VIRUS ALERT!

“Happy-2008.exe”
The Storm Worm’s New Years Greeting

Many of us are winding down in these last days of 2007. Christmas has come and gone; store bargains have either been missed or had by now. In the tech world, things are relatively quiet.
The biggest ‘buz’ has been the Queen of England creating her own YouTube channel proof that the Internet is here to stay. When 1000-year old monarchies ‘adopt’, the technological shifts are confirmed. The Queen also saw fit to deliver a message via her new ‘web presence’. Her first ‘invitation’ was sent via YouTube eMail to her son Prince Charles. I’ll bet he was thrilled.
The next ‘big thing’ on the tech horizon is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is not happening for a week or two. The latest and greatest tech will be on display; trend-casting will be based on what shows up there. Tech-wise, the only other imminent news is the newly minted bargains in computers and computer related equipment that begins around the twentieth of January. It is always a thrill to buy a brand new machine for more than half-off the October-November price. One of the rare times in the tech world where patience is rewarded.
So why am I breaking with Tradition and bothering my Editor during such a pleasant down-time season? The answer is simple and the reason is clear. There is a lingering danger out there in computer-land. A resurgence of a Trojan Virus that by all rights should by now have been rendered benign. By late August the ‘Storm Worm’ had infected over 10 million machines and effected networks and ISPs in 108 countries.
It is a ‘bot’ exploit which turns your machine into a spammer’s tool. It has some nasty implications, but simply put, if you were infected, your machine would slow down as if molasses hard replaced your processors. Everything would take longer. There were decent ‘fixes’ and by mid-September most in the tech world thought it had been rendered useless. By October ‘the Storm’ was no more than a small squall.
Like that lingering summer cold, it had staying power, though. Most anti-virus programmes even the worst of them like MacAfee and Norton had developed protection, and security experts thought it was finished. At the worst it was a malingering annoyance for the most part easily dealt with.
For the digerati who follow such things; it seemed another challenge to Web security was thwarted and not something to worry about. Happily for all of us, there are a core group of internet security heroes, who live, breathe and follow every virus and permutation thereof. There had been some postings on internet boards about potential dangers but everyone was lulled. Myself included.
Then the first “Storm” arrived late Christmas Eve. I was blissfully unaware. By mid-morning Christmas day, my in-box was overflowing with questions and queries from our loyal Bulldog readers. The newly opened computers delivered by Santa had some problems. That is not all that unusual.
It was not until late afternoon that I began to see a pattern. Our readers had received eMails with headings like: merrychristmasdude.com, which was in fact the Email-Worm.Win32.Zhelatin.pd. It was a ‘re-direct’ and you did not need to do more than open up an eMail to become a part of the nefarious scheme.
Aside from some delayed enjoyment though this seemed to be little more than an annoyance and not a serious security problem. I followed up and most people who were ‘hit by the Storm’ were back in action in a relatively short time. I was alerted that the ‘Storm Worm’ had staying power.
Without going into details what I want to let you know is this. The forecast for New Year’s Eve is ‘Storm’. Here is what to look for and how to protect yourselves and your families.
Update your anti-virus programmes over the week-end. The problem with this particular Trojan Virus is your anti-virus cannot protect you from opening an infected eMail.
Beware any eMails that have this in the heading or Subject: happy2008.exe, happy-2008.exe, happynewyear2008.exe. Or ‘UHavePostCard’.
If you find yourselves being inadvertently directed to a web site that has the following address: newyearcards2008.com, close down your browser IMMEDIATELY.
If despite the warnings and your precautions you find your computer is running excessively slowly on New Year’s Day or shortly thereafter, then here are two actions you can take.
Download Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en
I know this is a long URL, but it will take you straight to the sight. The download times are:
dial-up, about 20 minutes.
DSL/Cable, about 5 minutes
I wish all my friends and Bulldog readers a Very Happy 2008. A “Storm” Free, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
If you have any questions about this or other computer problems you can eMail me @ guygriscom@gmail.com or for any of my new or former Bulldog articles you can find them at:
http://bulldogtipstricks.blogspot.com/

I Need That File!

