Microsoft Buys Anti-Spyware Company

Microsoft purchased Giant Software Company on Thursday. Giant Software Company is a startup that has created a popular anti-spyware program. Most people know the program by the name of I Hate Spam, although this is not the program that is marketed by Giant Software. They licensed the product to another company that sells it under that name. In fact there is now a legal battle going on between Microsoft and the other company. It seems that the other company owns partial rights to various components of the program. This should be interesting.

Last year Microsoft purchased an anti-virus company. It is expected that they will introduce an anti-virus, anti-spyware program sometime before mid-2005. I expect that it will be a paid product instead of a free add in. The anti-monopoly thing will probably insure that. Besides, Microsoft could use another revenue stream!

Sprint To Purchase Nextel

First it was Cingular buying AT&T Wireless to form the largest wireless carrier and now Sprint is purchasing Nextel (as long as all the regulators agree), to form the third largest wireless carrier. Verizon is in the middle.

I thought the Cingular/AT&T deal was probably a good idea. They have compatible systems and AT&T is really lost lately. Unfortunately, the merger will be a negative for us in Connecticut as part of the deal was a requirement that they divest some of the properties. Connecticut was one of those. In Connecticut AT&T Wireless was sold to AllTel .... Who? .....Great!?

Sprint/Nextel is a different story. They do not have compatible systems and really have totally different clients. Sprint is mostly consumer oriented and Nextel is business oriented for the most part with its push to talk function the biggest feature for its business customers. Sprint has been unable to get its push to talk functions to gather steam. Time will tell but Nextel customers better keep their eyes open, this is going to be a rough ride.

Verizon will not stay idol. Keep your eyes on them.

Spam The Spammer?

Lycos Europe (an internet Service Provider) is offering its customers a free program that bombards known spam servers with a stream of garbage that is intended to slow the server down enough to make it difficult to send the quantity of messages that it needs to send out. The idea is that if enough people do this the spammers will give up I guess.

It won't work, and I suspect that some legal action could be generated by this. I don't think you'll see this program available for long. I do think you will see Lycos's own servers bombarded by spammers and hackers.

The best way to stop spam? Stop buying the stuff! Did I tell you the story of the spammer that made $24 MILLION in 4 years?

Test Your Backups

When was the last time you tested your backup tapes? What do I mean by test? I mean actually read files back from the tape. There is no other way to be confident that you can restore files in case of a disaster.

This process will accomplish 2 things. First, it will insure your backup process is doing what it is supposed to be doing. And second, it will insure that you or your IT staff refresh your memories on how to restore files, which just may come in handy if disaster strikes. I suggest you run this process 2 to 4 times per year.

Before you test your backups make sure you know what you are doing. You don't want to overwrite your accounting data with information from 3 months ago.

A Spammer Gets Canned

Jeremy Jaynes has been convicted and now sentenced under Virginia's state law against spamming. He was sentenced to 9 years in jail! Think that's a lot? He made more than $24 Million sending millions of spam messages. Yes, that's $24,000,000. With those types of dollars it's easy to see why people get involved with spam. I hope this is the first of many long term sentences that may put a little fear in these guys.

Don't Risk Your Life!

As everyone is aware, there is a serious shortage of flu vaccine in the US. Because we are working with so many health care organizations have seen first hand how this is affecting the public. People are very concerned for their health.

Unfortunately, this type of situation causes people to do whatever they can to find a way to protect themselves. Con artists are acutely aware of these situations and will do whatever they can to take advantage of the situation. We are now seeing offers for the flu vaccine on the Internet. Some are offering to provide information on where to get the vaccine, for a fee of course. And some are offering "the vaccine" at prices of up to $600.00 per dose.

The best case scenario here is credit card fraud. The con artist will get your credit card info and never send any product, but instead use the card info. The worst case scenario is that old or contaminated vaccine is delivered or worse yet, some other substance is delivered. Given the health situation of those most needing the vaccine, this could be very serious if not lethal.

