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Tech Stuff in a Non-Tech Sort of Way
In this issue
My Blog
Some Recent
Entries
Just To Let You
Know
Latest Security
Alert
Question of the Month
Prior Newsletter Issues
Issue
#1
Issue
#2
Issue
#3
Issue
#4
Issue #5
Issue
#6
Issue
#7
Issue #8
Issue
#9
Issue
#10
Issue
#11
Here are some recent entries from my
blog that you might find interesting.
Were
Windows Updates Installed Without Permission?
How
to Make Sure That Email Attachment is Virus Free
Microsoft
Warns of Serious Security Hole
Make
a Web Page Link Do What You Want
But
It Fit...
Check these out and more - http://blog.askbillfirst.com.
Computerworld - More than 9 out of every 10 Windows users are vulnerable to the Flash zero-day vulnerability that Adobe won't patch until July 30, a Danish security company said.
According to Secunia, 92% of the 900,000 users who have recently run the company's Personal Software Inspector (PSI) utility have Flash Player 10 on their PCs, while 31% have Flash Player 9. (The total exceeds 100% because some users have installed both.)
The most-current versions of Flash Player -- 9.0.159.0 and 10.0.22.87) -- are vulnerable to hackers conducting drive-by attacks hosted on malicious and legitimate-but-compromised sites. Antivirus vendors have reported hundreds, in some cases thousands, of sites launching drive-bys against Flash.
Secunia's PSI also pegged the installed base of the current Adobe Reader 9.1.2 and Abode Acrobat 9.1.2 at 48% and 2%, respectively. Because both include an interpreter to handle Flash content embedded in PDF files, they also can be exploited. The initial attacks, in fact, were based on rigged PDFs.
Adobe has acknowledged that Flash, Reader and Acrobat contain a critical bug. Last Wednesday, it kicked its security process into high gear, promising it would deliver patches for Flash by July 30, and fixes for Reader and Acrobat by July 31.
Until then, users have few options other than to delete, disable or rename the flawed component, "authplay.dll;" Adobe has posted terse instructions in a security bulletin.
Adobe has been faced with one security emergency after another this year. In mid-March, it patched several Reader vulnerabilities, then followed that with two more updates in May and June. Also last week, after Secunia noticed that Adobe continued to provide an outdated edition of Reader for download from its Web site, Adobe said it might change how its software updater worked.
Question of the month
This month's question is: "I
keep hearing about Windows 7. What is it? When will it be out? How
will affect my software? When should I upgrade?"
Windows 7 - What is it all about? As many of you know, Windows 7 is the new operating system from Microsoft that will be released to the public on October 22 of this year. It will replace Vista, which, for various reasons, has not been well received.
Windows 7 is all that Vista was supposed to be but wasn't. It's faster and cleaner and will ultimately make you want to move from XP, but not yet.
As with any new operating system, there should be a waiting period of several months before you move to it. There are enough people who will jump on it and install it and test it and break it, etc. so that in a few months, you'll benefit from their testing. Yes, it's been tested over the past several months but once it's released to the general public, there will be several more patches released that will clean it up to work better with your computer and software.
If your computer is 3 years old or older, you should probably not even consider upgrading to the new operating system as it requires quite a bit of computer power to run. If you're not sure if your current computer can run Windows 7, you can download and run the Microsoft Security Essentials from Microsoft.
Because Windows 7 is just out of beta, many software companies have tested it under a controlled environment meaning they've used just a few brands of computers with the software to see if it works. What that means to you is that if you are considering upgrading to Windows 7 you will need to contact your software manufacturer and either ask them if your software will work with Windows 7. If they say yes, ask them under what conditions, or what computers they've tested it with. Let them know what brand computer you have and ask if they have tested it with that brand. If they have not, don't upgrade just yet. Let the software manufacturer test it further before you upgrade.
Personally, I'd look at upgrading after the first of the year, giving it at least 3 months after public release, and then only after I've checked with any companies of non-standard software that I use.
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