Category: safety

Gawker sends out Breach Notice

Posted onAuthorTruXter

It seems during the period of time that all of the internet is flipping upside down from hackers, attackers and ddos assaults Gawkers has been compromised. Passwords have been stolen and account information has been stolen. Here is a letter I received from Gawker.

This weekend we discovered that Gawker Media’s servers were compromised,
resulting in a security breach at Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Gawker, Jezebel,
io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin, and Fleshbot. As a result, the user name
and password associated with your comment account were released on the
internet. If you’re a commenter on any of our sites, you probably have
several questions.

We understand how important trust is on the internet, and we’re deeply
sorry for and embarrassed about this breach of security. Right now we
are working around the clock to improve security moving forward. We’re
also committed to communicating openly and frequently with you to make
sure you understand what has happened, how it may or may not affect you,
and what we’re doing to fix things.

This is what you should do immediately: Try to change your password in
the Gawker Media Commenting System. If you used your Gawker Media
password on any other web site, you should change the password on those
sites as well, particularly if you used the same username or email with
that site. To be safe, however, you should change the password on those
accounts whether or not you were using the same username.

We’re continually updating an FAQ (http://lifehac.kr/eUBjVf) with more
information and will continue to do so in the coming days and weeks.

Gawker Media

==============================================
You are receiving this email because your email
address was associated with a Gawker Media user
account. We are using this list only for the
purpose of sending you this important notification.

The Facebook Scam

Posted onAuthorTruXter

Warning to all on Facebook who share their phone number to friends and friends of friends.
There is a current scam on Facebook where guys are adding hundreds of thousands of people a day and collecting their phone numbers and what ever personal information they can about them. Real names, date of birth, city they reside in. They then read their wall for who they interact with the most that lives with in the same general area. They then call one of the two or both and say the other got a loan and used them as a reference. They then force the person to pay them what ever total is owed, or a reduced amount. They next wipe out that person’s credit card with a series of $1 $10 $100 $1000 charges until the victim is busted.
Some people have so much as give up bank account information and or used a debit card for the transaction. One lady who’s daughter got her on Facebook was wiped clean, because she thought her daughter was in trouble. The scammer went on to try the scam with the rest of her family. By the end of the day, the scammer called everyone on her friends list. If you get the “payday loan” phone call or “Bureau of law enforcement” phone call to collect some money from you that your friend owes, do not confirm knowing anyone they talk about. In fact, claim that person is deceased if you have to. But avoid knowing them at all. Contact your local authorities and explain the situation. Next call all listed friends and family on your Facebook account and tell them all to not share their phone number to “friends of friends”. Also warn them the call should be coming to them next.
It’s not Facebooks responsibility to make you think about safety. Although it is their location that you are at risk, but you could never prove it was because of Facebook that you got scammed.
By all means, DO NOT LIST THE PLACE YOU WORK. If you have that only visible to the people you know……. Um…. they already know this.

FACEBOOK Privacy Issue yet again.

Posted onAuthorTruXter2 Comments

FACEBOOK Privacy Issue yet again.

Got this on my Facebook account today. From one of the less techy people on my friends list.
They talked about this coming for some time. Well it’s here.
Privacy issues.

FYI: ALERT* As of yesterday, NEW PRIVACY setting called “Instant
Personalization” that shares data with non-Facebook websites and it is
automatically set to “Enable.” Go to Account >Privacy Settings >
Applications and Websites >Instant Personalization > Edit or
customize Settings, and un-check “Enable”. BTW, if your friends don’t do
this, they will be sharing information about you. PLEASE
POST THIS TO FACEBOOK

One of the downsides is this can and probably will lead to many accounts getting stolen once this is exploited by the curious.
Another thing is, your friends might not fix their stuff because they aren’t worried about it.
Ever get that phone call from a fake debt collector who actually names people you know?
It’s easier than most people think.
There is a scam going on where some people are Calling people and saying that you have a friend who got a loan and used you as a reference and they even say your friend’s name. They tell you that you are responsible for their loan and debt. How do they get your friend’s information? how do they get your name ? How did they get your phone number ?
Look at your privacy settings on facebook. You most likely have your phone number visible to everyone, or friends of friends. All they have to do is get your friend to add them. Then they dig through their friends and see who’s phone number is showing. Another scarier one is they tell you that you got a loan and they mention your friends and family members if you have them categorized.

People, Facebook is not holy ground safe from the evil. Yes you had more safety on myspace. More spam on Myspace, but that is slowly changing now… Isn’t it ?

Look, it’s not just your safety and security and privacy, it is your friend’s safety and privacy. If you feel that it’s just paranoid blah blah, at least change your settings for your friends. but truth is, in the end, you will never know it’s your fault.

A-Squared Free Is Gone

Posted onAuthorTruXter

Many of us knew of Asquared free. The software that got Emsisoft noticed in Google. It was the best malware scanner out there. Well Emsi found it in their best interest to remove their malware scanner and merge it’s code with their virus scanner. I have no idea how long the virus scanner will be free. I do know the virus scanner / Anti virus was trial for as long as I can remember the company site.