Whatever your thoughts are on purchasing medications over the Internet, this is one case that should be avoided. These people are con artists. Your life or the life of a loved one could be at stake. Don't take that chance!

Remember "The Net"?

A few years ago there was a movie called "The Net" that was about a company that was creating viruses and spreading them over the Internet. The company actually sold Internet security software. They were creating their own demand so to speak. Well, someone besides me must have seen the movie.

Click Here to read about a company that is spreading Spyware in order to sell...guess what... Spyware removal software.

I love the guy's response. I hope the FTC does make an example of him.

Dell Recalling Laptop Power Cords

About 990,000 adapters are affected by the recall.

They were sold between September 1998 and February 2002 for use with some of Dell's Latitude, Precision, and Inspiron notebooks, and are marked with the name "Dell" and the part numbers "P/N 9364U," P/N 7832D" or "P/N 4983D," according to the CPSC.

Not all such adapters are being recalled, according to the Dell: owners should contact the company to find out whether their adapter is affected. If it is, the company advises them to stop using the device, and send it back for free replacement.

More information can be found here.

HIPAA Security Seminar Wednesday

We are holding a HIPAA Security seminar on Wednesday 9/29 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Waterbury. The seminar will begin at 8:30am and run until 12:30pm. We will be reviewing each requirement of the Security Rule which goes into effect 4/20/05. It will be an interactive session with practical solutions to implementing the requirements. The fee for Clients with active Support Contracts is $45.00 per person. The fee for all others is $85.00 per person. Further information is available at our office at 800-897-7002.

CMS 2004 ICD9's Need To Be Installed

For all our health care Clients: The 2004 CMS ICD9 updates have been released. These updates must be installed by October 1st, but should not be installed too long before then. Medicare requires that Final Claims contain the ICD codes of the RAPs. Any RAPs submitted on or after 10/1 must use the new codes.

We have the latest ICD9 files for our Misys and McKesson Clients. For those clients that we have VPN access to, we will install the updates on the evening of September 30th. We will notify you before we perform the installation. Questions can be referred to me at the office or via e-mail.

SP2 Proving To Be Interesting

As I have mentioned before, we have been testing Windows XP Service Pack 2 for some time now. Overall our experience has been good. However, we are finding some issues. For instance, SP2 breaks Norton Antivirus, both the retail and Corporate versions. There are patches for both products that correct the problem.

The built in Firewall and Pop Up blocker work fine but do cause some issues that some users may have problems with. Some Websites use Pop Ups as part of their site navigation. The user may get confused when things are not happening on a website that used to happen before. The problem is easily cured but may cause problems for some.

The problems we have seen with SP2 so far have been minor. However, we do expect more. We will begin testing at Client sites next week. So we'll see what happens!

Windows XP To Be Replaced In 2006

After several delays and many slipped dates, Microsoft has announced that Longhorn, the code name for the next version of the Windows desktop operating system will ship in 2006. In order to meet this deadline they will remove several features and release them in subsequent service packs. Longhorn has been touted as a major new operating system. It will utilize many new technologies and sport a new user interface. We expect to be beta testing the new operating system sometime in 2005.

If all goes well, the new server operating system is expected to ship in 2007. I wouldn't hold my breath though. Microsoft has had a lot of trouble keeping with schedules in the last couple of years. It may have something to do with all the law suits. Several more have been announced this week from cities and counties in California. I guess where there's money there's law suits.

About My Trip To Chicago

I spent most of last week at the CMP XChange Conference in Chicago. CMP is a media company that publishes several magazines targeted towards IT solution providers. They get all the major manufacturers and distributors to sponsor the event. Then they invite companies similar to ours to attend and they even pick up the tab. This is the second XChange I have been to and generally I find them to be fun and useful.

