Archive for the ‘Security’ Category
ASU Website Lists Students’ Names And Email Addresses
***UPDATE***
The Angelo State University website no longer lists students’ names and email addresses. Small victory for email security fans.
Back in January of last year, I contacted Angelo State University (ASU) to alert them to a potential problem, regarding the privacy of their students. Their website’s student directory had listed every student, by name, including their “ASU” email address. I was a little astonished to see that they would care so little, not only about the privacy of their students, but that they would offer-up this large list of email addresses to any spammer that wanted them.
Screensavers, Smileys and Toolbars, Oh My!
When you touch a hot stove and pull your hand away, do you need to be told not to touch it again? My guess is no. Then why is it so hard for people to resist installing smileys, toolbars and screensavers, even after they’ve been told how bad they are?
How to Remove Spyware and Viruses
Clearly, you need to have the ability to cleanup routine spyware and virus infections from your computer. Without this ability, you’ll be paying someone, like me, lots of money to do it for you or you’ll continue to use your infected computer until it’s no longer usable.
Google Search Results Redirected
Symptoms: Google’s search results redirect you to the wrong page.
You search for something at Google, or other search engines for that matter, and when you click the search results, you’re redirected to a related web page or search page, but NOT the original search result page.
FinallyFast.com TV Ads: PC SpeedScan Pro Contains Adware.RogueSuspect
Like many of you, I heard (I was in the other room) the TV ad for FinallyFast.com. Being the geek that I am, I had to see what it was all about. They claim that they’ll speed-up your computer by fixing errors, blah, blah, blah… It was the same old stuff.
So I downloaded the software, PC SpeedScan Pro, by a company called Ascentive, and installed it on my machine. I scanned through the EULA, before installing it, of course. I saw no mention of any third-party advertising software or ad support.
Reduce The Risk Of Visiting Dangerous Websites
A few months ago, maybe even longer than that, I came across the Web Of Trust. I believe it was while I was searching for new Firefox add-ons. Just out of curiosity, I installed it. At the time, I didn’t realize what a valuable tool it would turn out to be.
Here’s WOT‘s own description:
WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky website. It’s easy and it’s free.
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware: Light-weight Anti-Malware Application
I wish I could remember where I found this product, originally. I believe it was BleepingComputer.com.
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is an anti-malware application that can thoroughly remove even the most advanced malware. It includes a number of features, including a built in protection monitor that blocks malicious processes before they even start.
Rogue Computer Security Products
You’re happily surfing the web when you get a popup telling you that “your computer has been infected by such and such. Click here to remove the infection.”
You click…, you pay…, you infect.
It’s simple marketing. If they see that you paid once, they’re going to try to get you to pay again! It may not be today or tomorrow, but sooner or later, you’re going to see a similar “infection” notice on your computer. Will you pay again?
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