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Spammers Beware! |
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Spammers Beware! - First U.S. Felony
Conviction For Spam Law Violation
Last month's
conviction in Leesburg, Virginia, of a 30-year-old Raleigh, North Carolina, man
and his sister was the first ever felony conviction for violation of anti-spam
laws in the United States. The jury found Jeremy Jaynes and his sister, Jessica
DeGroot, guilty on three felony charges and recommended a nine-year prison
sentence for Jaynes.
The recent nine-day trial shed light on the Jaynes'
operation. Using many aliases, including Jeremy James and Gaven Stubberfield,
Jaynes sent out at least ten million e-mail messages a day using sixteen high
speed Internet lines. Despite making money on only one in every 30,000 or so
e-mail messages, the business raked in up to $750,000 per month. Although Jaynes
constantly tweaked and rotated his bogus product offerings, the trial centered
around software, work-at-home, and pornography scams. Prosecutors alleged that
Jaynes amassed a fortune of twenty-four million dollars through his scam/spam
operation.
So how do you keep from getting scammed by spammers? Here are
two common sense tips that will protect you:
If you
receive an e-mail from someone you don't know, don't open the e-mail message.
Simply delete it. Opening the message may validate to the spammer that your
e-mail account is "active" which then only encourages the spammer to send you
even more spam e-mail messages.
Spammers can't stay in business if
nobody buys from them. NEVER purchase a product from or give a credit card
number to a person/company that you first heard about through a spam e-mail
message. The chances are very high that the company operates a scam operation.
Who Says Safe Computing Must Remain A Pipe
Dream? -
Excerpt from c\net news.com
Who says safe
computing must remain a pipe dream? Two years ago, I published a list of PC security recommendations. The idea
was to give home users concrete actions they could take to improve security.
This is an update of that list: a dozen things you can do to improve your
security.
General Laptop security Backups Operating systems Applications Browsing Web sites Think before you do business with a Web site. Limit the financial and
personal data you send to Web sites--don't give out information unless you see a
value to you. If you don't want to give out personal information, lie. Opt out
of marketing notices. If the Web site gives you the option of not storing your
information for later use, take it. Use a credit card for online purchases, not
a debit card.
Passwords I'm suspicious to the point of near-paranoia about e-mail attachments and
Web sites.
Never reuse a password for something you care about. (It's fine to have a
single password for low-security sites, such as for newspaper archive access.)
Assume that all PINs can be easily broken and plan accordingly.
Never type a password you care about, such as for a bank account, into a
non-SSL encrypted page. If your bank makes it possible to do that, complain to
them. When they tell you that it is OK, don't believe them; they're wrong.
E-mail Delete spam without reading it. Don't open messages with file attachments,
unless you know what they contain; immediately delete them. Don't open cartoons,
videos and similar "good for a laugh" files forwarded by your well-meaning
friends; again, immediately delete them.
Never click links in e-mail unless you're sure about the e-mail; copy and
paste the link into your browser instead. Don't use Outlook or Outlook Express.
If you must use Microsoft Office, enable macro virus protection; in Office 2000,
turn the security level to "high" and don't trust any received files unless you
have to. If you're using Windows, turn off the "hide file extensions for known
file types" option; it lets Trojan horses masquerade as other types of files.
Uninstall the Windows Scripting Host if you can get along without it. If you
can't, at least change your file associations, so that script files aren't
automatically sent to the Scripting Host if you double-click them.
Antivirus and anti-spyware software Firewall Encryption If the secret police wants to target your data or your communications, no
countermeasure on this list will stop them.
None of the measures I've described are foolproof. If the secret police wants
to target your data or your communications, no countermeasure on this list will
stop them. But these precautions are all good network-hygiene measures, and
they'll make you a more difficult target than the computer next door. And even
if you only follow a few basic measures, you're unlikely to have any problems.
I'm stuck using Microsoft Windows and Office, but I use Opera for Web
browsing and Eudora for e-mail. I use Windows Update to automatically get
patches and install other patches when I hear about them. My antivirus software
updates itself regularly. I keep my computer relatively clean and delete
applications that I don't need. I'm diligent about backing up my data and about
storing data files that are no longer needed offline.