One of the best things about the event for me is meeting with other solution providers similar to ourselves. Attendees vary from one man operations to $100 million companies. However, the largest population is companies around our size. It's interesting to talk with owners of similar businesses and find that they have similar issues that we deal we on a day to day basis. (Surprise!) It's also interesting to see that we generally all see the same trends happening in the industry and are looking at ways to help us guide our Clients through these trends over the next few years. I'll have more about that later.

It was also good to meet with the major vendors as well as some newcomers. There are some pretty cool products just becoming available. Many of these may be of interest to our Clients. More about that later.

I had a great time and hope to be invited again. More about that later!

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Released

Last Friday Microsoft began rolling out the long awaited Windows XP SP2. The rollout is being controlled because of the possible complications with installing SP2 as well as the fact that they didn't want to bring their update servers to their knees with 100 million users trying to get the update at the same time.

The update is loaded with security features, has easier wireless network setup features, and several modifications to Internet Explorer, including a pop up blocker. The main concern with the service pack is the security changes. When you install SP2 a software firewall is turned on by default. This WILL cause some problems with some applications.

We are advising that all Clients implement SP2. However, we suggest your rollout be controlled and staged to minimize problems. We have been and will continue to test SP2 to determine where problem areas may come up.

If you have Windows Auto Update turned on you may want to disable it for a short period until you are ready to install SP2. If you do this, make sure you manually install any other critical updates that Microsoft may release. If you are running Microsoft CRM do not install SP2 until you install an update for CRM.

Microsoft Releases Offices 2003 Service Pack 1

Microsoft released Office 2003 Service Pack 1 yesterday.  The service pack bundles security updates, bug fixes, and product enhancements.  Outlook 2003 gets an update for its spam filter and OneNote 2003 gets a whole list of useful enhancements.  We are currently evaluating the service pack and suggest Clients either wait for our OK or test the service pack on a limited number of workstations before rolling the service pack out.  We will have the service pack available on CD for those with slow Internet connections or many machines.

Virus Idiots Still At Work

There are yet another group of emails containing viruses circulating.   These emails purport to show Osama bin Laden committing suicide or a suicide note created by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Real slick stuff! 

New Mydoom Virus Variant Spreading Fast

A new version of the mydoom family of viruses is spreading rapidly today.  The virus is spread though an email attachment.  The subject line of the email will vary but the body will indicate that the users domain has been detected to have a virus.  It will request that the user opens the enclosed attachment for instructions on how to clean the virus. 

Due to the way this virus is constructed, search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc have been hit very hard today causing serious slow downs and some times prohibiting access to their sites.

Users should be made aware of this virus as soon as possible.

New Look and Features For Blog

As you can see, I have made some changes to our Blog.  Now that Google owns the servers that host Blogspot they have added some new features.  I have changed the template that our Blog uses.  I think it is simpler and therefore easier to read.  One of the new features is the ability to use different fonts and colors.  I'm sure you'll see some of that!  You can now comment on any Blog post simply by clicking on the comments link at the end of each post.  You can see comments from other as well.  And the SSGI Blog is now syndicated meaning you can use an RSS reader to access the Blog and get notified when new posts are published.  More about that later.  I hope you like this new format and find the features useful.

Microsoft To Release Windows XP Service Pack

Sometime in August we expect that Microsoft will release a long awaited service pack for Windows XP.  Service Pack 2 will include many security updates and unfortunately is expected to cause some problems.  The built in Windows Firewall will be turned on by default, and while firewalls are generally good things, it is expected that some users will have problems with some applications, although nothing that should be disasterous.
 
We have been running the early releases of Sevice Pack 2 for several months and find it pretty stable.  We suggest that if you are planning to install the update yourself you test it on non-production devices before you roll it out.  Clients on our Maintenance Plan will have the update installed by us during the following maintence cycle after the product is released.

