Author: The Internet Patrol
Unexpected Online Greeting Cards May Carry Trojan Horses
The SANS Institute’s Internet Storm Center (ISC) has issued a warning about Internet greeting cards or postcards which bear links leading to Trojan Horse programs. Like the original Trojan Horse, these salutations carry a cargo designed to infiltrate, in this case, your computer. Wrote the ISC’s Greg Shipley: We’re receiving…
Firefox “Lambda Replace Heap Memory” Security Flaw Reveals Sensitive User Information
A security flaw known as the “JavaScript Lambda Replace Heap Memory Disclosure Vulnerability” has been found in the popular Firefox web browser. Firefox is an open source web browser which is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux, and which has experienced significant adoption in the past 18 months. The…
Aunty’s Readers Sound Off About the FCC Broadcast Flag
As you might imagine, Aunty’s readers had lots to say about the FCC’s “broadcast flag”, which is a system which will be required in all devices capable of recording from television, signaling the presence of copyrighted material, effective July 1st of this year. A detailed account is available in our…
Our Readers Comment on the Windows KB891711 Update Crashing Problem
We’ve had lots of interesting comments about our article Screwed If You Do, Screwed If You Don’t – Windows Update Causes Crashes (KB891711), which talks about an update to Windows released early this year which seems to be causing more problems than it’s fixing. Here are some of the comments:…
Homemade iPod Mini “Tiny Machine” Ad by George Masters Takes Internet by Storm
iPod Mini fans do lots of interesting things with their tiny machines, but George Masters has taken it to a new art, literally. Masters has created the ultimate advertisement for his tiny machine, basing his homemade iPod Mini commercial on, appropriately enough, a song by ’80s pop group the “Darling…
Beware Modem Hijacking – NY First State to Outlaw This Act of Remote Thievery
Although modem hijacking (also known as “modem jacking”) is not entirely new, New York State is set to become the first state to outlaw the practice. Modem jacking is when someone hijacks your modem and uses it to make long distance (usually international) telephone calls, or calls to premium phone…
Podcast? The Who, What, When, Why, and Where of Podcasts and Podcasting
A new kid on the Internet block is the Podcast. It has gotten a lot of attention lately, but the majority of people have no idea what a Podcast, or podcasting, is. Many assume that it must have something to do with iPods (only partly true), and so must have…
MSpot: Cellphone Radio for Your Internet-Capable Cell Phone
With all the Internet nasties now available for all Internet-connected devices, Aunty thought that she’d also tell you about an Internet goody. MSPot is offering MSpot Radio, which is a service which delivers radio broadcast to your Internet-connected cellular phone! MSpot Radio is already online, with thirteen different channels of…
Free Citywide Wifi – User Boon or Starbucks Devil?
The city of Dayton, Ohio, has gone online with city-wide and city-sponsored free wifi. And Dayton is not the first city to do so. In Dayton, anyone within a mile square of the Dayton downtown area can connect to the Internet, completely free, through Dayton’s free wifi program. The program,…
Windows XP and 2000 Users Beware – New “High Risk” Flaws in Outlook and Internet Explorer
Newly discovered flaws in both Outlook and Internet Explorer (IE) were uncovered and announced over the weekend. The security holes are considered to be especially “high risk” in part because they require little to no user interaction in order for a third-party to exploit them. The security flaws exist in…
CAN-SPAM Smack Down for Spammers Hiding Behind Affiliates (Email Marketing)
A little-known but powerful clause in CAN-SPAM ensures that spammers cannot hide behind their affiliates to avoid CAN-SPAM liabilty. Prior to the passage of CAN-SPAM, people selling products which were being advertised by spam were often able to escape liability by saying “Hey, it wasn’t me who sent the email.”…
Buy a Geek Book – Get a geek T-Shirt Free!
ThinkGeek is offering a free t-shirt with any $10.00 purchase, this weekend only. Now, Aunty knows that your favourite source of information about the Internet and all its nasties is Aunty herself, but there are other worthy reads out there. In fact, Aunty herself has reviewed the fantastic Spam Kings,…
The ISPs Are Revolting! More ISPs Blocking Non-Native VoIP
Despite the FCC ruling that ISPs may not block VoIP, some ISPs are continuing to block VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services which do not originate with them. According to reports, ClearWire, a Washington state ISP, is now blocking Vonage, basing the action on their terms of service which allow…
Something’s Very Phishy – Microsoft Files Trademark Lawsuits Against 117 Phishers
Microsoft this week filed lawsuits against 117 phishers. Using trademark law, Microsoft is claiming trademark infringement by the phishers, based on the phishers creating copycat websites which mimicked Microsoft sites, and which were intended to trick users into believing that they were visiting a true Microsoft site. The phishers could…
A TIP Exclusive: Man with RFID in Hand Takes Your Questions!
As our readers know, we reported earlier this week on Amal Graafstra, the Washington man who had an RFID chip implanted in his left hand. With the RFID chip in his hand, Graafstra intends to automatically unlock his car and house doors, log in to his computer system, and more….
