Sophos.com has reported that there is a new spam campaign about the olympic games. The title of the spam is ‘Million dead in Chinese quake’.

The article at Sophos contains a screen shot of the email and the web page from the link that is included in the email. The web page contains a paragraph and an image/object which looks like a video preview. The paragraph notes that the user should click the video and choose either “Open” or “Run”.

When the user follow the instruction, it will execute a file called beijing.exe. This file is detected as W32/Nuwar-E.

Source: Sophos

If someone told me that they wanted to start their own business then I would say go for it. I am the type of person who will always tell someone to follow their dreams. I believe it would be a horrible feeling having regrets later in life wondering what you could have done if you had followed your dreams.

However, people also need to be realistic about it before they start up. Here is a short checklist to determine whether you are the right type of person to start a business.
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According to various tech sites, Microsoft reissued a patch for a Bluetooth bug that exists on Windows XP with SP2 or SP3.

“Our investigation found that while the other security updates were providing protections for the issues discussed in the bulletin, the Windows XP SP2 and SP3 updates were not,” said Christopher Budd of Microsoft’s Security Response Center.

An attacker can install programs and create new accounts will full rights on a computer by exploiting this bug. The original fix was released ten days ago.

Source: Information Week

Bugs have already been discovered on the newly released Firefox 3.0 web browser. A security tools firm called TippingPoint warns Firefox 3 and Firefox 2 users that a flaw exists in these softwares that lets an attacker inject hostile code onto vulnerable systems.

It was discovered just five hours after the release of the web browser.

A buffer overflow bug was also discovered and The Register notes that it is not clear yet whether this is the same flaw that TippingPoint  discovered.

An estimated 7 million downloads occurred in the first 24 hours of the launch of Firefox 3.0.

Source: The Register

A new version of Apple’s web browser, Safari, has been released. It fixes the “carpet bomb” bug which is security issue.

There are three other security issues that were fixed. One of them is how Safari renders JavaScript arrays. A different one is how it handles the download procedure of executable files according to Computerworld. Last but not the least is a bug about Bitmap and Gif images. This particular bug lets an attacker peek at the memory of a user’s computer.

This new version is only available for Windows operating systems. The article at Computerworld does not mention when Apple will release a Mac version, if they released one.

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

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Users can now download a beta version of Skype 4.0.  This version let users import their contacts information from email software and services such as Outlook, Outlook Express, and Yahoo Mail.

“With Skype 4.0, we’ve really focused on making it simple to use. We’ve looked at the user experience from the time someone hits Skype.com all the way through making their first call, and every aspect of that we’re focusing on making it incredibly simple,” said the director of Windows product management for Skype, Mike Bartlett.

“It’s far richer and far more engaging than anything you’ve seen to date,” he added.

Source: IT PRO

RootkitRevealer is a portable, freeware tool designed for uncovering rootkits by exposing files and registries that have been hidden from the operating system. This tool is for advanced users since it doesn’t tell you what is a rootkit, it just lists suspicious files hidden to the OS. However, beginners can always Google suspicious registries if RootkitRevealer finds anything.

Usage of RootkitRevealer is very easy, just extract the zip file, run the RootkitRevleaer.exe file and press “Scan”. By default, the application will exclude hidden files/registries that appear on all Windows XP installs, but you can turn this on and off.

I used this application a few days ago on a clients computer and found the rootkit “SecuROM” was installed by a legitimate Sony based game.
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I have read a few guides on the internet that have tips on how to become a computer technician. Most of these articles tell you to work for free, get your certifications and accept any job offer. While these tips are good advice for those who want to work for someone else, they don’t really apply to someone who wants to freelance. So, I have written my own tips on how to become a better self-employed computer technician.
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The register has posted a story about a man who was charged with child porn possession.

The name of the man who was cleared on the charges is Michael Fiola and he is 53 years old. He worked at an agency investigating workers’ compensation fraud. He lost his laptop and images of child abuse were discovered on a replacement machine that he received.

“The laptop was compromised by numerous viruses and trojans, and may have been hacked by outside sources,” writes Tami Loehrs who is a computer forensic analyst in her report.

Source: The Register