punya akses internet. Terungkap bahwa pengguna Mac lebih sering terjebak situs palsu daripada pengguna Windows sehingga mereka kadang jadi korban penjahat cyber.

Untuk itulah, sampai Apple menambahkan tool anti phishing dalam browser Safarinya, pemakai Mac disarankan beralih ke browser lain misalnya Firefox atau Opera. Pasalnya menurut Consumer Report, baik Firefox atau Opera menawarkan perlindungan anti phishing.

"Pemakai Mac seringkali berpikiran bahwa mereka sama sekali tak perlu khawatir terhadap serangan," demikian kata Jeff Fox, editor teknologi Consumer Report. Padahal menurutnya, semua pengguna internet tetap perlu waspada terhadap segala kemungkinan ancaman online.

Facebook dan MySpace Ditunggangi Virus

Senin, 04 Agustus 2008

Teman Anda mengirimkan file berisi video klip via Facebook atau MySpace? Jika ya, jangan terlalu mudah percaya. Pasalnya, telah beredar sebuah worm via situs jejaring sosial tersebut.

Menurut Kaspersky Lab, komputer korban yang terinfeksi worm ini akan menjadi zombie di jaringan botnet. Botnet adalah gabungan beberapa komputer -- umumnya ribuan jaringan -- yang disewa untuk melakukan serangan cyber. Botnet bisa menyebarkan virus, meluncurkan serangan denial-of-service, atau melakukan kejahatan maya lainnya.

komputer yang terinfeksi akan menyebarkan worm dengan cara mengirimkan pesan ke daftar teman yang ada di jaringan Facebook dan MySpace.

Pesan yang dikirim berupa link-link video klip. Ketika link tersebut di-klik, maka komputer akan men-download sebuah file executable (file yang bisa dieksekusi) yang mengaku dirinya sebagai versi terbaru Flash Player. Faktanya, file ini adalah worm yang akan menginfeksi komputer.

Nah, ketika komputer yang sudah terinfeksi worm login ke Facebook atau MySpace, maka secara otomatis komputer akan menyebarkan file jahat tersebut ke daftar teman yang ada dalam jaringan Facebook atau MySpace.

"Kami pernah melihat tipe worm seperti ini sebelumnya, khususnys di MySpace. Banyak orang yang percaya karena mereka mendapatkan file tersebut dari teman, dan banyak pula yang tidak sadar kalau mereka men-download program jahat Flash Player," papar Ryan Naraine, evangelist keamanan di Kaspersky.

Naraine mewanti-wanti para pengguna komputer agar waspada saat men-download file ke komputer, sekalipun file tersebut berasal dari teman. Pengguna juga diimbau untuk rajin meng-update sistem keamanannya.


(sumber : detikinet.com)

Tips Buat Yang Pake LimeWire

Pasti pada BT kan kalo pas lagi download movie di LimeWire, udah lama ngedownloadnya, eh ternyata yang didapet bukan movie yang dimau, malah bokep jadul ato virus ato trojan.

Buat pake LimeWire, and kalo mo ngedownload file2 movie yg bener, minimal harus tau nama2 server yang ada, and juga beberapa nama yang sering dipake.

Misalkan kita mo download : Incredible Hulk 2, pasti hampir semua orang maen tulis nama film nya, dan pas liat ada yg muncul dengan nama itu, langsung maen download aja, and udah sekian lama nunggu, pas di cek, ternyata tuh file movie nya bukan Incredible Hulk 2, melaenkan virus/trojan/junk files.

di LimeWire, disediakan fasilitas untuk ngecek apa file movie yang mo kita download itu bener2 movie itu ato gak, dan juga kualitas nya DVD ato kualitas cam biasa. Nama nya BitCollider.

download file dibawah ini dan install di komputer untuk mengetahui dan mengecek benar tidak nya file tersebut dan kualitas apa dari file tersebut :

Buat Windows 95/98/2000/XP/Vista
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/b...etup-0.6.0.exe

Buat Linux/Intel X86
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/b...0.6.0?download

setelah itu di install, dibawah ini adalah beberapa nama2 server yang ane ketahui, dan ane udah biasa download semua movie2 yang ada di bioskop (yg udah maen atopun yang coming soon) dan semua file yang ane download bener.

caranya, tinggal masuk ke limewire sperti biasa, abis itu di search di bagian video, ketik aja nama2 server dibawah ini.

abis semua nama2 file movie nya muncul, kalo mo ngecek bener ato enggak nya, tinggal di klik kanan file tersebut, dan pilih advanced --- lookup with bitzi, and bakalan masuk ke browser and ditunjukkin apa tuh file, file beneran yang dimau, ato trojan/virus/junk file.

Server Russia :
1. Pukka
Server ini tampilan film nya pake tulisan Russia, tapi semua kalimat ato
pembicaraan di film tetep pake bahasa Inggris.
ada beberapa file movie yang disingkat di server ini, contoh :
Incredible Hulk 2.avi ----------> i.h.2.pukka.xvid.avi

Server Amerika :
1. Shareheaven
Di server ini kebanyakan film2 yang udah diputer/yg udah lama dengan
kualitas yg bagus.

2. Maven
di server ini kebanyakan film2 lama ato yang sudah diputar di cinema.

3. Axxo
Server ini banyak juga film2 baru ato coming soon nya. Dan ini server
terbaik yang masih ada dan banyak yang memberikan komentar positif
banyak dari server ini.

4. Eng-Fxm
5. Nedivx
6. Telesync

Server China
1. Kingben
Banyak sekali film2 baru dan coming soon di server ini, tapi kualitas nya
kebanyakan standard alias rekaman cam biasa, jadi kadang2 ada orang
jalan nya, dll, tapi ada juga yang kualitas DVD. Dan beberapa film yang
ada, kadang2 dengan beberapa subtitle mandarin ato yg laen.

2. Axi0n
Di server ini banyak film2 coming soon nya, dan selama ane pake, ini
server lumayan bagus, and kualitas film nya DVD semua.

Server Europe
1. BVQ
Server ini banyak film2 baru dan coming soon nya, dengan kualitas yang
OK punya. dan ini server di Inggris.

2. Xanax
Ini server Perancis, jadi kalo download di server ini rada ati2, soal nya
semua bahasa nya didubbing ke bahasa perancis.

