Median for Identity Theft at $31,356

Utica College with the help of the Secret Service has determined that the median cost to victims for identity theft is $31,356.00. Although Secret Service data has not been previously used it is also noteworthy that the Secret Service does not get involved with minor schemes. The report also notes that unlike previously thought it is not white males that are the majority of offenders but many other minority races are responsible for ID theft.

US Government to Curb Chinese Hacking

ABC News Tonight reported that US officials admit the Chinese broke into Pentagon computers successfully. Dallas Computer Repair has seen a dramatic increase in trojans as the war wages on from cyber attacks. The last computer scanned produced and initial 153 trojans and a reboot scan pulled up another 91 trojans. The spyware and adware on the computer was numbered at 253 pieces. The whole attack ended up destroying the boot record that could not be repaired without reinstalling the full system.

The computer contained client data with credit cards, names and addresses. The client was informed that such data was critical to being protected at the fullest extent. I don't think the client understood or refused to understand the need to go out of the way and spend the necessary time and resources to secure the data. That will be in the report/invoice that will be sent to the client without doubt.

New Worm Targeting Skype

Skype users should be aware that a new worm is targeting the software by using the chat function to send a message to users about a link to a .jpg that is ready for downloading. The user will then see a dialog box that will ask to 'save or run' a .scr file that should be ignored, according to an article on InformationWeek.

The worm is said to be spreading globally in an alarming rate.

Hacked by the Chinese Again

Reports are coming about again how the Chinese are attempting to infiltrate our infrastructure in the United States. They have been recently caught in June trying to gain access to the Pentagon, according to FinancialTimes.com and also have been unofficially caught attempting to gain access to our Naval Intelligence in Alabama as we reported several weeks ago.

Our own website, Dallas Computer Repair, was infiltrated and attempts to cause confusion and duplication within the search engine Google was attempted. The hackers attempted to drop executable files that were noticed and immediately deleted. We are always on the lookout for devious attempts at hijacks within our site and will remain vigilent.

Storm Worm Takes 13 Hour Break Then Reheats

Storm Worm took a 13 hour break over the Labor Day Holiday just to restart with new twists. The new worm campaign began with emails sent to accounts that had a link to a 'Happy Labor Day' greeting card that was a link to a malicious site, according to Dallas Computer Service. There scripts were executed that took advantage of exploits in Microsoft products, QuickTime and WinZip.

Another twist was that emails were sent that proclaimed particular musical artists had released a new video on YouTube that even MTV had not received yet.

Solution: Do Not open emails from unknown senders.

Firefox V.3 Combats Malicious Sites

According to Dallas Computer Repair, Firefox V.3, due out toward the end of the year, will combat malicious sites that attempt to download malware, usually trojans, onto unsuspecting users computers. Sophos reported that 5,000 new malicious sites were created in April but by June the number of new sites jumped to 30,000.

Dallas computer repair has seen an increase in the number of computers coming into the shop for virus removal. One problem is that users are letting their anti-virus expire and after infection are having difficulty removing the malware even with newly installed and updated anti-virus scanners.

Solution: do not go to suspect sites via emails, keep anti-virus definition database updated, do not open emails whose sender is unknown.

Storm Worm- Largest Botnet in Internet's History

Storm Worm has increased its presence on worldwide computers to now number a mind boggling 1.7 million machines. It appears this is the largest botnet in history according to Dallas Computer Repair. Malicious malware writers are using social engineering into enticing unsuspecting users opening emails and then directing them to websites containing the trojan, Storm Worm.

Such a large botnet of computers would be able to take down a small countries internet and it could be used to attack larger institutions and organizations. It appears there has been Denial of Service (DOS) attacks on random IP addresses and that researchers also suspect that it was the Storm Worm that was used to attack the small country of Estonia bringing their internet to a halt.

Storm Worm Escalates

Dallas Computer Repair reports that Storm Worm has escalated to new heights within the last week. The worm erupted with over 200,000,000 emails sent out in just over a week that directed users to malicious websites where little content was offered but contained a downloader that put the malicious software onto the unsuspecting users computers. The goal of these malware authors is to create a large botnet that can also download fresh malicious software where the authors will control the computers to their advantage.

