Microsoft's Free Windows Live Essentials Beta Debuts

Microsoft's Free Windows Live Essentials Beta Debuts

By Jeff Bertolucci, PC World, Jun 24, 2010

The new Windows Live Essentials beta will be available for public testing starting Thursday, according to Microsoft. A collection of free Web-oriented applications and services for Windows Vista and Windows 7 PCs, Live Essentials is currently available in English, French, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, or Spanish.

You can download the beta here. (The beta wasn't live as of 10 a.m. U.S. Pacific, although it should be available sometime today.)

Live Essentials programs include Windows Live Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Mail, Writer, and Messenger. The new beta connects these apps to online services from Microsoft and other providers, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Linkedin; popular blogging tools like Spaces, WordPress, and Blogger; online storage and photo/video sharing sites including SkyDrive, Flickr, YouTube, and SmugMug; email sites such as Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail; and Microsoft Office Web Apps, Redmond's new online productivity suite.

In addition, the new Windows Live Sync feature synchronizes your files across multiple PCs and on cloud-based (online) servers. Sync's new remote desktop feature also lets you access your PC via the Web.

 

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Twitter

I hope no one thinks I am ignoring their requests in Twitter.  I keep a protected account in Twitter and I have been experiencing this for almost the past two weeks.  I receive an email saying that I have a new Follower Request at Twitter.  When I click on the link, the page is blank.   If you are experiencing this, post a reply at the link below so they can keep track of who is affected by this.

Empty Follower Request Page/Trouble Following Private Accts
Marc May 12
Do you have a protected account ?
If your are receiving new follower notifications via email, but your page appears empty when you go to http://twitter.com/friend_requests, what you are experiencing is a known issue.

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Will there ever be a “Facebook for Dummies” Book?

There is never a dull moment at Twitter.  Just yesterday someone asked, “When are they going to publish a "Facebook Privacy for Dummies" book.”  My reply was that I would bet on never, but this got me thinking about all that has been written already about Facebook’s current Privacy challenges and we already have a book. 
Here is the history of their ever changing Privacy Policy.
Evolution of Privacy Policies on Facebook – a Panel Chart in Excel

By Chandoo, May 13th, 2010
There is a chart called “Evolution of Privacy on Facebook” going around on the web. The chart made by Matt Mckeon, a developer in IBM’s visual communications lab has created quite a stir in the interwebs.

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Here is an article on what Facebook passwords not to use.

20 passwords to never use on Facebook
By Josh Smith, May 14th 2010
Excerpt....
In addition to those poorly-chosen passwords we've come up with our own list of 10 words or phrases not to use as your Facebook password.

• Employer info
• School name
• School mascot
• Names of groups, artists or shows you "Like" on Facebook
• Spouses name or birthday
• Banking passwords
• E-mail password
• No dictionary based words -- even those in a different language
• Pet's name if you post captioned pictures to your profile
• Anything you might answer in a Facebook quiz

Creating a strong password doesn't have to be a chore or difficult to remember. Simply adding a number and a punctuation mark greatly increase the strength of a password. You can also use a phrase, condensed to a string of words and numbers, as an easy-to-remember secure password. For example, "WalletPop is my #1 Personal Finance Blog!" becomes the "Wim#1PFb!".
More…….

and….
This article is jammed with links to more information on Facebook Privacy.  First, to convince people that they are sharing information with the world there is Openbook.org and Zesty.ca.  It links you to an article about how to delete your Facebook account.  If deletion is something you choose not to do, it includes a chart that maps out how to find all the hidden Privacy settings in Facebook.

Facebook Privacy: Secrets Unveiled
By JR Raphael, PC World, May 16, 2010
Excerpt....
Thanks to a couple of handy new tools, you can now check out exactly what Facebook is telling the world about you -- and about everyone else. First up is Openbook, a project created by three computer geeks from San Francisco.  Openbook lets you search through Facebook's publicly available user data to find out what everyone is saying.
Excerpt....
So what to do? You can always say so long to Facebook, of course. Or you can choose to stay with the site and simply be vigilant about protecting your privacy. It isn't easy, but it can be done.
You can see what Facebook shares with the world about you by using this free tool at zesty.ca; just input your Facebook user ID or account number (found by looking at the URL for your Facebook profile page), then click through the fields to see what's actually public. The tool won't take into account info that could be shared by applications or Facebook's "instant personalization" feature, but it's a start.
After that, get ready to dig. This daunting chart breaks down all of the categories of settings you'll need to review (hint: be sure to clear out a couple hours of your afternoon). This story provides a slightly less overwhelming summary of the main settings you should revisit. And this one goes through some additional steps you'll want to take to address the aforementioned new "instant personalization" options.

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Now you have the start of a “Facebook for Dummies” book.  That is of course until it changes again because change is the only constant in life or in Facebook Privacy.

