Monday, April 16, 2012



TAKING A SLIGHT DETOUR FROM "DOOM & GLOOM"


Actually, I'll have some "Doom & Gloom" virus info towards the end of this post, but I thought I'd put my into-the-near-future goggles on and see what is in store for us this year.


First on my list is a plan Walmart spear-headed to turn your DVD's into digital, streaming video (followed by Dreamworks this week). The idea is to get rid of all the clutter an space your DVD and Blu-Rays use, for streaming video copies available via (insert company name here) their "Cloud". I'm not sure I'm ready to turn in something physical for something that isn't and let a not-quite-security-proof concept called the "Cloud", take care of things for me. What are your thoughts about this?


Next on the list are SSD drives (solid-state drives which are much like a very large USB flash drive, only taking place of your motorized, platter spinning hard disk you now use). 60 GB SSD's are now in the $80-$95 price range, which would make your PC/Laptop boot time really snap. Would I trust one of these to store vital data, photo's, music, or movies on? No. For a MS Windows boot drive - yes.


Firefox 3.6 users pay attention: Mozilla will stop upgrades and security fixes to this version by next week. It makes no sense for you to be at 3.6 at this point and upgrade to the latest, most secure version available, which is Firefox 11 (yes, ELEVEN). While not a great analogy, it's like using I.E. 6 when you can us I.E. 8 and be more secure while on the Internet.


A rough version of Windows 8 has been available for download for about a month now, and there are ways to use your iPad to remote connect into a PC running Windows 8 beta so you can see how it would work on a touch screen. Windows 8 (at this time) is supposed to come in 4 versions - Home, Business, ARM-Chip devices, and Large Enterprise.


Regarding the huge breach in Apples OS (600K and counting), APPLE has released a standalone removal program namedFlashback Malware Removal Tool, which the company says “removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware.” And if you have recently downloaded a new app to your iPhone or iPad, you may have come across APPLES new security layer, which makes you verify your login, password, come up with 3 security question/answers, and finally, give them an alternate email address for verification. Oh, and speaking of APPS....ADOBE has a Photoshop APP for both Android and IOS devices for $9.99.


On Trendmicro's Security Blog, they have discovered multi-threat Trojans that blend several variations within it's payload. Direct from their Blog: Days after Microsoft released six bulletins, we now have just spotted a number of Trojanized RTF files circulating in-the-wild. The said files are exploiting CVE-2012-0158, which is included in MS12-027. That particular bulletin affects a number of Microsoft programs, particularly versions of MS Office, Visual FoxPro, Commerce Server, BizTalk Server, as well as SQL Server." Read the rest of the story HERE.

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