News: Have you been brand spoofed yet?

By | November 24, 2011
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 SurfControl, an anti-spam company, says that “brand spoofing spam” – where a spammer sends fraudulent email that pretends to be from a well-known and trusted company — is getting worse, after only a few months of its existence.
 
 
The spammer, posing as a customer service or security official, directs the unsuspecting recipient of the spam to a phony Web site. The site then requests confidential financial information or a Social Security number that allows the spammer to commit fraud or identity theft. Over the last few months, SurfControl said in a press release, Best Buy, UPS,
 
Bank of America, PayPal and First Union Bank have been brand spoofed. Four large Australian banks also have been brand spoofed, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Last Thursday, Sony Electronics reported that it had become aware of a deceptive spam e-mail that had been sent to consumers, requesting personal information such as password and e-mail address, claiming to come from “SonyStyle Customer Service.”
 
SurfControl says brand spoofing spam was first seen in March and has been growing steadily since then. Brand spoofing spam has grown from zero before March to more than five a month. The increase in such dangerous spam is linked to the growth in the availability of open proxy servers, which allow spammers to send anonymous, nearly untraceable e-mail. According to a researcher at the University of Oregon Computing Center, the number of identified open proxies grew from 1,000 in October 2002, to 100,000 in April 2003.

News: Camera phone manufacturers ban camera phones

By | November 24, 2011
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The limits to camera phones
 
 CNET Asia reports that some Korean manufacturers like Samsung and LG Electronics “may be fiercely promoting camera-equipped phones to consumers, but are wary about allowing their use on their own company grounds.” Both companies have barred employees from using the gadgets in some of their factories to prevent “industrial espionage and intellectual property theft”, the report says, quoting Korean daily Chosun Ilbo (here’s the original report).
 
This is another chapter in the fast moving saga of camera phones. They’ve been banned in some public areas — changing rooms and the like — and CNET says bookstore owners in Japan “are also mulling measures to stop female shoppers from snapping pictures of magazines with their camera-phones”. Korea, CNET says, is considering a law which makes it mandatory for phone makers to install a “noise emitter” in their camera-equipped handsets.
 
Hmm. It’s not all bad, though: I’ve read other stories about folk snapping shoplifters, hold-ups and other criminal activities. The debate is bound to go on, probably until it’s overtaken by miniature cameras that no one can see, built into ties, sun-glasses, or whatever. And of course, with wristwatches and PDAs sporting cameras, where exactly do you draw the line?

Software: Another way to view those feeds

By | November 24, 2011
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  For those of you getting into the excellent RSS feed concept, here’s another way to read the feeds. I haven’t tried it yet, and it carries a Beta health warning, but looks interesting.
 
FeedDemon, just into its second beta version, is written by Nick Bradbury. It runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP.

Update: Cracking the code

By | November 24, 2011
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Microsoft Reader: a clarification
 
 
 Further to my note about successful efforts to crack the new code protecting the copyright of Microsoft Reader ebooks, here’s a clarification from Dan Jackson, who keeps a copy of the software which can circumvent the code on his website:
 
I noticed you have an article concerning the new version of Convert LIT 1.4. Just thought I’d straighten a few things out. Due to a miscommunication between myself and the author, a few copies were indeed sent out anonymously, but the program and its source code are now freely available from the Dan Jackson Software website at http://members.lycos.co.uk/hostintheshell/ – this is the official site for Convert LIT and all binaries residing on there have been fully tested and virus scanned.
Like yourself, I do not condone the use of this tool for copyright violation, and the technical limits of the program help to curb that to some extent (owner-exclusive DRM5 eBooks can still only be converted on the machine on which the activated copy of Reader which was used to purchase them is installed). The primary intention of the program is to allow other platforms or devices to be able to access Microsoft Reader format files. Hope this information is of use, Dan Jackson.
 
Thanks, Dan. Of course none of this detracts from the fact that the code has been broken, and quickly too. Microsoft, your move.
 
 
 

News: Court says Gator-style ads are legal

By | November 24, 2011
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  Good news for Gator, the adware company I wrote about a few weeks back. According to CNET News.com a federal court has ruled that pop-up ads for rivals of U-Haul International, placed atop the moving company’s own site by a third-party software application from WhenU.com, are legal.
 
 
Although the case doesn’t involve Gator Corp, it may well have an impact on them. Gator, like WhenU.com, peddles an Internet “helper” application that dishes ads up to people while they are surfing the Web or visiting specific sites — usually over the top of, or near, those of rivals. The judge granted WhenU’s motion to dismiss charges of trademark infringement, unfair competition and copyright infringement.

CNET says: “The early decision could influence lawsuits involving a more well-known ad-software, or “adware,” company, Gator Corporation.” In February, Gator settled a case brought by among other media companies, Dow Jones, which publish the newspaper, website and magazine I write for. Other lawsuits, CNET says, have been consolidated and will be decided by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Washington, D.C.