Ada beberapa pemakaian kata yang bisa kita masukkan di Search yaitu :

1. 2008, 2007
berdasarkan tahun film itu ditayangkan

2. Xvid / Divx
artinya kualitas film yang dicari sudah menggunakan Divx dan banyak
varian nya pada saat memasukkan symbol ini, sperti :
xvid-camera, xvid-ltt, xvid-mvs

3. Dvdrip
artinya semua file movie yang dicari dengan kualitas DVD. Biasanya di
ripped dari DVD.

4. Dvdscr
idem no. 3

5. Screener / Prevail
biasanya semua file movie yang direkam berasal dari movie yg coming
soon di waktu tersebut, jadi pada saat diputar movie tersebut, dalam
menit-menit tertentu, akan berubah jadi hitam putih movie tersebut,
setelah itu akan kembali ke normal kembali.


buat yang pengen ngedownload bokep2, terutama bokep2 jepang, ketik ini di Search :

1. 99bb
film2 nya ukuran nya variasi, dari 100mb sampe 700mb an. kualitas ada
yg DVD tapi banyak yg kualitas cam biasa.

2. moodyz
kebanyakan ukurannya diatas 600mb, dan hampir semuanya dengan
kualitas DVD.

3. tora-tora
semua kualitas film nya kualitas DVD. dan untuk ngecek nya, bisa di
cek di google,contoh: Tora-tora Platinum vol. 24, cari aja di google.
apa yang ditampilkan di google, sama dengan yang akan didownload.
hampir semua file ukurannya diatas 700mb.

4. kokeshi
semua kualitas film nya kualitas DVD, tapi ukuran file nya banyak yang
diatas 1gb.

Tips menyembunyikan ip address

buat temen2 yang pengen nyembunyiin ip address kalian gw kasiih tutorial gimana caranya menyembunyikan ip address kalian bagi yang udah tau ato repost
gw minta maaf banget

caranya

1. Buka http://www.aliveproxy.com ato www.samair.ru/proxy
2. Trus carilah proxy negara mana yang ingin dipakai. Kebanyakan memakai negara USA, itu dikarenakan banyaknya proxy yang ada dan juga terkenal kenceng. Tapi ga selalu lo.
3. Liat ip dan port mana yang mau dipakai, semisal ini “69.14.211.102:2396″ dimana “69.14.211.102″ adalah IPnya dan “2396″ adalah portnya.
4. Yang perlu diingat adalah cari IP yang mempunyai keterangan “anonymous”

Nah.. untuk cara pakainya :

- Internet Explorer :

1. Buka tools > internet options
2. Klik tab Connection trus klik LAN Settings
3. Pada bagian proxy server, isi centang pada “use a proxy..”
4. Pada box address masukan IP proxy, pada box port masukan portnya
5. Centang juga bagian “by pass..”
6. klik OK

- Mozilla Firefox versi 2:

1. Buka tools > options
2. Bagian advance, klik tab Network
3. Bagian Connection, klik Setting di sebelah kanan
4. Kemudian pilih manual proxy configurations
5. Pada bagian HTTP proxy, masukkan IP proxy dan portnya
6. klik OK

- Opera 9 :

1. Buka tools > preferences
2. Pilih tab advance
3. Pilih Network di bagian kiri, kemudian klik proxy server dibagian kanan
4. Centangi bagian HTTP kemudian masukkan IP proxy dan portnya
5. Klik OK

Nah.. anda telah menggunakan proxy. Namuh tetap harus di cek dulu apakah proxy itu jalan atau tidak. Cara ngeceknya adalah arahkan browser anda yang telah menggunakan proxy ke salah satu web dibawah ini :

1. http://www.cmyip.com
2. http://www.checkip.org

Jika berhasil, tampilan browser adalah IP proxy lengkap dengan negaranya. Itu berarti proxy yang anda gunakan telah berjalan dan anda telah siap untuk browsing..

biar lebih enak ngeceknya gw kasih progienya dech

http://www.helllabs.net/pub/pclite1.exe

Tips protect file di komputer

ini cumen skedar share ajah ...

jadi siapapun ga akan bisa ngambil (copy/cut) data dari komputer lu ...

tapi komputer lu bisa ngambil data dari si Flashdisk itu...

ini tanpa program ato software khusus , cumen ngutik ngutik Regedit sedikit

selama gw pake ginian, ga pernah ada efek samping buat komputer (pake obat kalee...)
paling buat yang nyolokin Flashdisk aja kebingungan dia ga bisa ngambil data di komputer

ini gw nyoba di Win XP SP1, SP2, SP3, + Win VISTA..


caranya begini ni ...

1. masuk REGEDIT (pencet Windows+R)

2. TrusCari ----> HKEY_LOCALMACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

3. Di folder CONTROL, ketik -> Edit>New>Key
terus namain folder baru itu ----> "StorageDevicePolicies"

4. trus di folder "StorageDevicePolicies", ketik Edit>New>Dword (32-bit)

5. trus key yang baru itu namain : "WriteProtect"

6. Klik 2x Key WriteProtect-nya, trus ganti Value Data jadi 1

7. Restart deh ....

nanti kalo berhasil trus ada mo ada yang ngambil data jadi kaya gini ni


nanti kalo mo dibalikin lagi jadi normal ...

tinggal balikin aja Value Data dari key yang namanya "WriteProtect" itu jadi 0



(sumber : kaskus.us)

Make firefox PERFORM up to 40% faster!!!

Mozilla’s Firefox browser is good. With a little minor “tweaking”, however, you can make firefox perform up to 40% faster for page transfers. With just a few clicks and some typing, you can experience faster browsing and surfing Firefox. Read below for how.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 3 minutes
Here’s How:

1. Open the Firefox “config” page: click into the Firefox address location bar, and type about:config, press Enter.
2. The “Config” file will appear in the Firefox browser as a page with
   hundreds of lines of code in it. Now, we start by enabling some
   advanced tabbed options:
3. Locate the line browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs . (tip: press “b” on your keyboard to quick scroll).
4. Double click on browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs . This will set its toggle to “true”. Now your advanced and enhanced tabbing should be set.
5. Note: in Firefox version 1.5, the command line is singlewindow.openintabs.
6. Next: we will increase the “pipeline” RAM ability for Firefox to
   accomodate more packet transfer. In the same config document, scroll
   down to the line that says network.http.pipelining . Double click this line to set it to “true”.
7. Lastly, we will increase the maximum pipeline requests to 100. Find the line that says network.http.pipelining.maxrequests. Double click on it, and a dialog box will popupChange the setting from 4 to 100.
8. No need to save this file. Simply close and restart Firefox, and you should see an immediate 10% to 40% increase in webpage transfer speed and faster opening of your tabbed windows.

