Brooklyn Pc Clinic - News - PC repair and troubleshooting service

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Blog/Latest News

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02/11/2006

There is an email doing the rounds that purports to be from the IRS.

It asks you to confirm that you are due a refund and asks you to enter personal information at a website it links to.

This, of course, is a "phishing" scam.

Always beware of emails asking you to enter personal information, such as your social, password, etc

Here is the link if you wish to read more about it.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124638,tk,dn020706X,00.asp

02/01/2006

You need to know about the latest virus attack that is due to hit PC's on Friday.

Although this may be a load of hype, this virus is supposed to be lying dormant on hundreds of thousand of PC's, and is programmed to wipe the hard drive of these PC's at midnight on Feb 3rd.

One thing you should do, irrespective of whether this happens or not, is backup your important files to a CD, DVD, flash drive or secondary hard drive - now

My website has guidance on how and what to backup http://www.brooklynpcclinic.com/specials.php?view=13

I also suggest running an online virus scan - go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com

Remember, there are only two types of computer users: those that back up, and those that are going to back up.
Make sure you are in the first group.

For those that are interested, here is the Reuters press release describing the virus:

A destructive worm posing as a pornographic email may already
have infected hundreds of thousands of computers and could
erase many everyday files on Feb. 3, security experts warned.
The "Kama Sutra" worm, which targets popular MICROSOFT CORP.,
ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. and ZIP files, is a threat because many
users will not know the virus has infected their computers
until it is too late, security experts said. They also estimate
that the worm -- which spreads by emailing itself to addresses
in an infected computer's mailbox -- may already have slipped
onto 275,000 to 500,000 machines and is now simply waiting to
obliterate files on Friday. The virus, also known as Grew.A or
MyWife, tricks users by appearing as an email attachment with
subject lines such as "Hot Movie," "give me a kiss" and "Miss
Lebanon 2006." Some variations refer to the ancient Kama Sutra
guide to elaborate sexual positions in order to attract
attention and convince victims to open. The virus causes a
keyboard and mouse to freeze up and then disables anti-virus
programs when the computer is restarted, leaving a machine
vulnerable, said Ken Dunham, rapid response director at
VeriSign Corp.'s security unit iDefense. The attack is
scheduled to begin at midnight on Feb. 3.
(Reuters 02:56 PM ET 01/31/2006)

01/07/2006

Microsoft release update to patch Windows Metafile flaw

If you installed the temporary "Patch" to fix a Windows flaw in how it handle metafile images, Microsoft just released a Windows Update to fix the flaw.

Go to www.windowsupdate.com to update your system. Once you have updated and rebooted your PC, you should remove the temporary patch.

To remove it, go to Control Panel/Add Remove programs and uninstall the patch - called the Windows WMF Vulnerability Hotfix

That's it for now…. until the next one comes along.

12/30/2005

Internet Explorer flaw exploited by just visiting a website

Be extremely careful visiting "unknown" websites at the moment if you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser - in other words, 90% of you.

A newly discovered flaw in Internet Explorer will allow malicious code to be downloaded on your PC just by visiting a website that exploits this flaw, and you will find yourself infected with Spyware. You don't even need to do anything, the code will simply install on your PC.

If you use the Firefox browser, you are safer, although clicking on a link at a website exploiting the flaw could still infect you, but just visiting the site will not.

Read this article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/29/AR2005122901456.html

Update your antivirus immediately
Run Windows Update www.windowsupdate.com to make sure you have the latest Microsoft security updates.
Install and use the Firefox browser www.getfirefox.com
Be extremely careful not to click on links in emails that could take you to a website that exploits the flaw.

12/01/2005

More in depth- Sony Music CDs install copy-protection software

In case you want to know what this software actually does...

It has been reported in the news that certain Sony BMG music CD's install a particularly nasty type of software on your system if you play them on your PC.

The Sony CDs that contain this software have the label "Content Enhanced" on their packaging.

Sony, along with all the other music labels, are terrified that people will copy their music and distribute it on file sharing programs for everyone else to download. So, Sony decided to place copy protection software on some of their CDs, but didn't tell anyone about this, except in their 3000 word license agreement that appears when you put the CD in your PC for the first time.

If you play these CDs in a car stereo or on your CD player, they play normally. However, played in your PC, this license agreement (EULA) appears.

Ostensibly, this asks for your agreement to play some additional media content. The real reason, however, is to get you to agree to install some software on your PC called "Root Kit" technology.

This type of technology is typically used by hackers to place a program surreptitiously on your PC, such as a "Trojan horse". Root Kit technology hides programs so they cannot be detected by any of the typically available commercial antivirus or anti-spyware programs most people run on their systems.

Sony has been installing their Root Kit software since March of this year, and it is believed that over 500,000 computers have been compromised, and unknown to their owners.

Some things the software does:

It can be used by hackers and virus writers to install their own programs on your PC, cloaked by the Sony technology
It replaces your PCs CD ROM drivers with Sony's own, and if you try and uninstall the software, your CD ROM drive disappears
The Sony software renames your CD ROM Drivers "Plug and Play Device Manager" so you won't suspect there is anything weird on your system
The program phones home and reports to Sony which music CDs you play on your PC
It is technically illegal to remove the Sony software as it is DRM (Digital Rights Management) software and is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
It is badly written, so not only does it allow hackers to cloak their programs (and some viruses have already been written to take advantage of it) but it also slows your system down, and has integrated itself so deeply in the operating system that it can make Windows unstable.

One of the ways you can tell if you have the software installed on your PC is to rename a file such as a notepad document "$sys$.exe" Once the file is saved on your PC, if it promptly disappears from view, then you have the Root Kit installed.

You can also run a free program such as Blacklight, by a reputable antivirus company - Fsecure - to scan your system (but be very careful not to blithely say yes if the program offers to remove the Sony Root Kit as it can render your CD Drive inoperable)

http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/

To remove the software, Sony offers an uninstaller on their website. However, I do not have the link and it is reported that using this causes big problems.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/17/sony_drm_uninstaller_peril/

Hopefully you do not have the Sony software on your system, but if you suspect that you do, I advise you to back up your data and then consider reinstalling Windows.

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