StopSign! Rapid Site Syndication http://home.stopsign.com Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:14:35 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://home.stopsign.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://home.stopsign.com StopSign! Rapid Site Syndication http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/spyware-toolkits-making-it-possible-for-anyone-to-be-a-ha-2.php According to ComputerWeekly.com, “The distribution of crimeware software kits soared in August, with the numbers used against websites and end-users outstripping the total for the three preceding months.” Finjan, a security company reported on 10 different types of spyware toolkits being sold last month alone. This list includes: MPack, NeoSploit, IcePack, WebAttacker, WebAttacker2, and Multi-Exploit toolkits, as well as new toolkits like random.js, vipcrypt, makemelaugh, and dycrypt. Reference - Articles Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:44:18 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/tax-free-internet-in-jeopardy-as-tax-moratorium-expires-november-2.php November 1, 2007 is the date the Internet tax moratorium is set to expire. The original Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998 created the tax-free moratorium, which Congress has extended two times. Legislation has been entered into both Houses this year—S. 156 and H.R. 743-by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Cal., respectively, to make this ban permanent. Reference - Articles Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:39:16 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/spyware-and-domestic-abuse-the-least-you-should-know-2.php by Jason Dick According to Cindy Southworth, director and founder of the Safety Net Project (an organization working to end domestic violence) as high tech tools become an increasing part of our daily lives, abusers and stalkers are using them more and more to track and intimidate their victims. These tech savvy domestic abusers install spyware to monitor their victim’s moves. They may track anything from visits to domestic shelters or transportation ticket information, to aid in catching their victims before they escape. According to Southworth, the highest risk of injury or death to the victim occurs as they leave or just after leaving the abusive situation. Reference - Articles Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:35:09 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/what-makes-a-cookie-a-spyware-cookie-2.php September 5, 2007 by Jason Dick The main use of cookies is to remember user preferences and customize the user’s browsing experience. When you visit a website, you may be asked to fill out a form providing information, such as name, email address, interests, etc... This information can be packaged as a cookie and stored on your machine by your web browser for later use. The next time you go to the same website, the server can ask the web browser to retrieve information from the cookie. The server can take the information gathered from the cookie to present a custom web browsing experience for you, save passwords and remember your preferences. Reference - Articles Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:58:37 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/irs-phishing-scams-beware-2.php  August 30, 2007  by Jason Dick   Several phishing schemes use fake emails supposedly from the IRS to lure their victims. Phishing is a scam where Internet criminals send fraudulent messages to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing personal and financial information which they use to steal the victim’s identity. Reference - Articles Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:43:27 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/august-20-2007-2.php A brand new version of ransomware has made its way to the Internet. This new malware infiltrates your computer and encrypts your files. After encrypting those files, the ransomware asks you to pay up to $300 to receive the decryption code and recover your data. Reference - Articles Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:24:23 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/avoiding-spyware-and-e-card-fraud-how-to-safely-send-and-receive-e-c-2.php E-cards (or electronic greeting cards) have become a popular, convenient and inexpensive method of sending greetings to friends, family and business associates for many computer users. Currently, there are thousands of e-card companies. E-card companies are becoming increasingly creative with many including options to add audio, video or animations to your messages. With e-cards increasing in popularity, they are now being heavily to download spyware and perpetuate Internet fraud on unsuspecting users. Reference - Articles Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:26:39 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/new-spyware-bill-targets-botnets-increases-funding-for-cyber-secu-2.php In yet another attempt at fighting the war on spyware, adware and viruses, the Cyber Security Enhancement Act was introduced to Congress on May 14th. This new act is a major step forward in the battle against botnet attacks.   Reference - Articles Fri, 25 May 2007 13:33:10 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/computer-stress-and-eyestrain-symptoms-workstation-guidelines-and-exercises-for-re-2.php                                                             More than half of all Internet users experience some form of eyestrain and stress related to computer screen viewing. Symptoms include headaches, blurred vision, all over body fatigue and reduced efficiency at work. Recent studies have even linked heavy computer use to glaucoma. Reference - Articles Tue, 08 May 2007 16:05:49 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/new-spyware-act-h.r.-964-what-the-critics-are-saying.php On May 2nd, the House Judiciary Committee passed an antispyware bill. This bill was first introduced to the House in 2004 and passed in 2005. But, both times it failed to make it through the Senate. The current version of the bill, H.R. 964 will next be voted on by the House. I think everyone realizes spyware is a problem on the Internet.  But there are many facets of the new bill that have companies and individuals concerned. Reference - Articles Mon, 07 May 2007 21:33:25 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/virus-and-spyware-hackers-target-legitimate-websites-2.php Malware on the Internet has more than doubled in the last year and it’s expected to continue to increase as hackers become more and more sophisticated in the techniques they use to deliver viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans and adware to the Internet. Reference - Articles Thu, 03 May 2007 22:32:52 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/internet-bullying-information-and-guidelines-for-children-and-par-2.php One study done by I-Safe America found that 42 percent of students in fourth through eighth grade admitted to being bullied online. Cyberbullying is becoming such a serious issue on the Internet that several states including Washington, Oregon and Rhode Island are proposing legislation regarding Internet bullying. Reference - Articles Thu, 03 May 2007 00:33:21 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/parent-child-internet-use-contract-2.php The Internet is a valuable tool and resource for young people to learn about their world, research new things and communicate with friends. However, it is also a dangerous place where sexual predators lurk, images of sex and violence