Last Thursday was the biggest day with between 24,000,000 and 26,000,000 malicious emails sent compared to this last Tuesday where security experts predicted between 4-6 million malicious emails where Storm Worm constitutes 99% of the malicious software.

"Phish and Chips" Bust Nets Italian Phishing Scheme

18 Italians and 8 Eastern Europeans were arrested in a phishing scheme that targeted Poste Italiane's home-banking services and stolen identities from hundreds of unsuspecting users. Poste Italiane is Italy's government postal service which offers banking services. The group sent emails which directed unsuspecting users to a fake website that looked like Poste Italiane's site where information was then gathered.

A 22 y.o. admitted to being the main hacker who sent out emails and directed users to a cloned website overseas, appearing to be the Italian Postal Service where the information was then stolen and users bank accounts were emptied into cards the hackers had secured from Poste Italiane.

Police confiscated, laptops, data backup equipment, phones, false identification and equipment for manufacturing credit cards.

Dallas Computer Repair recommends avoiding identity theft by:

1. Never open emails from those you do not know
2. Never follow links from emails from senders you do not know
3. Always make sure you are on an authenticated secure site which should show a yellow address bar with the following prefix> https:
4. https: stands for hyper text transfer protocol secure

Botnets Targeting iPhone Buyers

A new botnet is making its way across the worldwide internet that so far has about 7,500 zombie computers on its network. Infected computers are directed to a malicious website that is designed to look like the iPhone website but is a fake and the botnet is able to deliver real looking popups and advertisents to users who attempt to go to iPhones authentic site. If users are on a secure webpage a yellow address background should be seen in the address bar.

Solution to Botnets:

1. Keep YOUR Computer Secure
2. Scan for Viruses regularly
3. Keep a Firewall running
4. Scan for Adware and Spyware

Storm Worm Morphed Again

Dallas Computer Repair is reporting that Strom Worm has again morphed and is showing up in emails prompting unsuspecting users to click on a link in an email where the participant is taken to a website and prompted to download malicious software.

Email users are urged not to open emails sent from unknown parties and to never click on a link to an unknown website much less download software from an unknown source.

iPhone Hacked?

InformationWeek report's that a hacker has breached the Apple iPhone's security. The hacker offers downloads that will activate the wifi's email, video application, web browsing and music without activating the phone through AT&T. Another hacker reports that he or they have the capability to activate the phone through AT&T prepaid phone cards versus the two-year contract at $60 per month.

Dallas computer repair predicted that iPhone would be targeted so a hacker could take the claim to fame as the first hacker to break iPhone's security features. Although the current hacks may prove the system is vulnerable but the hack is not capable of being used as a cell phone in the first instance and the second instance would make the iPhone a premium paid phone service.

Storm Worm Raises Its Ugly Head

The well-known Storm Worm keeps getting rewritten by its malware authors to target email users in a social engineering campaign. The email directs people to a malicious website that opens up a greeting they have been sent from a family member.

To avoid email worms and keep you computer safe by following this PC security info:

1. Never open emails from unknown senders.
2. Always keep your anti-virus updated.
3. Scan your computer at least once a week for viruses.
4. Keep your firewall turned on.
5. Have an emergency boot cd available.
6. Use as computer tips have.

Dallas Computer Repair reported recently how company executives are now being targeted by an email worm.

iPhone Hackers

Apple's iPhone is about to roll out to the public and iPhone security issues are being explored publicly. The device is a cell phone, internet browser and iPod that is wifi capable. Developer's Tools will not be available for the iPhone so hacking will be more tricky for malware writer's. Third party vendors will have a tougher time writing software for the iPhone without developer tools which will be an ace in Apple's pocket. Hackers have mostly taken advantage of software developer toolkits to write the malware programs in the past.

The amount of publicity is going to be too tempting for some skilled hackers who want to go after a tough system to "prove themselves". The device will run with the Mac OS X operating system and mostly likely along with the iPod, the iPhone's firmware will be updateable and more than likely updateable over the phone lines along with wifi to make the system quite stealthy. The browser will be Safari which will also be able to be easily updated and constantly ahead of hackers and malware authors.

A draw back to Apple will be that if hackers know the Safari browser vulnerabilites that they will be able to exploit the browser and compromise the system. The biggest threat that affects the iPhone is the number of applications, media formats, etc. that the iPhones supports making the ability to totally secure the device amazingly complex and leaving hackers with a multiple avenue of exploits to utilize. Last but not least is the hackers award of, "I was the first to hack iPhone".

