IT News - August 2008

Welcome to August's newsletter.

This month I want to introduce you to "Search Me" a free alternative to google.

I will also talk about settings in Gmail that will make it more secure and better able to deal with spam.

Apparently, it would be good if you could download the music from your favourite youtube video to your MP3 player. So my children tell me! Well, now you can with Vid to MP3; and it's free!

Just in case you get carried away and start enjoying your PC! I have included a summary of some of the things that can catch you out (It isn't called a "Net" for nothing!).

Search Me - An Awesome Search Engine

http://www.searchme.com/

This is a free search engine, like Google, but with pictures of the web pages instead of an introductory text. Try it: it's free!

"Search me" lets you see what you're searching for: as you start typing, categories appear that relate to your query.

Choose a category, and you'll see pictures of web pages that answer your search. You can review these pages quickly to find just the information you're looking for, before you click through.

For instance, search David Beckham yields categories: football, beauty products, actors, computer games and entertainment amongst others:

Clicking on football:

The search items are highlighted where they appear on the web pages.

This is awesome and has got to be worth a try!

Gmail: Automatically Encrypt Gmail Connection

I like this tip because it combines two of my favourite topics: Gmail and security! You may be reading this and thinking what is he talking about: Gmail and encryption?!! Well the problem is the same for any online email provider: your emails are sent in the clear so that in the (unlikely but possible) event that someone intercepts them, they can read them.

This involves encryption only between a user's browser (Firefox I hope!) and Gmail's servers.

Gmail can be set to encrypt communications between your browser and Google's servers by default, an option that makes the e-mail service harder to snoop.

The company added an option to use that encrypted connection automatically:

These settings are found at the bottom of the first tab (General) in "Settings". You should choose https. The encryption will add a small delay to your emails so if you think this is unacceptable simply turn it off and see if it makes a difference.

Gmail: Never Send It To Spam

OK, while we're talking about Gmail: Gmail's spam filter has a pretty decent track record for false positives, but it still makes mistakes. It has a feature

Ensure that an important message never gets marked as spam with Gmail's new "Never send it to Spam" option in its Filter rules. Just create a filter that matches messages on a certain criteria—whether it's a company domain (like from: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or certain keyword in the subject—and tick "Never send it to Spam" in the second step to ensure that you don't miss that email.

To get to this option you first open the email and then choose "More Actions" from the drop down at the top and select "Filter messages like these".

This will take you to the following screen where you click "Next Step":

This will take you to the options screen that includes the option given above. And now, you will never lose that important email in the junk that fills up your spam folder.

Convert Video Clips to MP3

Another free product: YouTube, Google Video, and other sites are ripe with music videos whose soundtrack you'd love to add to your music collection, and VidtoMP3.com can do just that. Watch your video and then enter the video web site address into the VidToMP3 web page and it gives you the MP3 file as a download!

How to Protect Yourselves From "Cybercriminals"

It wouldn't be a PC Resolver newsletter without a little bit of doom and gloom! I summarize here some of the ways that the Cybercriminal will try to exploit your PC and what you can do to stop them. Further details will appear on my website.

New technologies make it easier for all of us to get our work done online, communicate with others, and take advantage of all the Internet-based entertainment that’s available today. But many of those same technologies have also made it easier for cybercriminals—the bad guys who use the ‘Net for illegal purposes—to do their dirty deeds. We’re talking about hackers, attackers, spammers, scammers, phishers, and other criminal types.

Broadband connectivity

Broadband has many advantages for users, including high speed at relatively low cost and the "always-on" nature.. But those same characteristics also make it the perfect technology for exploitation by hackers and attackers. Having your computer connected to the Internet 24/7 means the cybercriminals have a much wider window of opportunity to gain access and steal your data, crash your computer, or otherwise do you harm.

Wi-fi networking

Another technology that has become incredibly popular isWiFi. With increasing frequency, both home and business networks are connected by wireless technologies instead of cables, and WiFi hotspots proliferate in public places such as coffee shops, airports, hotels, and city parks. Wi-Fi offers maximum convenience because you can move around and stay connected, but it also makes it more convenient for a criminal to get onto your network and into your system without your even knowing, since anyone with a wireless-enabled laptop within range can intercept the signals.

You need to check and ensure that your WiFi connecton uses the most secure encryption, such as WPA/WPA2/802.11i rather than WEP, which is easy to crack.

Removable media

Floppy drives have been almost entirely replaced by CD/DVD readers/writers, flash card readers, and USB drives, but whatever the form, cybercriminals love removable media. If they can get physical access to a computer, they can quickly and easily copy files and remove them, often with no one the wiser. Removable media also pose a security risk because it’s easy to lose discs, thumb drives, flash cards, and the like.

You can use Group Policy in Vista or edit the registry in XP to disable use of USB devices. You can also get third-party software that will block the use of any I/O devices through USB and IEEE1394 ports or using BlueTooth wireless connections. For example, see http://www.lumension.com/usb_security.jsp

If you’re concerned about removable drives or cards being lost or stolen and the data on them accessed, you can encrypt the data on flash cards, CDs, and DVDs so that you can still work with them on different computers but a thief can’t. For example, see http://www.dekart.com/howto/howto_disk_encryption/encrypt_flash_drive_cd_dvd/.