How To Store Files On The Web.
For Windows 9.xx to Windows XP/Vista Mac Tip #0011

I often hear from clients words such as, “my machine is not working properly” or “I broke my computer” and occasionally my favourite, “I broke the internet.” The most devastating though are situations where because of drastic circumstances - a fire or theft – there is simply no technical way to retrieve important information.
In recent months we have learned how to find out what is on our machines and how to find specific files that are on our machines.
It is always a good idea to have backups of your files on CD’s, DVD’s or better yet an external hard drive. But is there a way to back up essential files without any hardware or special equipment? Indeed there is if you have an internet connection – and trust me on this you cannot break the internet.
This tip is for those essential things or information you know are important. The stuff that you would be ‘lost’ without.
It is also for the things that are convenient to have a copy of; your eMail settings, browser favourites and the like along with files essential to either your work and/or well being.
But how to access information anywhere? Not just in the event of loss or accident. If you are away from home unexpectedly and need some information you know you have at home on your machine. Is there any way to store essential files in the event you may need them? And be able to retrieve them from just about anywhere? The answer is yes, and can be surprisingly easy.
I will give you a solution which requires minimum effort and of course comes for my favourite price; free.
Back in the July issue, I gave a tip for the best free eMail. In the event you are like me and even if you still had the old paper around, it might be anywhere and especially these days may have gone up in smoke lighting the essential home fire. So, I will provide a link. The G-Mail article is available at this address: http://bulldogtipstricks.blogspot.com/2007/06/best-free-email.html.
Now, if you use Yahoo or even TDS or Verizon you also will have included in your monthly subscription a “web mail” account. The operable word here is ‘web’. Check with your ISP regarding how much space you are allocated. Some ISPs limit both the amount of space and the number of eMail accounts you can have. That is why I suggest you go with what I call a ‘free-mail’ account.
Though I suggest and recommend Google’s G-Mail, you can do this with any eMail account with web access. I recommend the ‘free-mail’ solutions G-Mail, Yahoo, HotMail or even AOL’s free internet mail. If you ever move or change ISP (Internet Service Provider) the minute you are no longer a paying client, they delete your on-line mail, not to mention your on-line identity.
Your free-mail accounts will be with you into a digital forever. Even if you don’t use an on-line mail programme now, I strongly recommend you sign up for one. You can create an account with your name or your business name now. It will insure you have that unique eMail address. If you never use it, hey it cost you zip, so you have lost nothing more than the 10 minutes it takes to sign up. And it may just come in handy even if it does not ‘save your life’ someday.
Now you have a place which offers free storage for up to 5 GBs and is accessible from any machine anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.
If you are writing a book or say have some special photographs or some confidential information that you might wish to use or whatever it is that is special and/or important to you, even with backups, take this added precaution. You may never need it but if you ever do you will be so relieved and grateful. Your small time investment will pay large dividends.
So how do you accomplish this task, how do you store essential and important files on the internet? Stunningly simple:
All you need to do is eMail copies of your files or documents or information or any file (dial-up users should only send smaller files one at a time) to your web-mail account. Then create a file folder or in G-Mail a ‘Label’ called “My Essential Files” or “Martha’s Book” or whatever. This simple process can be a god-send if your machine goes wonky or you are unexpectedly away from home and need to access your special information. You can even automate the filing process on G-Mail and most web-mail clients.
Some of my friends and family tell me they keep nothing essential or important on their computers. This is rarely true.
In my experience, those who have no important information on their computers are most likely to call with a desperate request. The “I lost my password, I cannot log on to my computer.” “I forgot the password for my on-line photo account, those are the only copies of my grandchildren I have”, etc.
If you lost the container/folder that your installation disks came in for an office or photo programme, do you know the key code for your licensed (and paid for) software? These are the kind of essential files I am talking about that even a casual user could benefit from having a backed up copy sitting on the web.
So, dear Bulldog readers, I strongly suggest you get in the habit of eMailing yourself. And yes, you can send yourself an eMail from your eMail address to your eMail address. Let me know if you found this useful or just have other computer related questions.
I can be contacted at: guygriscom@gmail.com. If you’d like to view any of my older columns or just want the hyper-links, just go to the online site: http://bulldogtipstricks.blogspot.com/.
‘Free-Mail’ Links:
G-Mail: http://mail.google.com/
Yahoo: https://mail.yahoo.com/
Hotmail: http://www.hotmail.com//
AOL: http://www.mail.aol.com//