are commonplace and criminals looking for personal information employ deceitful practices. Below is a Parent/Child Internet use contract you can print out and use with your children to help set boundaries in the home regarding Internet use: Reference - Articles Tue, 01 May 2007 17:56:51 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/internet-addiction-and-children-hidden-dangers-and-15-warning-s-2.php Timothy was 12 when his parents bought him a computer for his room, thinking it would be helpful to him with his homework as he was entering junior high. Timothy took to the Internet immediately and soon discovered chat rooms and email. At first, Timothy’s parents watched over his shoulder frequently to make sure he was using the Internet safely. After awhile though, they stopped monitoring his online habits. Reference - Articles Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:53:16 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/online-job-scams-and-identity-theft-what-every-job-hunter-needs-to.php Internet Security Tips for the Home User-Part 5    There are three main types of common online job scams:   Phony Job Offers-With this type of scam, Internet thieves create fake, but convincing job ads, which they then post either on legitimate job boards or bogus websites that are made to look like real company websites.   Reference - Articles Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:22:41 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/internet-security-tips-for-the-home-user-part-4.php             Internet Security Tips for the Home User-Part 4 According to Don Evett, in his spam Statistics 2006, 40% of all email in 2006 was considered spam. Evett predicts that the amount of spam will increase 63% in 2007. Of the spam received in 2006, 19% of total spam messages (2.5 billion messages daily) were pornographic in nature. So what can you do to protect your email address from all of these spammers? Below are eleven simple ways you can help lessen the negative impact of spam on your computer as well as the Internet: Reference - Articles Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:55:59 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/what-is-it-and-how-can-you-protect-yourself.php A massive spam outbreak based on the Storm Trojan infection has infiltrated the Internet. Currently, this Trojan accounts for between 80-90% of all of the malware being spread through emails, according to researchers at Postini, Inc.   Reference - Articles Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:35:54 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/why-is-my-computer-slowing-down.php Internet Security Tips for the Home User-Part 3 Eight Practical Guidelines for Preventing a Sluggish Computer: If you use Microsoft Windows, you will probably notice a decrease in your computer performance over time. Many experts in the field have actually given this a term: Windows rot . The general idea is that your Microsoft Windows computer just performs worse the longer you use it. This is an untrue assumption. Slow computer performance is a controllable factor and in many cases can easily be prevented and improved. Read on for eight simple things you can do to prevent a slow computer performance: Reference - Articles Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:21:36 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/myspace-facebook-and-windows-live-spaces-5-safety-tips-for-par.php Internet Security Tips for the Home User-Part 2 Reference - Articles Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:32:05 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/why-do-i-keep-getting-computer-viruses-and-spyware.php Internet Security Tips for the Home User-Part 1 If I have installed antivirus and antispyware software, have kept Windows updated and have a firewall, why do I still get computer infections? Reference - Articles Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:35:56 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/tech-talk/browser-malware.php Also known as hijackware, browser hijackers alter web browser settings to change your default start pages and search pages. Most browser malware is written purely to increase web traffic and advertising revenue. Some of the more dangerous malware hijacker programs will even leave bookmarks or favorites in your browser, without your consent. Reference - Tech Talk Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:37:58 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/tech-talk/codec-craze.php Malware creators have began to develop fake codecs in order to take advantage of the rising popularity of streaming video and video clips on the internet. One of the most common malware infections on the net right now is spreading through a number of fake codecs.The infection installed by these fake codecs are detected by StopSign as Popuper and Trojan.Popuper, however, there are a number of other aliases for this infection such as Zlob, W32/Zlob, Trojan.Media-Codec, Trojan.Emcodec, and Trojan.Zlob as well as many others. The damage caused by these fake codecs ranges from browser hijacking to installing other malware and even in some cases, using rootkit capabilities making them almost impossible to fully detect and remove. Reference - Tech Talk Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:45:24 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/hundreds-of-bank-accounts-compromised-due-to-newest-phishing-e.php When was the last time you went fishing? Perhaps you went out on a lake in the beautiful Pacific Northwest? Closing my eyes I can visualize the crystal clear glacier lake, the blue sky, and the majestic mountain range outlining the surroundings. I can almost feel the fish taking my bait. What a feeling. I really should get out more. Although fishing in the Pacific Northwest sounds like a good dream, the phishing was quite good in Australia yesterday when hackers released an email stating that Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, had suffered a heart attack and is fighting for his life in a hospital. Reference - Articles Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:26:13 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/computer-talk-and-internet-acronyms.php I have been using computers and the Internet for both work and play since around the early 1990’s. I remember using a clunky AT T 8088 computer for some of my first computing adventures. These dinosaurs came complete with a large keyboard and a green monochrome monitor. At the time, we didn’t do very much with this machine except play a few games. I can still remember the inconveniences of flipping the five and a quarter inch floppy disks over when the program reached a point of needing more data. I did not really start getting involved with the Internet until a few years later. It’s mind boggling to think of the advances that have been made over the past years in computing. Reference - Articles Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:42:38 +0100 http://home.stopsign.com/reference/articles/love-and-the-internet-for-baby-boomers.php You Baby Boomers know who you are. You are the generation that was born after World War II, and before the Vietnam War. Though some experts divide those years into more than one group, based on political and cultural patterns, no one denies that Baby Boomers are an economic force to be reckoned with in today’s economy. And today’s economy is nothing if not wired to the Internet. Now, the Internet is reaching out to you. Reference - Articles Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:23:33 +0100