Benarkah Google akan Bangun Kampus di NASA

Google bekerja sama dengan Lembaga Antariksa Amerika Serikat (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/NASA) berencana membangun pusat penelitian dan pengembangan (R&D) di NASA.

Pusat riset itu rencananya akan didisain layaknya sebuah kampus. Google akan menyewa kompleks perkantoran seluas 1,2 juta kaki persegi (sekitar 110.000 meter persegi) di Ames Research Center milik NASA di Mountain View, California, dengan perjanjian kontrak 40 tahun.

Sebagai tahap awal, Google akan menyuntikkan dana sebesar US$ 3,2 juta. Lebih lanjut uang tersebut akan digunakan NASA sebagai biaya perbaikan dan pemeliharaan fasilitas di Ames Research.

"Pembangunan ini mendukung misi NASA untuk menjadi pemimpin dalam hal mengeksplorasi luar angkasa, penemuan ilmiah dan riset aeronotika (ilmu penerbangan-red)," kata Direktur Ames Research Center, S. Pete Worden.

Pembangunan akan dilakukan dalam tiga tahap. Tahap pertama rencananya akan dimulai pada 2013. Sedangkan tahap kedua akan dimulai pada 2018, dan fase ketiga pada 2022. NASA akan menjadi penanggung jawab proses konstruksi tersebut.

Dikutip kwawoenkz dari detikinet, kabarnya akan disediakan juga fasilitas penginapan, tempat makan dan rekreasi untuk para karyawan Google dan Nasa.

Virus VBS/Repulik.A injection MS.Word and MS.Excel

if yesterday ever appear virus that inspired by song ari lasso, today we want to introduce you in one new virus menyinyalir fan group music repvblik and remind in famous brand branded bvlgari.

we are sure still to remember with virus case kespo (kspoold) sempat booming with file principal target ms office especially ms. word and ms. excel with several database programs. this virus copes to menginjeksi file permanently use original icon from file at hypodermic so that enough effective to mengelabui user, although antivirus success “clean” virus but unfortunately not yet can to return icon and file extension (file at clean still berekstensi exe and icon application) so that user of opinion that file broken, eventually appear lah several tools alternative to split file that virus infection like chanal splitter (yayat_dhn), doc/xls recovery (husni), pcmedia antivirus “mengaku” as antivirus best at world. besides kespo gultung/stubble kawung also come along to enliven illusion world with principal target wipes off contents from file at infection and replaced it with country test exercise, so that although virus success at clean but contents from file at change with file contents other.

not want to lose with the pioneer, recently appear virus of a kind kespo where does this virus also will cope to menginjeksi file office (ms word and excel). even though this virus will still to belong to “baik” because he only menginjeksi file office exist in flash menyk.

actually is not too difficult to detect file that this virus infection, that is “hanya” with see icon and file extension tesebut. usually file that this virus infection has icon vbs with extension. doc. vbs, like seen in picture 1 hereunder.

Picture 1, File induk VBS/Repulik.A

with newest update norman can detect this virus by the name of vbs/repulik. A (see picture 2)

Picture 2, result scan norman virus control detect worm: VBS/Repulik.A

Feature VBS/Repulik.A

Next several features from VBS/Repulik.A

• Icon VBS

• Ekstensi VBS

• Size 5 KB

• Type file “VBScript script file”

• File hypodermic exe/doc with add file size as big as 5 kb and have extension. doc. vbs. file at this hypodermic has icon vb

At the (time) of this virus is mobile, he will make mother file that be run each time computer booting. differ from another local virus, he will not make string in registry editor so that not too suspicious looking, this virus also will not windows function block and software security so that easier to cleaned.

Next mother file that at will deliver by vbs/republik. A

• C:\Documents and Settings\%user%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Repvblik.vbs

besides make mother file, vbs/repulik. a also will keep hypodermic file that run by user and file repvblik. txt to folder c: \repvblik, like seen in picture 3 under this:

Picture 3, File drop VBS/Repulik.A

Message from the VM

Akan muncul di akhir umatku, wanita-wanita yang berpakaian namun pada hakikatnya bertelanjang.

Diatas mereka terdapat suatu penaka punuk unta.

Mereka tidak akan memasuki surga dan tidak juga akan mencium aroma surga.

Padahal bau surga itu dapat dicium dari jarak sekian dan sekian (H.R. Muslim)

By Repvblik

if you open file repvblik. txt that reside in directory c: \repvblik, so will appear latent message that is made by the vm. (see picture 4)

Picture 4, latent message the VM

Change volume (name) flash disk

vbs/repulik. a also will try to will change volume (name) flash menyk will be repvblik. (see picture 5)

Picture 5, VBS/Repulik.A Change volume (name) flash disk

injection ms. word and ms. excel

principal target vbs/repulik. a bone other than data especially ms. word and ms. excel by menginjeksi with add code virus in header file. file that at hypodermic will increase 5 kb from size at first. file that at this hypodermic actually not too difficult to been identified because he permanent will use icon vbs with extension. doc. vbs other the things of if icon use icon ms. word or ms. excel with file extension hidden, so that for certain user easy will be deceived to run file.

this virus the good news only aims data exist in removable disk (flash disk).

next file feature that at hypodermic by vbs/repulik. a (see picture 6)

• Icon VBS

• size “berbeda-beda” (happen file size increasing sebensar 5 kb from size at first)
  

• Extension .DOC.VBS

Picture 6, file at hypodermic by VBS/Repulik.A

if file that injeksi at run so in folder same will make file temporary of the size 6 kb and use icon vbs, look at picture 7 under this:

Picture 7, temporary file that made by Repulik.A

scattered to pass flash disk

to simplify menyebara, he will use diskette / flash disk by will deliver virus file with hypodermic all files ms. word and ms. excel existing, next several files that at will make by vbs/repulik. a

• I am So Sorry.txt.vbs

• Indonesian and their corruption!!.txt.vbs

• Make U lofty.txt.vbs

• NenekSihir and her Secrets.txt.vbs

• Never be touched!!.txt.vbs

• SMS Gratis via GPRS.txt.vbs

• Thank U Ly.txt.vbs

way to overcome VBS/Repulik.A

1. Deactivate “sytem restore” during cleaning process (if use windows me/xp)

2. kill virus process that has file name wscript. exe. for lethal this process is your can use tools currproses.
   

