The Ekaru Technology Advisor Vol 4-9 November 2004
Welcome to this month's issue! Ekaru's mission is to provide technology advice and on-site technical support to help you manage and grow your business!
Beware:
e-Mail Hoaxes, "phishing", spyware, identity hi-jacking:
Industry reports are showing that 90% of computers in the United States contain some form of Spyware, spam accounts for over 60% of all email, and helpdesk support for spyware related issues has risen to about 20% of all support calls. Although we have written a lot about computer security concerns in past issues, we want to highlight what we see as a growing trend. We've seen first-hand the damage caused by spyware, and we know victims of recent Internet scams.
One important thing to know is that Anti-Virus software does not generally protect against spyware. Technically, the threats are very different, and the major software vendors are only beginning to develop anti-spyware solutions, although there are many good smaller vendors with available solutions, such as Ad-Aware by Lavasoft, among others. In the future, we'll probably see new computers shipped with Anti-spyware software already built in.
Another thing to know is that spammers can easily spoof a return address. In their email program, they will use a phony "from" and "reply-to" address. In fact, you may have received "undeliverable mail" that you never sent. This could mean that someone hijacked your name. It's against the law, but there's not much you can do to stop it. If you suspect abuse of your email account, report it to your ISP immediately. Amazon.com has filed many high-profile lawsuits against fraudulent marketers in the US misusing the Amazon name.
The growing practice of "phishing" involves gathering personal data through a false email request. You've probably received email from institutions like CitiBank and Earthlink that are fraudulent. These emails look like the real thing, but they are fake - legitimate institutions won't ask for account information and passwords via e-mail. Look closely: many of these emails contain grammatical and spelling errors, which should be an immediate red flag. But beware, many are getting more sophisticated, and its an international problem. In a recent phishing scam sent to customers of an major Australian bank, the email used carefully worded language designed to be familiar to the bank's customers, and also opened an authentic copy of the web site behind the fake version of the site, so it looked "real". It's also easy to create an ssl connection with a "lock" icon in the lower browser window, which usually signifies "security". In fact, the communication is encrypted, but that detail is meaningless if you don't authenticate the certificate, that is, you need to know you are really communicating to the right institution. Don't ever reply to email like this. Comcast, for example, includes a standard reminder on their email announcements to customers that they will NEVER ask for passwords or billing information in an email.
Never reply to SPAM. Don't even open it. Even if you don't click on a link, spammers can embed images, sometimes referred to as "web beacons" that will flag your email address. Keep in mind that you may not even see it - it could be a 1pixel x 1pixel image (basically, a "dot"). A "real" email address is a lot more valuable to a spammer than a randomly generated address, and you'll get even more spam.
Unfortunately, the reason people send spam is because it works. In a surprising Yahoo! Mail global survey of about 37,000 Internet users in 11 countries, 20% of U.S. residents admitted buying products from spammers. The famous Nigerian cash transfer scam has resulted in $Millions in losses and numerous arrests.
For more information about email scams, viruses, and hoaxes, you can refer to past issues of the Technology Advisor e-Newsletter. Sophos also has a great information site about viruses and hoaxes: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/.
Dunkin Donuts Business Collaborative Seminar Series: November 17, 2004:
Technology Tip: Stop Typing and Start Scanning
Ekaru in the News!
Windows SP2 upgrade complicated, worthwhile
Was this newsletter helpful to you? If so, forward it to a friend or colleague!
Do you have suggestions for future newsletter topics? Send us an email!. We want to write about what's important to you! Click here to read past issues.
Sincerely, Introductory Technology Assessment Over 170 local
small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and
networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get
started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make
recommendations. Call us toll-free at 866-463-5278 x1 or email us to schedule a
no-obligation assessment.
Ten Costly Technology Mistakes and How to Avoid Them!
Ekaru has been invited to present at the seminar series sponsored by Dunkin Donuts and the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce. For more information on the Ten Costly Technology Mistakes and How to Avoid Them!, click here or call the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce Office at 978-263-0010.
Do you have a pile of business cards sitting on your desk? You intend to enter them into your database, but you just never have time. If this sounds familiar, its time to think about a card scanner. A good one to check out is the Corex CardScan. We've installed these for several clients, and we also use them ourselves. You can get one for under $150, and they do an amazingly good job. The link provided above is for the personal edition. There's also an executive version with faster (and color) scanning. You can sync to Outlook, Palm, and Pocket PC. There's an option to keep your contacts online too. You'll save a lot of time, and know your contacts are up to date!
Mass High Tech - October 18, 2004
Read about the things you need to know BEFORE you install Service Pack 2!
Enjoy Fall! Rake Leaves!
Team Ekaru
©2004 Ekaru, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
