yayasiri's Blog

If you believe what you hear in the media, there are an awful lot of viruses going around. No, I'm not talking about the make-you-sick kind of virus, though they get plenty of airtime, too. I'm talking about the kind of virus that enters via your internet connection rather than your nasal passages.

What the mainstream media often don't tell you--at least, in most radio and television newscasts and in the crucial headlines and opening paragraphs of newspaper articles-- is that many of these "viruses" are not viruses at all.

What Computer Viruses Really Are

The main reason the mainstream media always are in alarm over viruses is that they tend to call any malicious computer program a virus. In reality, there are at least eleven distinct types of malicious software, or malware, commonly affecting computers today. The most common of these are worms, Trojans, and spyware.

So, what's the difference between computer viruses and the other types of malware? The difference is that computer viruses are just about the only ones that regularly shut down computers and cause other obvious damage. The most common of the other kinds of malware--worms, Trojans, and spyware--are usually only detectable with a special scan.

The Real Danger of Computer Viruses

If the other types of malware are so unobtrusive that they can only be detected with a special scan, then what's to worry about? For starters, these programs are called malicious for a reason: they are designed to cause some kind of damage, if not to your computer, then to someone else's.

Worms are most famously used to damage, destroy, or disrupt other computer networks than the one on which the host computer is located. For instance, worms have been used by website owners to shut down rival websites by sending overwhelming numbers of requests to the computer that hosts that website. Worms have also been used to send out viruses to other computers, often without infecting the host machine--after all, what would it benefit the worm to shut down its host computer?

Trojans, in turn, are often used to insert worms and other malware on your computer, even if the Trojan itself does no damage.

But even if you don't care what happens to anyone else, you should still be concerned about one kind of malware: spyware, a kind of malware that, true to its name, collects data from your computer and sends it back to a remote host.

Most spyware is only interested in monitoring your internet usage so it can tell other programs, called adware, what advertising to popup on your computer. However, there are criminal spyware programs that steal financial data, or perform a thorough identity theft. Don't think you have personal or financial data on your computer? Some spyware programs contain a keylogger, which is a program that copies whatever you type, usually in order to snatch passwords. Even if you keep no financial information on your computer, if you ever buy anything over the web, the keylogger would allow its owner to buy stuff using the same information you typed in to buy stuff yourself.

Why Blame the Media?

Given the danger of all these different types of malware, isn't it a good thing that the mass media are becoming hysterical about it? And can't they be forgiven the sloppy reporting of calling Trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware "viruses"?

No, no, no.

This is a classic case of bad reporting doing more damage than no reporting at all. In this case, the damage bad reporting has done is to promote a common myth that goes something like this: "The only malicious software is a virus. Viruses damage your computer. Therefore, if my computer is working OK, my computer has no malicious software. I only need to scan my computer for problems when there is a sign of problems."

Thanks to this myth, many people complacently let their antivirus software go months out of date, not wanting to be bothered with scheduling an automatic update. Just as bad, many people don't have any extra software to combat the other types of malware that may not be covered by antivirus software.

In fact, it's not uncommon for people who have found malware on their computers after a scan to say, "but I never had malware on my computer before!" But how would they have known if they had never scanned!

Until the biggest mainstream media--and especially television--start educating the public about the need to have their computers automatically scanned at least daily, the world will continue to have major, drawn-out problems with malware that could have been wiped out as soon as soon as the anti-malware software makers discovered it.

And until that day, the mainstream media will have many more opportunities to run hysterical stories about "viruses," thereby forcing them to sell more newspapers and broadcast to even larger audiences of people who suck at the information trough yet somehow never become full.

By: John Pawlett

Article Source: http://www.expressyouridea.com

Fighting Spam..

Industry experts estimate that three out of every five e-mail messages that are sent today are spam.

This is not only a nuisance; it is costing us all time and money which could be better spent on productive ventures.

Bizwala is committed to fighting spam & blocks a great deal without customer intervention. Our systems are updated daily and we are always working to improve our spam filtering.

Though we may never be able to block it all, we can offer some suggestions to combat spam effectively.

Q: How can I prevent spam from reaching my e-mail account?

A: People who send spam compile their mailing lists in many ways. Methods to compile such lists include:

Sending spam to e-mail addresses that are most commonly used. A common tactic consists of building lists of targeted addresses that use frequently used words such as "webmaster" or "info" (for example, "webmaster@mydomainname" or "info@mydomainname").

Obtaining e-mail addresses that are automatically "harvested" from web sites by specialized software.

Compiling lists of e-mail addresses that are either chosen or generate at random (for example, " joe1@mydomainname", "joe2@mydomainname" or "joe3@mydomainname". This method is becoming increasingly frequent.

