Security

Infopackets Reader Madelaine M. writes: " Lately, when I am trying to connect to the Internet, I get a message saying, 'Brute Force Server Error'. When I click the window, the error message disappears. I use Norton Anti-virus 2002 and Spy Sweeper to ... scan my system for viruses and Spyware. What else should I do to avoid this problem?" My response: I can say that I have never heard of this error message before. I did some research using Google, but wasn't able to come up with anything conclusive. However, what I did find is that the term "Brute Force" refers to a form of ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Kevin C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read your article on Guardian Monitor 8.0 . I checked the Washington Post article that you included in your review and read the comparison of Guardian Monitor versus the other surveillance ... programs ... but none mentioned the possibility that an outsider (hacker) could access your PC and obtain the data captured by the surveillance software -- and possibly obtaining passwords, account numbers, etc. Should this be a concern? " My response: Excellent question. As I previously discussed, Guardian Monitor records key strokes ... (view more)

Have you ever wondered what your loved one is doing online? Infopackets Reader Lisa E. addressed a few of her concerns over the weekend: " Dear Dennis, I have Windows XP. I have several people using this computer and would like to know how to access ... chat files. Everyone has their logon password protected, and my children do a lot of chatting on Yahoo and MSN Messenger. Can you tell me how to find and access these files?" My response: I only use MSN Messenger on my Windows XP system, so I downloaded and installed the latest versions of Yahoo Messenger, ICQ Pro 2003, ICQ Lite, and AOL ... (view more)

Can Digital Steganography be used with good intent? Recall -- Last week, I wrote 2 articles on Digital Steganography (pronounced "Stay-Gan-Aw-Gra-Fee"). By definition, Steganography is simply the art of hiding plain data from sight. In the same ... respect, Digital Steganography is the ability to hide a file inside of another file, called the "carrier file". Both articles focused on a question sent in from Infopackets Reader John B., who proposed the question, "If I downloaded a jpeg image file from the Internet, and it has a virus hidden inside ... [can the virus execute ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jim D. writes: " Dear Dennis, I use Windows 98 and Outlook Express to read my email. A buddy of mine thought he was helping me by 'tweaking' my computer system, but now I cannot open any email attachments! What can I do? PS: How ... may I retrieve a file that has been deleted? " My Response: It sounds like your friend "tweaked" your computer by upgrading you to the latest version of Outlook Express -- version 6. By default, Outlook Express 6 will not allow you to open email attachments on the assumption that the email may contain an malicious attachment ( ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Gaye B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm a newbie on the computer, and I have a big problem with popup advertisements. When I first got my PC, I let a friend use it to surf the web (unsupervised). Since that day, my computer has been ... infested with despicable ads appearing on the screen. What can I do to stop this from happening? " My response: The first thing you should do is tell your friend to mind where he surfs because it has caused you and your PC a lot of trouble! The next thing you should do is download some software that can remove / block popup advertisements ... (view more)

Continuing our conversation on Steganography from Tuesday's edition of the Gazette, Infopackets Reader Mike D. exclaims how he downloaded a .WAV sound file that also contained a Trojan: " Hi Dennis, As part of a talk I gave some time ago on IPSec ... [the IP Security Protocol Working Group], I wandered into the area of Steganography. The topic was of particular relevance to me because I had only just discovered (thanks to PestPatrol ) that a Star Trek sound file that I downloaded from the Internet contained a Trojan!" Side note: Digital Steganography is the ability to hide a file inside ... (view more)

I received a fascinating question the other day from Infopackets Reader John B. He writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read about a new privacy program which is able to hides files inside jpeg image files. My question is: If I downloaded a jpeg file from ... the Internet, can it have a virus hidden inside? The reason why I ask is because I found a jpeg image file in my temporary Internet file folder. When I tried to open it, I was told that the file .exe could not be located. I immediately deleted the jpeg and am worried that my PC is now infected. What do you think? " My response: What you ... (view more)

Since yesterday's article on Tracing the Origins of an Email Abuser through IP addresses, I have received two interesting comments from Readers. The first message comes a user named 'Luvaas', who writes: " Dear Dennis, I suspect that someone has ... accessed my online cell phone account and has snooped around my phone records. I have a pretty good idea who did it, but the phone company tells me that they have no way they can trace this individual. Any ideas? " Side note: IP address stands for Internet Protocol. All computers connected to the Internet have a unique IP address, which is ... (view more)

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article based on the dangers associated with file sharing software (such as Kazaa). In a nutshell, the article explains how file sharing programs compromise computer security and open a gateway to viruses, Remote Access ... Trojans (RATs), and hacker s. At the end of the article, I provided a link to PestScan, which is free program people can use to scan their computers for malicious software -- all through a web browser interface and without having to download or install anything. I suppose it must have completely slipped my mind when I wrote the article, but, I forgot ... (view more)