August, 2003

If there are any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com

Bullet Points

  • Small Firms Shun Security

    Whether your firm is big or small, network security can never be ignored:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/32426.html

     

  • Blaster worm

    The recent worm virus makes it clear that way too many people aren't keeping their PCs secure.

    For example, the "Blaster" worm spread itself by email or by direct infection via unguarded network ports. Any good Anti-Virus tool, and some high-quality firewalls remove hostile inbound mail attachments. Any decent firewall can block the port probes that worms like this use to seek new local victims, totally closing off that avenue of infection.

    The Blaster worm was designed to take advantage of a Windows security hole for which a patch had been released (via a "Critical Update") a month before the worm surfaced! But clearly, huge numbers of systems were running unpatched, unprotected, and wide open; and millions of PCs were thus needlessly compromised.

    Of course, the usual "it's Microsoft's fault!" cry went up. And while some problems are Microsoft's fault, I don't see how we can blame this one on them. People whose PCs were infected in this outbreak had ignored a "Critical Update" AND/OR were running unprotected by firewalls AND/OR were running without up-to-date antivirus tools.

    How can you avoid these problems? The best way is to make sure you apply critical updates frequently, make sure your AntiVirus software is running properly and to install a firewall.

     

  • ...and W32.Sobig.F

    August has also been a big month for viruses. Many of us were bombarded with the Sobig virus (hundreds of infected emails with subject lines like "re: Thanks!" and "re: Wicked screensaver"). Sobig isn't new, but a variant (Sobig.F, the sixth recorded version) has earned the moniker of "fastest spreading e-mail virus ever" since its release last week. SoBig propagates by sending itself to the addresses in the infected computer's address books and other files. The good news is that the worm is supposed to deactivate on September 10th. The bad news is that it affects all Windows systems and because of the sheer number of infections reported, Symantec has upgraded it from a Category 2 to a Category 3 threat.

    http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030825TB-Sobig

    Symantec's security response can be found here:

    http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030825TB-Symantec

     

  • Internet Explorer Tricks

    Want to make Internet Explorer appear in full screen mode?

    1. Open Internet Explorer and go to a Web page.
    2. Press the F11 key on the keyboard. The Web page takes up the entire screen.
    3. Press F11 again to return the Internet Explorer window to its previous size

    Want to get rid of the "Links" toolbar in Internet Explorer?

    1. Right click on an empty area just right of the Help menu. You'll see that the "Links" entry has a checkmark next to it.
    2. Click the Links entry to remove the checkmark and the Links toolbar.
    3. Repeat the procedure if you want to get the links toolbar back.

    Want more viewing space in the Internet Explorer window?

    1. Click the View menu
    2. Point to Toolbars and click on Customize.
    3. Click the down arrow in the Text options drop down list box
    4. Select Selective text on right.
    5. Click the down arrow in the Icon options drop down list box
    6. Select Small icons.
    7. Click the Close button.

    Now you have small icons with only a few of them showing text, and a lot more room to view your Web pages.

    Prevent the Internet Explorer toolbars from moving around:

    1. Right click an empty area just to the right of the Help menu
    2. Click the Lock the Toolbars command.

    Has some scumware hijacked your browser settings? You can reinstate the default home and search pages with a single click.

    1. Click the Tools menu
    2. Click Internet Options.
    3. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Programs tab.
    4. On the Programs tab, click the Reset Web Settings button.

     

  • Customizing your XP Desktop Icons

    To change the look of the default icons on your XP desktop (My Computer, My Documents, etc.):

    1. Right click an empty space on the desktop
    2. Select Properties from the context menu.
    3. In the Display Properties box, click the Desktop tab.
    4. Click the Customize Desktop button.
    5. Choose the desktop icon you want to change, and click the Change Icon... button.
    6. Select an icon from those that are displayed, or click the Browse button to use an icon in a different location on your hard disk.
    7. Click OK.
    8. Click OK again to apply the change
    9. Close the Display Properties dialog box.

    Now your icon has a new look.

     

  • Google's New Calculator

    The Google search engine can now help you with your math. You can actually type equations and unit conversions in the search box and it will compute the result for you. For a list of every math function and unit of measure that Google's calculator supports, go here:

    http://dustgun.homeip.net/weird_stuff/google_convert.txt

     

  • Setting User Logon Hours (XP)

    If you are using Windows XP, here is how you can restrict the hours during which someone can access your computer:

    1. Click Start
    2. Click Run
    3. Type cmd to open a command prompt window.
    4. Type net user /time: For example, to set an account named intern to log on only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, type the following:
      net user intern /time:M-F,8am-5pm
      You can also use 24-hour time, in the following format: 08:00-20:00.

     

  • Get rid of Network Cable Unplugged message (XP)

    For you laptop users that often use your computer outside the office and disconnected from a network, here is how to disable the message in the system tray that tells you when your network cable is unplugged:

    1. Right click Start
    2. Select Properties from the context menu.
    3. On the Taskbar tab, click Hide inactive icons if it's not already checked.
    4. Click the Customize button.
    5. Scroll down to find the Local Area Connection: network cable is unplugged item (it will only appear here if it has displayed in the past).
    6. In the dropdown box that appears when you click the item, select Always Hide.
    7. Click Ok
    8. Click Apply
    9. Click Ok

     

  • What is a wireless "Hotspot?"

    Learn more about the explosion of wirelesss Internet connectivity and availability "on the fly" here:

    http://www.cnet.com/internet/0-3762-8-20797609-1.html?tag=st.co.1037.fs.3762-8-20797609-1&tag=fs

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