iYogi Announces Launch of Monitoring and Performance Tool For SMBs

iYogi – a leading provider of technical support services with horizons in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – today announced the launch of its exclusive server monitoring tools for small businesses. The new product offers integrated technology solutions to surmount the users’ unique IT support requirements thereby enabling them to derive and share information, data, enable network performance analysis, and security trends critical to plan and mana ge their set of servers – 24x7.

Uday Challu, iYogi’s CEO commented, “Holding a significant niche for itself in the computer support industry, iYogi has always known to be on the forefront of adapting breakthrough technology to exceed customer service expectations. This time we have developed a tool offering value-add functionality which will help small business customers maximize the business outcomes of IT.”

iYogi’s monitoring tool provides real time observation and monitoring solutions to ensure more robust and reliable IT support and infrastructure for small buinesses. Small Business owners also get a comprehensive assesment of their IT environment to meet technology needs with the scalability for future growth and create preventative measures based on quick analysis of network device alerts, pre-failure indicators, performance benchmark and security issues.

The new Monitoring and performance tool will provide small business with the opportunity to test all technical and non-technical aspects of their servers and help them to strengthen overall IT infrastructure. The array of services will include: Patch Management, Security Auditing, Site Inventory, Real Time Alerting Script Based Management, and Rights Management Services for all critical server issues.

“Irrespective of the business being small or large, when the consumer chooses iYogi, he leverages the potential of an elite taskforce of Microsoft Certified System Engineers and Cisco Certified Network Associates, ready to service their critical assets, using the most advanced network asset tracking and Performance monitoring”, adds Challu.

Another factor where the Company aims to distinguish itself from its competitors is product pricing. Embracing the concept of service quality, iYogi offers competitively priced technical support services at no-haggle, low prices.

As for its small business support, the Company has integrated its exclusive Monitoring and Alerting Services under one price umbrella of just $480 annually. per server i.e. $49.99 per month. The price is certainly hard to find anywhere else.

For more information on iYogi Small Business Support, visit http://www.iyogibusiness.com/

Contact Details:
Company Name: iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd
Address: iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
Toll Free no:1-800-237-3901
Work Number: 1-212-229-0901
Fax Number: 1-888-867-2715
E-Mail: awadhesh.singh@iyogi.net

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners

iYogi Secures $9.5M in Series B Funding Led by SAP Ventures, With Follow-on Investment from Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners
iYogi, a Direct-to-Consumer and Small Business Technical Support Provider, Paves the Way for Personal Offshoring to Become India’s Next Success Story

New York, 24 July, 2008: Personal Offshoring, which is driving the next wave of India’s outsourcing success story, got a huge boost today when iYogi - a remote technical support provider from India - raised $ 9.5 million in Series B financing from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG, Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank.

iYogi (www.iyogi.net) delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support brand based out of India. The company offers its customers an unlimited, annual service subscription for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware Microsoft Windows operating system, software applications, peripherals and multifunctional devices.

“Personal Offshoring has created new investment opportunities in India with incredible growth potential,” said Doug Higgins, partner at SAP Ventures. “It is very exciting to see companies like iYogi challenging the traditional enterprise-focused offshore-service delivery model by creating a consumer-focused, direct-to-customer personal offshore model. iYogi is one of the fastest-growing companies in this market segment, and we look forward to working with them to create India’s next success story.”

“Our focus on the customer experience has helped us achieve a 93 percent satisfaction rate across more than 50,000 customers,” said Uday Challu, CEO of iYogi. “We are delighted to have the support of three terrific investors as we increase our market share and continue to provide the best technical support experience possible for our customers.”

iYogi will use the funds to fuel its expansion into 12 new regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and to increase its delivery of new services including PC recovery, anti-virus/spyware, data back-up and PC optimization.

“As consumer technologies grow in sophistication, consumers will be seeking the kind of home IT support services – including remote services offered by companies such as iYogi – to help them solve their most complex problems,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst, Parks Associates. “In primary research, we found more than one-third of consumers are willing to pay for competent and professional remote support services, and 60% express a strong interest in software solutions – what we refer to as ‘PC Dashboards’ – that automate many basic PC performance enhancement and troubleshooting features, solving many PC-related problems before they even are noticed by end-users.”

iYogi had previously raised $3.1 million in Series A financing from Canaan Partners and SVB in April of last year. “iYogi is one of the most promising investments for Canaan Partners,” said Alok Mittal, managing director of India at Canaan Partners. “Third-party, vendor-independent technical support is an exciting new service category, witnessing explosive growth. Customers are looking beyond the traditional vendor-provided support to remote channels for better problem resolution, faster service, and greater overall satisfaction. iYogi has created an incredible value proposition and price offering for its customers that is hard to beat.”

”Several next generation outsourcing companies from India are delivering a range of personal offshoring services for individuals and small businesses in the U.S. including online tutoring, tax preparation, remote executive assistance and research services,” said Suresh Shanmugham, managing director of SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank. “iYogi has leveraged the technical skills available in India along with process expertise to scale as a global technical support provider for millions faced with increasingly complex technology”.