Because spammers often send spam to undefined e-mail aliases such as aabbcc@domain.com, ccddee@domain.com, mfrds@domain.com, you can combat the receipt of spam effectively by not using a catch-all address . (The catch-all is an alias that is used to recieve mail sent to undefined addresses/aliases .)

Q: What is spoofing and how can I fight it?

A: "Spoofing" occurs when a spammer uses some version of your domain name in the "From" address field. Spammers use spoofing to try to hide their identities and to pass blame for spam to innocent Internet users. The large amount of spam messages -- many of which are sent to invalid address -- result in a significant amount of "bounced" e-mail (that is, mail that returned as being undeliverable). Unfortunately, bounced mail is sent back to the address found in the "From" line of the spammed message.
Typically, the "From" line is also an undefined e-mail address not found in your mail settings. To combat receiving bounced mail messages, you can use the "devnull" alias that we mentioned in the previous question and answer.

Q: Even if my account is not generating any spam, can the mail server I use get blocked because of spam?

Unfortunately, yes. The main cause for blacklisting your mail server depends on where the spammed e-mail is ultimately received and how the ISP who maintains that location reacts to spam and to spam complaints. Many account holders with Bizwala forward e-mail messages that are sent to there hosting account. For example, a message sent to info@mydomainname could be forwarded to myaccount@aol.com or myaccount@yahoo.com. At other times, clients may be forwarding e-mail messages to accounts that are invalid or otherwise not in use. The processing of the forwarded e-mail message is handled by the mail server that your account uses (specifically, the MTA or Mail Transport Agent). Because a Bizwala mail server is the MTA, it is possible that the mail server could be blacklisted even though you (or any other Bizwala client) is not responsible for sending the spam in the first place.

In short, you must be careful about where you forward e-mail, how you report spam, and to whom you report it.

Note: Bizwala reserves the right to terminate a client's services for violations of our Acceptable Use policy. Unacceptable use includes forwarding e-mail messages to addresses that are invalid (not within the client's control) and/or sending mail with malicious intent.

Q: How can I filter spam in my Inbox once I receive it?

First, do NOT click any links in the spam or try to reply or unsubscribe to the spammed e-mail message. Often, these links will subscribe you to even more spam lists despite the fact that those links appear to promise that you will be unsubscribed. And, as spammers are always looking for legitimate e-mail addresses to spam, replying to a spam message in any way only tells the spammer that your e-mail address is valid.

Second, some e-mail programs have built-in functionality that deals with spam that reaches your Inbox. Outlook 2000 (and newer) is one such a e-mail program.

Outlook creates a folder called Junk Mail, where you can move junk e-mail and then review it before deleting. Or, you can have junk e-mail delivered to your Inbox, but color-coded so you can easily identify it. The list of terms that Outlook uses to filter suspected junk e-mail messages is found in a file named Filters.txt.

You can also filter messages based on the e-mail addresses of junk and adult content senders, allowing you to move or delete all future messages from a particular sender. You can review the Junk Senders list and add and remove e-mail addresses from it.

If you do not use Outlook 2000 or higher, please refer to your mail program's help files for any information related to spam filtering.

Q: Are there any low cost programs out there that I can install to help filter the spam?

A: Yes. There are many programs available that use a variety of methods to help e-mail end users filter spam. Effective spam prevention should include client-side software (that is, software that is installed on your local computer). Below are some links that you may want to visit:

Cloudmark Safety Bar: http://www.cloudmark.com

Realize that there are many products on the market that you can install on help filter spam. However, as we are not affiliated with the vendors or authors of those products, we cannot specify which of those products would work best for your specific situation. We ask that you "do your research" in order to locate which product is best for you.

Q: The spam that is reaching me is being sent to defined e-mail accounts. What can I do about it?

A: If any of your defined e-mail addresses are receiving too many spam messages, it may be well worth it to you to change your e-mail address. For example, if "info@mydomainname" is the recipient of too much spam, it may be a good idea to delete "info@mydomainname" in favor of "information@mydomainname. We realize that this may be a tough decision, but such an action could be a huge benefit as it would immediately reduce -- if not entirely eliminate -- the amount of spam that you would be receiving at your e-mail address.

Q: How can I prevent my e-mail address from being added to spammer's mailing lists?

A: As mentioned above, spammers use a variety of methods to compile lists. We have created a help document that will give you some useful tips about how to prevent your e-mail addresses from being added to lists.

Protect Your Privacy

If you plan to enter your information to any Web site, please review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policies of the Web site. If the policies do not clearly indicate what will be done with your information, you should reconsider posting any details to that Web site.

