Windows 7 less Secure?

Just as in political issues, much confusion exists in technology between what is right and wrong. In the battle between what is the most reliable and most secure computer to use, the biggest problem many Geeks have with Microsoft is how bloated and insecure it is. It was noble, on the part of Microsoft, to include more security in their recent operating system: Vista. In fact, many more security features were on the drawing board for Vista, but few made it into the released product. What WAS released is a better, more secure version of Windows XP. The only problem with Vista is that it is much slower and at times requires triple the ‘horsepower’ of what Windows XP required.

The next version of Windows is called Windows 7, and Microsoft has released an early test (beta) version for people to test before it is available to everyone. Some of the early adopters claim that it is less secure than Vista, but EVERYONE agrees that it is fast. Faster to install, faster to start, faster to shut down. In this case, this single adjustment is more important than any change that is requested before the actual release.

In exchange for these features, I am perfectly content with installing a hardware firewall on my network and a software firewall on Windows 7, just for the speed.

A recent article complaining about Windows 7 security claiming it is not the perfect mix of security and speed. The author is asking Microsoft to admit there is a security issue with this operating system. This is silly, since Microsoft is in the business of making money, and not in the business of telling people that there are security holes.  I STILL prefer Apple and Linux over Windows, but I will not request Microsoft to add security at the potential sake of losing the most significant feature to come from them in nearly a decade;  Speed.

MySpace and Facebook Child Danger?

I was waiting for something like this to show up, because it confirms my suspicion. As parents, it is important to understand that allowing a child to roam the streets of NYC without an adult opens up dangers to the child’s welfare. The recent eight years there has been a lot of fear tactics placed on parents that the Internet is a threat to children because of the amount of molesters and perverts looking for innocent kids.

Microsoft, ATT, AOL, Turner Broadcasting and others have paid for this study to be performed by a group at Harvard called the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce trying ton confirm these statistics. The results may not be what you think:

A) The Internet is not as dangerous for social interaction as many claim

B) Children should ALWAYS be monitored by parents in some way (see other posts in my blog)

C) Children on children bullying is a far worse problem on social websites like Facebook and MySpace, than sexual predators.

For more facts, please go to the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce at the Berkman Center for Internet Society and the The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire posted paper on hidden forms of bullying.

Three million hit by Windows Worm

Everyday, viruses and worms are modified and put into the Internet sphere. The purpose of this is to turn your windows machine into a zombie, forcing people around the globe to partake in a ‘global computer grid’ of zombie machines. This grid will be used to spread itself and turn the machines into spam boxes.

According to Microsoft, the worm works by searching for a Windows executable file called “services.exe” and then becomes part of that code.

It then copies itself into the Windows system folder as a random file of a type known as a “dll”. It gives itself a 5-8 character name, such as piftoc.dll, and then modifies the Registry, which lists key Windows settings, to run the infected dll file as a service.

Once the worm is up and running, it creates an HTTP server, resets a machine’s System Restore point (making it far harder to recover the infected system) and then downloads files from the hacker’s web site.

The lesson here is that there is a new kind of worm, that will infiltrate your machine through the Windows operating system. The only way to prevent these infections is to either purchase an Apple machine, install Linux on your existing or future computer, or make certain your current machine has the latest patches and and WORTHY antivirus (read = not free).

IF your computer has been infected with this, then you have to make your mind up as to the amount of time you want to spend on the cleanup. If you have endless amounts of time, then you can try and have people remove the bug, if possible. Otherwise, the best approach is to just backup everything that is important and reinstall Windows.

Kid’s headsets and Ear Safety

There is little public mention of the hearing damage that iPods and portable listening devices can do to our kids. Currently, there is not enough awareness with parents to easily help evaluate these noise levels, and protect their kids from damaging their eardrums.

Three ways to deal with this: 1) Inform parents that it is a concern. 2) Offer alternative devices that will protect their hearing. 3) Learn how to adjust their device, to a maximum volume level.

Here are some products that replace iPod ear buds and will not easily fall out of the ear:

iHearSafe.com

Safe Volume Earbuds and Headphones (less than $30.00)

LoudEnough

Earbuds made by Ultimate Ears that are specifically designed for children in three great colors! (Under $50.00 that includes a carrying case!)

iFrogz.com

Tadpole Headphones – over the ear (less than $15)

GearForKidz.com

Headphones for Kids! (less than $20.00)

Sony

MDR-222KD  Children’s Headphones (Under $20, AND they come in pink)

An alternative to just buying these headphones is to learn the easy way Apple has offered up a setting on their mp3 players.