I'm suspicious to the point of near-paranoia about e-mail attachments and Web
sites. I delete cookies and spyware. I watch URLs to make sure I know where I
am, and I don't trust unsolicited e-mails. I don't care about low-security
passwords, but try to have good passwords for accounts that involve money. I
still don't do Internet banking. I have my firewall set to deny all incoming
connections. And I turn my computer off when I'm not using it.
That's basically it. Really, it's not that hard. The hardest part is
developing an intuition about e-mail and Web sites. But that just takes
experience.
biography Ask The Help Desk - Are There Any
Alternative Web Browsers To Microsoft's Internet Explorer? Question: With all of the vulnerabilities, spyware, pop-ups,
and viruses that seem to plague Internet Explorer, are there any other programs
that I can use to browse the Internet? Great Sites To Check Out This Month Take A Virtual
Tour Of America's Largest Home Short Tutorial - Reducing The
File Size Of Digital Photos Before E-mailing Them Have you ever taken
a digital photo at high resolution for printing purposes only to find out that
the image was then too big to send by e-mail? That's happened to most of us.
During this holiday season, many people are going to be sending photos as e-mail
attachments. Many of them will be too large and may jam the inboxes of intended
e-mail recipients. There are, however, some simple steps you can take to insure
your photos are easy to open by your intended recipients.
We hope you found
this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the
happenings at our shop. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins
on a monthly basis, click HERE. ©2004
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
December 9, 2004, 4:00 AM PT By
Bruce Schneier
Turn off the computer when you're not using it, especially
if you have an "always on" Internet connection.
Keep your laptop with you at all times when not at
home; treat it as you would a wallet or purse. Regularly purge unneeded data
files from your laptop. The same goes for PDAs. People tend to store more
personal data--including passwords and PINs--on PDAs than they do on laptops.
Back up regularly. Back up to disk, tape or CD-ROM. There's
a lot you can't defend against; a recent backup will at least let you recover
from an attack. Store at least one set of backups off-site (a safe-deposit box
is a good place) and at least one set on-site. Remember to destroy old backups.
The best way to destroy CD-Rs is to microwave them on high for five seconds. You
can also break them in half or run them through better shredders.
If possible, don't use Microsoft Windows. Buy a
Macintosh or use Linux. If you must use Windows, set up Automatic Update so that
you automatically receive security patches. And delete the files "command.com"
and "cmd.exe."
Limit the number of applications on your machine. If
you don't need it, don't install it. If you no longer need it, uninstall it.
Look into one of the free office suites as an alternative to Microsoft Office.
Regularly check for updates to the applications you use and install them.
Keeping your applications patched is important, but don't lose sleep over it.
Don't use Microsoft Internet Explorer, period. Limit use
of cookies and applets to those few sites that provide services you need. Set
your browser to regularly delete cookies. Don't assume a Web site is what it
claims to be, unless you've typed in the URL yourself. Make sure the address bar
shows the exact address, not a near-miss.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption does not provide
any assurance that the vendor is trustworthy or that its database of customer
information is secure.
You can't memorize good enough passwords any more, so
don't bother. For high-security Web sites such as banks, create long random
passwords and write them down. Guard them as you would your cash: i.e., store
them in your wallet, etc.
Turn off HTML e-mail. Don't automatically assume that any
e-mail is from the "From" address.
Use it--either a combined
program or two separate programs. Download and install the updates, at least
weekly and whenever you read about a new virus in the news. Some antivirus
products automatically check for updates. Enable that feature and set it to
"daily."
Spend $50 for a Network Address Translator firewall
device; it's likely to be good enough in default mode. On your laptop, use
personal firewall software. If you can, hide your IP address. There's no reason
to allow any incoming connections from anybody.
Install an e-mail and file encryptor (like PGP).
Encrypting all your e-mail or your entire hard drive is unrealistic, but some
mail is too sensitive to send in the clear. Similarly, some files on your hard
drive are too sensitive to leave unencrypted.
