Microsoft has discovered a critical vulnerability that could potentially allow criminals to seize control of computers and steal private data. Secure your computers by applying the critical update released by Microsoft to fix this.

Critical Vulnerability Detected in Internet Explorer

The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way Internet Explorer validates data binding parameters and handles the error resulting in the exploitable condition.

Microsoft has Released a Hotfix to Address This: KB 960714

This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, and Internet Explorer 7. The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way Internet Explorer validates data binding parameters and handles the error resulting in the exploitable condition.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

The scam works like this:
Person calling says, ‘This is (name), and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona?’ When you say ‘No’, the caller continues with, ‘Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?’

You say ‘yes’.

The caller continues - ‘I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. ‘Do you need me to read it again?’

Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works:
The caller then says, ‘I need to verify you are in possession of your card’. He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card over and look for some numbers’. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card.

These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, ‘That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other
questions?’

After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, ‘Don’t hesitate to call back if you do’, and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number.

What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them you’ll call VISA or Master Card directly for verification of their conversation.

The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases you didn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

It appears that this is a very active scam, and evidently quite successful.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

The Koobface worm uses Facebook’s private messaging system to spread itself across the site. Potential victims receive a message from an infected profile. The message contains a video link that contains the title, “You look just awesome in this new movie.” When you open the message, there is a link that takes users to another website that prompts you to install an update to watch the video. This download contains the virus and when installed, will infect your profile and begin to send messages to your friends to infect theirs as well. This virus has been known to steal your credit card numbers. It will also alter your search results and lead you to fraudulent websites.

Experts say that the worm is just one example of the different types of large-scale viruses that attacked the Internet in the last decade. Such large-scale attacks are still rising and social networks are an obvious target for such attacks because they receive messages that they believe to be from “friends”.

Facebook says that it is deleting content created by the worm, and officials say that the networking site has “contained” the worm. Updates are being made to the Facebook Security Page, and it is publishing the best practices to help users avoid these attacks.

Preventing the Koobface worm from infecting your computer can be prevented. Since this worm is spread through a link attached to a private message, the best way to prevent from being infected is to not open the link. However, before totally disregarding the message and deleting it, you can send a message to your friend to query them to find out if they actually sent the message. If you found that your friend did not send the message, you can almost bet that this is the Koobface worm. By asking your friend, you are not only preventing your own profile and computer from being infected, but you are also warning your friend that their profile has been infected by the worm.

If you find that your computer has the worm, you should change your Facebook password and change all suspicious e-mails. You can help protect your computer by updating your McAfee or Norton antivirus software and running the virus scan.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

[cough cough], you turn to see your computer coughing and running with a fever looks like it’s caught a cold more specifically a computer virus. Most computer users have had their computer a bit under the weather: losing information off their hard drive, slower computer performance, and a whole list of other symptoms. Over thirty years ago when computers were just starting to make a rise in people’s lives computer viruses were harder to catch but with the internet an ever growing part of society it becomes more and more common for people s computers to get viruses.

So how do our computers go about catching these bugs? College students seem to be common visitors to peer-to-peer sites like Bit torrent or Limewire where they illegally download movies and songs to their computers. While this may seem harmless and in most cases you do end up getting the song or movie; viruses often piggyback themselves with those files and the end result is a sick computer. So what about the workplace or at home? “I don’t download songs or movies off of the internet!” you might be saying.

Another common virus haven is email attachments from unknown people or in some cases from people that you do know. Your friends most likely don’t know that they sent you an email because in some viruses part of their job is to send themselves to everyone in your address book in order to infect more computers. Common headings from the senders are enticing or seem urgent: “Please open immediately Urgent” or “Open now to receive your prize” “You could be the next winner” anything to get you to open the attachment and thus infect your computer.

So what can you do to protect your computers from catching a cold? The first step(s) is not to use peer-to-peer sites or open spam attachments in your emails. Most email services like Hotmail contain built in software to scan attachments and emails to ensure that it is virus free. Another way to protect your computer is to buy virus protection software like MacAfee or Norton. This software costs anywhere from $30-60.When shopping around for good virus protection; look for one that gets frequent updates because viruses are constantly changing each day. These precautions are more like an immunization rather than a 100% guarantee, and all you can do is make sure you’re protected.

By Harold Larson

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

… Is it taking more time to load recently when you start your computer?
… Are you being annoyed these days with pop-up windows from sites you have never visited before?
… Do you notice any unusual software loading simultaneously during startup?

If your answer is even a mild ‘yes’ to these questions, then it is most likely that your computer is at some stage of being infected by a parasite called spyware /adware. Beware my friend, because this parasite can grasp eagerly your identity by closely keeping an eye on your activities on the net, by laying hold of your passwords to sites housing your personal documents, and by stealing access to your bank account and credit card details.

So what then is spyware anyway ? A simple definition will be that ” it is a program that creeps in cunningly without your knowledge to collect data from your PC.” All of us are in the midst of visiting websites and downloading/installing various programs for our daily use. It is to these programs that the spyware attaches itself while your program is being downloaded.

What do you do then when you have found out that your computer has been invaded by spyware? First, do not run any program that has not been scanned by an anti-virus and anti-spyware program. Most inexperienced Internet users have the notion that a simple virus scan is all that is needed to get rid of all infections. Follow the steps given below to get ideal results…

1. Delete all temporary files. Information about sites you have visited before is stored in these temporary files. They occupy space and have the potential of being infected. Delete them by going to “Start-Acessories-System tools-Disk cleanup”. Also delete cookies by going to “Tools” and “Internet options”

2. Get a complete anti-virus / anti-spyware /adware program. “BitDefender” and “NoAdware” are the best. You can also try “Spybot’s Search and Destroy” program. The ‘Paid’ ones are still better.