I just wanted to add that this will help you manage the instant personalization feature on Facebook.

ReclaimPrivacy.org

This website provides an independent and open tool for scanning your Facebook privacy settings. 

and-

The scanner operates entirely within your own browser.

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Bkis Blog » Skype – New target of the worm spreading via IM

This worm uses social engineering techniques that trick users into thinking the link (URL) is only to a picture (JPG).  It comes from people you know that have been infected and is spread to everyone in your Skype or Yahoo Messenger friend list.  Please be careful if you use Skype or Yahoo Messenger.

An analysis and screen shots can be found here.

Bkis Blog » Skype – New target of the worm spreading via IM

Facebook - Privacy Controls & Targeted Malware

Social media (like Facebook) is a great way to stay in touch with your family and friends.  There is nothing wrong with this and it is free to use.  Facebook has actually crossed generational gaps, where many of the young, old, and in-between love it.   I remember writing letters and mailing them home when I was younger.  The Privacy settings of the old fashioned letter writing was the envelope, but that did not protect you from the letter being delivered to the wrong person or the person on the other end publishing your letter in a newspaper. 

Facebook's Privacy Controls Broken

By Dan Tynan, May 03, 2010, Analysis: Inconsistency in controls raises (more) questions about Facebook's privacy options.

I've spent a fair amount of time lately messing about with Facebook's privacy settings, which is almost like having a life, but not quite. Then I discovered something odd and disturbing: I cannot make all of my "likes and interests" private so that only my friends can see them. Even when I tell Facebook to do it, it won't -- they're still visible to anyone who looks up my Facebook profile.

Is it a bug? Was it something I said? Was it all those jokes about Facebook causing venereal disease or because I published a nude photo of Mark Zuckerberg? I dunno. But whatever the reason, even with every single Facebook setting turned to "friends only," anyone on Facebook can still see the 128 groups I have joined on the site.

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-and this.

A HijackThis Toolbar from Facebook?

By AndyAtHull, May 03, 2010

The title will come across as shocking if you are a security expert. However don’t let the title scare you too much.

Symantec today blogged about spam e-mail making the rounds that looks like the following hoping to lure recipients into downloading a Facebook toolbar:

(see the article for the pictures)

Excerpt-

So as you can see, there is some mentioned this file to be associated with HijackThis, an analysis tool by Trend Micro. Symantec detect this file as a Trojan.Dropper. HijackThis is a legit tool and Facebook have not released a toolbar dubbed HijackThis.

Be careful what you click on as some disguise themselves differently to others. And should you come across a suspicious e-mail, report it.

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When I say Facebook is free to use, you have to be careful with your Privacy settings, suspicious emails, and the links you click on.  Additionally, it seems like you have to re-check your Privacy settings frequently.   Defensio will help protect you against malicious links while using Facebook.  It is the one application that I will allow on Facebook.   It can also be used on your blog.  

Windows 7 Security

This is a great guide to read if you are trying to understand Windows 7 Security.  It does not go too far into the weeds (or details) that will confuse someone with a security background.  If you want an easy to read overview of some of the new security features that are available in Windows 7, this is the place to start.

-Ultimate guide to Windows 7 security

Use AppLocker, BitLocker to Go and other Microsoft security tools
By Roger A. Grimes, InfoWorld, 21 April 10

Windows 7 has been warmly received and swiftly adopted by businesses, with the result that many IT admins are now struggling with the platform's new security features. In addition to changes to User Account Control, BitLocker, and other features inherited from Windows Vista, Windows 7 introduces a slew of security capabilities that businesses will want to take advantage of.

Windows 7 improves on Vista with a friendlier UAC mechanism, the ability to encrypt removable media and hard drive volumes, broader support for strong cryptographic ciphers, hassle-free secure remote access, and sophisticated protection against Trojan malware in the form of AppLocker, to name just a few.

In this guide, I'll run through these and other significant security enhancements in Windows 7, and provide my recommendations for configuring and using them. I'll pay especially close attention to the new AppLocker application control feature, which may be a Windows shop's most practical and affordable way to combat socially engineered Trojan malware.

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ID Theft Protection Services

I was researching a topic that was possibly related to fraud the other day.  It was closer to the grey line of consumer fraud, but I refuse to draw any conclusions based solely on my opinion.  Life has a way of teaching you that even if something grates on your nerves, there are always two sides to every story or even two, three, four sides, depending on who you are speaking to at that time. 

What I ran into was some news about ID Theft Protection Services.   I do not think that you will find anyone who will tell you that ID Theft is not a serious crime or that the documented cases have sky-rocketed in the past three years.  When you look at this from a Risk Management point of view,  you want to look at some options that will help mitigate this threat.  One option that is available is ID Theft Protection Services.