3. file erase that made by virus
   

   • C:\Documents and Settings\%user%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\Repvblik.vbs

   • C:\Repvblik

also file that deliverred at flash disk

• I am So Sorry.txt.vbs

• Indonesian and their corruption!!.txt.vbs

• Make U lofty.txt.vbs

• NenekSihir and her Secrets.txt.vbs

• Never be touched!!.txt.vbs

• SMS Gratis via GPRS.txt.vbs

• Thank U Ly.txt.vbs

4. change volume/name flash disk according to manual by:
   

   1. click right flash disk

   2. click rename
      

   3. change name “repvblik” by the name of you want
      

5. for anticipation and prevent infection repeats, please install and scan with antivirus that can detect this virus well.

6. if antivirus you are install not success “repair” file that at hypodermic by vbs/repulik. a. you can use tools “spliter vbs2doc/xls”. please download tools at address next
   

http://www.4shared.com/file/43727532/dda23d77/_2__Splitter_VBS2DOC_XLS.html?dirPwdVerified=3c4e3b82

Note:

spliter vbs2doc/xls this be development from tools chanal splitter yav (yayat_dhn). chanal spliter yav tools that used to repair file that at hypodermic by kespo (kspoold), please download tools chanal spitter yav at address next: http: /chanal. biz/blog/? p=17

(sumber: vaksin.com)

tips computer for free virus

Senin, 05 Mei 2008

As everyone who has ever had the flu knows, viruses can be devastating-and computers don't get off any easier than people. Even though a flu virus and a computer virus have obvious differences, there are some similarities: Both you and your computer get viruses from others who are already infected, and prevention can help keep both of you healthy.

Keep in mind that the steps listed in this article are only recommendations that may help prevent virus infection and help deal with it if one does occur. This topic is complex, and it changes rapidly, so it's important to stay vigilant and stay informed.

Prevention is the key. Your best defense is to keep your system from getting infected in the first place because once it is, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of the virus. The road to prevention begins with these steps:

1. Install effective anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is widely available; any online or brick-and-mortar store that sells software will offer a number of products. These products typically require an annual subscription, which lets you keep your anti-virus software up to date and ready to detect the latest threats. Tip: For added protection, consider buying a security suite that includes firewall software and other protection (such as spam filtering).
2. Avoid risky behavior. For example: never open an e-mail attachment that comes from someone you don't know, and avoid downloading anything from the Internet that might not be trustworthy. Keep in mind that humorous material is often passed along, from address to address, through email. It's best not to open this type of file, because even if the attachment is from someone you know, they may be unknowingly passing along a virus.

Make regular virus scans a habit. Anti-virus software typically lets you chose whether to schedule a scan on a regular basis or perform a manual scan. Because a full scan can take an hour or more to complete, many anti-virus software packages also let you perform a quick, but less thorough, scan of the most commonly infected parts of the computer. See your product documentation for details. Tip: While you shouldn't depend on it for your main anti-virus solution, another option is to use a free online service to scan your computer, like TrendMicro HouseCall* or Symantec Security Check*.

You've discovered an infection. Now what? If you discover a virus or related threat during a scan, follow these steps:

1. Follow your anti-virus software's on-screen instructions. Many viruses can be easily removed using this method. Another option for Windows-based systems is to use the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, free software distributed through Windows Update and updated monthly. Re-scan your computer after you've removed the virus (just to be sure).

Tip: It's also a good idea to scan again with a separate scanner, such as an online service, for added assurance.

2. Contact an expert. If first efforts aren't enough, check your anti-virus product's Web site for additional information. Sometimes–especially for high-profile threats–major anti-virus software manufacturers will provide a tool to help get rid of specific viruses. However, these tools can be complicated to use, so depending on how comfortable you are with the procedure, you might want to bring in an expert. Many large retail chains now provide in-store services that specialize in removing viruses. The cost involved can be a small amount to pay to resolve the problem.
3. Use restore disks or re-install the operating system. A new computer often comes with a set of one or more emergency "restore" disks. If you haven't been able to remove the virus, this set of disks might help you to resolve the problem. However, you will lose any files that haven't been backed up on separate media (see "Backing Up Your Computer"), although many anti-virus programs let you make a set of emergency restore disks when you install the software. Similarly, if your computer came with a set of one or more operating system disks, you can re-install the operating system and return the computer to factory condition. These options are strong medicine, but if everything else fails, they may be the only way to restore your computer's health.

Keeping Virus-Free

• Install anti-virus software and keep it up to date
• Don't open suspicious e-mail attachments or download untrustworthy Internet content
• Set Windows* Update to automatic mode
• Use firewall software

(sumber: pc.com)

Ubuntu Hardy Heron Release

Rabu, 30 April 2008

If there is a single complaint that is laid at the feet of Linux time and time again, it's that the operating system is too complicated and arcane for casual computer users to tolerate. You can't ask newbies to install device drivers or recompile the kernel, naysayers argue.

Of course, many of those criticisms date back to the bad old days, but Ubuntu, the user-friendly distribution sponsored by Mark Shuttleworth's Canonical Ltd., has made a mission out of dispelling such complaints entirely.

You can now download a beta of Ubuntu's 8.04 release, more commonly and affectionately known as Hardy Heron (the follow-up to Gutsy Gibbon and Feisty Fawn). Final release is set for April 24.

Hardy is what is known as an LTS (long-term support) release, meaning that patches and paid support will be available for at least three years after the release. Canonical has been dropping new releases about twice a year, ensuring that the kernel and software packages stay fresh. There are a lot of neat new features in Hardy, but let's start by talking about what makes Ubuntu such a great distribution to begin with.

Ubuntu is based on Debian, which enjoys wide developer support. Having a vibrant distribution such as Debian as Ubuntu's underpinning has resulted in a very stable and feature-rich distribution. Raw Debian has a reputation as being a bit geek-centric, and although it makes a good effort to be easy to use, it still can be a challenge to install for nontechnical users. Ubuntu has put padding on a lot of Debian's sharp corners, without removing any of the power of the underlying distribution.

One of the killer features of Ubuntu is that the installation media is also a "live CD." This means that you can boot it off the CD and try it out first before installing it. (You can also set Ubuntu up to boot off a USB drive.) In other words, you can make sure that all your hardware will work correctly and that you're happy with the look and feel of the operating system before committing yourself to anything permanent. You can also carry it around and use it to boot up a friend's computer under Ubuntu.

