Archive | January 31, 2006

Another quarter-million Windows machines exploited

InfoWorld: Top News reports Microsoft warns of file-trashing worm.

(InfoWorld) – “Microsoft has published a security advisory warning Windows users of a file-trashing worm that has been circulating via e-mail for several weeks. The worm, which is programmed to destroy a wide variety of files on the third day of every month, has been circulating since mid-January, and is estimated to have infected between 250,000 and 300,000 systems worldwide.”

Almost missed the monthly warning: DO NOT open files or click links from untrusted sources. THERE ARE NO TRUSTED SOURCES. Verify the sender really sent you the file. Scan it with a virus checker. Don’t use it if you don’t trust it.

Boston Globe publishes a quarter million credit cards

“Credit and bank card numbers of many as 240,000 Boston Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette subscribers were inadvertently distributed with bundles of T&G newspapers on Sunday, officials of the newspapers said today.”

Follow the link to read how clever they were…

Give Upgrades A Chance

Over at Resigned to the Bittersweet Truth, Bill McGonigle posts Call To Action – Upgrading. “I spoke to Tim Burke, Director Emerging Technologies (including the Linux kernel and Fedora) at RedHat about the state of upgrading this past Tuesday at the GNHLUG meeting in Manchester…”

“So, I issue a challenge to all package maintainers out there who have their projects integrated into distributions like Fedora – give upgrades a chance.”

It’s a tough challenge, but a necessary one. Upgrading is inevitable, and the costs of updating/upgrading are becoming an increasingly important factor in calculating the total costs of owning a system.

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This work by Ted Roche is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.