Bruce Schneier is one of the world's foremost security
experts. His latest book is "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an
Uncertain World."
Answer: Yes. There are
good, free alternatives to Internet Explorer. Netscape 7.2 and
Opera 7.54 are good Mozilla-based options
that don't suffer from Internet Explorer's vulnerabilities. However, an
alternative that has many people talking right now is a Web browser called
FireFox 1.0. This is another browser based on Mozilla software. The updated
release was made available just last month. It's a free download at http://www.getfirefox.com/. Over eight
million people already use FireFox. Plus, it works on both PCs and Macs.
Some of the features within FireFox 1.0 include pop-up blocking, privacy
tools to combat spyware, and "tab browsing" which allows you to click on tabs
instead of opening new windows for each web page. FireFox is also purported to
be noticeably faster than Internet Explorer. For more information, including
downloading instructions, go to http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.
http://www.biltmore.com/ - In
1895, George Vanderbilt completed the construction of and celebrated Christmas
with his family in his new home. He called his new 250-room chateau, which sat
on 125,000 acres, the Biltmore Estate. The home included 34 bedrooms, 43
bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The Biltmore is still America's largest home
totaling 175,000 square feet -- that's four acres of floor space. It took 484
employees to run the estate in 1895. Today, more than 1,500 people work at the
Biltmore. Visit this website for information on tours, lodging at the estate's
inn, or ticket reservations to the Candlelight Christmas Evenings taking place
at the Biltmore during the holidays. If you can't work the Biltmore into your
busy holiday schedule, take a virtual tour by typing "virtual tour" into the
site's search tool.
The History Of Toys And Games
http://historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/ -
Games and toys have been around since early civilization. The Babylonians were
playing a board game in 4000 B.C. that was probably an ancestor of chess and
checkers. Marbles were first used in Egypt around 3000 B.C. Kites appeared in
China in 1000 B.C. Playing cards were first used in Asia in 969 and roller
skates were invented in 1759. To learn more about games, toys, and their
inventors, check out this interesting site.
Answers To Your Turkey
Cooking Questions
http://butterball.com/en/index.jsp -
If you're looking for a new turkey recipe this holiday season or cooking your
first-ever bird this month, this site is for you. Butterball, the number one
selling brand of turkey in North America, has what it calls its "Butterball
Turkey Talk-Line." The Turkey Talk-Line consists of more than 50 specialists
including dieticians, nutritionists, and home economists who give expert advice
on thawing, cooking, carving, and even making leftovers. You can speak directly
to a Turkey Talk-Line representative during business hours or e-mail your
question anytime and receive a personalized response within 48
hours.
Cassini-Huygens Spacecraft Nears Saturn's Largest Moon
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm -
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft's plunge into Saturn's outer orbit last summer
resulted in brilliant photos of the planet's mysterious rings. The images were
at least five times better than those from the 1980-81 Voyager missions that
flew past Saturn. This month the Cassini Orbiter detaches and sends the European
Space Agency's Huygens probe to Titan -- the largest of Saturn's 31 known moons.
(Titan is almost a planet in its own right at a size larger than Mercury.) After
a 22-day decent, the Huygens probe will parachute into Titan's atmosphere. Check
out this site for daily updates and amazing photography.
Start
Training For The 2005 Ironman Triathlon World Championships
http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/ -
It's only ten more months until the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (October 15, 2005). This site provides a listing of
qualifying races, lots of training tips, bios on triathletes, and recent race
results from across the globe. Qualifying for this championship race gets more
difficult every year so the organizers also select an additional 200 race
participants via a lottery system. Applications are due February 28, 2005.
Remember, it's a 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike race and a 26.2-mile run --
so get busy training today!
Since most
Windows-based programs include Microsoft Paint as a standard program, many
people use it to adjust the size of photos before e-mailing the images. To find
Microsoft Paint, click your cursor arrow on the START menu at the lower left
side of your screen and click on "All Programs." Through subsequent menus and
submenus, locate "Accessories" and then "Paint." Click your cursor arrow on
"Paint" to open the program. Here's how to reduce the size of a picture:
Additional Notes:
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your business!
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PSC
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