First thing I thought was “about bloody time!”. Yahoo! and McAfee have partnered up to provide integrated search security on the results pages, they call it “Search Scan“. The result is prominent warnings at the top of the page and next to the offending link with a “hover” for details. However sites that have browser exploits and drive-by downloads as identified by McAfee will not even appear in the results. The remaining “bad” links are those that:
have files in which there may be spyware, viruses (no difference in my mind) or potentially harmful applications
send unsolicited email or share your email address with 3rd parties without your consent
This image was altered to protect people from themselves
According to Yahoo this is in direct response to users stating that security and privacy are the top concern for users when online. Thoughtful of Yahoo to also include the two extremes in your preferences you can select to turn the feature completely off and have zero filtering. Secondly you can select the search results to totally remove any link with a warning. Nice one Yahoo.
I would add to that that if people are that concerned about their privacy and security they should do something about it. While this is a good move by Yahoo and wise, it only serves to protect the stupid and for them there is probably no hope anyway. I have been taking advantage of Site Advisor for about 2 years now. It is available as an extension for Firefox and *cough* IE. Users need to be proactive about their security and privacy and yeah it takes a bit of effort to do so; but so does locking your car. I am glad if only it adds some protection for the rest of us that do put the effort into keeping ourselves clean and private.
I am not about to knock these features, it is a great thing and helps to protect users from themselves. If you are a “bit” serious about your security and privacy then these are my quick tips:
Don’t use Internet Explorer: sorry but it remains one of the primary vectors for malicious software on the web
Install a decent anti-virus: I use Avast! and set it to update automatically.
Install Site Advisor: Gives you the same features that are at Yahoo! across all the major search engines. One of my “can’t live without” extensions. It becomes automatic to check it.
Don’t click links in IM and email: If you don’t know where it goes and you don’t know the sender then don’t click it, simple
Don’t open unknown email attachments: The promise of a Paris tit-fest is a lure you idiot, so wipe the surprised look off your face when your newly installed decent Anti-virus is screaming at you that it has found a nasty thing on your computer
Click Ctrl + Alt + Del Once in a while at start-up: learn what all those weird apps are that start when your computer does, a search on Google will be helpful and there are some great search engines dedicated to the cause, like ProcessLibrary. Then you’ll start to recognize when something might be there that should not be.
Check the SSL Cert: When your shopping online take the time to take advantage of that “View Certificate” in Firefox and make sure that the domain matches the site and that the certificate is valid and not expired. Piece of mind is a good thing.
Common sense: Yes plain and simple THINK! Use your head and think, think think - Whinnie the Pooh does it now you have a go. If it does not add up then it probably doesn’t! Looks dodgy? Probably is! Simple eh? So why don’t users do it?
Keep your system and software patched: this includes all your apps/OS and your online stuff like that install of WordPress with your precious blog on it. If you are using old software versions and platforms, don’t be surprised when you wake up to check your blog stats and you see a giant ad for penis enlargements or the Russian hackers association!
These are just a few things off the top of my head that I do daily, there are more but I thought 10 was a good number to stop at. I am constantly thinking about security you can not be any other way and be a part of the web and have a clean PC and intact privacy. Not to mention the fact that the whole penis enlargement thing woudl be hard to explain to your boss.
I got burned once with a zero day virus. A particularly nasty drive-by one that wrote to my boot sector. I lost everything. But I learned a great deal and swore that it would never happen again. I got serious about my security and taught myself to get with the program.
Oh and back-up, back-up, back-up… cause sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do something borks.
Let us know in the comments your tips on what you do to protect your security and privacy.
Don’t use IE, please… Doug! talk’in to you buddy!!
Yes we are still here, and here is the latest on the server situation. Basically the blogs have been migrated to the new servers and they are sort of working. There is still work to do and things to tweak however.
The blog is working as you can see, we were even going to have a show out this week. But late last week we found a major problem. It would appear that our RSS feed is dead. That means that anything we post here is not getting to our loyal listeners. You won’t get this post unless you visit the blog.
This also means that the show won’t make it to iTunes or peoples RSS readers. So there is not much point producing a heap of material that few people will get to hear. We want everything to be right and working.