DHS Chief Tries Reassuring Congress

Department of Homeland Security Chief, Scott Charbo, reassure the U.S. Congress that hackers have infiltrated the Nations US-VISIT which is the computer system handling all the information of people entering the United States, according to an article by PrivacyDigest. The information is vital to track those entering the country plus it also contains information on watchlists and Visa programs. Although he maintains the Nation's US-VISIT computer system is stealthy and has not been breached a computer worm/malware was found in the system.

Dallas Computer Repair has always maintained, "For National Security, protect your computer".

Mpack Spreading from Italy Thoughout Europe/Worldwide

Mpack Toolkit is hitting hard in Italy and spreading across the world with a reported 10,000 computers effected according to a report by VirusBulletin:

1. The basic function incorporates hidden iframes and it is then placed on a hacked website to exploit known flaws in operating systems, browsers and other components where
2. downloads of infected code infiltrate vulnerable systems.
3. It appears Russian malware authors are using the toolkit to hack and use the toolkit for statistical use in order to download the best, needed trojans and other malware to carry out attacks.

Spyware Illegal?

Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor wants to stop spyware and by introducing a bill to make it illegal, according to InformationWeek. Other measures have been tried and passed in the U.S. House of Representatives but it is doubtful the measure will go through and become law. Sen. Pryor sites the many different types of spyware and how it slows computer, installs itself without user's knowledge and is hard to remove.

Dallas Computer Repair doubts the measure will pass the House and the Senate with groups like The Information Technology Association of America who has opposed similar legislation in the past.

Congress Declares June "Internet Safety Month"

Congress signed a resolution declaring June to be "Internet Safety Month". They cited statistics about children and their risky online behavior, defined cyber criminals, etc. The whole whoplaa is for people "to think internet security". Dallas Computer Repair knows from experience that rarely do average households think about internet security or the cyber thieves and cyber criminals that lurk out their daily and nightly.

Malware authors continue to write viruses at a record number pace and their variants are becoming rampant with new virus and trojan variations written in an untold number daily. Average computer users are either unconcerned or ignorant about the dangers of the internet and sit behind their computers behind locked doors as if they are safe from danger. The amount of dollar damage that is stolen from US citizens is quiet alarming yet average users seem to be oblivious.

For the US Congress to write such a resolution is a waste of time without any action behind it.

Hackers Hit Illinois Web Server

The FBI are investigating a hack attack against an Illinois state web server that held license information on about 300,000 people with personal information on addresses, birth dates, social security numbers and other personal I.D. according to InformationWeek.

The license holders and those that applied for licenses was for loan origination in the state of Illinois. Initially it was thought to be an inside job but now evidence is pointing to an outside attack.

Dallas Computer Repair remains firm about everyone protecting their computers and being vigilent against outside attacks. Use updated antivirus protection, updated firewall protection and updated spyware and adware protection.

Dallas iPod Repair

Dallas iPod Repair has started now searching for a partner to help acquire needed parts as the repair business picks up. This will help speed up the repair process as people will not have to order their own iPod parts to bring or send.

PC Virus Doctors repair nano's, 5th gen. videos, classics and other ipods with mini laptop drives.

Dallas Computer Repair

Dallas Computer Repair reports as usual the first three months of 2007 have been plagued with computer viruses but more with trojans as Russian and East Europeans vie for dominance. This is nothing but a game that needs to be dealt with due vigilance in firewall and virus/trojan protection.

Wake up people, else our fortunes and identities are stolen.

Computer Viruses Galore

Wow, the computer viruses and trojans are at a record pace with Dallas Computer Repair. The last virus/ trojan repair was over 200 different malware with another 200 plus adware/spyware.

Most of these problems begin when Norton or McAfee subscriptions run out. People will not take any proactive measures and become infected with the malware and probably worst they end up having a lot of personal identity stolen.

Malware Authors Battling

Dallas Computer Repair reports the authors of Warezov and Storm worm are engaged in online war to see who can control the largest botnet and gain the most profit. At least two groups are involved and possibly three criminals or criminal enterprises including the author(s) of Bagle worm variants. These malware authors are varying their trojans to more easily go into stealth mode where they steal computer users information.