There is another way to still get A-squared free, is by downloading the “emergency kit“. and just run it as a stand alone. The Emergency kit was created for usb use. That I.T. guys can float around the office without having to download and install the software on every single infested computer. Also prevent a virus (during the active infection) from directly attaching it’s self to the malware scanner and crippling it.
I was downloading asquared updates yesterday july 26th 2010 during the day at work. When I got home, it was off the site. I tried to update my home pc but was prompted with a notice of the change and would have to uninstall and that a-squared would no longer scan for me.

By now you understand I got an infection while at work and got spooked by it by the time I got home right? Well I am running the emergency kit. So far found 4 viruses that Norton didn’t find, malware bytes didn’t find and that S&D didn’t find. In fact they all showed I was clean. Even though I got the fake virus scanner prompt on this antiquated operating system (XP).

Spy stuff Online

Posted onAuthorTech Review Man

Since we were kids we all had fascinations about spy stuff. We all wanted to find the clues and catch the crook with special secrete hidden devices that observe the criminals. We all wanted to perform surveillance and undercover detective work. Okay maybe that was just my batch of friends. We also wanted to be ninjas so .. lol.

Well I found a site that has some of the coolest equipment for doing such things. They have cameras hidden in Lighters and pens listening devices and all sorts of stuff. This place is actually quite cool. If anything you can look at the site and browse their goodies. It’s cool stuff I tell  you

http://www.spyultimatum.com/

Cheap Virus Scanner Comparison

Posted onAuthorTech Review Man5 Comments

I had to do a scan, a known virus, with a number of virus scanners.
I used Jotti’s I used Virscan and I used Virus Total
They each have a mess-load of virus scanners through their site that allows you to scan at one time to see the results of each scanner

1st virus scan results

2nd virus scan results

Here are the results of the most known free or cheap virus scanners and antivirus programs out there, scanning two pieces of malware that we got at the office I work in.
Sad to say, the two most known, most promoted most noted free virus scanners out there, failed to detect this. Sad to say, we got these from a machine that was supposedly protected by Symantec Endpoint. We received an email that told us to update our tax information, and well it was bundled with an executable. The second one is another virus/trojan that was sent in an email disguised as being from Fedex, they sent an executable file saying it would help us track our recently shipped package.. The computer that received this email, the user actually ran th program and it installed and mass emailed her address book with the same message, then it downloaded tons of stuff into the machine, eventually shuts off internet access until an expected time then it opens internet back up quickly to download more updates, then it shuts it down.
So if you have a virus scanner that is cheap or free and want to see how it did in our little test, check the two pdf files I link and see for yourself.
If you do not have adobe pdf reader, I advise you use foxit, it’s ten times faster and much more useful.

Reasons not to Aprove the H.R.6123

Posted onAuthorTech News

For those who do not know what the H.R.6123 bill is, let me break it down for you.
There was a girl who was stalked , and flirted with by a woman pretending to be a boy the same age as the girl. The woman was the mother of another girl who lost a cheer leading contest to the stalked girl. The woman flirted with the stalked girl then one day got very cold and mean to the girl. Girl killed herself. Here is the bill on Open Congress.
I totally agree that the family of the child who killed herself need some sort of comfort knowing the death of their child can be turned into something good. I would want the same, but these people who are backing this do not understand how the internet works. The description is to broad and vague. There are tons of boys and girls who learn so much every day with just a simple battle of witts. Arguing, flaming and trolling on the internet. It opens their minds to a new range of thought. Without conflict and contrast, we all agree. If we all agree we do not learn from each other. Some people learn from a pleasant suggestion, many learn from brute force. Telling someone they are a moron for thinking the world is flat, pretty much tells the world ” hey don’t bother with this thread, this guys is a joke” . If it was not for the flamers, our world would only be trolls.
Here is an explanation of a troll .
Trolls are people who post false information, not always to harm anyone, but to just get some sort of thrill out of confusing people, or misleading and or misinforming. Flamers are people who tell them to “stfu gtfo” if “H.R.6123″ is passed, then the trolls are left and the flamers are lobotomized. The problem of the troll or some corrupt evil rude person is left to the owner of the site to liable for.
The last frontier will have a flag in it that claims ” you can not argue, you can not fight you will go to jail”.

This bill needs to be scrapped. In fact, any bill that The ex president’s wife tries to pass is a publicity stunt and needs to be looked at again, she is the one who backed jack Thompson, and then stopped associating as soon as she ran for president. She just used that Censorship stunt to get the attention of the elderly who have no idea what computers are good for . People who lived full happy lives without it. But forgot that by the time she hit the polls, the kids she turned against, where old enough to vote now.

This “H.R.6123” needs to be rejected and a statue of the girl harmed needs to be put up at her school in her memory. The school is where it started. Let’s not remove the world’s freedom for the satisfaction of revenge on one lady. What one calls a bully, others call em a punk. Know there are things going on that balance it 90% of the time.

