Here’s a cautionary tale from Vmyths, the virus myths website, on how urban legends are born. Vmyths says that Reuters News Agency filed a report from Singapore last week quoting anti-virus manufacturer Trend Micro (makers of PC-cillin) as saying computer virus attacks cost global businesses an estimated $55 billion in damages in 2003. That’s a lot… Read More »
Here’s a program that may help you if you worried about the recent spate of viruses and phishing tricks that focus on keylogging — small, often invisible, programs that secretly capture what you type, especially when you’re entering passwords . System Mechanic 4, a collection of software tools from iolo technologies, includes parasite-fighting tool called… Read More »
This Thursday, in case you didn’t know, Personal Firewall Day. I was pretty excited about the idea too until I realised there were no parades and opportunities to dress up. Still, it’s a great way of trying to persuade people that having a firewall in place on your computer is no longer a luxury, or… Read More »
My favourite firewall, Zone Alarm, is being bought by another firewall maker, Check Point Software Technologies [CNet News.com]. It looks to me as if there’s quite significant consolidation within the security software industry, not just from the point of view of big guys buying the smaller guys, but of companies trying to create products that… Read More »
This from reader Jim Erlandson on Microsoft’s declining support for Windows 98: “Windows 98 support isn’t dropping off the face of the earth according to Microsoft. $35 per incident phone support is. How many people do you know who have spent $35 for a phone call to Microsoft lately? And a quote in C|Net indicates… Read More »