FTC Won't Create "Do Not Spam" List

For several months the FTC has been under pressure to create an E-mail "Do Not Spam" list similar to the "Do Not Call" list created for marketing phone calls. The FTC has decided that such a list will not work and may in fact be counterproductive to the issue.

I agree 100%. Spammers are not easily tracked down. They change names, ISPs, computers, etc. They will not think twice about ignoring the list. In fact my bet would be within 48 hours of the creation of such a list some hacker will have the list available for purchase. The Internet is not the phone system (yet), the same tools do not apply. Although not perfect, I think the sender identification methods currently being tested by major Internet players will be a much better solution to this problem.

Think Your DSL/Cable Internet Is Fast?

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have successfully transferred data across Internet2 (the next generation Internet) at speeds of 6.25 Gigabits per second. This is roughly 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection!

Imagine what can be done with data transfer at that speed! Moving voice and data around would not even scratch the surface of the bandwidth available. Live video over the Internet will be a reality. Where does it end? Who knows, but tests are being planned for Terabit speeds. For the green horns among us, a gigabit is 1 billion bits per second and a terabit is 1 trillion bits per second.

Just imagine the Spam at those speeds!

New Microsoft Support Policy Does Not Include NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0 is not covered under the new extended support policy announced by Microsoft. Support for NT 4.0 will cease at the end of this year. Still running NT 4.0 on your servers? Time to move forward!

Microsoft Extending Product Support - Again

Yesterday Microsoft announced that it is extending mainstream support of its current and future products by at least an additional 2 years. This means that products will be supported for at least 10 years from the time they are released. The reason for the change is to insure that businesses have plenty of time to plan migrations to new products. Of course for some companies even 10 years might not be enough!

The policy change means that a business or developer product (not personal or hardware) will be covered under mainstream support for 5 years from its release date or 2 years after the release of its replacement, whichever is longer.

This is good news at a time where security updates are critical to keeping business networks safe. Microsoft should be commended for listening and acting upon customer concerns.

SBC Union Workers On Strike

The CAW Union has started a 4 day strike against SBC which is expected to end on Tuesday. SBC has implemented a contigency plan with management and other temporary workers trying to fill the void. For most of us here in Connecticut this strike could affect our phone service and for many could affect their Internet access. At this point there does not appear to be any major service issues with either. If you do have a problem you can call the normal service numbers. Expect that delays may occur in new installations. If you are scheduled for a new installation you may want to call SBC to find out the status.

Did I mention I switched my home phone service to cable Monday? It's great!

Microsoft May Security Update Released (MS04-015)

Microsoft released the May Security Update on the 11th. The MS04-015 update consists of one Important fix. The fix is for Win XP and Win 2003 machines only. It has to do with the Windows internal help system. The user must take several steps in order for the issue to be triggered.

The Important designation is below the Critical designation. Critical issues should be resolved immediately as potential serious consequences exist. Important issues should be resolved in a timely manner as a less potential serious threat exists.

More information can be found here.

Teenager Admits To Being Sasser Author

The teenager arrested Friday has admitted to being the author of all 4 known variants of the Sasser virus that caused Internet havoc last week. He also admitted to creating several variants of the Netsky virus as well.

How did he get caught? Fancy technical work? No. Someone turned him in. Maybe the $250,000 reward Microsoft put up worked.

Sasser Worm Suspect Arrested

A high school student was arrested by German authorities Friday. The 18 year old man is suspected of creating the Sasser Worm which infected over a million computers and cost millions of dollars of damage, even including causing the delays and cancellations of airline flights in some areas. Information on the arrest is minimal as the story is just breaking. I'll post more information here as it becomes available.

Your Laptop Is Being Repaired ....By UPS!

I really like UPS. Maybe it's because they have been extremely reliable over the 21 years we have been using them. Maybe it's because every driver we have had delivering to us has always been a professional, maybe it's because they just do it right. I have been reading a bit about UPS over the last year and have been intrigued by their business direction. I learned that most of the cars in the auto industry are actually delivered by UPS and that they are managing whole warehouses for companies. They have created a whole division called Supply Chain Solutions that helps their Clients with handling the products that UPS used to just deliver.

