Archive for January, 2007
More on Vista content protection
In a previous post, I pointed out Peter Gutmann’s analysis of the problems that he saw coming from Vista’s stringent Content Protection Policy (CPP). Gutmann’s article was widely read and raised some very troubling issues. A Microsoft blog has appeared that presents a FAQ about CPP. Over at ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes discusses some of the [...]
Windows XP Consumer versions get extended support
Microsoft’s intentions for future support of consumer versions of Windows XP have been none too clear. Up to now, it appeared that support for the Home version might end this year. (Support for Windows XP Professional was being continued until at least 2009.) Home PC owners who were thinking that they might have to change [...]
Serious Trojan horse problem
The most serious outbreak of malware-carrying email in a while is now going on. Over 300,000 computers are already infected. I have received quite a few of the so-called “Storm worm” messages. Be alert for emails with various subjects that look like sensational news headlines. There are also other variants, such as stock [...]
Speed up Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP
One of the new features of IE7 is a phishing filter. Unfortunately, checking sites to see if they are possible phishers can slow down your computer. Sites with multiple frames can even use so much CPU time that the system crawls. Microsoft has a patch to help with the problem at this link. Microsoft says
[...]
Perspective from another source
Caroline Baum is not involved with technology except as a user. She is a well-known financial commentator and writer for Bloomberg. Her professional expertise is the Federal Reserve, not Microsoft so I find her comments about computer subjects to be very interesting as an example of a savvy but non-technical computer user. Here is what [...]
Vista SP1
Vista is still a few days off from a consumer release but Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft has finally owned up to a time frame for a release of Service Pack 1, which she says is the second half of 2007. Sounds like Christmas, 2007 might be a good time for a new computer.
A grim outlook for Internet security
Roger Grimes is a security professional who writes a regular column at InfoWorld. His latest column paints a very bleak picture of Internet security. He begins:
One third of all U.S. adults had their identity and financial information stolen or lost in 2006 alone. Bogus messages make up 90 percent of the e-mail traffic on the [...]
Don’t call us, we’ll call you
We all get bombarded with messages that we do not want- phone solicitations, spam email, junk snail mail, and so on. Today’s NY Times has an article with some suggestions on how to cut down on all these unwanted intrusions. There are places that maintain lists of people who want to be left alone. [...]
How to defend against ActiveX and other malware exploits- Part II
In this post. I will discuss software methods for isolating the browser so that any malware cannot be passed to the rest of the system. The software makes use of virtualization methods or a “sandbox”. I have posted on this subject previously and will give some added details.
A “sandbox” is an isolated part of memory. [...]
New review of Windows Vista
In his regular Thursday consumer electronics column in the Wall Street Journal today, Walter Mossberg gives a useful review of Vista. His conclusion is, “Worthy, Largely Unexciting”. Here are some of his observations:
There are some big downsides to this new version of Windows. To get the full benefits of Vista, especially the new look and [...]
How to defend against ActiveX and other malware exploits- Part I
ActiveX and other malware exploits are a serious enough problem that home PC owners should be aware of all the defensive measures that can be taken. Although a properly updated anti-virus program is one line of defense, it is not sufficient to protect against a constant stream of new threats. So I am going to [...]