Court Halts Spyware Operations

Court Halts Spyware Operations

Finally the courts do something right!

An operation that deceptively downloaded spyware onto unsuspecting consumers' computers, changing their settings and hijacking their search engines, has been halted by a federal court at the request of the Federal Trade Commission.

The judge has ordered the operators to give up to more than $4 million in ill-gotten gains. The court also ordered a halt to another spyware operator's stealthy downloads and barred the collection of consumers' personal information, pending trial.

The FTC sued both operations charging that the stealthy downloads of spyware were unfair and deceptive and violated federal law. Although the companies used different techniques to direct consumers to their Web sites and implement the downloads, the FTC alleged that both operations hijacked consumers' computers without the consumers' knowledge or approval, secretly changed their settings,...

iPods bring down hospital servers

iPods bring down hospital servers

iPods and MP3 players aren’t just a security risk, it appears. British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, has revealed that a leading UK hospital lost its servers for two days thanks to staff downloading huge quantities of songs and movies from the internet for use on their MP3 players. Journalists found that servers at the Queen Mother Hospital in Kent were out of action for 48 hours while storage space intended for X-rays and patient records was crammed full of multimedia files.

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5 Technologies You Need To Know About

5 Technologies You Need To Know About

Keep your eye on these innovative hardware and software solutions with the potential to change all the rules.

If hindsight is 20/20, the ability to look forward in time is utterly myopic. It's dead easy to forecast that technology will alter the way we work in the future. It's nearly impossible to predict which, why, when, and how specific technologies -- both hardware and software -- will bear fruit to make this happen.

But it's no fun to sit on the sidelines and watch the future unfold without taking a stab at being a digital Nostradamus. So we're taking our best guess as to which emerging technologies will have the most impact on computing in the very near future.

Over the following pages, you'll read about five specific advances in hardware, software, and Internet tech that should be on every technophile's, Web strategist's, and CTO's radar. These technologies promise such increased...

Want to keep your job? Be well-rounded

Want to keep your job? Be well-rounded

The majority of jobs that are outsourced to independent contractors or third-party providers are technical ones, a report from the Society for Information Management said. The report also showed that business skills and capabilities represent five of the top 10 skills to keep in-house. Project management skills were also in the top ten skills to keep in-house. eMarketer reports that a survey of U.S. IT Executives by Forrester Research shows that 36% plan to increase the amount of jobs they outsource, while only 8% plan to decrease it. Another survey from KnowledgeStorm shows that nearly half (45%) of all large businesses use offshore outsourced IT services, as do 33% of medium-sized businesses and 18% of small businesses (In this instance, small businesses are defined as having less than $20 million in revenues, mid-size businesses have $20 million to $500 million in revenues, and large businesses defined as...

Microsoft will keep Google honest!

Gates: Microsoft will keep Google honest!

REDMOND, Wash.--While Google has grabbed an early lead in search and Internet advertising, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged on Wednesday that his company would "keep them honest."

Speaking to a crowd of MSN's largest advertisers, Gates said that Microsoft would prefer not to be coming from behind.

"For Microsoft, we always want to be in the lead, making the breakthroughs," Gates said. But, in an onstage interview with ad executives and talk show host Donny Deutsch, Gates conceded that the company has made mistakes, including in some cases picking the wrong people to lead certain efforts.

He also gave credit to his rival, saying Google has "done a great job on search and what they've done with advertising." But, he reiterated his position that search today is still too much of a treasure hunt and promised that better things are in store.

"We will keep them honest, in the sense of being able...

Microsoft Expands .NET, SQL Exam Portfolio

Microsoft Expands .NET, SQL Exam Portfolio

The first one, Exam 70-442 PRO: Designing and Optimizing Data Access by Using SQL Server 2005, launched April 27. The exam is one of three exams that count toward the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Database Developer title. (The other exams, 70-441 PRO: Designing Database Solutions by Using SQL Server 2005 and 70-431 TS: SQL Server 2005-Implementation and Maintenance, were released back in January.) Microsoft recommends that candidates for this exam have at least "three or more years dedicated to database work, which may include writing Transact-SQL queries, designing and implementing programming objects, optimizing databases, designing databases at both the conceptual and logical levels," according to the exam objective guide located here. The second exam, 70-526 TS: .NET Framework 2.0 - Windows-based Client Development, debuted on Friday, April 28. Those who pass this exam are halfway to fulfilling...

Trojan Snags World Of Warcraft Passwords To Cash Out Accounts

Trojan Snags World Of Warcraft Passwords To Cash Out Accounts

A new password-stealing Trojan targeting players of the popular online game "World of Warcraft" hopes to make money off secondary sales of gamer goods, a security company warned Tuesday. MicroWorld, an Indian-based anti-virus and security software maker with offices in the U.S., Germany, and Malaysia, said that the PWS.Win32.WOW.x Trojan horse was spreading fast, and attacking World of Warcraft players. If the attacker managed to hijack a password, he could transfer in-game goods -- personal items, including weapons -- that the player had accumulated to his own account, then later sell them for real-world cash on "gray market" Web sites. Unlike some rival multiplayer online games, Warcraft's publisher, Blizzard Entertainment, bans the practice of trading virtual items for real cash.

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One IE flaw leads to another

One IE flaw leads to another

As researchers pored over a vulnerability found within Microsoft's Internet Explorer less than a week ago, they discovered a totally new IE flaw.

The new bug could be used to launch code execution attacks. Microsoft acknowledged that the vulnerability, found by Andreas Sandblad of Secunia, is not just a successful exploit of the flaw uncovered last week by Michal Zalewski.

It was originally believed that the flaw found by Sandblad was related to the one discovered by Zalewski, but a Microsoft representative confirmed that the two vulnerabilities are separate.

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Book Review: Network+ Study Guide, Fourth Edition

Book Review: Network+ Study Guide, Fourth Edition

Since the database crash "ate" this, I thought I'd replace it for your "reading pleasure". -Trip

Review by James Pyles

April 27, 2006

I suppose you could call this an anniversity book review since this study guide has been on the market for a year now. The book reflects the most recent incarnation of the CompTIA requirements for the Network+ certification, so it is bound to be around for a few years to come. I know that anyone studying for a certification and living within a budget wants to gain the maximum amount of value for the least amount of outlay. Does the Groth and Skandler book seem like the right investment for you? Let's find out. This book is laid out just like many other certification texts published by Sybex so the structure is predictable. The CompTIA Network+ objectives are conspicuously displayed at the beginning of the book so students know what they need...

My First Teach: A Trainer’s Life Behind the Scenes

My First Teach: A Trainer’s Life Behind the Scenes

So much of what I put in this forum has to do with how to be a good student. I found an article that takes the trainer's point of view. Enjoy. -Trip

As the students begin to enter the classroom, beads of sweat are about to converge on my forehead into a raging stream and flow down my face. I wonder if the students are aware of what’s happening as I frantically search for something to stop the flow. It’s my first teach. I know there is a first time for everyone, but I still can’t help wondering if I am truly ready. Have I done everything possible to prepare myself for this moment to teach this important software course? My mind races through each question while I formulate my responses and think of all I have done to get to this point.

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