Michael Gracie

Safe mode is the solution every computer technician tells you to employ right after you started deleting, just for shits and giggles, arbitrary lines in your Windows system registry. It lets you boot minimal features so you can fix your mistakes. It used to be a good avenue for cleaning pesky bugs too, but that “window” is shutting quickly.

We’ve heard plenty about the Sony Rootkit fiasco, and now we find that Symantec was using similar technology in its products, invariably to hide files they didn’t want users to delete. In Symantec’s case, there may just be some legitimate need to protect users from “fouling up their protection,” but something tells me we haven’t heard the last of this. Who is the next popular software titles developer that is going to admit they are “rooting” around on your Windows machine?

In this day and age, you must get the news of a computer security weakness out quickly, develop a solution fifteen minutes later, and move on with your life. If you don’t, you are in trouble, and I suspect many Windows users who click on spam-fed links this week will be.

News outlets in Microsoft’s own hometown are spreading the word of the latest dangers almost a week after it was discovered. How many people are going to be paying attention as they head back to work - not many. Meanwhile,
a temporary fix and an obscure workaround have been noted. Who is going to pay attention after watching bowl games all weekend? Very few.

A real fix is expected on January 10th when Microsoft does “Patch Tuesday,” roughly two weeks after the issue was raised. A lot of people are going to suffer in the meantime, and I just have to think that there has to be a better way to run this show.

According to Steven Roemerman, precisely “81% of you are suckers,” and I am going to agree. Fortunately, Steven is no blowhard (like me). Instead of just smearing all of you, he has provided some simple, straightforward tips to keep your [Windows] machine safe from intruders.
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A constant technical (and PR) revolves around why Apple computers don’t get attacked by malicious code. Some say it is because there are so few Macs, and that as the user base grows, so will the problems. Others say the security is inherent in OS X. What does Spamroll say?
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According to Professor Klaus Brunnstein of the University of Hamburg, as technology continues to grow in complexity, so will it’s security risks.

Brunnstein boldly points out that security needs to built into technology, not viewed as an afterthought. I wonder where he got that idea (for a clue, click here)?

Microsoft recently announced they will be offering subscription computer maintenance to its Windows users, which includes virus scanning. Not unexpected - subscription service for anti-virus and other computer issues has become par for the course. And with many of the vulnerabilities clearly being a Microsoft problem to begin with, Redmond is likely looking at this as an additional public relations step prior to the release of Longhorn.
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The word of the day is…GOOGKLE! F-Secure recently reported that a visit to this mis-spelled Google URL resulted in all manner of nasty bug. And the implementation was either done by someone with a few more stripes than rank amateur, or by someone whose mother really really really didn’t hug them enough during childhood.
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It is no wonder that Microsoft is suing every phishing associate they can get their hands on. As phishers continue straying into new territory, their tactics are not only getting more sophisticated, but they are beginning to play on security fears as well.
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I feel very sorry for Windows/IE users. Not only are they susceptible to all kinds of spyware/malware, but the protection they buy may not be protecting them at all. I am talking about commerical spyware removal and protection tools.

Tools such as Computer Associates’ PestPatrol™, Webroot’s Spysweeper, and Sunbelt Software’s CounterSpy, are designed to protect computers (ok, Windows computers), but defining what to protect against may be a bigger problem to begin with.
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