Now they are repairing Toshiba laptop computers. They will pick up the broken laptop, send it to their Louisville repair center (staffed with technicians with an average of 7 years experience), fix it and return it to you normally within 1 business day. If they need parts they will get them fast via their own shipping network. Think this is strange? They already do this for cell phones, printers, scanners, projectors, PDAs, etc. You just didn't know it.

UPS is a very good company making some very interesting investments to enable them to provide expanded services to their Clients.

Another Serious Internet Issue

For the second day in a row a serious Internet security issue has been announced. This flaw is specifically related to Cisco routers which many companies use to connect to the Internet. This flaw could allow hackers to crash the Cisco router therefore breaking the company's Internet connection or cause websites to go off line temporarily. Cisco has already created a patch. Any company using a Cisco router to connect to the Internet should install the patch to avoid the problem from occurring. Call our office if you have any questions.

Possible Big Problems For The Internet

On Thursday a computer researcher will reveal a flaw he has discovered in TCP/IP, the basic language of the Internet. He actually discovered the flaw last year. Since the discovery, hardware and software vendors have been scrambling to create patches for their products to mitigate the problem. The flaw can allow a hacker to interrupt Internet communications at will. This could be a very serious problem. It is anticipated that after the presentation on Thursday hackers will know how to exploit the flaw "within minutes".

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a security alert which can be found here. This flaw must be mitigated by Internet Service Providers and router vendors. It has very little to do with individual computers on the Internet.

TCP/IP, the underlying language of the Internet was developed years ago and was not designed with security in mind. It has come a long way but needs to be revamped. Actually, TCP/IP Version 6, the replacement for the current Version 4, is beginning to be implemented on the Internet. Version 6 will eliminate several issues with Version 4. It is just taking too long to get implemented. Perhaps this will push it along!

Spammers Really Do Get Caught

Check out this article. It's good to see that at least one or two of these idiots get caught now and then. I really wish these stories would make the national news. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel!

President Bush Wants You To Have High Speed Internet

In a speech President Bush made in New Mexico on Friday, he called for universal and affordable broadband Internet access by 2007. He is suggesting that Congress not tax Internet access either. His point is that broadband will speed the flow of information and spark innovation.

The fact is that broadband growth in the U.S. is slowing. The rate of growth is expected to drop to about 16% by 2007, down from 36% this year. The President is suggesting that lower prices will push the growth rate higher.

While I agree that the Internet is a great enabler, we must get security and reliability under control in order to gain the greatest benefits from it. Spam, Viruses and phishing cause many to be nervous about using the Internet for anything more than basic research. Once these issues are resolved I believe another phase of Internet growth will occur. In the meantime, cheaper access will be greatly appreciated! Now, about those gas prices?

One For The Good Guys

I am often asked if any virus writers or spammers are ever caught. In fact there have been many arrests. Most of the time it is difficult to find what happened to these idiots because so much time lapses and they are not considered headline news, although I wish a few would be.

Yesterday in Houston Zachary Keith Hill plead guilty to running a phishing operation. Phishing is a version of spamming where emails are sent out looking like they are from a credit card or other type of financial institution. The recipient is tricked into giving account information to the spammer. This has been very popular lately and I'm sure several people have fallen into the trap. In his possession were 471 stolen credit card numbers, 152 bank accounts, and 541 user names and passwords for secure web sites.

This is actually the second arrest for this guy. He could get 10 to 15 years and large fines. It will be interesting to see what he ends up getting. Hopefully the judge or some of the jury members is or knows someone that is a victim of a phishing scam.

Click here for the whole story. (No account information required!)

