Spyware can change Desktop

SpyWare comes in all forms. A recent one I ran into on a friend's PC was new to me and quite annoying to him. The SpyWare had changed his Desktop to a Web view -- shortcuts had links. And it made the background look like a window alert to SpyWare, with a link added to go to a site to allegedly fix this problem.

This is a reminder never to trust the truthfulness of such announcements, emails, or pop-up windows. In many cases it's a ploy to get you to buy some (often substandard) software. In other cases, it could be a trap to install malicious software or capture personal data.

Install AntiSpyware and keep it updated. One suggestion -- install Windows Defender, use Microsoft Update installed (not Windows Update), and keep the Windows Defender checking your system in real time in addition to periodic scans of your hard disk.

Free Microsoft software, photo info

Microsoft offers some nifty free XP downloads -- Photo Story 3, SynchToy, PowerToy Add-ins, photography-ralated PowerToys, and more. Go to the Windows XP downloads page .

Microsoft also has a Digital Photography Center. You never know when you'll run across a tip that puts you on the path to better photos.

10 malware hoaxes

TechRepublic has a good page describing 10 different malware (malicious software) hoaxes. Don't be taken in. Read the article.

Mozilla products have vulnerabilities

As further proof that no software is free of security vulnerabilities, several security flaws in Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla browser, and Mozilla SeaMonkey have been announced.
If you use one of these products, upgrade now. The latest version of Firefox is 1.5.0.2.

• Firefox 1.5.0.2
• SeaMonkey 1.0.1 all-in-one internet application suite (formerly "Mozilla Application Suite")
  

Blight of the zombies

Computer hackers can turn your computer into a zombie -- one that does their dirty work for them. And often, they enlist (infect) armies of zombie computers to attack a specific site, say Microsoft or a bank. So your computer could get identified as participating in a felony.
Hmm, you say, not good. That's why being alert to possible malware and "scam" type links, windows, and email messages is so important.

• The "Invasion of the computer snatchers" article at the Washington Post describes an actual hacker's day.

Use easy, strong passwords

About.com has a good page describing how to create a "strong" password that is easy for you to remember. In general, you need to heavily protect passwords to sensitive data such as any financial transactions (banking, bill payments, online sales, etc.), and personal data other than name and address.

Spin your text size

You have browsed to a great web page, but the text is not the best size for you to comfortably view the page. What to do; what to do. If the web page author used "relative" sizes for fonts you can use many web browsers to increase or decrease font size and you can use your wheel mouse to do it quickly.

Just hold down on the "Control" key, then spin the mnouse wheel for ward or backward to change the font size. If your browser supports this feature yet the fonts don't change size, the web page author chose to specify a fixed font size (boo!).

Don't have a wheel mouse? Consider adding the "Text size" icon to your browser's toolbar. Firefox also lets you use Control+minus and Control+plus keys to do the same thing.

Preview IE 7 features

Microsoft has a site that shows off new features in Internet Explorer 7 via an online "tour".

Strong passwords, weak memory?

If you're like most people who use a computer a lot, you have had to set a password at many different internet locations as well on your own computer. Windows users can catch a break by using Roboform.

Roboform can generate an extremely strong password, memorize passwords, encrypt the passwords, back up your passwords, and can even fill in a long registration form in one click. It can even synch passwords with your handheld computer. The basic version is free.

Free Spyware Defender

Microsoft has issued the Beta 2 version of its free AntiSpyware tool, which is now called "Windows Defender". The prior version was good, catching and cleaning some nasties that other AntiSpyware I'd tried did not. So I'm installing the Beta 2 version.

• Download Microsoft Defender
• Take a quiz on Spyware basics

Jetico firewall gets kudos

Mark Edwards, of Windows IT Pro, writes in Security UPDATE that he considers Jetico Personal Firewall (for Windows) the best at detecting software trying to inappropriately send information out of your computer. He rates it overall better than the popular ZoneAlarm (Free or Pro), Kerio (SunBelt), or Symantec (Norton).

• Jetico Personal Firewall (freeware)
• Firewall Leak Tester
• Security UPDATE newsletter subscription page

Social Bookmarking booms

An increasing number of people save and share bookmarks online. This is also called " social bookmarking". Several free services let you do this. A recent contender is Yahoo!'s " My Web 2.0". A popular service is del.icio.us (the site name is a geeky pun on "delicious").

There are two basic advantages to this. First, you can access your bookmarks from any computer that has internet access. Second, you can check out other people's bookmark lists. You might find some treasures buried there. Of course, there is also the ability to search for others' bookmarks, making their bookmarks treasure easier to find.

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School has a nice "Social Bookmarking Resources " page with links to popular services as well as reviews of many of the services. "Look before you leap". You might also want to check out " Online Link Managers" (bookmark managers) at Prospect.com.

Free MS Office 2003 guide

You can read or download up a free MS Office 2003 10-minute guide (eBook PDF) at Que Publishing.