3. Get free updates on all the anti-spyware programs you will have. New spyware worms keep coming to infect all the time.

Here are a few more tips to keep your computer healthy…

1. Please do not open an attachment from any unknown email you receive without running a scan. Have you received the email from Nigeria yet? Do not click on any links or open attachments from them! Just delete them! A hacker recently went into the Paypal account of a friend of mine and cleaned up his checking account.

2. Be careful while you are downloading your favorite songs and movies. Download only from well-accepted sites and run the anti-spyware program on them anyway.

3. Do not visit porno sites. You can collect dangerous spyware easily from here.

4. If you can, install a firewall on your PC to protect it from dangerous visitors. Check with your computer consultant or your hardware dealer how to do this.

5. Download the latest updates for Windows or whatever system you are running.

Guard yourself and your computer. Change your passwords very often to be safe while browsing. Turn off the broadband if you want the computer to be on and you need a break. An idling computer is raw meat for the spyware employer. Hackers are waiting round the corner. Remember there is big money to be made by collecting and selling information. Internet browsing will only be enjoyable until the time you are the next unfortunate victim.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

Home networking is just as popular as office networking these days for all the same reasons. Money can be saved. People can share resources. Everything on the network is accessible by anyone on the network!

You love your network! Everyone on it share resources  printers, the Internet, storage space and all of the data on all the computers hooked up to it. It’s great! It’s one thing to share resources with your family or co-workers but do you want it accessible to everyone on the planet? Do you want to invite anyone inside your computer? An uninvited guest could destroy all the data on your system let alone access all your personal information.

If you leave the door to your house wide open, you might receive an unexpected or invited visitor. To protect yourself, you have doors and locks. You can also leave your computers doors’ wide open. Unfortunately, you may not know they are open and you may not recognize the implications until you get stabbed in the heart with a large bill for computer repair that could have been avoided.

Doors and locks will only keep the honest people out. Regrettably, the same holds true for computers. But, quite simply, leaving the door wide open is an invitation. Find any open doors, close them, AND lock them! Better yet, make your door invisible and undetectable! Yes, this IS possible. It doesn’t mean your door will never be knocked on, but if a passer by can’t see the door, they are less likely to knock, let alone gain entry.

Security is critical. Know where your doors are; know whether they are open or closed.

Install a firewall when sharing an Internet connection. A router can effectively accomplish this for you.

Limit file access on your network to only those whom you wish to see the files you are willing to share.

Use password protection both on your network and on your confidential files.

Anywhere there is an open doorway, close it, and secure it. If you don’t know  or don’t wish to know  more about the doorways, hire someone who does.

Remember, the balance in your bank account could depend on it!

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

At its very basic level, a computer virus is simply a program which replicates itself and infects your computer without your permission or any knowledge of the program running on your part. Although it can often be applied to other malicious software, such as adware, a virus is actually much different. The most difficult part about having a computer virus is the fact that it may be doing damage to your computer without any knowledge on your part. This is because it replicates itself from a single file and may hide as a legitimate system file in order to overcome detection.

There are several different ways that you can get a computer virus but typically, you have to receive the virus from another location. Viruses do not just grow on their own, they are specifically made in order to invade and infect other computers. Some of the most common ways that computer viruses are spread are through downloadable media, by sharing files through removable drives or CDs and over various types of computer networks. It only takes one small program in order to cause a lot of different problems for the end user.

There are several different things that you can do in order to keep your computer from getting infected. First of all, you can run a good anti-virus program on your computer that will continually scan for any virus-like activities that are taking place. It is also a good idea to scan any files that are given to you, even by those that you trust. Finally, make sure that you are not downloading off of the Internet at random. If you do download a file, scan it with your anti-virus program. Just these few easy precautions will go a long way in helping your computer remain virus free.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.

It is now very simple to set up home wireless networks. Wireless networks are very popular and are found in many places such as cafes and other public areas. There are no actual cables and the set up is very minimal. With the boom in this technology and an increase in the manufacture of this technology this has resulted in a decrease in the cost of setting up wireless networks and made them available to the typical user. This means the technology is no longer affordable by only educational institutions and businesses.

In order to set up home wireless networks there are several pieces of equipment that will be required to get your network started. The use of a wireless router is normally recommended for the benefits it gives to the home user such as the ability to provide internet sharing and the additional security. The use of access points is available but these are more expensive and more useful on a larger scale. The use of a wireless network adapter is also important and one is required for each computer that has to be connected to the router.

When purchasing the equipment for your home wireless networks it is often advisable to look around for the best price and warranty. There are many manufacturers and the equipment is available generally as a retail item and comes with some warranty. The larger outlets will carry these items but it is often good to check smaller independent stores as they may actually have lower prices for the same piece of equipment with the same warranty. It is also possible to get great deals online and have the equipment delivered directly to your home.

It is important to assess home wireless networks properly when purchasing equipment. This is to avoid the wastage of funds on unnecessary items. The best wireless router to purchase is one that also has the ability to be connected by wired ports. This can cut down on costs if two computers are relatively close together as the purchase of wireless adapters is approximately 10 times more expensive than normal wired network adapters. Also these wired network adapters can come with your computers and are thus not actually costing anything extra. It is essential to know how you plan to move your computers and assess if it is necessary to have the wireless network on all the computers or to connect some via wired connections.

In configuring your home wireless networks it is a possibility to completely leave out a wireless router and to communicate between computers with your wireless adapters. This technology uses a peer to peer mode and is not as easily explained as the network using a router. The use of the adapters in place of a router makes it more difficult to configure access to the rest of the network and its resources.

About the Author:

George Royal is the publisher of Wireless Networks Web with information about wireless networks and wireless broadband networks.

©2010 DoctorMyPC.com. All Rights Reserved.