And when you do install it, you'll be asked a minimum of questions, and none of them are in the least challenging to anyone who has ever installed Windows. The install is even smart enough to help you resize an existing Windows partition (even Vista!) to set up a dual-boot system and set the boot menu to handle it.

Ubuntu 8.04, known as Hardy Heron.
Click to view larger image.

Ubuntu has also taken a flexible attitude toward proprietary drivers. Some distributions, philosophically opposed to letting companies "poison" the intellectually free Linux landscape, pretend these drivers don't exist. This can lead to poorly performing hardware or, in some cases, unusable Wi-Fi connections or audio hardware.

Ubuntu does segregate these drivers into a separate "restricted" repository, but it will install them automatically if the operating system detects hardware that could benefit from the driver. You'll get a little pop-up window letting you know what's happened, giving you the choice of either using them or removing them (if you are philosophically opposed to using the drivers).

Good looks and support

The base version of Ubuntu I reviewed uses a pretty standard installation of the Gnome graphical user interface. As opposed to some distributions, which ask you during installation whether you want Gnome or the K Desktop Environment (KDE), Ubuntu has a variety of distributions available, each one tailored to a specific window manager. For example, Kubuntu replaces Gnome with the KDE, while Xubuntu uses the lightweight Xfce window manager, which is perfect for underpowered devices. (I got Xubuntu to run just fine on my One Laptop Per Child XO laptop.)

A lot of the new features in Hardy Heron are really just version updates of things that are already there. The browser has been kicked up to Firefox 3 from Firefox 2 and is better integrated so that activities such as installing plug-ins occur more smoothly. The desktop now runs in 3-D mode by default.

If you're running a dual-boot system, you can read and now write to the Windows New Technology File System directly. You can now choose to have your file partitions created with encryption for greater security in case a laptop is stolen. Printers and graphics can now be configured with user-friendly graphical tools, and in many cases, you can just plug and play a new printer.

Canonical also provides first-class update support for Ubuntu, so you never need to fear that clicking for updates is going to break your current system, even when it's something as major as a new kernel version — something that some other distros aren't as graceful in handling. And along with Ubuntu's popularity has come countless forums and wikis that document just about anything you'd like to do.

Paid support is available from Canonical, starting at $250 per year for 9-to-5 desktop support. By comparison, Red Hat Inc.'s cheapest phone-support option for the desktop starts at $299. And unlike Red Hat and SUSE, the version of Ubuntu that is available for corporate support is the same version you can download and install for free.

So, where does Ubuntu falter? If it has a weakness, it's as an operating system for servers. Ubuntu has put a lot of effort into the desktop experience and doesn't ask a lot of questions about security and firewalling.

Ubuntu automatically installs printers.
Click to view larger image.

Other distributions ask a plethora of questions about password schemes, Kerberos encryption, LDAP servers and so on. This is nothing but confusing for a novice desktop user, but it's important stuff when you're installing a server.

There is a "server edition" available, but it's still not as robust as SUSE Linux or Red Hat Enterprise. This isn't to say it's not a decent server distribution, but it isn't where Ubuntu's strength lies. In addition, the server edition isn't widely supported by enterprise software vendors, for whom Red Hat and SUSE tend to be the only game in town.

Conclusions

When I choose a distribution to install on a desktop or laptop system, it's always Ubuntu. It has the most trouble-free installs and usually the best support for the hardware on my systems. Some of the other distribution makers have taken the success of Ubuntu as a wake-up call and are focusing more on creating an easy-to-use desktop experience, but for the moment, Canonical has the lead by several horse lengths. Anyone who tells you Linux is hard to install or use has clearly not seen Ubuntu lately.

Hardy Heron honors the Ubuntu tradition and carries it forward, freshening things up and making the install experience even simpler to get through. If there's a distribution ready for your neighborhood newbie, this is it.

(sumber: www.computerworld.com)

Microsoft delays release of Windows XP SP3

Rabu, 30 April 2008
Microsoft Corp. has delayed the release of its third service-pack update for Windows XP, blaming a "compatibility issue" between the software and its point-of-sale application for small and midsize retailers.

Microsoft said last week that it had completed development of Service Pack 3 (SP3) and released the update to computer makers and its volume licensing customers. The new release was scheduled to be made available via Windows Update today.

But incompatibilities discovered in the past several days between Microsoft's Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) application and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 are forcing the software vendor to hold off on releasing the XP update.

Microsoft said it is putting filters in place to prevent Windows Update from offering both the XP and Vista service packs to systems running Dynamics RMS. Once the filtering capabilities are turned on, Microsoft plans to release XP SP3 via Windows Update and its Download Center Web site for deployment by customers that aren't running Dynamics RMS.

The company didn't say how long it would be before the Dynamics RMS filters are ready to be activated.

A fix to the incompatibility problem between the application and the service packs is being tested and "will be available as soon as that process is complete," Microsoft said. But it didn't disclose a time frame for finishing the testing. Instead, the company recommended that users visit its TechNet forums for more information regarding XP SP3.

In the meantime, Microsoft is recommending that Dynamics RMS customers not install either XP SP3 or Vista SP1, which has already been released to users via Windows Update. For more information, customers running Dynamics RMS should contact Microsoft's customer support organization, the company said.

Microsoft Cuts off Hotmail Access via Outlook Express

Senin, 28 April 2008

In the latest death knell for Outlook Express, Microsoft Corp. announced last week that it will turn off access to its Web-based Hotmail service from the desktop e-mail software at the end of June.

Outlook Express users who want to continue to access their Hotmail accounts offline after June 30 are being encouraged by Microsoft to download its free Windows Live Mail software.

Users will still be able to use Outlook, the big brother of Outlook Express, to read their Hotmail messages offline, but first they may have to upgrade their Outlook Connector synchronization software, according to information posted online today by Scott Hammer, a Microsoft e-mail support manager.

Hammer said that Hotmail users also will still be able to use any other desktop e-mail client that is POP3-compliant, such as the open-source Thunderbird software. Macintosh users, meanwhile, can continue using Microsoft's Entourage e-mail client for the Mac to access Hotmail, which is the second-most-popular Web mail service in the U.S. behind Yahoo Mail, according to market research firm HitWise Pty.

Outlook Express first appeared in 1997, when it was bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0. At one point the most popular e-mail software for Windows users, the technology saw its usage start to decline after suffering major virus and malware problems early this decade. Microsoft's last update of the software, Outlook Express 6, was released in August 2004.