Publishing Your E-mail Address on Your Web Site

Instead of having a simple "mailto" link on your Web site, such as "Please e-mail me at joe@example.com," consider using an approved form mail script that allows Web site visitors to fill out a form to send you e-mail. Bizwala offers such a script free of charge. This will help prevent e-mail address harvesting robots and other spammers from capturing your address. email support@bizwala.net if you need assistance in setting up a spam deterrent form mail

Member Profiles

Try to stay away from creating and posting a member profile, on any Web site, for others to see publicly. Spammers are always reviewing such information for new e-mail addresses.

Product Registration

Many of us register products online. Many times the product registration form has options pre-selected that enable the company to solicit you by e-mail, even though you may not want it. Be sure to review the options you are selecting and any options that may have been selected for you by default.

Posting to a Newsgroup

Never post anything to a newsgroup with your real e-mail address. Consider cloaking the address or using a "disposable" e-mail address. Consider creating and using an e-mail address from one of the free e-mail address providers.

Do Not Reply to Spam or an Unsubscribe Request

Never reply to a piece of spam or request to be unsubscribed. Your reply confirms that your address is working and provides the spammer the opportunity to add your address to their list or sell it to another entity. This actually helps facilitate more spam.

Report Spam

An effective way to help prevent spam is to report it to the ISP or mail administrator where the spam originated. Such reports help ISPs to identify the user or users who sent the spam. Report the spam, including full headers from the spam, to the ISP abuse department or postmaster e-mail address.

Federal law strictly limits the information that online service providers may disclose about their users. However, e-mail messages do contain some information about the sender.

E-mail headers contain an Internet Protocol (IP) address that corresponds to the sender's Internet service provider (ISP). A line in the e-mail message contains an 8 to 12 digit number, separated by periods. For example: "Received: from [123.456.78.91] by . . ." The "123.456.78.91" represents the ISP's unique IP address for the sender. Most spam headers have multiple "Received: from" lines. If the e-mail message has not been forged then, in general, the first such line from the bottom is the true origin of the spammed message.

After you identify the IP address, you can search to determine which ISP provides this person with Internet access. A Web site that attempts to determine the actual computer with that IP address is located at http://www.arin.net/whois/index.html

-Article written by
Wendy Jo McLeod
Spam solution providers

Article Source: http://www.myarticlepub.com - Free Reprint Articles 

Spam has rapidly evolved from simple e-mails to a contagious “epidemics”. The impressive volume of spam often prevents the good development of any e-mail based activity and, in most of the cases, behind these unwanted messages stands the attempt to attack electronic intimacy, such as viruses or phishing exploits. Most Internet browsers come with free anti spam tools, which are also very competitive.

Programs dealing with anti spam are a thriving area of activity, as spamming has become one of the most often encountered problems in using electronic mail. A spam filter is the best solution against these unwanted mail messages. Its purpose is simple, that is to separate spam from important e-mail messages and condense it in a different folder. Large amounts of spam can overload the user’s e-mail account and decrease work productivity. Of course, this is far from being a desirable situation.

  In an attempt to decrease the damage done by spam and phishing, besides anti spam programs, Microsoft has become partner with some of the most reliable companies specialized in such programs. Their task has become the reporting of constant updates of different sites known for phishing traps. These pieces of information are to be included in a significant number of Microsoft applications.

It is obvious that anti spam programs, anti phishing programs and programs that act as a spam filter are becoming more and more necessary in these times when communication by means of the Internet has become essential for all fields of activity. E-mail spamming is particularly harmful if you think about large corporations that have to deal with thousands of spamming electronic letters per day.

Just imagine how much it costs them to hire employees to waste such a long time with verifying e-mails that are only “garbage”, so to speak. Think about the time it takes to enter your Inbox and then open an e-mail and realize it is all just spam. Of course, you will not read it entirely, but it still wastes about 5 to 10 seconds of your work time. Now multiply that time with thousands of e-mail spamming flooding corporate Inboxes and you will get a view on the amount of work, time and money wasted with them.

A spam filter can be easily created by selecting a certain word that, if found in the subject area of the e-mail, automatically delivers it to the spam folder. Although spam is often a means of online marketing – at least to some people’s concern – most of the people who encounter it consider it annoying and useless, because it is a time-wasting, mail-flooding activity, which simply gets in the way of any regular program. This is why they employ filters and anti spam applications in order to keep their work safer.

In short, spam refers to electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Some people define spam even more generally as any unsolicited e-mail. In addition to being a nuisance, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Because the Internet is a public network, little can we done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. However, the use of a spam filter in e-mail programs is advantageous for removing most spam sent through e-mail.

By: Ckint Jhonson

With  basic  authentication,  your  server  has  identified  who  the  client  user  is  by  means  of  a  user  ID  and  password.  How  sure  can  you  be  that  the  user  really  is  who  he  claims  to  be?  To  answer  this  you  have  to  consider  the  ways  in  which  the  ID  and  password  may  have  been  compromised:

The  user  may  have  voluntarily  given  the  ID  to  another  person.

