Legalise your software and ensure the software you purchase is legal

Being in the IT industry gives some people the wrong idea of what I do so allow me to answer some of your questions before I continue:
Q: Can you score me that latest copy of Windows 7 for my son's PC at home please?
A: Yeah, sure! As soon as you get me that Audi R8 off the Tavcor showroom because that is what you are asking me to do...steal!

Q. What is a great site I can use to download free music?
A. iTunes

Q. Don't you know someone that can get me a free copy of Microsoft Office or Photoshop - it's so expensive and I don't want to just buy it?
A. Yeah, but you have to travel to a holding cell to speak to him now...shall I arrange it?

Ok, so maybe the last one is made up, but the others are actual questions I have been asked and amazingly still come up in some conversations. One would think in this day and age everyone would understand that piracy is theft.

However, who is to say that when you buy from a retailer you are safe? Even in a little friendly town like Port Elizabeth one is at risk of software piracy. This excerpt from an article of the MyPE website by Alan:

"Microsoft South Africa can reveal that a civil case will shortly be brought against a local computer shop owner in Port Elizabeth, who has been raided on two occasions in connection with selling unlicensed and counterfeit software to unsuspecting customers. A criminal trial is also pending against the same suspect. The suspect was not only selling counterfeit software, but changing the CK numbers of company invoices. The counterfeit goods were packaged to look like genuine products and included counterfeit CDs with simulated holograms and counterfeit certificates of authenticity."

 As you can see this guy went to great lengths to defeat the system. Feel free to read up on the rest of the article and the Anti-Piracy campaign here.

So next time you purchase a computer or laptop be sure to ask if it comes with any operating system and if it is bundled with your favorite/required software. Furthermore, most notebooks (and some pre-built desktop computers) come bundled and preloaded with the latest Windows Operating System. Ensure that your computer has the Genuine Windows sticker on the side (or underneath in the case of a notebook) and ensure that the retailer can provide you with a certificate of authenticity if it is not stuck on.

Remember, Microsoft can get to you - even in little old Port Elizabeth.

Regards,
WarBrad.

Facebookers beware - Warning from Symantec Security

Even though some of us do not care to admit it near everyone and his pet has a facebook page at this point - which makes the news from Symantec all the more poignant on a global scale.

This from the Symantec website about the possible security threat posed to some users:

"Facebook applications are Web applications that are integrated onto the Facebook platform. According to Facebook, 20 million Facebook applications are installed every day. Symantec has discovered that in certain cases, Facebook IFRAME applications inadvertently leaked access tokens to third parties like advertisers or analytic platforms. We estimate that as of April 2011, close to 100,000 applications were enabling this leakage. We estimate that over the years, hundreds of thousands of applications may have inadvertently leaked millions of access tokens to third parties."

It does appear that it mostly affects users that have installed third party applications via Facebook or played some of the silly games that your friends might invite you to join. Read the original article from Symantec here.

According to the guys over at InfoWorld the easiest way to get around the problem if you suspect that you might be vulnerable is to change your facebook password.

Constantly remind yourself to consider your online security - you would not drive down a questionable street in a questionable area of town with your windows down, your wallet on the dashboard of your vehicle and your doors unlocked would you? Well, not considering your online security, clicking on suspect links in emails and wallposts or even installing some of these third party applications is the digital equivalent of doing just that!

Allow me the opportunity to say that if you are using facebook to farm, play poker or any other silly activity - you are doing it wrong! It is intended to be a social networking site and should remain thus...

Always be suspicious and always be careful.

Regards,
WarBrad.

New Apple iOS update

To all my friends with Apple devices, I now present you with some good news...well, compared to my last post about the Virus for Mac.

Apple have released a new iOS update which plugs some holes in the "location capturing and storing" side of the application. Apparently there have been some concerns from some users of the iPhone and iPad. I think the fact that it anonymously tracks and saves all your location data without your knowledge or approval is concern enough.

Please read about it here. (Credit to Dan Moren and www.infoworld.com)

Regards,
WarBrad.

Virus for Mac...really!?

Turns out that the tough times that come with being self employed are even getting to the cyber criminals as they have had to leave the mainstream Microsoft market to embark on the road less traveled. It appears that the miscreants are now using "fake security software" to target Mac users who have long been safe from the threat of these attacks.

According to Gregg Keizer from Computerworld:

"Scammers are distributing fake security software aimed at the Mac by taking advantage of the news that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by U.S. forces, a security researcher said today. A security firm that specializes in Mac software called the move "a very big step forward" for malware makers targeting Apple's users."

This kind of software (termed "rogue" software) is quite deceptive as it appears very authentic and would pop up and warn the user that the machine is heavily infected with all kinds of malicious programs. The only way to get rid of these threats is by purchasing this security software - however the software is worthless as it is fake and the threats actually do not exist. For more information on rouge software please refer to this wikipedia article.

It seems that their tactic is to create links to their sites which are hosting their rogue software. The criminals are doing this by spreading news and links about Bin Laden with links to fake articles which would actually lead you to one of their sites/domains allowing you to automatically start downloading their code without your knowledge. I have even seen some of the these Bin Laden links being advertised by some of my contacts on Facebook and I was already suspicious.

The most popular variant of the virus aimed at Mac users is named MacDefender. It has already appeared on some Apple forums with some of the readers/users asking about this new anti virus software:

"FYI, my daughter said the program started after clicking on a 'hair style photo,'" added "Mr. Fix It Home Services" on the same support thread. Others reported stumbling upon MAC Defender after searching for images of prom tuxedos or for pictures of a character in the movie "Princess Bride."

Intego, a French based security firm developing software specifically for Mac, wrote this article about this new threat.

Just goes to show that no-one is exempt from the threat of cybercrime - be careful guys and gals even on Apple now. A bit of advice that might just save you some trouble from Infoworld:

"Mac users running Safari can prevent MAC Defender from automatically opening after it downloads by unchecking the box marked "Open 'safe' files after downloading" at the bottom of the General tab in the browser's Preferences screen." 

Feel free to read the original article about the Mac Defender virus here.

Regards,
WarBrad.