Users need to keep a good 3rd party firewall up and running along with updated anti-virus signatures.

Botnets

Let's be no longer clueless nor ignorant to botnets. Dallas Computer Repair has gone to long lengths to educate daily computer users. Botnets can be setup on user's computers that can take over your computer using it to (1) Attack other computers or networks, (2) Send out spam with code that infects those computers, (3) A variety of ways the author of the code wishes.

Protect your computers either through freeware or other software that you must pay for. The bottom-line to this warning is that YOU are responsible.

PERIOD.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday Repairs

As usual Microsoft is patching repairs for their software for this coming, infamous, "Patch Tuesday". This set of software repairs, Windows Office, Exchange, BizTalk and Capicom, a Microsoft ActiveX Control. Information Week states in the report that Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool will also be updated next week.

New Email Extortions

Dallas Computer Repair has seen reports of emails threatening millionaires with blackmail. The emails report that they have been targeted to be murdered if they do not respond to the emails that demand $30,000 upfront and $10,000 after information (a tape recording) is delivered to them on the person paying for the "hit". Information Week goes on to report that was is different about this type of email blackmail, that was first noticed in December, 2006, is that the sender's addressed is not "spoofed" but from a real IP address.

Also, the people that respond to these emails have been given back personal information about them most likely gathered by malware and/or hackers.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that about 115 of these have been recorded with the latest wave of assaults happening today, Wed. April 25, 2007.

Report this activity. Let's stop cybercrime, email blackmail and email extortions by reporting these thugs.

New Laptop Technology for Data Backup

A computer manufacturer company in India, HCL Infosystems, has invented a new technology that will allow their new laptop computers to restore data in less than a minute. Information Week reports that the new system technology automatically stores the data and back it up using an image. George Paul an executive at HCL Infosystems, reports that 95% of all computer problems are software related including deleting data accidently.

The laptops are available only in India at this time where they retail for an American equivalency of $685.00.

Congress Examines Government Hacks

A major leader of the House Committee on Homeland Security testified in 2006 that the security breaches to government servers where the "tip of the iceberg", according to Information Week. Two computer break-ins at the Department of State and the Department of Commerce last summer are most likely more serious than reported.

Microsoft's $3.00 Software

Microsoft is out to push the world to their operating system by offering some governments their operating system and Microsoft office for $3.00. The offer is for developing countries to put the system on school children's computers.

Will not this be a great training ground for kiddie hackers and scams by developing nations that already plaque or email system? I could think of no better way, especially since Microsoft cannot even secure their own systems. These efforts will no doubt lead to more viruses being spread and new viruses that will have the potential to cripple the internet. I hope Microsoft plans on putting anti-virus packages with their deal.

San Fran Univ. Cal. Hacker

A hacker recently as of last month got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Administrators at UCSF noticed resources being sucked from a server and investigated to find a hidden program. Dallas Computer Repair has consistently maintained its stance on security and encryption with sensitive data.

No, UCSF did not encrypt the data that the hidden program had access to, including 43,000 staff and over 3,000 as reported by VirusList. The identity theft is unknown as far as damages so far.

Government Security Report

The U.S. Government got their report card. 8 government agencies got failing grades. Over the last three years the agencies received D marks but this year overall the score was a C-. I just question why this is. We have more than adequate security tools available to us.

There is more than just firewalls that need to be deployed to secure computer systems. The government should have adequate anti-virus and other software to keep out spyware but there remains the vulnerability of employees with information that is afforded to them.

The government needs to regulate all information given to employees for its dissemination. That only would secure the systems significantly.

U.S. Internet Infrastructure

Dallas Computer Repair has come a long way in the last year. That being said, why is the United States internet infrastructure so far behind the world-leading internet countries? Most in Europe now have t1 connections but we are still using phone lines. There has been no major move to push the United States into faster connections where we could use internet T.V. and other video in real-time. We constantly "give" our intellectual and proprietary property away to third world countries but yet we cannot keep our own technology growth at pace for our own people.

We have got to keep up the pace or we will fall as an international technology leader. This is plain and simple. If we do lose the technology front we will lose on many other fronts.

Lets push our legislators for faster internet connections, locally, at the state level and our U.S. Senators. Let's get these lazy, greedy people off their ass and get them to work for us and not the corporations who fund these individuals through many different hidden means.