The Internet

The Web is hardly a "new" technology now, but it’s still a favorite of cybercriminals because almost everyone who connects to the Internet uses a Web browser. Back when the Web was text-based, browsing was a pretty safe activity, but today’s Web pages are expected to do much more, and many of them run programs—such as Javascripts and Active-X controls—to give users a much richer multimedia experience. The problem is that attackers can use these browser capabilities to run their own malicious programs on your computer.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that because you use a particular browser, you’re safe. All popular browsers (including my favourite - FireFox!) have vulnerabilities and can be exploited. More important is the browser’s settings. If you disable Javascript and Active-X for most sites, you’ll make it more difficult for attackers to get to your computer through your browser (but you may also not be able to properly view some sites). It’s also important to install security updates for your browser as they’re released.

E-mail and instant messaging

E-mail is becoming ubiquitous. Almost everybody has one or more e-mail addresses, and it’s one of the most convenient ways to communicate. It has almost the same immediacy as a phone call or instant message without the pressure to answer in real time unless you want to.

Unfortunately, e-mail also has some characteristics that make it attractive to criminals. They can send mail with spoofed return addresses so that it’s difficult or impossible to discover the true origin of the messages. Thus, they can get away with sending spam, phishing messages, threats, child pornography, and other types of illegal correspondence. Instant messaging programs can also present a threat. As with e-mail, IMers can pretend to be someone else, and most IM programs now support file transfer, which provides a way for criminals to download malicious software to your machine.

You can protect yourself with spam filtering software that allows you to create a whitelist (opposite of blacklisst!) or safe senders list and by following best practices such as not clicking on hyperlinks in e-mail, viewing your mail in text format only (no HTML mail), and not engaging in IM conversations or file exchange with people you don’t know.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs

The most popular means of exchanging large files quickly across the Internet is through the use of P2P software and networks, such as BitTorrent, KaZaA, Gnutella, and Napster. People use them to share music and movies in violation of copyright laws, but also for legitimate purposes, such as distributing their own home movies and pictures. The number of songs swapped via P2P networks is estimated to be in the billions per year.

Criminals love P2P networks because they can mislabel the files they share and cause you to download malware (such as a program that allows the criminal to take over your computer) when you think you’re downloading a song. Most of these networks also strive to protect the anonymity of users, so the bad guys have little risk of being caught. The best way to protect yourself from the dangers of using P2P applications is not to use them at all. OK, so I use them from time to time but only when occasionally!

E-commerce and online banking

More and more of us are conducting more and more of our business over the Internet. It’s convenient to buy what we need from home and have it delivered to our doorsteps and to pay our bills and transfer money between our accounts without a trip to the bank. Criminals love this trend, because it gives them additional opportunities to get hold of your money. They can intercept information as it travels across the network, break into the databases of online businesses or financial institutions to steal information, or set up their own fake e-commerce sites and lure you into giving them your credit card number and other information under the pretense of selling you something.

To protect yourself when buying or banking online, do business only with well-known sites and ensure that your Web traffic is encrypted (your browser will indicate when a site is secure: look for the yellow padlock and/or https instead of plain http in the web address at the top of the page). Navigate to those sites directly. Don’t click a link in an email to get there. Don’t save your credit card information on the Web sites either—type it in each time. Keep a close watch on your credit card statements and bank statements and immediately report any suspicious or unauthorized activity.

Mobile computing

Computing has become increasingly mobile and devices ranging from small PDA phones to full-size laptops are being used to store important data and connect to home and company networks. Because of their mobility, however, these devices can easily be lost or stolen—and the data goes with them. If the device contains your personal information, you could be subject to identity theft. If it contains client information for your company, you could put those clients at risk and possibly put your company in violation of regulatory compliance requirements. Luckily, there are a number of ways to protect yourself from these threats.

Many PDA phones provide for password protection and you can buy third-party programs to encrypt data on the phone. The latest versions of Windows Mobile allow you to encrypt the information on the storage card without a third-party program, and you can also remotely wipe the device and card.

So, What Can We Do?

Should we disconnect from the global network, erase our presences from the Web, and go hide in our rooms? Even if that were possible (and it’s not), the cure would be worse than the disease. In today’s world, functioning without the technology is becoming increasingly difficult, and once you’ve taken the technological plunge, the information is "out there"—there’s no going back.

The key is increased awareness and constant vigilance. Use common sense, as you do in the real world. Don’t automatically trust strangers. Don’t wander into places (virtual or physical) where you’re unfamiliar with the terrain. Don’t divulge sensitive information, such as credit card and bank accounts numbers, social security numbers and birthdates that can be used to steal your identity. Most cybercriminals are like most other predators: they go for the easy marks. By taking some precautions, you can still use the technologies that they exploit—so long as you use them wisely—without becoming a victim.

Final Word

As always, I encourage anyone with a comment, suggestion, question, idea, criticism or inspiration to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Please also see The Inland Magazine Computer Problems Forum if you have a specific IT problem.

Newsletters