Lean and Mean, Microsoft Security Essentials Just released

Lean and Mean, Microsoft has just released to the public a great free and effective antivirus / anti=malware solution for your Windows Xp - Vista and Windows 7 computer.  Download from the Microsoft Security Essentials Website    If you have doubts please check out this first look article from Ars Technica

it's finally here - Free ANTIVIRUS protection from Microsoft

From Microsoft and it is FREE!!! This is what many have been waiting for and those that have installed it are impressed.

Here is a review from the computer trade publication Computer World It is lightweight , uses less horsepower to run and promises to be excellent. Now there is no excuse for not having AV loaded on your system. Did I mention FREE???

Here is the catch,, the free beta is limited to a set number. Get it here

Conficker test

Using basic knowledge of the blacklisting that Conficker employs to avoid attempting to infect IPs that belong to popular Anti-Virus and security firms (including Microsoft), the Conficker Working Group whipped up this very simple test to see if you can load content from the various pages. If you can see all of the images, you're more than likely Conficker-free.
CONFICKER -- Check to see if you are infected

Thanks to
Joe Stewart from the Conficker Working Group
http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/

Anatomy of a hoax virus warning email

key words to look for in emails that tell you to panic

I checked with Norton Anti-Virus, and they are gearing up for this virus!
Hoax like wording because: Norton / Microsoft,/ CNN /etc do not gear up for viruses and assure ably if you call Norton, Microsoft, etc you will not get anyone to make a public statement such as this

I checked Snopes (URL above:), and it is for real!!
Hoax like wording because: the letter writer knows that most will never check with snopes for if they did, they would have found it to be a hoax or not listed.

Get this E-mail message sent around to your contacts ASAP.
Hoax like wording because: yes, that is the purpose of the email. to see it cause panic

PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS!
Hoax like wording because: please send it to everyone

You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' thewhole hard disc C of your computer.
Hoax like wording because: viruses today do not destroy equipment, viruses are used today to steal your identity and control your computer, The last thing that they want to do is destroy your hardware for that would prevent them from using you for thier deeds

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
Hoax like wording because: yes please don't annoy them once. send them the same hoax every day if you can

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately .
Hoax like wording because: even better, shut down your pc when you receive mail, any email, ( except from me of course)

This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered recently by McAfee, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.
Hoax like wording because: According to John Stewart of Comedy Central Daily Show, Cable News like CNN and CNBC cannot even keep track of financial news properly, now you think they would be in the Virus news space? In fact, MSFT, CNN, McAfee would never make a press release such as this, and if they did, you would not need the email.

COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.
Hoax like wording because: how many times does this email remind us to send it to everyone? hmmm.....

for personal users , consider online backups

A buddy was telling me about this great service that he was using http://mozy.com/ for a backup services. Since he really does care about his data, has 100s of GB of pictures, music and audio books., keeping his data safe and protected from burglaries, hardware disasters etc were very important to him, Plus he is as cheap as I am about spending money so i perked up when he found a great deal, Mozy is only $5.00 per month and provides unlimited storage and works with both Macs and Windows . Another great alternative to consider. cheers...walter

Managers can be so pragmatic

Like many others companies this particular client has over a terabyte of storage spread out over several servers. Many of the files are old and obsolete but for legal reasons, they have to be kept. So today the office manager called me and during the discussion on data sprawl she noted that since USB external drives are so inexpensive, why not do a backup of the files to tape archive and then move the files off the server on to a USB external drive and store the drive as a convenient archive? Considering the time and resources to backup seldom used data, moving to an extermal hd to be stored away is a great solution that we can all use.

LoJack your Laptop for free

One of the concerns that you should have with your mobile users is theft, and not your employees stealing but someone stealing your employee's laptop and with it, your companies secrets. One such product that we utilize at CCI is a free software that allows you to track the location of your PC and if stolen, allow you to delete the data remotely.

So, take some time and visit http://www.thelaptoplock.com/ and give this a try.. cheers for now... walter