The Internet Patrol

Microsoft this week has announced a newly-discovered vulnerability in its Windows Explorer for Windows 2000. When the vulnerability is triggered, someone wishing to exploit the vulnerability would be able to remotely execute code on the user’s system, the advisory explained. “A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that…

That gaping hole in Tiger’s Dashboard is no air vent – it’s a wide-open, highly exploitable security threat for users of Apple’s newest version of OS X for Mac. And we have Stephan.com’s Zaptastic and Goatse widgets to thank for showing us the big hole. For those of you who…

A new AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) virus is being reported, and this one sure is a friendly little guy. After taking over your AIM buddy list, it sends out instant messages to all of your friends, inviting them to visit a link to the website of The Harp, an Irish…

Firefox, which is by all accounts and measures a superb web-browser, recently celebrated their 25millionth download. Yes, you read that right – Firefox has been downloaded twenty-five million times, and in large part this is due not only to its excellent user interface, but its generally providing a much more…

In a surprise move today, a Federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s proposed “broadcast flag“. The broadcast flag is an anti-copying scheme for digital broadcasts which the FCC was trying to force on all consumers, and into all devices capable of receiving and recording a digital broadcast. The broadcast…

Ok, sure, it makes perfect sense, but still we were surprised to learn that a state entity – in this case the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and more specifically the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of General Services State Surplus Property Division – not only sells things on eBay, but is a genuine, bona fide eBay power seller. With 869 positive feedback responses in the past year, five neutral, and four negative.

Even before security became one of the top issues on the Internet, remembering passwords was a hassle, admit it. Far too many of us recycle the same password or few passwords, over and over, knowing that we shouldn’t, and hoping that nobody catches on to us, tricks us into revealing…

Most states in the United States have two legislative “houses”, a House of Representatives, and a Senate (although some states may call them something else). In many states the two houses are referred to as an “upper house” (the senate) and a “lower house”.

Yep, they’ve finally done it. Yahoo has matched Gmail’s watershed 1GB (gigabyte) of email storage. According to the splash screen at [Page no longer available – we have linked to the archive.org version instead] https://www.theinternetpatrol.com/brick-wall/, “By early May, all free Yahoo! Mail users will receive an email storage increase to…

The early reviews of Mac’s new Tiger have been mixed, to be sure. And in addition to the usual bugs, it seems that folks are really up in arms about the UI (User Interface). Indeed, enough people of sufficient clue are experiencing both issues and negative reactions to give Aunty…

Pity poor Brian Cartmell, CEO of SpamArrest. He has a tough job: going hat in hand from site to site saying “please take down the bad things you said about us.” Spam Arrest is the purveyor of an anti-spam challenge/response system. When someone sends email to a SpamArrest user, they…

A new version of the Sober worm, dubbed “Sober V” is using a new tactic to lure users into opening the email in which it lays in wait: free soccer tickets. Timing its launch with that of a genuine mailing campaign by FIFA, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, which…

As many of Aunty’s readers know, the State of Texas sued Vonage recently for, they claimed, failing to provide adequate instructions for signing up for 911 emergency telephone services. Hogwash! Now the State of Connecticut is pulling the same thing, suing Vonage claiming that “Vonage’s lack of disclosure was a…

Internet savvy teenagers are increasingly turning to the Internet to buy their cigarettes. It makes sense – there are few if any laws regulating the sale of tobacco to minors across the Internet, and due to the interstate nature of such transactions, local state laws are ill-equipped to deal with…

Remember the Florida veterinarian who caught the wardriver jacked into his wireless Internet access outside his home? Has Aunty impressed upon you strongly enough yet that wardriving is serious, and wardriving can happen to you? This is, of course, the reason that we now have products on the market like…