A website for under $1000?

The problem with web sites are the relative expectations of both the web consultant and the client. These two things can remain out of line for the entire development cycle of the website until the site is launched and then expectations are disappointed. Just the design alone, could be an eventual point of contention.
If the client never looks at websites, but thinks they ‘need a website’, this is akin to buying transportation and grabbing a used single speed bicycle. Was this the initial intention? Simply to go from point A to B? Does the client have luxury 4-door in mind, or is a bike more relevant?
Consultants need to make sure they understand the purpose and significance of the site, and use a questionnaire to review major points of expectations. This is only step two in the website shopping process.  Step one would be to look at the web and find examples of what kinds of site layout they think is best for their business and purpose.
The least discussed aspect to this entire process: a web consultant has no less than five major tools to build websites, and websites cannot be flipped from one tool to another without complications and hidden costs.  Any one of these tools is a commitment to that consultant’s business. Most consultants will not work outside of their particular tool. To know a tool well enough to use it does not make someone a good consultant.  To know it well enough to fix website problems is a different level entirely. Each of these tools have pre-packaged templates. These templates may or may not fall in line with the design expectations of the client. If the template design of all these tools are too simplistic for what the client had in mind, then a designer needs to be called in and this increases the price.
So the desire to ask for the entire package in under $1000 is more complicated than one may think. The only people who will pull this off – and design a site in league with other modern sites – is a shop that does this all day long, and has many sites to prove their success and feature offerings. This is not a realistic price-point as of the writing of this blog post, for most client expectations. Designing websites is as much as task of the work as setting the expectations of their clients.

Replacement Machines…

There are a lot of clients who ask me what is worth purchasing for new machines and replacement machines in their business. Most businesses can expect a machine to fail prematurely due to one of the following situations:

1. Expired or No anti-virus can cause this machine to degrade into a worthless tool.

2. Per to Peer file sharing – line Bearshare and Limewire can cause this slowdown. Also, torrents can cause this slowdown.

3. Wireless networks that do not have a security passphrase or passcode, could allow neighbors to use your network for downloads on a peer to peer network or torrents.

4. Using an old machine that has too many newer programs on it may be the cause of the problem.

Menlotechnical Consulting will always be available for diagnosing which of these relate to your network or machine. Most times, older computers can be upgraded with very little cost compared to an entirely new machine. Remember: a new cheap machine is not always a better machine since companies like Sony, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo and Dell can sell you a machine with parts that are not hardy enough to run things smoothly. They remove essential components to reduce the price, leaving the buyer unhappy with the performance.

Ransom-ware

There is a recent outbreak of something called ransom-ware, which is exactly as it sounds: a program is installed without your consent, and takes control of your computer. It gives you a persistent warning and claiming that your computer is infected and the only way to solve the problem is to pay $35 by Credit Card, to disinfect your computer. It is obvious that the company claiming to remove it is the same group that developed the bug, itself. Behind this Ransomware technology are people who have been convicted in the past, in other countries (I live in the US), who have been tried and convicted previously for various phone fraud / extortion schemes.

If you think that this is not profitable, think again. According to a recent article in the San Jose Mercury, these kinds of schemes are bringing in over 10,000 orders a day to remove this ‘bug’.

As of the writing of this post, the current incarnation of this bug is called the  Backdoor.Win32.Delf.ctk Trojan, but the behavior and name can and will vary slowly over time. The scheme will remain the same; a program forces its way on to your windows machine, pesters the computer user, and eventually freezes the computer, BUT it gives you the option to buy special software to make it all go away.