When choosing an ID Theft Protection Service or Insurance, you have to read the fine print to see if it will be a benefit you.  You have to watch out for consumer fraud and conduct research on the company.  Personally, I would never accept an offer by way of phone marketing because there is an increased chance that you are being scammed.  The person on the other end of the phone might not be who you think they are and if they really want your business they can provide a phone number that can be validated (searched for on the Internet).  That way, you can call them back when you are ready to conduct business with them.

Lifelock claimed that it covered all types of ID Theft and basically it didn’t. 

-This is a link to the FTC Case Information with a phone number to contact them for more information.

INFORMATION ON LIFELOCK SETTLEMENT

Here are some more newsworthy angles to the LifeLock controversy and the ID Theft Protection industry.

-Lifelock CEO Todd Davis Does Damage Control
By Dave Nielsen, March 16, 2010

If you hadn't heard, identity theft company LifeLock agreed to pay $12 million dollars to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states. The FTC felt that LifeLock ads were deceptive and overstated the protection provided by the service.

Personally, I think the charges are valid and I had to chuckle a bit when I read this email from CEO Todd Davis sent out to his partners. Mr. Davis certainly has his public relations firm working overtime to write something like this.

More....

and-

-Identity Theft Protection Industry: Divided we Stand, for Better or for Worse
By Denise Richardson, March 17, 2010, updated March 22, 2010

When have you ever seen one bank tear apart another?  Never.  Why?  Because they unify as part of the same industry and work together, for good or ill.  Think about it: the same could be said about any industry--the insurance, credit and debt collection industries to name a few. They band together in a sort of code of honor where one never knocks the other.  They go about their business promoting their own products and services.  It boggles my mind why the identity theft industry does things differently.  Why is it so divided?

Last week's press conference by the FTC and 35 Attorneys General launched a media frenzy that left some of us shaking our heads and others scurrying about to see how best they can twist the news of this recent settlement with LifeLock into their own personal pot of gold.

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I have only found one ID Theft Protection Service that offers a Recovery service that covers all types of ID Theft (financial, criminal, social security, medical, etc) and Family Fraud.  They are honest in claiming, “While we provide a comprehensive approach to help prevent the occurrence of Identity Theft for our members, no identity protection service can prevent identity theft from happening.”  They do not even collect your SSN unless you need the Recovery service.  Zander Insurance Group (FAQ) Also, check out the link to how they compare to other ID Theft Protection Services.

MSRC - Security Advisory 981374 Released

Does not affect IE8 or Windows 7.

Security Advisory 981374 Released

Microsoft Security Response Center(MSRC) Blog, March 09, 2010

Hi everyone,

Today we released Security Advisory 981374 addressing a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7. Internet Explorer 8 is not affected by this issue. Customers using Internet Explorer 6 or 7 should upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 immediately to benefit from the improved security features and defense in depth protections. Additionally, Internet Explorer 5.01 on Windows 2000 is not affected.

At this time, we are aware of targeted attacks seeking to exploit this vulnerability against Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer Protected Mode in Internet Explorer 7 running on Windows Vista helps to mitigate the impact of this issue. Additionally, Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 runs in a restricted mode that is known as Enhanced Security Configuration. This mode sets the security level for the Internet zone to High. This is a mitigating factor for Web sites that you have not added to the Internet Explorer Trusted sites zone. Please review the Security Advisory for additional workarounds which include modifying the Access Control List (ACL) on iepeers.dll (the affected component), setting the Internet and local Intranet security zones to "high", configuring Internet Explorer to prompt before running Active Scripting, and enabling Data Execution Prevention (DEP) where possible which makes it difficult to successfully exploit the vulnerability.

More.......

-Microsoft Security Advisory (981374)

Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution

Published: March 09, 2010

Link

The Economics of Spam & Botnets

To state that it has been a while since my last blog post would be an understatement.  I will quote a true unnamed mentor of mine and just say, “Life Happens.”   My work changed and brought me into the world of Project Management.  This subject almost interests me as much as Information Security.  I want to highlight this TechRepublic article because it describes the most recent top 10 spam botnets.  The economic reasons for spam and why the spammers use botnets became somewhat clearer to me.    

The top 10 spam botnets: New and improved

 by Michael Kassner, February 25th, 2010

While doing research for this project, I came across a blog series (first, second, third post) that forced me to rethink. Ranking spam botnets is not as simple as I thought. The blog author, Terry Zink, pointed out that there are several measurement philosophies:

• The number of bot members
• The number of bytes sent
• The number of messages sent

In the grand scheme of things, it may not seem important. But techies like details. Counting the number of bot members or bytes sent is straightforward enough. You would assume that the number of messages would be, too.

Well, it’s not. Botnets are smart enough to create a spam message but address it to a lot of different recipients. That adds another factor when counting messages.

Confused? So am I. To make some sense out of it all, I juggled the different attributes (totally unscientifically, of course) and came up with the following list of the best of the breed.

More here……