Thoughts on iPod Virus

Well, the thoughts are definitely in about the supposed first iPod virus as reported by Dallas Computer Repair. Many are upset that it is not a real threat, lol. The iPod environment will most likely never survive supporting a virus in the wild due to the environment in which iPod's don't exchange information between each machine or unit.

A lot of mad people. Just be glad that iPod's don't have infrared data exchange or viruses would plague the machine.

Blogger Hiding Behind an IP?

In an interesting Federal Case, a blogger is hiding and refusing so far to acknowledge a subpoena. Information Week reports that a blogger named "Pamela Jones" is bashing a software company SCO about filing suits against competitors. The suits maintain that IBM and Novell open source software contains SCO's proprietary source code while IBM and Novell deny it. Dallas Computer Repair is used to dealing with hackers hiding but bloggers? Can't they find her IP address. Pamela Jones has a website, www.groklaw.net...and she can't be tracked down? Hogwash.

1st iPod Virus Oslo

Dallas Computer Repair has now posted the news about the new iPod Virus that is a "proof of concept" virus. The virus runs on Linux iPod Operating Systems and will not cross infect other OS platforms.

Firewalls are Today's Necessity

A study from the University of Maryland reported that computers connected to the internet were attacked about every 39 seconds resulting in 2,244 attacks per day. The anti-virus company, Sophos, reports that many of the malware coming into computer systems are now trojans versus viruses which represent a 4-to-1 ratio respectively. Firewalls are now becoming a necessary front in warding off difficult to stop malware.

The first line of defense is protecting the perimeter with a hardware firewall.

Trend Micro Increases U.S. Sales

PC Virus Doctors have long used their virus scanner and now Information Week reports that their sales for security products have increased 11% in 2006 with an expected increase of 15% in 2007. Trend Micro credits the increase in sales partly with their partnership with Best Buy which is currently recommending the security product during in-house sales by "tech experts".

Dallas Data Recovery

Dallas Data Recovery

PC Virus Doctors has teamed up with a major data recovery service to extend our services for customers needing data recovery assistance. PC Virus Doctors can come to your home or establishment in any metroplex, city or town in the United States and retrieve your hard drive to forward to our data recovery partner to assess the drive and determine a cost analysis and determine if the data can be restored. There is NO Charge for assessment and our Data Recovery is Affordable.

Types of Devices to Recover Data:

CD/DVD
Flash Media
Hard Disks/Drives
iPods
Zip Drives
Most any Type Media and Operating System

Most often 96% of the data is recoverable but there is some marginal room for error. Our partner has the latest technology to ensure as much data is retrieved as possible. Under the most extreme difficult situations the hard drive is sent to the "Clean Room" where the most stringent forensic techniques are used to retrieve the data back to its original condition as best possible.

PC Virus Doctors' Data Recovery services the entire Nation and is available 24/7. We can retrieve and recover data from Desktops and laptops and even iPods. Do not hesitate to call and do not continue to use the drive if you have discovered that files are no longer accessible as you may overwrite the files making recovery more difficult.

Dallas Computer Repair can assist with and Dallas data recovery project, large or small.

Boot CD

Dallas Computer Repair Tech Boot CD

The Tech Boot CD© contains all the PC computer diagnostic and repair utilities, over 270 full programs, that will easily boot, repair, and keep Win XP Intel computers and earlier Win operating systems at 100%. The Tech Boot CD© is for novice through expert use that includes over 1500 PC computer repair tips and over 1500 glossary terms to help users have the best PC performance in daily use. Easily boot and repair your computer back to its original state. Any novice can boot this CD!

***********************************************
The Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) can start a PC computer and perform tests that diagnose and repair problem hardware and system issues for Intel computers (any problems contact PC Virus Doctors' Dallas Computer Repair). The Ultimate Boot CD has 70 tools that can test all the major brand PC computer hard drives, run anti-virus scanning, run memory and RAM tests, check computer systems and file systems, and enable CMOS password recovery. The boot cd can perform hard disk wiping, disk cloning, partitioning, perform benchmarks, repairs and more.

***********************************************
- KNOPPIX Boot CD 5.0.1 totals more than 900 installed software packages with over 2000 executable user programs, utilities, and games. - KNOPPIX Boot CD does not have to be installed on a hard drive but can be run directly from the disk itself.