The best way to avoid future problems is to simply completely restore your machine to ‘factory state’ (First, back up your important files – like the entire My Documents directory for each Windows user, backup the Microsoft Outlook calendar, contacts and mail, and any Quicken / Quick Books files, then reinstall Windows:

- once Windows is reinstalled to the ‘factory state’, then smart preventative web surfing behaviors should be enforced.
- Immediately install a popular brand-name Cable/DSL Router on your network (a piece of hardware between $29 – $200, depending on features, etc),
- Update your computer, (using Internet Explorer, click on this link the Windows Update Website or copy it inside of Firefox and paste it — right-click the link and choose to Copy Link Location from the popup menu, then paste it into the address bar of Internet Explorer).
- Purchase and install an anti-virus like Nod32 (ESet Nod32 Anti-Virus for Home) , AVG or Kaspersky.
- Install and update Microsoft Office if it was originally on your computer. If you no longer can find the installation disk, you can download a free version Open Office from OpenOffice.org
- Install Adobe Acrobat Reader

- install iTunes on the computer, but do not let the install ‘find’ music on your machine right now. This needs to be done later
- create a second account (Control Panel – User Accounts – Create new account) called Family and place a password on this account to control computer access of your kids,
- login to the Family account and make sure FireFox, Microsoft Office or Open Office programs, as well as Acrobat Reader will all launch
- Logoff this account by selecting Start – Log Off , and then login to the other account on the machine: (This account, too, should have a password and should only be used by parents.) Control Panel – User Accounts – select the non-Family account icon at the bottom of this user account section, and then click on the link above that says something about adding a password. Close out of these User Account windows entirely.
- Change the Family account type so that the users of the machine in the Family account cannot install anything – including the unintentional installation of bugs (Control Panel – User Accounts – click on the Family account icon, change the account type to limited).

If a program needs to be updated in a Windows limited account, there should be no problems. All additional program installations in limited accounts should be performed by downloading the program in the parent account, and installing it, or downloading it on the limited account desktop and then right-clicking the installation file and selecting the “Run As…” option. Change your user name to the parent account and use the parent account password and then begin the installation.

For more details, please feel free to contact me or drop a comment in the post.

Security Warnings on Windows

Microsoft has been built on a foundation that is very vulnerable to viruses, worms, Trrojans and rootkits. All of these fancy terms, means that their machine can be crippled or wrecked, and will require a complete reinstall of Windows, instead of a particular fix. (It costs more to try and fix it than to reinstall.)

Instead of waiting for these problems to show up, the best way to not have an issue with them is to prevent them from jumping on your computer. Prevention is practiced a number of ways, but the single biggest method of ‘getting safe’ is by using Firefox.

The WAYS that these bugs can get on your computer is through a variety of ‘web surfing’ behaviors. Some include:
- the regular use of Internet Explorer instead of Firefox,
- someone looking at a pornography site,
- using most on line gambling sites,
- accidentally viewing a fake email that includes curious subject lines like:

“I Love You“,
“Re: Your Resume“,
“Need Your Help“, or
“System Administrator; Failed Delivery“

- clicking on popups that say you HAVE to do something immediately or pay for removal (see my Ransom-ware posting).
- installing and using free music download software like limewire, bareshare, etc.
- letting anti-virus software expire ignoring warnings of it being turned off
- looking at MySpace.com

This is not a complete list, but a start to changing the way a person uses a computer, and prevents some of the worst kinds of bugs on a machine.

As I post things on this blog, I will try and present helpful and accurate methods to deal with these problems, but there is no ONE SOLUTION to dealing with these issues on a Windows machine.

Use ActiveX? Consider Disabling or Just Use Firefox

A lot of my clients are now complaining about a bug that tells you that Windows has been infected, and to give them your credit card to remove this bug. There are many names for this, but it is extortion. The developers of this device have moved their servers and business off shore, so they are immune to US Law.  There is no point in trying to give them money.  Having a bug on your machine is hard enough, no need to ahnd over your credit card information and identity in addition to having to rebuild your machine.

If you are opposed to installing Firefox (don’t forget to include Java Runtime Envinronment and Flash player – so that most of the web works properly in Firefox), then consider shutting off ActiveX. Do do so, follow these steps:

Select Tools (or press the keys Alt T ) — Then select Internet Options

Select the Security tab – press the Custom level… button

In the bottom area of this tab area, Under Reset customer settings,  Reset to: select the down arrow in the pull down list and choose High, and press the OK button and then OK again.

What you are turning off here is the ability of your computer to get infected using Internet Explorer.

In general, many of the bugs that jump on your windows computer are relying on ActiveX to be turned on. If you were using Linux, Mac OS X, or FireFox you will not have this problem.

Old Computers – Revived!

Many clients have a need to use more than one computer at home. But spending the money on a couple of new machines can be an unnecessary expense. Menlo Technical offers the service of setting up an existing machine with basic access to the Internet, mail, and file creation / editing for a miniml fee. Please contact us today to find out how we may do this for you!