The tech team is working on the problem and that is as much as I know right now. As Cam says in the latest from the TPN blog, there are going to be bugs with the new servers and it will take a bit longer to sort them out fully. Please be patient and rest assured that we have not abandoned you.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all listeners that have dropped us a comment or email, tweet to say hello and where the heck are ya? Thanks, we appreciate the support and we are looking forward to be back podcasting and blogging more regularly soon.
If you have not already make sure you add us to your follow list on twitter I regularly tweet updates there as to what is going on.
Short and sweet this week. Awesome show don’t miss it! Cait and I had a real blast recording the show and it was great to get back to the regular format.
We have all the usual segments for you and a special surprise from the Lab Rat.
The show is not hosted on the TPN servers due to instability so if you are having trouble getting it use the direct download link. Again sorry about the inconvenience.
Looks like the US military is on a different type of recruitment drive, their biggest problem is attracting the recruits they want: hackers.
Obviously the Internet is a minefield and the governments of this world are interested in what goes on in it, additionally computer and network security is a concern and one they have a priority in maintaining as just that: secure. The military interest in computer security is obvious. That said it appears they feel that their “regular members” of the military could be complimented by a different crowd.
Earlier this month Col. Jeff Kendall of the Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER) stated that there are distinctive challenges recruiting in the area of “cyber warfare”.
“Perhaps we need a different kind of warrior in this domain…”
(Not sure if that is a bad pun or not)
Col. Jeff goes onto to suggest that perhaps the physical requirements the military has doesn’t quite fit for the type of recruits that they want. Read: people that spend all day in front of a computers(s) on a staple diet of coke and pizza, bad sleeping habits and have forgotten what sunshine looks like.
Other considerations are the fact that the personnel they want might not have maintained the law in quite the way it was intended and that the life of a hacker by nature means that they have probably haven’t. If you think this might block you from entering the military into the cyber warfare division then think again… they are probably willing to over look the fact that you more than likely operated outside the law to obtain your talents.
Basically I think that the military is seeing that the hacker represents someone of great skill and abilities that the military can’t replicate in it’s training. They realize that who they want probably doesn’t “fit the mold” and so they are rethinking how they can change the mold. Smart thinking in my opinion.
I guess if you think you have what it takes then go and check out the Air Force Cyber Command Homepage. I would really appreciate it if you left our blog as it is, we have had enough trouble lately. But please go and do something about the AFCYBER Homepage it is damn awful.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Col. Jeff Kendal, classic:
“…they’re not the same kind of folks that perhaps you want to march to breakfast in the morning.”
Hope that our listeners’ week went well, our is getting better. Just wanted to let you know that Cam, CEO of TPN has made a post on The Podcast Network Blog about the latest woes and trouble that we have been experiencing with the servers and pretty much where we are at now.
We are not totally out of the woods right now but things are better than they were a week ago. Check out what Cam had to say and again we thank you for your patience and continuing support.
It ain’t easy being green, but we are learning to cope with it. Please continue to let us know of any kookyness that you might have with the network and we are doing our best to resolve issues as they occur.
We spoke about the eminent release of the XP version of the Eee PC in episode 80 of the GGP. A few of you had a bit to say about it in addition to Doug sending us an audio comment. Doug thought that the inclusion of XP would make the Eee PC cost prohibitive and not worth it. I would have agreed, but for the observations of it for sale in the wild.
It looks like the Eee PC XP version is joining the market at the same price point as the Linux version. So that took me totally by surprise. Not sure what kind of deal Asus has struck with Microsoft or if they are willing to take a hit on their margins initially to get market penetration.
What has been confirmed is that gadgets like the Eee are prolonging the life of XP in that the ultra low PC market will be able to sell OEM XP for the next two years. While the desktop cousins and laptops will be cut off as of the 30th of June this year. Truth is that Vista would cripple the Eee and Microsoft see these platforms as a money spinner. Long live XP!