The  user  may  have  written  down  the  ID,  and  someone  may  be  using  it  without  his  knowledge.

Someone  may  have  guessed  the  password.

Someone  may  have  intercepted  the  user  ID  and  password  between  client  and  server  systems.

The  first  three  possibilities  are  problems  which  occur  in  any  password-based  system.  The  normal  response  to  such  issues  is  to  suggest  better  user  education  and  password  rules.  This  is  quite  reasonable,  and  can  be   effective  within  a  single  enterprise,  where  you  have  some  control  over  the  users  of  the  system.  It  is  much  less  effective  in  the  Interne  environment,  where  the  users  can  come  from  many  backgrounds  and  locations.

The  last  possibility  is  dependent  on  the  level  of  protection  given  to  messages  by  the  HTTP  protocol.  We  mentioned  at  the  start  of  the  chapter  that  base64  encoding  is  used  to  protect  the  user  ID  and  password.  The  base64  encoding  system  is   described  in  the  Multipurpose  Internet  Mail  Extensions  (MIME)  standard  (RFC1521).  It  is  intended  as  a  mechanism  for  converting  binary  data  into  a  form  that  can  be   sent  through  mail  gateways,  some  of  which  can  only  handle  7-bit  ASCII  data. The  result  of  this  conversion  is  to  mask  the  contents  of  any  text  string  but,  although  it  looks  as  though  the  data  is   encrypted,  the  protection  that  Base64 provides  is  an  illusion.

We  will  illustrate  this  with  an  example.  In  order  to  crack  a  message,  the  hacker  first  has  to  be  able  to  capture  it.  There  are  various  ways  to  do  this  through  hardware  and  software  and  none  of  them  are  very  difficult.  What  is  more  difficult  is  finding  a  suitable  point  to  make  the  trace.  There  are  numerous  techniques  that  a  hacker  can  use  to  divert  Internet  traffic  through  his  own  tracing  system,  although  they    are  becoming  more  complex  as  firewalls  and  routing  controls  become  smarter.  Nonetheless,  we  can  assume  that  this  is  not  an  impossible  task  for  a  determined  hacker.

Another  method  of  controlling  access  to  the  server  is  to  use  access  control  list  (ACL)  files.  These  are  files  named .www_acl  which  reside  in  the  directory  of  the  files  to  be  protected.  ACL  files  can  be  used  in  two  ways:

As  a  secondary  form  of  access  control,  on  top  of  the  protection  offered  by  protection  directives  in  the  http.conf  file.

As  the  sole  form  of  access  control.  You  still  need  Protection  and  Protect  directives,  because  they  define  the  password  file  to  use  and  the  directory  to  protect.  However  if  you  code  the  following  line  in  the  Protection  directive,  the  Mask  entries  in  it  will  be  ignored,  so  long  as  there  is  an  ACL  file  in  the  target  directory:

ACLOverride        On

An  ACL  file  consists  of  a  series  of  lines  of  the  form:

file  :  method  :  user_or_group

The  file  specification  can  contain  wildcards  (*)  in  the  same  way  as  the  definitions  in  the  Protect  directives  in  the  configuration  file.  The  methods  supported  are   also  similar  to  those  found  in  Protection  directives,  but  without  the  suffix Mask.  The  user  or  group  specification  is  exactly  the  same  as  in  a  Protection  directive.

We  will  illustrate  this  with  an  example.  We  have  a  password  file  (D:\WWW\httpd.password)  containing  two  user  IDs,  bob  and  alice.  In  our  httpd.cnf  file  we  have  the  following  Protection  and  Protect  directives:

Protection     BOB  {

            ServerID                        Myserver

            Authtype                       Basic

            GetMask                       A11(*)

            ACKIverrude      On

            PasswdFile                   D:\WWW\httpd.password

            }

Protect  /bobstuff/*  BOB

Notice  that  we  are  assigning  the  protection  to  all  files  below  the  /bobstuff  subdirectory  (in  fact,  this  maps  to  D:\usserv\bobstuff  on  our  OS/2  server  because  of  the  catchall  Pass  directive).  We  now  create  a  .www_acl  file  in  the  bobstuff  directory  containing  the  following  lines:

*.html    :     GET    :      A11(*)

*.html   :     GET    :       bob

Now,  user  ID  alice  can  retrieve  any  files  with  extension  html,  but  only  bob  can  retrieve  files  with  the  special  extension,  html.  Any  file  with  a  different  extension  (neither  html  or  htmx)  will  not  be  accessible  because  there  is  no  ACL  entry  to  match  it.  If  we  had  no  specified  ACLOverride  On  in  he  configuration  file ,  this  would  not  be  so.