Online Computer Tips Monthly Newsletter - July 2009
Latest Virus/Security Alerts:
Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen
Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen is a generalized description of a password-stealing Trojan horse program with many versions.
It injects code from a remote site to steal information from its victims, including cached passwords, login credentials for web sites as well as data in certificates and cookies. It has some backdoor functionality and may record keystrokes.
It comes in the form of an email from various senders with different subjects. Some of these include airlines, UPS and Amazon.com.
Trojan-Spy.Win32.Zbot.gen has been known to create the following folders:
%SYSTEM%\WSNPOEM
%SYSTEM%\WSNPOEMA
C:\Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Application Data\wsnpoem
%SYSTEM%\twain_32
%SYSTEM%\lowsec
If you get any suspicious email either delete it or be sure not to give out any personal information if you are not sure about who is requesting it. Almost all companies wont request personal information via email.
June's Poll Results:
Would you buy a Mac if it was as cheap as a PC?
- 45%
No
Tip of the Month:
Taskbar Shuffle
Taskbar Shuffle is a free utility that allows you drag and drop your open programs on the Windows taskbar so you can rearrange them in any order you like. Many people like to have their programs in a certain order on their taskbar and sometimes you need to re-open one of them which puts it at the very right position of the taskbar.
With Taskbar Shuffle you can put that program back in its original position rather than close all of your programs and open them back up in order. Taskbar Shuffle works with 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows and can also reorder your groupings of icons if you use icon groups.
With the natural feel of pen-on-paper, Bamboo plugs into your computer and makes it quick and easy for you to get your point across. Whether you're preparing a slide presentation or making a unique collage of your favorite photos, Wacom's newest line of pen tablets gives you more control with patented pen technology that puts the ability to personalize your work right in your hands. Now there's a simple, easy, and more natural way to bring your big ideas to life. Use Bamboo to transform your thoughts into powerful digital communications. Combine Bamboo with Mac Inkwell or Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 to handwrite email, enter text by hand anywhere typed text is accepted, navigate your desktop with a flick of the pen, and more. Precise control and 512 levels of pressure sensitivity on the pen Easy scrolling and zooming with finger-sensitive Touch Ring Patented, battery-free pen with customizable buttons for comfort and reliability Detachable USB cable unplugs from your computer and your tablet for easy storage and transport
Works with new handwriting recognition, inking and pen features in Windows Vista (all editions but Home Basic) and Apple operating systems (OS X)
Supports widescreen displays and has a textured work surface for a natural pen-on-paper feel
High resolution and report rate for outstanding accuracy
Precise control with an active area of 21 square inches and 512 levels of pressure sensitivity on the pen
Easy scrolling and zooming with finger-sensitive Touch Ring
Patented, battery-free pen with customizable buttons for comfort and reliability
Detachable USB cable unplugs from your computer and your tablet for easy storage and transport
Advertisement:
Important Windows and Office patches:
Excel Virus Vulnerabilities
There have been several threats to Microsoft Excel this month on various versions of Excel. Microsoft has put out patches for the threats so make sure to run your Microsoft Update or Office Update to make sure you are covered.
(MS09-021) Microsoft Office Excel Record Pointer Corruption Vulnerability (969462)
A vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel may allow for remote code execution attacks. The flaw is specific to the processing of Excel files which include a malformed record object. Exploitation can be achieved via a specially-crafted Excel file. Upon exploitation, an attacker can gain full control of the compromised system.
(MS09-021) Microsoft Office Excel Object Record Corruption Vulnerability (969462)
A vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel may allow for remote code execution attacks. The flaw is specific to the processing of Excel files which include a malformed record object. Exploitation can be achieved via a specially-crafted Excel file. Upon exploitation, an attacker can gain full control of the compromised system.
(MS09-021) Microsoft Office Excel Array Indexing Memory Corruption Vulnerability (969462)
A vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel may allow or remote code execution attacks. The flaw is specific to the improper parsing of the Excel spreadsheet file format. Exploitation can be achieved via a specially-crafted Excel file. Upon exploitation an attacker can gain full control of a compromised system.
(MS09-021) Microsoft Office Excel String Copy Stack-Based Overrun Vulnerability (969462)
A vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel may allow or remote code execution attacks. The flaw is specific to the improper parsing of the Excel spreadsheet file format. Exploitation can be achieved via a specially-crafted Excel file. Upon exploitation an attacker can gain full control of a compromised system.
(MS09-021) Microsoft Office Excel Field Sensitization Memory Corruption Vulnerability (969462)
A vulnerability in Microsoft Office Excel may allow for remote code execution attacks. The flaw is specific to the improper handling of Excel file which contain malformed record objects. Exploitation can be achieved via a specially-crafted Excel file.
Ever wondered how your web browser gets you to your favorite websites? Check out this page on how web browsers work.
Readers Question of the Month:
How to clean out a dusty computer
Julie writes in with a Windows question
Q. Is there a way to make the words on websites bigger? Some of the sites have small text and its hard to read. Someone told me to lower my computer's resolution to make everything bigger but its only websites that are too small.
Answer: In Internet Explorer you can change the text size by going to the View menu and then choosing Text Size and selecting a bigger size. Keep in mind that this will apply to all web pages you go to. If you want to zoom in closer on certain pages you can hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and zoom in and out using your wheel button on your mouse.
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year it code will be open-source, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. Its designed to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web.
Google Chrome will be running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform..
