Pirated iWork’09 — Shows users they’ll not smart!!

Paul

Pirated Version of iLife 2009 for Macintosh users are getting hit hard by a Virus.  These users seem to think they are immune to viruses or trojans, and install software without second thoughts.  Now I know this isn’t funny to some but at least 20,000 have been macintosh computers have been infected by this little OSX.Trojan.iServices.A.  Now did Apple help this out by making people think the OSX was immune to Viruses?  Some reports are saying this little Trojan is hard to get rid off.  Intego puts out a security Alert for this little Trojan.  Microsoft should jump on this like a hot knife through butter with there ad campaigns.  I would be laughing all the way to the mall.  No longer are Macintosh’s  safe from viruses, Trojans, or Spyware.

So you think you have the Trojan? I do not know how to get it off the system because I am a PC user, but I just had to comment on this and make sure people knew what was happening in the world of malware.   I’d suggest checking out my Malware Resource page and maybe there you’d find something that will work for you in removing this trojan.  Although it cost 79$, Mac users need to start using more common sense with their computers and not download software from untrusted sites. Security should be brought to the forefront when it comes to Apple.

Microsoft to Cut 5,000 Jobs Starting Today:

Paul

There are reports that Microsoft will start laying people off starting Today Jan 22, 2009.
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Microsoft said it will cut up to 5,000 jobs in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources and IT over the next 18 months. The first 1,400 jobs will be cut Thursday.

[ViaPcWorld]

I really hate to see this happen but I did suspect this to happen.   I get a feeling this isn’t the last we will see of Microsoft doing something like this.   I would suspect it will become even more than 5,000 jobs.  I will take a guess and say 16,000 will be the total or close to it. If you want to see the other layoffs I’ve talked here are few:

I have several differnent articles about the layoffs but I did speculate they will lay off 16,000 people so I am sure it will happen in the next few months.  Only time will tell!!!

Spammers defies Bill Gates ‘magic Solution’

Paul

Sopho’s published statistics and I thought I would talk about it here.   Bill Gates promised to have a Magic Solution 5 Years ago.   Sophos Also provide a Chart of the Dirty Dozen:

dirty-dozen-q408

Sopho’s also is claiming that “US retains its crown as spam king“.    I don’t think so because of the the Other 32.4%.   The US can’t be the main culprit to spam.    So What was this ‘Magic Solution’ that they promised 5 years ago?

Microsoft has two techniques in mind for solving the spam issue, both based on the premise of changing the economics of email to place a greater burden on the sender.

[Via CBR]

Microsoft did have some good ideas but they wouldn’t work for right now because the first part of the ‘magic Solution’ was to add  mathmatical question to each and every email we sent out.   I know that this wasn’t going to work because hackers have already created a systems to get around the captcha verification.

[ad#ad2-right]Spammers of course are the ones  who is sending out the spam but they have people who write virus software, which I consider a hacker.  You see they want to infect systems so they can easily send out even more email.  When a system becomes a Botnet they usually are used to send out email.  If your curious as to what a Botnet is Check out the Wikipedia entry for further details.  So they need these systems to be able to send out spam, and other types of email phishing.   Most of the time a spammers  spam just for money because they make money by spamming people.   I hate spam because it clogs up our email accounts with unwanted emails.

So Did Microsoft come up with a fix?  According to Sopho’s they seem to be dropping percentages from 2004 to now in the US.   I have to wonder if Microsoft proclomation made them worry and go outside of the US.   I don’t think it will stop in fact, I suspect with the economy like it is we will undoubtedly start seeing even more spam and even more computer infections.

In order to prevent yourself from viruses and computer infections, you will need to install Anti-virus software and a Good firewall, not just the Default Windows Firewall.  This will greatly increase your chances of not getting a virus and possibly help prevent some of the spam.   You should also tell your associates or customers the benefits of preventive updates.  You should also remind people about not clicking links in emails and also not everything you read is true.

Apple’s Not immune after all

Paul

In a recent post from the San Internet Storm Center:

Apple

[ad#ad2-right]Apple has said they will not say yes or no to this report and that they will be investigating this fully. I’ve been saying Apple needs to get it’s head out of the sand. According to Apple these effect both Mac’s and Microsoft so they are a software related vulnerability. Soon or later someone will want to create a botnet and infect Macintosh’s with virus or even a worm just to show apple that they could. In a recent article from PcWorld, They talk about a Trojan called OSX.RSPlug.D. This will just increase the fact that they are going to start targeting a OSX because of the lack security. Apple, Needs to get it together and start patching just as much as Microsoft.

In Any case It is time to update the software and maybe think about installing anti-virus software also.  Although the Mpeg-2 Playback Component vulnerability is for Windows Vista, XP SP2 and SP3.  You can see where a hacker would use that for a windows system very easily.   So you must be careful what you click on and remember that your no longer safe.  You know how they will want to test out the waters for OSX just because they could so this year I predict Apple will start having even more Malware and Viruses than ever before.