In a blog post at Microsoft's e-mail technical support Web site, Hammer said that Microsoft is disabling the DAV e-mail protocol used by Outlook Express to download messages because it is too slow for the larger e-mail in-boxes now in use. For instance, the Windows Live service offers Hotmail users 5GB in-boxes free of charge.

Instead of DAV, Windows Live Mail uses a new technology called DeltaSync to replicate e-mail, contacts and other data between Hotmail and a user's PC. Microsoft says DeltaSync is faster because it only downloads new or modified messages and headers from the Hotmail server, whereas DAV downloaded everything. But, Hammer wrote, "the new protocol unfortunately is not supported by Outlook Express, and support would require too many changes to the Outlook Express software."

Released last November, Windows Live Mail is a successor to both Outlook Express and the Windows Mail client that shipped with Windows Vista . New features above and beyond the improvements that were in Windows Mail include support for RSS feeds, improved photo-sharing and increased integration with other cloud-based Windows Live online services.

This reporter's main trepidation about moving to Windows Live Mail was how well it would import my existing Outlook Express messages and contacts. The experience was fine, though: after setup, Windows Live Mail automatically searched for and found the right folders. Importing more than 10,000 e-mails took about 15 minutes.

Malicious Microprocessor Opens New Doors for Attack

KAMIS, 17 APRIL 2008

For years, hackers have focused on finding bugs in computer software that give them unauthorized access to computer systems, but now there's another way to break in: Hack the microprocessor.

On Tuesday, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrated how they altered a computer chip to grant attackers back-door access to a computer. It would take a lot of work to make this attack succeed in the real world, but it would be virtually undetectable.

To launch its attack, the team used a special programmable processor running the Linux operating system. The chip was programmed to inject malicious firmware into the chip's memory, which then allows an attacker to log into the machine as if he were a legitimate user. To reprogram the chip, researchers needed to alter only a tiny fraction of the processor circuits. They changed 1,341 logic gates on a chip that has more than 1 million of these gates in total, said Samuel King, an assistant professor in the university's computer science department.

"This is like the ultimate back door," said King. "There were no software bugs exploited."

King demonstrated the attack on Tuesday at the Usenix Workshop on Large-Scale Exploits and Emergent Threats, a conference for security researchers held in San Francisco.

His team was able to add the back door by reprogramming a small number of the circuits on a LEON processor running the Linux operating system. These programmable chips are based on the same Sparc design that is used in Sun Microsystems' midrange and high-end servers. They are not widely used, but have been deployed in systems used by the International Space Station.

In order to hack into the system, King first sent it a specially crafted network packet that instructed the processor to launch the malicious firmware. Then, using a special login password, King was able to gain access to the Linux system. "From the software's perspective, the packet gets dropped... and yet I have full and complete access to this underlying system that I just compromised," King said.

The researchers are now working on tools that could help detect such a malicious processor, but there's a big problem facing criminals who would try to reproduce this type of attack in the real world. How do you get a malicious CPU onto someone's machine?

This would not be easy, King said, but there are a few possible scenarios. For example, a "mole" developer could add the code while working on the chip's design, or someone at a computer assembly plant could be paid off to install malicious chips instead of legitimate processors. Finally, an attacker could create a counterfeit version of a PC or a router that contained the malicious chip.

"This is not a script kiddie attack," he said. "It's going to require an entity with resources."

Though such a scenario may seem far-fetched, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is taking the issue seriously. In a February 2005 report, the DoD's Defense Science Board warned of the very attack that the University of Illinois researchers have developed, saying that a shift toward offshore integrated circuit manufacturing could present a security problem.

There are already several examples of products that have shipped with malicious software installed. In late 2006, for example, Apple shipped Video iPods that contained the RavMonE.exe virus.

"We're seeing examples of the overall supply chain being compromised," King said. "Whether or not people will modify the overall processor designs remains to be seen."

A security problem with MySpace

KAMIS, 17 APRIL 2008

A security problem with MySpace has the potential to botch up law-enforcement efforts to track bad actors on the social-networking site.

An increasing number of MySpace profiles contain a few lines of code that automatically subscribe people to the profile's video channel, said Chris Boyd, security research manager for FaceTime Communications.

After the visitor has been added, the person running the profile can see the subscribers. For people who don't abuse MySpace, the problem may not appear to be a huge deal, Boyd said.

But hackers often are running dozens of "puppet" MySpace accounts, which are used for a variety of malicious acts such as spamming or trying to vandalize other profiles, not for social networking, Boyd said.

So when a visitor is added, it's a tip-off that someone could be tracking their movements in order to expose them for abusing MySpace, Boyd said.

Hackers "are using every trick in the book they can to know who is watching them," said Boyd, who has posted more details on his blog.

That's particularly bad for law enforcement, which may invest weeks in "digital stakeouts" observing certain profiles as part of pedophilia investigations, Boyd said.

Hackers have been inserting the code on their pages since at least October 2007. MySpace was notified of the problem in late March but has yet to fix it, although Boyd said the company sent him a personal e-mail labeling the problem a "system error."

The code doesn't tell the person running the profile how many times a particular visitor comes to their site or when, Boyd said. But in combination with an IP (Internet protocol) address "tracker," a profile owner could compile a more complete picture of visitors.

MySpace prohibits tools such as IP trackers, which can narrow down to certain geographic areas where visitors are based. Many of the trackers advertised on dodgy forums simply don't work, Boyd said. Nonetheless, hackers keep finding ways to game MySpace.

There are a couple defenses against this latest problem. If you're automatically added to someone's video channel, you can simply unsubscribe and avoid going back to the profile until MySpace has fixed it.

Another defense is adding the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) "vids.myspace.com" to the "hosts" file, an internal PC file that matches domain names with Web sites. The file can be configured to block any domains a user specifies.

Why Windows is safer than the Mac

Rabu, 09 April 2008

Mac users have long gloated that the Mac OS is safer than Windows. The gloating should stop: There's plenty of recent evidence that Vista is, in fact, a safer operating system than Mac OS X.

The most public piece of evidence is the recent "Pwn to Own" challenge, in which security pros were issued the challenge of trying to break into three laptops, a Mac, a PC laptop running Vista SP1, and a laptop running Ubuntu.

The first to fall was the Mac -- and it took a grand total of less than two minutes for security researcher Charlie Miller to break in.

Miller targeted the Mac for a simple reason --- breaking in was like taking candy from a baby.

"It was the easiest one of the three," he told Computerworld. "We wanted to spend as little time as possible coming up with an exploit, so we picked Mac OS X."