Broadband Internet Via Power Lines

Residents of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana will be the first to be able to get broadband Internet via their power lines this month. BPL, as the technology is known as, allows users to plug a device into one of their power outlets which enables a high speed Internet connection via the power lines. This service can provide high speed Internet access in areas where DSL or Cable broadband connections are not available. The service costs between $30 to $40 per month depending on the connection speed. There has been some concern that this technology may interfere with with ham radio signals. However, the FCC has given it the OK and will monitor for problems.

If this technology works as well as promised, it will enable a whole new group of consumers and businesses to have access to broadband Internet that are unable to get DSL or cable Internet connections at this time. The price is right and availability will be virtually anywhere that power is supplied to. Of course the utility company must take the step of installing the equipment or partnering with a vendor that will provide the service.

Cingular To Purchase AT&T Wireless

In the first of what will probably be several consolidations in the wireless market, Cingular has won a bidding war to purchase AT&T wireless. Their bid of $41 billion knocked the last remaining competitor, Vodafone out of the running. Now Cingular must get stockholder and government approval to close the deal. If it does go through, the combined company will be the largest cell phone carrier in the country moving ahead of the current leader Verizon. By the way, Vodafone just happens to own a 45% share of Verizon.

AT&T Wireless split from AT&T in July 2001 as an independent company and employees 30,000 employees. It has somewhere around 25 million subscribers.

As you know, I am not a large fan of these mega mergers. Generally people lose jobs and customer service goes further down the tubes. But sometimes you get some real cool television ads. The wireless industry in this country needs some fire under its feet. We are not moving fast to implement new technologies in this area. If this deal can help get the fire started, it might be worth it. Check back in around 2006 or 2007 and let's see what really happens. I wonder how many shares of AT&T Wireless stock its executives and board members own anyway? At a $15.00 per share bid they are all probably sitting pretty well! (The market price on Monday was around $12)

Microsoft Critical Patch Update

Some users are finding that when they go to the Windows Update Service site they need to install dozens of critical updates. Welcome to tech support! If you do not know how to install updates I suggest you be very careful. In the short term, while we suggest all updates are eventually installed, you may want to consider only installing the two latest critical updates which are KB828028 and KB832894. If you are not sure what you are doing with this...don't. Call us or someone that does. You may cause problems that you don't want. We do not suggest any end users install any patches on any servers at any time, you system administrators are of course excluded (as long as you are real system administrator).

Please seek help from someone qualified if you are not sure that you know what you are doing!

Microsoft Issues Critical Patch

A critical flaw in basic Windows infrastructure was discovered about 6 months ago. This flaw can allow hackers to steal files, delete data, or eavesdrop on computers. Microsoft has created a patch that eliminates the flaw and thus protects the computer from the possible intrusion due to the flaw. This flaw is considered one of the most serious discovered to date. Microsoft has rated the patch as Critical, its highest level of importance.

Now the fun begins as hackers try to find the flaw and exploit it before machines have the patch installed. All Windows computers are affected including servers and workstations. Even the Department of Homeland Security is warning computers users to install this patch.

The patch can be found on the Windows Update Service. Clients can call us for more information or to schedule us to install the patch. We have created a CD with the patch for users that do not have a high speed Internet connection.

Details of this issue can be found by clicking here.

HP Introduces New CD/DVD Labeling Technology

HP has invented a new technology called LightScribe that allows a CD or DVD drive to create a label directly on the CD media. The technology uses the same laser that produces the data on the CD or DVD to create a silk screen like, high contrast label on the upper side of the CD or DVD. Once the data portion of the media is written the user flips the disk over and the label is created on the opposite side.

These new drives should be available within the next 6 months or so and will cost about $10.00 more than an existing drive. The process will require a new type of CD/DVD media which is expected to cost about $ .10 per disk more than current media.

Gateway To Purchase E-Machines

In an effort to stay alive, Gateway will purchase competitor E-Machines. The resulting company will be the third largest PC manufacturer in the world behind HP and Dell. (or is it Dell and HP?)

