Staying Connected

Be Careful of What You Click

With the recent passing of so many celebrities, spyware and viruses have been on the rise.  Makers of the malicious software will prey on the human curiosity of people by emailing links that promise a video, tribute, photos, or other content of dead celebrities.

Often times, these links will initiate the behind-the-scenes downloading and installation of spyware or viruses.  Although it’s been said many times before, it is warranted to repeat it again.  If you are not expecting the email or trust who it is coming from, do not click on links or attachments.

Windows 7 Pricing Revealed, Consumers Get a Break.

With Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7 expected to hit shelves on Oct. 22nd, our favorite software giant revealed its expected pricing today.

Full version of Windows 7 Home Premium: $199
w/ uprgrade from Vista or XP: $119

Full version of Windows 7 Professional: $299
w/ uprgrade from Vista or XP: $199

Full version of Windows 7 Ultimate: $319
w/ uprgrade from Vista or XP: $219

OH BOY! An email from Microsoft....

URGENT CLIENT WARNING!

Many clients may recieve a recent series of fake email from Big Brother himself (Microsoft).  These email are NOT real and should simply be deleted if they arrive.  The examples I have seen appear to be very good spoofs, and appear genuine to a casual eye.  They are by no means legitimate though. In fact, one would have to ask themselves, "How did Microsoft know my email address anyhow?". 

These fake MS email update alerts contain a link that will no doubt infect your computer with some very nasty Malware.  As always, the rule of thumb with email is - If I am not expecting the email or do not personally know the sender, NEVER CLICK on any link or attachment I may receive. Always delete any unexpected email such as this that may sneak through our Junk Email Filters.

The Phone is Mightier Than The Pen

The phone does everything else nowadays, so why not become a pen too?  Research students at Duke University are currently working on an app (phone application) that will utilize the phone’s accelerometer to determine spatial positioning which will allow the phone wielder to “air write” and have the text show up on the phone’s screen. 

At this stage, the app does not recognize cursive, and the writer must pause between letters.  But as with all things, you can expect it to get better and better as the version number starts going up.  The user will hold the phone like a pen with one of the corners being designated as the tip of the pen, and the user will then simply write.  One idea the app developers would like to see in the future is the ability for the phone to take a picture, then flip to pen mode so the phone could write a note on the photo before storing or sending. You can expect to see the app released before the end of the year.

Save the Planet...kill the Spammers!

Consider this the next time you receive a spam email and press the DELETE key:  This junk is not only wasting your time, but helping to destroy the planet earth!

Windows Vista to 7 upgrade program details announced

 

Microsoft has unveiled it's Technology Guarantee program, reportedly to begin on July 1st.  A memo leaked from electronics distributor Best Buy provides detail that it may actually begin sooner. Details below:

You DON'T have (1) Message from Microsoft

At ConnectWise our staff is always asked by clients about Spam or spoofed email phishing attempts.  Yesterday a new Spam campaign was launched that could be very deceptive to the traditional end-user...

The future of Web Searches is square, and I like the future...

Last week I wrote an article introducing Mircrosoft’s new Search Engine, Bing.  This week I stumbled upon Google’s newest addition in their Web Application arsenal, a search engine concept that make’s Bing seem about as revolutionary as a square wheel.

Microsoft and every other company with a stake in the Internet has put a giant Bullseye on Google, rightfully so, as Google has been the benchmark for some time and no other company is currently in their league with web applications, web search, and inventive product development.  In my opinion the concept of Google Squared will continue to help Google remain far in front of competitors and allow users to further corral the wealth of information available on the web.

Google Squared was launched yesterday as part of the Google Labs toolbox, a collective of experimental applications and web services Google makes available to the public.  This new search engine concept organizes and creates tables of information from searches.  First you choose a key search term, in my example below the term “Web Browser”; next you choose a term or series of term’s to cross reference with your primary word; lastly you can add or remove columns of specific information to list for each cross-referenced term (ie. Price, Location, Weight etc).  Google Squared will then create a table of search results based on your criteria, all cross-referenced to your original term (see below).

(click image to zoom)

You can continue to add cross-referenced terms or informational columns, or remove them by pressing a small “X”.  The results are not perfect, but are surprisingly relevant.  Keep in mind this search tool was just released and will likely go through many stages of development before being possibly implemented into a standard Google search.  Several items I would like to see Google add would be an export to file function into .CSV or Excel and a sort function.  Overall, Squared is an ingenious step toward the future of Search Engines and most can immediately identify numerous real world usages for Squared.

The Crocodile Keyboard takes a bite out of standard QWERTY keyboards.

British inventor, David Baker has submitted a patent application for a touch-screen keyboard layout that may revolutionize typical keyboard layout and design.  Baker’s “Crocodile Keyboard” received its name from its keys shaped like a reptile’s teeth.  These triangular keys have significantly more dead space around them, adding to the likelihood that users will press the desired key.

Originally designed as a physical keyboard for the Palm Pilot, this design may have long standing usage as a virtual onscreen keyboard layout for the iPhone and other touch-screen devices.  Many users can appreciate this design as smallish touch-screen virtual keyboards often feel they were designed for school children.

Only time will tell if Microsoft, Apple, Palm and other mobile device makers will buy in to this new, off the wall design.  From a pure user point of view, I can appreciate its design.

An ounce of prevention could be worth....alot of money to your company.

I often find myself in a position of scolding users when they ask me “How did my computer get infected with Malware?”.  My answer is almost always, “Because you downloaded it and allowed it to infect your PC through the Web. No software product can stop you from allowing harmful web content on your computer if you initiate the installation, whether you where tricked or not”

Mcafee has released a report that lists what it considers “The Web’s Most Dangerous Search Terms”.  Malware authors are becoming very adept with people’s behavior on the Internet and even Search Engine Optimization tactics (some are building their own Search Engines).  Mcafee’s report states that “Users searching for downloadable content -- especially screen savers, music lyrics, and free digital music -- are at risk of downloading malware instead, the study concluded.”  The survey covered over 2,600 popular keywords from a wide variety of sources for the U.S. and from Google.

"This is a study that focuses on keywords, not search engines. We wanted consumers to have a simple take-away from this study: The Web is a great resource but consumers need to understand that it has risks, and those risks are magnified if you search in popular categories," he wrote.

He added that customers can avoid the risks as they would avoid risks while driving. "As with driving on highways, risks can be mitigated if you use safe rules of the road," he said.

The report shows that the riskiest terms are those involved with downloadable content.  Globally, the term “lyrics” was of the most dangerous searchable terms. The riskiest category by far was "screensavers," with an average risk of 34.4 percent, followed by "free games" (6.8 percent), "work from home" (3.1 percent), "Rihanna" (2.4 percent), "Wekbinz" (1.9 percent), "powerball" (1.5 percent) and "iPhone" and the "Jonas brothers," both at 1.2 percent. Globally, the keywords with the worst average risk profiles were "free" sites (7.3 percent) and lyrics sites (5.1 percent).

This all makes sense, because Malware authors want users to download a computer file or program that contains their malicious payload.  Malware authors are also very keen in exploiting current events. "Hackers are most successful when they can attract a large number of victims. One way to target big crowds online is to track current events -- everything from celebrity meltdowns and natural disasters to holidays and popular music," the report said.

"The best protection is to install a computer security suite and keep it up to date and to use a safe search tool like McAfee SiteAdvisor software," the report concluded.  ConnectWise includes SiteAdvisor as part of our Managed Mcafee suite for most of our clients.  Myself, I will continue to educate users, and ask them not to browse the web at work, this is the type of activity that can cost your company thousands of dollars a year.