More than a day later, hackers were still trying to break into the Vista machine. It was cracked only when the organizers of the challenge changed the rules and made the machine easier to break into, by adding a variety of third-party applications, including Acrobat Reader, Flash Player, Firefox, and Skype. A vulnerability in the Flash Player led to the successful break-in. The Ubuntu machine was never successfully breached.

This latest faceoff only confirms what security researcher Dino Dai Zovi noted a year ago, when he successfully broke into a Mac in a previous version of this year's security challenge. In an interview, he had this to say to Computerworld when asked whether Mac OS X or Vista is more secure:

I have found the code quality, at least in terms of security, to be much better overall in Vista than Mac OS X 10.4. It is obvious from observing affected components in security patches that Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) has resulted in fewer vulnerabilities in newly-written code. I hope that more software vendors follow their lead in developing proactive software security development methodologies.

Here's more evidence that the Mac is less safe than PCs: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology researchers found that Apple patches vulnerabilities slower than does Microsoft. Researcher Stefan Frei said that "the number of unpatched vulnerabilities are higher at Apple" than at Microsoft.

There's other evidence that the Mac is far from safe as well, including the recent release of a Mac Trojan, called Troj/MacSwp-B. According to Computerworld, Sophos says the Trojan, "tries to scare Mac users into purchasing unnecessary software by claiming that privacy issues have been discovered on the computer."

The upshot in all this? If you want a safer machine, get rid of your Mac and get a Vista PC.

April Fool's Storm Worm Attack Hits

Sabtu, 05 April 2008

E-mail with an April Fool's Day theme is serving up the latest round of Storm worm attacks.

A new storm worm with an April Fool's Day theme is targeting the Web, according to security software firm PC Tools.

"The Storm worm gang has done it again. This time e-mails are being circulated, which are associated with the April Fool's Day theme," said PC Tools chief threat officer, Kurt Baumgartner.

The e-mail messages contain links that direct users to Web sites that contain malware. Once the files are downloaded and executed on the computer it sets a firewall exception rule and then attempts to 'phone home' using various outgoing ports.

According to Baumgartner, the packer and major sections of executable code have changed significantly, indicating that it could be another variant and AV detection for this threat is close to nonexistent.

"The most effective way users can protect against these new threats is with antimalware products that use behavioral technology. Traditional AV products, which use signature detection are simply not equipped with this behavioral technology and the threat is currently evading those users' defenses," he said.

"Always exercise caution and don't just click on random links sent to your account via e-mail. Exercise even more caution when that random link is attempting to download a file to your system," adds Baumgartner.

Bidding on VoIP systems is all about the details

Rabu, 2 April 2008

VoIP systems vary in so many ways that businesses need to comb through the gory details of what vendors offer to make sure they get the features and functions they need, attendees were told at VoiceCon Orlando 2008.

Potential customers were urged to consider factors they might tend to overlook, including whether systems can be made resilient to failures, how many devices are needed to build the system, whether they are energy efficient, whether phones offer all the features customers want, and how well they support cell phones as PBX extensions.

These tips came out during a panel discussion of bids that were presented by a group of vendors on a hypothetical RFP put together by Allan Sulkin, president of TEQConsultant Group, who led a tutorial on the subject. (Compare IP PBXes.)

There are some basics such as redundancy of the IP PBX that businesses must seek, Sulkin said. "If you don't get dial tone, nothing counts," he said. The good news about such redundancy is that it's more affordable than it used to be. "It is a fraction of the cost it was 10 years ago," he said.

Businesses also should make sure phone service in a branch office will survive by failing over to another site if primary call-control gear or WAN links go down. Customers have to pay a lot for this type of bullet-proofing, Sulkin said, but it's worth it. "They're not going to save you money; in fact these systems cost you more money," he said. But not being able to continue business if a site fails is even more costly. The U.S. Department of Homeland security requires failover sites that can continue business in the case of disasters, he added.

Sulkin also recommended looking for consolidated functionality on VoIP servers. Some vendors put multiple functions on a single server, which saves on electricity when compared with vendors that split applications among multiple servers. The more servers, the more maintenance and the more energy used, Sulkin said. Gear is trending toward being more energy efficient, Sulkin said, so when buying, consider power consumption.

Certain network infrastructure also can help energy savings, the panel noted. Some Power-over-Ethernet switches, for instance, can shut down power to phones and wireless access points during off hours when nobody is at work to use them.

If tying cell phones into the PBX is important, look carefully at how this is done.

Third-party suppliers are needed in some cases to make cell phones extensions of the IP PBX, introducing one more vendor to the management and maintenance mix. In other cases, vendors support cell phones as PBX extensions but only for incoming calls, unless special client software is installed on them.

Businesses hoping to use VoIP as part of a unified communications (UC) deployment should shop carefully. Integration with popular Microsoft and IBM UC platforms is still on the road map for some vendors.

Some UC use requires customizing UC clients, which may fall to the user, Sulkin said. "You become your own UC programmer and IT department," he said.

Even handsets vary. (Compare IP phones.) Some vendors could not supply all the features sought in the RFP. Some could not provide whisper paging, which lets operators signal that another call is coming to a busy phone with a message saying who it is and what is wanted. Others could not provide a phone supporting Bluetooth for headsets or color displays.

One vendor, Mitel, even has phones that act as wireless access points for mobile handsets, a feature that can allow a gradual shift to wireless LANs if budgets are tight.

Lastly, businesses should check out how 911 calls are handled, Sulkin said. Vendors vary on whether and how they support information about the physical location of phones making 911 calls. Some vendors' gear automatically updates the information, but the data must be manually transferred to sites handling emergency calls.

Save DOS: The Ultimate Antidote to Vista's Bloat

Selasa, 1 April 2008
More than a year after the release of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, many users continue to spurn it, citing performance problems, compatibility issues, interface annoyances, steep upgrade costs, and general bloated excess.

The growing demand among consumers and business professionals for a leaner, meaner OS has made one thing clear to PC World: It's time to bring back DOS.

Yes, DOS--the operating system that hit the market with the first IBM PC in 1981, and powered the majority of the world's personal computers until the current fad for Windows began in the 1990s.

To deny the world's computer users access to DOS is to deny them a familiar, powerful, and affordable operating system. But that's precisely what Microsoft did when it discontinued sales of MS-DOS on November 1, 2001--foisting Windows onto corporate and home users alike, whether they wanted it or not. It isn't too late to right that wrong.