- The Boot CD has utilities for data recovery and system repairs, even for other operating systems.

-Full documentation for the Knoppix Boot CD is available from several Knoppix sources.

Dallas Data Recovery | Dallas Computer Repair | Dallas Laptop Repair | Dallas iPod Repair | Computer Virus Removal | Boot CDs

Lock Your Doors for Computer Security

Marc Weber Tobias, an investigative attorney and security specialist out of Sioux Falls, S.D. says the first line of defense in computer security is to make sure the physical access to computers is locked and secure. Tobias who will speaking at the Hack in the Box Security Conference 2007 said that 95% of tumbler locks can be compromised with a blank key and then "bumped" with a mallet or similar instrument that pushes the pins of the lock up where the lock can be opened. A simple procedure where picked locks produce a big cache for thieves.

Dallas Computer Repair urges home owners, office owners and IT staff to buy the most secure locks to ensure their confidential data is not compromised or where computers and laptops may be stolen.

IBM and Cisco Emergency Crisis Management

Cisco and IBM have announced that they are now able to give emergency preparedness teams communications from different platforms that are integrated into their routers. The routers will be able to handle wireless communications from different frequencies and bridge them together to enable more efficient communications in times of emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes and tsunamis that have left communications spread across multiple frequencies.

Dallas Computer Repair is equipped with wireless communications in the amateur radio frequency range that enable them to communicate locally as well as globally to respond in a somewhat sufficient manner but the cross platform routers will be much more efficient so Dallas Computer Repair can patch not only into telephone systems which more often are down but into different local frequencies where we do not have the equipment to run. This will be invaluable for emergency response teams.

Chinese Hackers

Dallas Computer News: Symantec is reporting that Chinese hackers are stealing online identities of people gaming online. The players targeted are playing Lineage and World of War Craft where their identities are stolen and then sold to less apt gamers where they gain prestige appearing as an upper level player. The hackers are having a bit of fun while creating a market where they can gain financially.

Symantec reports that the US leads malicious cyber activity about 30% followed by China 10% and Germany 7%. China is now becoming a powerhouse, according to the Information Week article, for viruses, phishing scams and botnets. Also to note is that China has been launching 0-day exploits at the US military installations.

Take note people and secure your computer through Dallas Computer Repair.

Google Pack and Norton Anti-Virus

Dallas Computer Repair downloaded Norton Anti-virus as a partial Google Pack download along with Google Earth. Google Earth was the slowest download experienced on the internet in quiet some time. Are Google's servers really that slow? Apparently, the servers are in the Googlebot mode and are busy servicing the search engines rather than allowing for expedient downloads if indeed the download came from Google's servers.

The Norton Anti-virus downloaded much easier, however, the version was from March of 2006 which took forever and a day to update. Is it really that hard for Norton to update their download version for Google? Apparently so as PC Virus Doctors are seeing this as a trend from other anti-virus vendors.

Dallas Computer Repair ran a scan that went fairly quickly as the internet was being used by the computer and the scan ran well without noticing any much of interference from the scan and the scan came clean but we expected adware or spyware at least (if not something worst) to show up if something not nastier since the particular computer has been behaving sluggish with the mouse suspecting some type of logging.

Mozilla Firefox Release 2.0.0.2

Well finally, Mozilla Firefox has announced that it is going to start releasing updated-patched version of Firefox as flaws and vulnerabilities are discovered. The first releases will be available to beta testers and then shortly after the releases will be available to the public according to Dallas Computer Repair. It appears that users will have to download the full version where the bookmarks will be imported to the new updated browser upon installation rather than just patching the browser.

Tech Support from India

Indian tech support is so lousy and the large corporations are eventually going to get it figured out later versus sooner. Who wants to do tech support after waiting for hours to be cold shouldered by some ignoramus who couldn't find their way out of a shoe box.

Keep it up boys and girls in the overseas tech help, you are driving business back to the states.