Notice I say no one’s name.. In case this bill is accepted.

Liberty Names Of America, Mail Scam?

Posted onAuthorTruXter

I received this mail from liberty Names of America , also known as lnoa
The mail goes like this:

As a courtesy we would like to remind you that it is time to renew your domain name which is expiring soon. Failure to renew your domain will result in losing exclusive rights to it on the web and losing access to your online presence. By moving your domain to Liberty Names Of America, you can take advantage of the savings we have to offer. Your renewal will start from the day your domain name expires, even th you are signing up months earlier.

It goes on to shoot prices at me for my domain name. Saying that truxtertech.com will go for one year at $29 , two years at $49 and five years at $94.
I can not help but laugh in disgust. I pay 6.99 a year through netfirms for one of my other domain names. I could switch my domain myself for $150 for 10 years at bravenet.com
The people I am registered through for this current domain name is powweb.com I pay $94 a year for unlimited storage space and bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, 75 mysql databases and the domain name is free. My bill is automatically charged to my account before expiration. They can’t help lower my costs any. Why would I want to even consider Liberty Names ? They make it clear that they are not forcing me to re-up on my domain name. But the mail does look like it would be scary to someone who is new to this planet. Not that this an advertisement but hey, if you register through powweb, Let them know you read about their deal from me, I get a kick back from that stuff and it would help out a whole lot.

Well just a heads up to anyone who is doing a search in google for that dang company. They are not the registrants of your domain …. yet, So you might want to head back to where you first bought that domain and pay up. some companies might squat on it and turn it into a spam site. I lost truxter.org that way years ago. Bought it late last year and it has been a hard battle to get it back into search engines.
Is Liberty Names Of America a Scam ? I dunno, but their prices are far out of my reach.
Here’s what other’s think
Search That’s to see rip off Claims
This is to see people calling them a scam.
Others saying they are overpriced

My research of Finallyfast

Posted onAuthorTruXter

There has been an advertisement on Television lately that I have seen coming up repeatedly. The advertisement talk of a program called “finallyfast” from a website called “finallyfast.com” .
So as usual I do my research before I download anything. then after I download the program i will scan it with as many different virus scanners as I can find.

On first analysis, I find that finally fast is actually hosted on a site “ascentive.com”. That site and it’s files have been noted as being malware with recurring charges to your credit card, that are really hard to get out of.
Site adviser website has noted that the content from ascentive.com is not safe . Siteadviser.

Ok so I went to the website anyway and started reading. They say it’s free from the get go. so I downloaded the file.

REALLY If you want to do a check up of your pc. I advise pcpitstop.com the only thing you need from there is an active x file and I find that activex file very safe.

but anyway I got the file and imediatly headed to Virscan.org and did a quick scan for any kind of computer cooties. This program is supposed to speed up your computer. Let’s just see. Well it turns out that all online scanners for single files, have a 10mb limit. This file from finallyfast.com or let’s say ascentive.com was 10.2 mb. Looks like they are a tad to large . So I compressed the file in a rar and proceeded to scan :-) .
one virus scanner found “Net-Worm.Win32.Bobic.k” could be a false positive but I found that other people found the same thing after the install. here are the results for finallyfast+worm and here are the results of finallyfast+trojan

Here is a forum that talks about the software and solutions.

The phone calls to suport
1st call
2nd call
3rd call
4th call is to ascentive, the mother company.
( They mention spyware striker)
pc speedscan pro I do not recommend installing this!!!!
activespeed Credit card issues.
Scan and sweep useless on xp, bad for vista.

What is Google Analytics

Posted onAuthorTruXter

If you have ever  clicked in to see a website and noticed that by you launch/start button you notice your browser says that you are waiting for  some program to start up from google. If you have ever said ” Hmmm should I be scared?”

If you are looking for a simple answer,

It’s a program you link with code on your website. The code in your  website sends information to google. Th information gathered is really thorough.  Types of data gathered are about the people surfing your website, such as point of origin, screen resolution, operating system, Exact search query, time on site, exit location.

For me some of this information is pretty useful. It tells me what size pictures I can put on my site to please the common public, what browser and operating system is my target to please. What content people where looking for and if I have exactly what they want or should I cover that content also or should I give a link to someone who does.

Google’s Version of the story

Not to be super conspiracy filled, but.

Um, that’s to much info about me. I am not comfortable with that much data. I really wouldn’t want the guy’s on the adopt a pet, website seeing that I whent straight to their site from an athlete’s foot site, and when I left I whent to a site about people who liked to eat with their feet.

Why is it that the google urchin gathers personal info about  us, kinda adware info. I mean really isn’t it for advertisement purposes….. why doesn’t my spybot ,asquared and addaware find it?  it is a js file so it does have beef.

Other than the issue with my personal self not liking the monitoring, I love being able to  tweak my site with the info I gather.