The popular myspace.com has been in the news lately and for good reason.  It is one of the most popular sites on the Internet for children and young adults.  I has a catchy name that implies ownership, and what kid doesn’t want to have their own space.   But it is anything but their own because myspace is not private, it is very public.  

Ask your kids how they would like it if their bedroom had glass walls.   Well, myspace isn’t much more private that a room with glass walls. 

We advise parents to be vary aware of what there children are doing on the Internet.  We suggest parents of children that have a myspace account, get their own account and spend some time looking around.  Just as a concerned Mom did in this article.

“Practice Safe Surfing”

We have tested several anti-spam tools for MS Outlook and have two recommendations for you. 

#1 is Cloudmark Desktop.  It uses a community of thousands of spam fighters to help refine the spam list, and it works very well.  But it costs about $40 per year for a subscription.  We like the way it integrates into the Outlook toolbar, which makes it very easy to use.

#2 is SpamBayes.  It also integrates into the Outlook toolbar, and although it doesn’t use the community approach, it also can become very effective at weeding out spam.  And the price is right. Free.

Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta) has been upgraded to Windows Defender Beta 2. 

It has an improved user interface and an improved scanning engine that can catch more spyware.  We recommend that users upgrade to Windows Defender Beta 2.  If you already have MS Antispyware, it will automatically be uninstalled and replaced by Windows Defender.

We strongly advise PC users to have a layered defense against threats on the Internet.  This should include several anti-spyware programs, one good anti-virus program, and a strong, two-way firewall.  Our recommendations can be found on our page:

 Minimum Safe PC.

We suggest that all users first read the Release Notes and Known Issues before installing, or you may be in for a big surprise if you use P2P applications.

For more info and download:  Windows Defender

“Practice Safe Computing”

OK, it is blue Tuesday again and Microsoft has published a slew of new updates.  Unfortunately many users are finding that Windows Update KB913446 fails, and a visit to their Update History reveals error code 0×80242006. 

To see this for yourself, go to Windows Update, then click on “Review your Update History”, then click on the small red x  .

Microsoft probably will have a fix on the Windows Update site in short order, but in the meantime, if you want to install the update manually, it can be found at the Microsoft Download Center.

This update will create a new restore point on your computer and install the update.  This workaround seems to be working well for most users.

More information about this update can be found in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-007 - Vulnerability in TCP/IP Could Allow Denial of Service (913446).

Here is a link to it: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-007

by Internet-Insecurity.com

“Practice Safe Computing”

Found a good article at About.com on how to use the Windows XP Pro Encrypted File System.  (XP Home does not include the EFS). 

It never ceases to amaze me that critical data* is kept on computers without the used of encryption, especially when the data is on a laptop, or other vulnerable computer system.  There really is no excuse other than ignorance and carelessness.

 * Hey, especially if that computer contains any personal data about other people, not just your own, it is irresponsible to keep any such data in an unencrypted form.

Read the rest of this Post »

We advise computer users to be aware of the potential risks associated with using the Google Desktop search utility. They are significant. The new Beta 3 version apparently will present significant risk to users. For more info, check out this article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Read the rest of this Post »

Well?  Do you?

Pardon us, we don’t intend to alarm you.
We just want to inform you of the unfortunate truth:

Without appropriate precautions,
it is very unsafe to connect your computer to the Internet!

• The Internet is ready to pounce on any unsuspecting, unprotected PC.
• Your computer may be full of nefarious pests that are a danger to you and to the Internet as a whole.

“Good Internet security practices are no longer an option,
they are a necessity” - George Washington

(Disclaimer: OK. OK, it wasn’t really George Washington that said that……..but it’s the truth nonetheless.)