Chrome Browser

Google statements have industry thinking they plan to persuade computer makers to pre-install Chrome software on computers. If successful we are sure to see the browser war escalate. At this time Chrome is used less than 1% on PC’s, Firefox has almost 20% of the PC’s market covered, and Microsoft has about 70%. Since you need a browser to access the Web, it’s important you have a browser your comfortable with. Many PC’s come with IE previously installed, which explains why we are seeing more people using IE over other browsers.

Currently Chrome is still in its testing stages, and only available for windows users. However reports state that the Google Company plans to launch versions for Linux and Apple’s in the first half of the coming year. Only time will tell how well this browser will do in today’s market. Google may have a hard sell, but sooner or later Microsoft is going to have to share the market.

Gmail

There has been some reports about vulnerabilities in Gmail. At this time Google denies all claims about hackers accessing e-mail accounts. Victim MakeUseOfblog thinks their domain name was stolen via security flaws in their Gmail account. Google claims they a have done a full investigation and no problems have been found. Google is convinced that the information was accidentally given out by the user being tricked into a phishing scheme.

Crossing The Line

I read about a young man today, who used his webcam to broadcast his suicide. This is a sad thing to write about, but I thought it needed some attention. According to AOL news, the company that hosts the Web site he was using; did not cut the live feed until police arrived at the young mans home. By this time the young college student had already past away in front of a live audience. Reading this story today not only made me feel bad for the family, but has me wondering who should be held responsible for not cutting the live feed.

I do hope the company will be held responsible for their bad judgment in not cutting the feed, once they became aware of the situation. It is a shame that companies are so money hungry that they will do any thing to make a buck. Broadcasting a live suicide is crossing the line, no matter how you look at it.

USB Infections Growing

Remember when your Professor or Boss would not take your work because they were afraid of a sneaky little virus. Well floppy disks are old news and flash drives are a dime a dozen. So of course our wonderful world of hackers has invoked themselves into this newer technology; or you might as well say local hackers, have brought back some old coding tricks to wreak havoc on us again. It seems they are using the potable devices we have become dependent on as a new old way to spread malware.

The coding works as soon as you plug in your USB drive. All USB drives at this time are at risk of spreading infections this way. So if you have an iPod or other media device you are also at risk. Security experts are suggesting to all administrators to disable the autorun for connected devices. This is really not a big headache, but they are also recommending companies set policies to limit the use of these devices. I can understand media players for a company, but so not flash drives. So if you go back to work after the holiday break and find a new policy in place, do not be too surprised. It’s the hackers fault, for being to stubborn to earn his or her money the old fashion way.

Worms

Security researchers think there is a hack war going on. CNN, ABC and The New York Times were all victims of this so called botwar in resent days. According to Joris Evers from CNN news, F-Secure thinks there are three different hacker gangs producing new worms at an elevated pace. Many of the attacks seem to be hitting larger companies running the Window 2000 system. At this time Microsoft of course is doing an investigation on the reported worm reports. As you know this is a timely process, but Microsoft is known for taking longer than most in fixing and reporting problems with their systems. So I am not expecting any new update to fix these problems, until their next update release or later.

There also has been some warning for the people using the newer Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft is calming that users that have their system updated with the latest security patches have not been affected by any of the problems experts are seeing. Suggested update MS05-039 should protect any Window 2000 user at this time. If you are using one of these systems, the best thing to do is set your system up to update automatically. You really should have this feature activated no matter what OS you are using. It can save you a lot of time and money you could be using elsewhere.

Virus Warning

PC security experts are warning users to be watchful on Monday, November 24th. According to data from previous years, the 24th could be a peak day for malware. PC Tools says that the increase of internet shopping corresponds with the increase in malware activity. So just a reminder, get all of your update installed and make sure you have all of your security settings in place.