Email Scams and Phishing
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: May 18, 2009
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It ought to go without saying that one should never believe anything at face value.
Especially on the internet.
However, the internet is also there to help you. Here’s a few useful website links you might wish to bookmark.
As Rogues Gallery of Suspicious e-mails says, “It’s important to know that banks do not send out email messages to “Dear Customer” asking you to confirm your security details. If you receive a message from your bank, building society, insurance company, or from PayPal, telling you about some new security update, it is generally a hoax! The emails are most likely to be from crooks impersonating the bank and hoping to fool you into divulging your personal security data so they can steal your money!”
The millersmiles.co.uk website contains a comprehensive database of scam emails including, “…a wide variety of scams from eBay, Paypal, AOL, Yahoo, Earthlink, MSN and Hotmail through to Barclays, Citibank, Nat West, Nationwide, Fleet, the FDIC and Halifax Banks.”.
Get Safe Online states, “Hoax emails, such as chain letters or bogus petitions, are sometimes nothing more than a nuisance but they can be used by spammers to collect email addresses and some are more sinister. Learn how to spot a hoax.”.
Hoax-Slayer is, “…dedicated to debunking email hoaxes, thwarting Internet scammers, combating spam, and educating web users about email and Internet security issues.”
What is Phishing?
According to Wikipedia: “In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.”
The Links
• millersmiles.co.uk
• Rogues Gallery of Suspicious e-mails
• Get Safe Online
• Hoax-Slayer
• Phishing defined at Wikipedia
Windows Vista Performance and Tuning
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: April 30, 2009
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Free Windows Vista Ebook
Microsoft has produced a simple and useful guide to help you improve the performance of Vista on your computer. Moreover it’s a free download!
Windows Vista Performance and Tuning Overview
“Windows Vista and SP1 focus on delivering greater performance and overall system responsiveness by striking a balance between speed and responsiveness. This guide looks at the following areas of performance improvement:”
• Changes that help your computer feel more responsive.
• Using hardware to boost your computer’s memory.
• Making changes that help your computer to start much faster.
• Making the computer more reliable and help increase performance.
• Monitoring performance to prevent problems.
Download The Guide
You can download this easily understood and clearly laid out 14-page PDF document directly from Microsoft by visiting → this page.
Adobe Reader Security News
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: April 29, 2009
More vulnerabilities discovered in Adobe Reader
Certain security issues have been discovered in Adobe’s software Acrobat Reader which have the potential to allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code in PDF files using JavaScript.
First a quote from Adobe, then the easy fix that takes only a few seconds to stay safe.
“Adobe is aware of reports of a potential vulnerability in Adobe Reader 9.1 and 8.1.4, as described in SecurityFocus BID 34736. We are currently investigating, and will have an update once we get more information.”
“Adobe plans to provide updates for all affected versions for all platforms to resolve this issue.”
“We are working on a development schedule for these updates and will post a timeline as soon as possible”
“We are currently not aware of any reports of exploits in the wild for this issue. To mitigate the issue disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader.”
The Fix!
To switch off JavaScript in Adobe Reader
• Open Adobe Reader
• Select the Edit tab on the toolbar at the top of the screen.
• Select Preferences
• Select JavaScript
• Now, untick the box that enables JavaScript (see image below).
How to disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader
StartupMonitor
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: April 10, 2009
As a companion piece to the previous software recommendation, Starter, we bring you StartupMonitor.
Mike Lin, the software author, probably does the best job of explaining the usefullness of this indispensable little application, so it’s over to him…
StartupMonitor is a small utility that runs transparently (it doesn’t even use a tray icon) and notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup. It prevents annoying programs from registering themselves behind your back.
StartupMonitor does not require Startup Control Panel, but it complements it nicely. When you choose not to allow a program to register itself, the program’s entry becomes disabled in Startup Control Panel, so you can go back and enable it later if necessary. StartupMonitor watches the Start Menu’s Startup folders and the Run entries in the registry.
StartupMonitor works on all modern versions of Windows through XP. I haven’t tried it on Windows Vista yet.
→ StartupMonitor can be found here.
pcdoctor.co.uk rating: Recommended!
Don’t Get Me Started
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: April 10, 2009
- In: Security| Software| news| pcdoctor.co.uk
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Click to enlarge
Starter is a startup manager. It allows you to view, manage and tweak all the programs that startup automatically each time you switch on your PC.
Not one for the complete novice, we recommend that you make sure you know what you’re doing before diving in and changing everything, however it is doubtless one of the must-have pieces of software to have on your PC. Here’s what the author has to say…
As a primary purpose, Starter allows one to view and manage all the programs that are starting automatically whenever operating system is loading. It enumerates all the hidden registry entries, startup folders’ items and some of the initialization files, so that the user could choose to temporarily disable selected entries, edit them, create new, or delete them permanently.
Secondary purpose is to list all the running processes with possibility to view extended process’ information (such as used DLLs, memory usage, thread count, priorities etc.), and to terminate selected process (even a Windows NT service, having enough access rights).
Another one is Windows’ services (and drivers) manager with some advanced features.
→ Track it down here.
pcdoctor.co.uk rating: Recommended!
Supercharge the Internet with Firefox
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: April 10, 2009
Fireox, the Browser That Has It All
Firefox has security, speed and new features that will change the way you use the Web.
The Web is all about innovation, and Firefox 3 sets the pace with dozens of new features, including the smart location bar, one-click bookmarking and blindingly fast performance.
• Instant Web Site ID
Avoid online scams, unsafe transactions and forgeries with simple site identity.
• Password Manager
Remember site passwords without ever seeing a pop-up.
• Parental Controls
Enforce parental control settings you’ve entered on Windows Vista with Firefox 3—stop unwanted downloads and more. Firefox’s intuitive design keeps you from second-guessing your setup.
• One-Click Bookmarking
Bookmark, search and organize Web sites quickly and easily.
• Improved Performance
View Web pages faster, using less of your computer’s memory.
• Smart Location Bar
Find the sites you love in seconds—enter a term for instant matches that make sense.
• Full Zoom
See any part of a Web page, up close and readable, in seconds.
→ Read more about these Firefox features in detail here.
→ Get Firefox Help & Tutorials here.
→ Download and start using here.
pcdoctor.co.uk rating: Recommended!
www.pcdoctor.co.uk
Posted by: pcdoctoronline on: August 16, 2008
- In: Security| Software| news| pcdoctor.co.uk
- 1 Comment
If you require free computer support or pc help & tips, these well repected web links are sure to be of benefit to you:
BBC WebWise | Families: Using Computers & The Internet | Computer Privacy & Security | General Computer Help | Google Search UK | MSN Search UK | BBC Tech News
www.pcdoctor.co.uk Computer Repairs & Technical Support From pcdoctor.co.uk for Home Users & Small Business Owners