It will be interesting to see if the dominance of the Microsoft and XP brand make this the preferred format for the Eee PC. I know, I know the geeks will still go for the Linux version, but I am talking about the poor uni student that needs something to whack out assignments on and stuff like that. There is a market for a budget mobile computing solution and now with XP the Eee PC might just fill a void. For a lot of consumers the traditional laptop just doesn’t make economic sense.
Second I am waiting to hear how the XP version performs. XP clearly has more overheads than Linux and it will be interesting to see if this comes into play witht he Eee PC version. Keith maintains that you can tweak XP to be light and efficient, which I am sure is true. The big question is have they got the mix right?
So what do you get for your hard earned $399? (Best Buy)
900MHz Celeron
512 RAM
4 GB soild state memory
800 x 480 screen
Wireless 802.11 b/g and ethernet
3 USB ports
Camera and Mic built in
Windows XP Home
So anyone going to be taking up the Eee PC under XP? Maybe you already have. Let us know what you think or do what Doug did and send us an audio comment ton play in the next show.
Thanks for the patience over the last week. Many apologies for the extent of the server instability that you may have been affected by. In essence I have no idea what the cause was, however it is looking like the tech guys got to the cause of things and have resolved the problem.
The major impact it has had on the site is that we have not been able to post anything over the last week. We might have been able to chance it and have a try at posting but I was over losing posts.
In addition to that we were experiencing errors right up until late last night (AEST), I was faced with a decision. I could prep a show with the possibility that the server was stabilized and be able to get it out. Or I could abandon this weeks podcast. As you know a lot of time and effort goes into a show. Our shows are also time sensitive, so I could not release this weeks show next week. Because I did not want to lose the hours that it takes to prepare for a show I decided to abandon plans for this weeks show. I hope that you guys appreciate that.
We are gearing up for a show next week and we hope that you join us then. We are also hoping that we have seen the end of the server problems.
Welcome to the GGP for another week. I have had a busy week and thrown myself into this weeks show. That was a lame excuse for the lack of blogging.
In this episode I interview Loic Le Meur, the founder and CEO of seesmic. It was a fantastic interview about seesmic, video, the evolution of a start-up, marketing and everything else you might expect.
Something a bit different this week and hopefully some answers to our listeners many questions.
This week we attempt to answer the question: Why do I need twitter? To do that we have invited onto the show JJProjects. JJ is known for his twitter obsession and knows the community very well.
We hope that you enjoy this weeks show and we would like to thank JJ for appearing on the show and being a part of our community.
I have been watching this application for a while and I have recently got beta access to the new version. With that I have a number of invites to share.
For those that don’t know what EverNote is, it is a 3 part application - you can choose which parts you want or need and not worry about the rest as well, so lots of different ways of using it. It is a web application, a standalone and a mobile app as well. What it does is enables you to make notes, clip stuff from the web, save images and just about everything else you can think of and save them to EverNote. From here all three of those components can be sync’ed up.
The power of the software is in the search, it can be via tags, text, attributes, dates or right through to the text in image recognition (that works a charm). That is, very powerful. You can have everything you ever put in a notebook in an instant where ever you are.
I have not done a great job at saying exactly what this software can do, brushed the surface more like it. If you are interested then check out the about page. There is also a screencast of the software in action.
If that is enough for you to want to give the alpha version a try then I have some invites to give away to listeners and readers of the blog. No preferential treatment, first in = first served. Email me at the show address with a legit email and I will shoot you through an invite. I’ll update the blog when they are all gone.
Two Hemispheres, Two Geeks, One Podcast. Two geeks on opposite sides of the world delivering the news in a fun and entertaining way. Everything tech, from Web2.0 blogging, the internet to product reviews and
software even what they did on the week-end. Global Geek Podcast sits on
it's own with the quirky attitudes and pithy, humour between the hosts
and their content!
First thing I thought was “about bloody time!”. Yahoo! and McAfee have partnered up to provide integrated search security on the results pages, they call it “Search Scan“. The result is prominent warnings at the top of the page and next to the offending link with a “hover” for details. However sites that have browser exploits and drive-by downloads as identified by McAfee will not even appear in the results. The remaining “bad” links are those that:
“Will You Be Mine”
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I have been watching this application for a while and I have recently got beta access to the new version. With that I have a number of invites to share.