Daylight Savings-time and Windows and Government Incompetency

Dallas Computer Repair was attempting to check the new time and to ensure the computers were timed correctly when the phone and an atomic clock were noted to be one hour ahead today, Sunday, March 11, 2007. One would suppose after the US Congress voted 5 years ago to have the spring time, daylight savings-time which goes forward one hour to at least be honored by its own government run time servers. But once again the government screwed that up and it is now 9:41 PM in Dallas, TX but the time server time-a.nist.gov still reports 8:41 PM, as well as time.nist.gov and time.windows.com that is built into Windows. What could possibly be so difficult or overseen as to make sure the adjustments at the government institutions would reflect the proper time and that Bill Gates huge corporation were also so incompetent as to screw this up.

Here is the big question...How much is this going to cost us taxpayers.

Apple Flaw in QuickTime

Secunia.com has reported that QuickTime has a buffer overflow problem that allows malicious computer users to compromise systems. Apple has assured users that it has been resolved through the new release; so everyone update your quicktime to avoid hacking, according to Dallas Computer Repair.

Gmail

Gmail has stepped up security finally asking those who receive emails from security companies touting stocks that allegedly are hot. The estimates of email solicited campaigns for stock solicitations is 100 million per month. Report these guys and lets end this bogus reporting crap.

HckPk- the Latest and Greatest

Like we at Dallas Computer Repair don't have enough malware to recognize and neutralize, now there is a new technique employed to hide the old mainstay malware with masks that make them appear as unique or new when they are simply disguising who they really are.

A few weeks ago while laboring over a laptop repair, PC Virus Doctors could not find any malware although all the malicious software symptoms were present. Many scanners were employed, including online scanners and nothing was showing up. A rootkit was then suspected, however, no rootkit scanners were picking anything up.

The authors of Dref and Dorf have used several masks to hide their viruses and they can morf the masks into thousands of variations, according to Information Week's latest article. HckPk, the masking piece of malware, accounted for over half of malware seen in February's infections with over 6,000 variations. When the worm Storm hit the internet it morphed over 1,500 times the first weekend according to the ant-virus vendor Sophos.

As HckPk is able to mask and hide itself within conventional malware and be tweaked and tuned by virus writers it will leave anti-virus vendors with a hefty workload trying to figure out how to put a stop to the problem Not only is the unlimited morphing an issue but each morphed version must first have its code unraveled.

The solution to this new problem will no doubtedly bring a new module of anti-virus scanning to the heuristic model. That being said, with the morphing appears to have no set limits on how it changes so it looks like the anti-virus engineers will have their work cut out for the for quite some time.

The big boy vendors like McAfee and Norton, reputedly sequester their anti-virus teams until they can identify the malware and provide a "fix", may be in for a long-haul.

Break out the coffee pots boys and girls. It's going to be a long picnic.

Hackers Hit Domain Name Servers

PC Virus Doctors' Dallas PC Repair report that hackers overnight targeted 3 of 13 root name servers that direct traffic for domain names. The top level domain targeted was ".org". The 12 hour attack came overnight and although the origins of the attacks was cloaked it appears it was coming from South Korea, according to Security News Portal. The power attack left computer experts rushing to pull the plug on the hackers as they flooded the information highway with their hack attack. A similar attack occurred in 2002 where scientists have since been able to find ways to divert the large volume of data the hackers threw at the servers. An interesting note, the root servers are operated by the U.S. Defense Department.

It really appears this could be easier dealt with like a physical firewall that would just cutoff an offending hacker, however, it has yet to be seen. The scare should prompt a security review and possible solution.

Vendors and Security Researchers Confrontation

Security vendors and researchers got into a confrontation over Black Hat's convention yesterday, according to Information Week. The issue was over proximity cards. The vendors felt as though such a revelation over its technology being exposed would allow duplication of their proximity cards that could allow unauthorized access into facilities. The security card vendor, HID Global Corps., voiced concerns that their intellectual property along with their patents would be exposed and the badges would no longer have the secure identification that was needed for sensitive physical areas. IOActive, the security researchers, reluctantly agreed to back off and not present their findings to the convention.

Here is the problem PC Virus Doctors see in this mess, that regardless if the findings were presented or not, HID Global Corp.s protective security devices were compromised and the end result is their product has lost any security value, monetary value and now noone should want to buy the flawed device. Why would they?

Dallas iPod Repairs

Dallas iPod Repairs the entire gamut of ipod the Apple collection, offering hardware such as hard drives, cables, LCD screens, custom mod cases, batteries, logicboards, headphone jacks and accessories to upgrade and repair all makes, models and generations of iPods that would make any music lover jealous.

