Internet Security News For End Users, Firewallguide.com, August 20, 2003

We have said it all before so we will not say it again; however, we do have a new idea. We will include it in our next newsletter.

Comcast Spyware?

If you still have the Comcast AT&T transition wizard on your computer, you may want to delete it. See this article in Scot Finnie's August 19th newsletter.

Articles

ISPs: Sobig's the biggest virus so far, Robert Lemos, ZDNet, August 20, 2003
Microsoft Warns of Two Critical Flaws in IE, Dennis Fisher, eWeek, August 20, 2003
Fighting the Latest Wave of Viruses, Sebastian Rupley, PC Magazine, August 20, 2003
Microsoft considers making software updates automatic, Brian Krebs, Seattle Times, August 20, 2003
MSBlast: The Worm Keeps Turning, Keith Ferrell, Security Pipeline, August 20, 2003
Geeks Grapple With Virus Invasion, Michelle Delio, Wired News, August 20, 2003
Slammer worm crashed Ohio nuke plant net, Kevin Poulsen, The Register, August 20, 2003
Toshiba's Home Networking Play [review], Bruce Brown, PC Magazine, posted August 20, 2003

Sobif.f prevention and cure, Robert Vamosi, CNet, August 19, 2003
CyberSpeak: Keeping your computer safe from Internet nastiness, Edward Baig, USA Today, August 19, 2003
Effective Immunity, Sheryl Canter, PC Magazine, Ausgust 19, 2003
Citibank Warns of E-Mail Scam, John Blau, PC World, August 19, 2003
Nachi prevention and cure, Robert Vamosi, CNet, August 19, 2003
Forget California, it's time to recall Microsoft [comment], Richard Forno, The Age, August 18, 2003
Unintended Consequences -- Blackouts and Worms [opinion], Michael Miller, PC Magazine, August 18, 2003
'Good' Worm Fixes Infected Computers, Brian Krebs, Washington Post, August 18, 2003
License Computer Users, John Dvorak, PC Magazine, August 18, 2003
Buggy system should offer support for free, Paul Andrews, Seattle Times, August 18, 2003
Blaster Attack Goes Bust, Paul Roberts, PC World, August 18, 2003
Users Blast Microsoft Over Worm Response, Dennis Fisher, eWeek, August 17, 2003
Blaster's Near Miss and an Apology From Microsoft, Larry Seltzer, Ziff Davis, August 15, 2003.

Cheap/Secure Web Hosting Update

We now have two websites running under one account at ApolloHosting.com. Except as noted below, the Postini spam and virus filters are working well and were easy to set up. Their virus filter caught over 500 infected emails sent to us on August 19. The one problem is with our "default" catch-all mailbox because its mail is not filtered. Postini says that this can be handled. Apollo said no it can't but offered to check. In the meantime, we have a practical fix. We forward the default mail to a box off site and then forward it back to our inbox so that Postini does filter it. It's not elegant but it works. The real problem is that neither Apollo or Postini tells end users about the hole. We found it and after several rounds of emails confirmed it. Many people would be likely to assume that catch-all email would be filtered once their Postini account is set up. Oops! Remember those dinosaurs. We will let you know how it turns out.

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