We hereby urge Microsoft to reinstate sales and support of DOS 6.22 immediately. The site for our Save DOS campaign, live at SaveDOS.com, includes a slide show of great moments in DOS history, video coverage of the DOS resurgence, a history of DOS's accomplishments to date, and a community for DOS disciples to share their opinions, memories, and most-loved batch files with one another.

DOS Is Still Boss

The benefits that DOS provides over Vista--and even over the relatively reliable and (admittedly) widely supported Windows XP--are as varied as they are undeniable.

For instance, for power users who require maximum efficiency on today's hardware and find overwrought graphical interfaces useless, DOS is the ultimate high-performance OS. (Check out our DOS vs. Vista features-comparison and performance-testing charts for more details.)

For high-end gaming, DOS takes a radical approach to supporting serious performance by placing minimal demands on system hardware, leaving the PC's memory and processor cycles free to render mind-blowing 256-color graphics.

Security, a major bugaboo for Windows users, is a nonissue with DOS, since hackers stopped writing DOS viruses years ago and every known piece of spyware in the wild is incompatible with the operating system. Another plus: The lack of graphical browsers for DOS completely eliminates Web annoyances such as pesky pop-up ads.

Even mundane tasks, such as displaying the contents of a directory, are quicker with DOS. Want to find and open a folder? In Windows, you must put your mousing wrist at risk of repetitive stress injury with several time-wasting mouse clicks. In DOS, all you have to do is type dir c:\foldername /p--engaging both of your hands (and therefore both hemispheres of your brain) and touching the same key twice in only three instances.

Yet another benefit: DOS vastly simplifies the tedious and complicated process of installing and removing software, which in Windows tends to choke system resources. Whereas Windows programs frequently leave miscellaneous files and configuration settings strewn around your PC, nearly all DOS apps uninstall completely when you delete the program's directory, leaving your PC with the digital equivalent of a freshly vacuumed carpet. In that regard, DOS offered Mac-like simplicity years before Apple ever thought of it. (Come to think of it, that makes DOS a viable upgrade path for disgruntled OS X "Leopard" users, too, since today's Intel-based Macs are, at their hearts, powerful and stylish DOS boxes.)

DOS vs. Vista: No Contest

Unlike Windows Vista, DOS doesn't waste precious resources displaying unnecessary eye candy. In fact, most versions--from IBM's PC-DOS to Microsoft's MS-DOS to newer open-source variants such as FreeDOS--can run extremely well with a few hundred kilobytes of RAM and less than 10MB of hard-drive space. That frees the rest of your PC's disk space and RAM to perform more-important tasks.

Windows Vista, of course, requires a minimum of a 1-GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a DirectX 9 graphics card just to boot the OS. To handle all of the operating system's baroque flourishes, users need 1GB of RAM and a discrete graphics card armed with more than 128MB of video memory.

DOS could hardly be more different.

As you can see in the accompanying chart (click the thumbnail at left to view the full-size image), DOS's full complement of user-friendly features handily beats Windows Vista's complex set of tools. Feature for feature, DOS offers a simpler, more efficient way to accomplish your computing tasks.

In today's world, highly mobile world, Vista's demanding specs leave many laptops--even relatively new models--out in the cold. DOS, however, can turn an aging laptop into a performance powerhouse faster than you can say "Where do I want to go today?"

In our tests, DOS outperformed Windows Vista in every task we threw at it, as shown in the second accompanying chart (click the thumbnail at right to view). From its astonishingly brisk boot times to its snappy shutdowns, DOS does everything faster and less fussily. As for the things it can't do at all, well, none of them actually matter.

Hey, What About Windows XP?

Despite cries of outrage from sober, diligent, and thrifty users, Microsoft says that it intends to stick with its plan to end most sales of Windows XP on June 30, 2008, effectively steamrolling (or stampeding, depending on the visual that captures one's fancy) consumers into adopting Windows Vista from that point forward, willy-nilly.

Sensing the burgeoning wave of dissatisfaction with Vista, our colleagues at InfoWorld earlier this year initiated a Save Windows XP campaign. More than 100,000 users have signed an InfoWorld petition addressed to Microsoft so far.

InfoWorld argues that, with its smaller footprint, simpler interface, and lower system requirements, Windows XP has numerous and substantial advantages over Vista. We concur. But taking the same reasoning even further, we believe that a DOS revival would solve even more problems associated with Windows-era gewgaws and fripperies--thereby essentially eliminating the need for continued XP sales into the bargain.

Criminals Target CA's BrightStor in New Attack

Jumat, 28 Maret 2008

Cybercriminals have found a new program to attack: CA's BrightStor ARCserve Backup.

Just days after Microsoft warned of attacks targeting its Jet Database Engine software, cybercriminals have found a new program to attack: CA's BrightStor ARCserve Backup.

The new attack was reported Monday by Symantec, which said that a malicious Web page with a .cn domain was serving the attack code. By tricking an ARCserve user into visiting the Web site in question, attackers could leverage the flaw to install malicious software on a victim's PC, Symantec said.

A proof-of-concept example of the code was made public last week on the Milw0rm.com Web site. Symantec quickly predicted that it would likely be modified and used for attack.

The flaw lies in the Unicenter DSM r11 List Control ATX ActiveX control, found in ARCserve Backup version 11.5, Symantec said. Other versions of the product may also be vulnerable, however.

CA has not commented on the bug, so there is no indication when it might be patched.

Turn Off ActiveX Control

Symantec is advising users to turn off the buggy ActiveX control within the Windows Registry, something that should only be attempted by technically savvy users.

"Until a patch is available, we urge users to set the kill bit on the affected CLSID [Class identifier] for workstation or terminal server computers that have this software installed," Symantec said in an alert sent out Monday to users of the company's DeepSight threat management system. The CLSID for the CA control is BF6EFFF3-4558-4C4C-ADAF-A87891C5F3A3. Symantec said.

It's not the only vulnerability that system administrators are worrying about this month.

On March 3, Panda Security reported that a flaw in the Jet Database Engine software that ships with Windows was being exploited by attackers who were distributing malicious .mdb (Microsoft Access Database) files in public forums.

Late Friday, Microsoft issued an advisory on the issue, saying that it could affect Word users, and possibly users of other Microsoft products as well. According to Symantec, Microsoft's advisory relates to the same malware that Panda had spotted.

Microsoft has not said when it intends to patch this bug, but has not ruled out the possibility of an emergency patch.