You can check out your unit and what is available here:

• Shuffle
• Nano
• Mini
• 1st Generation iPod
• 2nd Gen.
• 3rd Gen.
• 4th Gen.

Definitely a full-service iPod repair that you don't want to pass up to any national repair service. Dallas iPod Repair is just as affordable as all the high volume centers and offers fast and friendly service. You make the decision on what you wanted upgraded and repaired and Dallas iPod does the rest and has it back to you in your hands ready for your next hot rock-and-roll CD or those night-time lullaby's to help you get your beauty rest. Go see them today.

Japanese Phishers and IE 7 Vulnerabilities

The Japanese National Police have reported a 40% rise in 2006 over the previous year for phishing attacks on its citizens. Along with phishing other cybercrime included underage prostitution and internet fraud from online auctions, according to PC Virus Doctors.

Secunia is reporting that it found vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 7 that allows malicious websites to spoof the address bar.

Solution: Be extra cautious to ensure the site you are on is the authentic site.

Dallas Data Recovery

PC Virus Doctors are proud to team up with Datatex for comprehensive data recovery services for the Dallas area. Dallas Computer Repair is now able to recover data from CD/DVD ROMs, memory sticks, camera media, recover iPod data, hard disk drives and all types of media. Don't loose those valuable and irreplaceable family photos or songs. We have a clean room available that retrieves data under the most stringent environments. Give us a call or email us. We have absolutely free assessments, there is no out-of-pocket expense to find out what it will take to recover you valuable media. Come see us at Dallas Data Recovery.

Dallas ipod Repair

Well we've decided to start repairing ipods after having several crash on us. We have also partnered with another repair facility that can do them overnight unlike us because we order the parts versus stocking them which is fine and peach with us. We can replace covers, screens, buttons, wheels and anything hardware but as I said we have to order the parts. We won't stock them until we start getting regular orders so this will be a time tested experiment if you will. Anyhow come see us at Dallas ipod Repairs and remember as the webpage says that we are not accepting phone calls because we don't make anything substantial on the repairs and we have difficult repairs dealing with viruses and malware that can often take much research.

Just remember in the email to describe exactly what is going on with your ipod that way we can determine what needs to be done, if we can handle or if we need to give it to our partner so they can repair it more quickly. Our new >Dallas ipod Repairs< just click it.

Dallas Laptop Repair

Come check out our Dallas Laptop Repair, we can replace those cracked or broken LCD screens, tune up the machine to perform like it was new, get rid of the viruses, trojans, email worms, spyware, adware and rootkits that can cripple performance. Our costs are affordable and is much cheaper than buying a new laptop. You can easily send your laptop through UPS or the postal mail. We are more affordable than the mom and pop computer repair that is down the street. Just email us and we can shoot you back an email with a quote.
See us today at Dallas Laptop Repair.

Dallas Virus Removal

PC Virus Doctors have just opened a new campaign to help computer users get rid of viruses, trojans, email worms, spyware and adware through an affordable email support that provides free downloads, software, tools and utilities. The benefits are privacy, you can take your time with the removal process, there is not time limit, you get plenty of free tools to keep using after the cleanup process and the tools are up-date-able or you can get the latest up-dated tools through downloads plus you can keep the tutorial for future reference. Don't hesitate to contact PC Virus Doctors in Dallas and we will open your ticket and start sending instructions immediately to get rid of viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits and other malware that may bring stolen bank account, or credit cards to hackers who are more than willing to use the information or sell it to the best buyer. It is not worth it. Contact us today.

See them at Dallas Virus Removal

Chinese Hackers

Can we not keep these Chinese hackers out of the United States. Nuke 'em all. Those asses bring nothing but malware and spyware to our nation. Why can't we just pull the plug on them and stop them at the gate. All we do is allow these communists to access our technology and then turn around and use it on us like the freakin' alqueda. Nothing but a bunch of dirt trash ready to come into our house and steal our gold.

Be prepared with firewalls people and anti-viruses be prepared or be ready to accept the consequences as these overseas hackers are not just trying to get into our government installations but into our homes and businesses to see what they can get their hands on. And the latest reports say our military suspects the overseas hackers are acting in collusion with their government which means not only hacking and covert techniques but also most likely the latest computer equipment to supersede our technology in our homes and businesses.