I've seen this many times over the years and rarely does it work. When a company like Gateway is struggling they tend to reach for solutions. Purchasing another struggling company seems to be popular. What you usually have left is a larger, struggling company. What will this change? Dell will still have enormous market presence and HP will still be regarded as the most innovative vendor. Can costs be reduced by this type of merger? Sure, but let's face it when your selling your machines for $499.00 how much will it matter? Does E-Machines bring any innovation to the party? Yes, they sell for $399!

I believe there will always be a market for the low end. The question is can a company like Gateway survive there? Walmart is selling HP for $600.00. Dell has $499.00 workstations. Very tough to beat! How much does the spread have to be in order for a purchaser to consider an "off brand" product. And lets face it if your not Dell or HP you are "off brand". Even if you are #3.

Microsoft Still Squeaking By

I just read Microsoft's latest quarterly report. How's this for a down economy? $10.15 Billion in sales, $1.48 Billion profit for the quarter! The profit reflects a $2.2 Billion charge for the Employee Stock Plan. They are making $100 Million dollars every single day! They are sitting on $53 Billion in cash! Every one of their divisions except the Home and Entertainment division has increased sales during the quarter. The Home and Entertainment division sales were down by 5%.

I wonder where they would be if the economy was in better shape. Also imagine that in some countries up to 80% of the Microsoft software is pirated. I think this Bill Gates guy is on to something!

Spyware - The Current Nightmare

Everyone is very aware of viruses by now. And spam is once again becoming a household word. But there is a new nightmare brewing. Spyware is the latest threat to the security and reliabililty of computers connected to the Internet. Spyware are hidden programs that get installed on your computer without you knowing. These programs then run on your computer and perform various tasks. Most of the time they simply track your Internet activity so that the Pop Ups that appear on your screen can be tailored to your interests. Sounds great doesn't it? Well some spyware is a lot more evil. Software can be installed that actually monitors your keystrokes and can either report them back to the bad guy or store them on your machine so the bad guy can access them through the backdoor he created with another spyware program. This is not good. How often do you order things on line and type your credit card number in? Other variants of spyware just wreak total havoc with your computer, in some cases making a complete reload necessary.

So how do these things get on your computer? Well most of the time YOU put them there. Have you installed "helpful" little free programs on your computer from the Internet? Gator, Kazza, Smiley Faces, etc., etc.? These programs all contain spyware and they will even tell you they do. You do read the license screen that pops up when you download these programs don't you. These programs are the monitoring types that simply monitor your browsing habits, bad but not destructive. If you find "free" software of any type on the Internet you should be suspect.

Our experience in the last 6 months is that spyware is causing more problems for our Clients than viruses. Spam is a nuisance and is everywhere but most of the time it's just a aggravation. (Lately viruses and spyware is being nicely packaged in spam messages.)

Another way spyware can get installed on your system is through your Internet connection. If you do not have a properly configured firewall and/or you do not have the Windows Security Updates up to date on your system you are a easy target.

You can purchase spyware tracking software from various sources. One of the best is from www.bulletproofsoft.com.

I'll go so far to say that if you don't have spyware detecting software installed on your computer you DO have spyware. Want to bet?

Microsoft Extends Windows 98 Support

Microsoft was scheduled to discontinue support of Windows 98 on January 16th. Today they announced that they will extend paid support for Windows 98 until June 30, 2006.

With about 20% of workstations still running Windows 98, Microsoft was getting a lot of grief over their dropping of support of the product. In order to keep their customers happy they have extended paid phone support and will provide security updates during this time.

While this is good news I still suggest that Clients that are running Windows 98 workstations look at the benefits of moving to Windows XP. Microsoft will not add new features to Windows 98. Things like wireless, VPNs, firewalls, etc will not be natively available as they are in Windows XP. The bottom line is that XP is easier to use, more stable and more secure.