About SAP Ventures
SAP Ventures invests in innovative and disruptive software and services companies globally. We pursue opportunities across all stages for outstanding financial return. Our goal is to bring substantial benefit to all parties by facilitating interaction between portfolio companies and SAP and its ecosystem of customers and partners. SAP Ventures has a successful track record of building industry-leading companies by partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and top-tier venture capital firms since 1996. For more information, visit www.sapventures.com.

About Canaan Partners

Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm specializing in early-stage information technology and life sciences companies. Founded in 1987, Canaan Partners has $2.4 billion capital under management and has invested in more than 240 companies, completed 63 mergers and acquisitions, and brought over 50 companies public. The firm catalyzes the development of innovative mobile, Internet, CleanTech, networking, semiconductor, enterprise software and services, biotechnology and medical technologies to build next-generation market leaders. Canaan was an early investor in Acme Packet (APKT), Aperto Networks, BharatMatrimony.com, Blurb, DoubleClick (DCLK), ID Analytics, Match.com and SuccessFactors, along with dozens of other market-leading companies. Canaan is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and also has offices in Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information visit: www.canaan.com.

SVB India Capital Partners Fund and Silicon Valley Bank

SVB India Capital Partners Fund is a $54 million equity fund that is focused on Indian companies and co-invests across industries and stages with top-tier venture capital firms. Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial bank for emerging, growth and mature companies in the technology, life science, private equity and premium wine industries. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the world through 27 U.S. offices and five international operations. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group, with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services. More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.

About iYogi

iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical support for $119.99 per year, iYogi now boasts more than 50,000 customers. The company employs 450 professionals servicing customers in the U.S., U.K., Canada fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi’s resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further information, please visit www.iyogi.net.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. iYogi shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.



Contact:


Company Name:
iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd

Address:
iYogi Inc.
12 Desbrosses Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013

Toll Free no: 1-800-237-3901

Work Number: 1-212-229-0901

F ax Number: 1-888-867-2715

It's not Online Vista Tech Services: Windows Server 2008 gets nod from IT

It may look like Windows Vista. It shares the same code base as Vista. It even rolls in Vista's first Service Pack. But in terms of customer adoption plans, Windows Server 2008 is no Vista.

A new Computerworld survey shows that 63% of the 403 respondents plan to adopt Microsoft's new server operating system. This contrasts with the intention of some IT organizations to skip Vista entirely and move directly to Windows 7 on the desktop. According to an of 372 IT professionals conducted by Sanford C. Bernstein in May, companies expect just 26% of their PCs to be running Vista by the beginning of 2011, down from an estimate of nearly 68% of computers based on a similar survey a year ago.
"I haven't seen any shadow of Vista being cast over Windows Server 2008," says John Enck, analyst at Gartner Inc. Most industry watchers, in fact, agree that deployment is not a matter of if, but when and where.

IT executives say that for the most part, Windows Server 2008's many new features won't compel them to change their normal refresh schedules to adopt it right away. "It's just an evolutionary step from Server 2003," says Rick Redman, senior IT analyst for the city of Amarillo, Texas.

Jim Thomas, director of IT operations at window manufacturer Pella Corp. in Pella, Iowa, says Microsoft's new virtualization hypervisor, is interesting. But other than that, he says, there's "not a whole lot" that he finds compelling. And Hyper-V is and immature to warrant rushing ahead to convert his 425 Windows servers, he adds.
Overall, however, IT decision-makers give the operating system a qualified thumbs up and plan to move to it as part of the normal server refresh cycle, which typically ranges from three to five years. Some customers, for instance, phase in new servers by replacing one-third of their machines each year; others replace all of their servers at once.

"We're coming at it much more from a normal rollout of an operating system," says Bob Yale, IT principal at The Vanguard Group Inc. in Valley Forge, Pa. Vanguard has about 1,200 Windows servers, most of which are running Windows Server 2003.

Overall, 59% of Computerworld 's survey respondents who said they plan to adopt Windows Server 2008 (WS '08) expect to get started within the next 12 months. More than half -- 55% -- expect to complete the transition within two years. The highest level of interest came from respondents at midsize organizations with 100 to 1,000 employees; 69% of them said they expect to get started within the next 12 months.

Selective service
In most cases, the early adopters are deploying WS '08 selectively in a bid to leverage specific new features in the operating system. While more than half of respondents in our survey said they will follow the usual upgrade schedule, about one in four said they will accelerate adoption for some applications. One in three respondents said that online vista tech services their organizations have a business need for a new feature in WS '08.

Mike Moore, IT principal at Vanguard, says his company has implemented a few WS '08 machines where the new features filled a business need. For instance, Vanguard has servers in place that leverage WS '08's new (NAP) features. "We'd like to extend that further with the more-granular policy servers that Windows Server 2008 provides," he says. But he doesn't expect to get serious about WS '08 rollouts until sometime in 2009.

Neither does the city of Amarillo's Redman, who says he'd like to see a base of documentation and best practices before moving forward. "The biggest problem is getting useful technical articles out of Microsoft that don't have a lot of marketing hype," he says.

But Ward Ralston, senior technical product manager for Windows Server 2008, argues that plenty of resources exist today. He points to the and to the as examples.
Redman expects to begin migrating to WS '08 within a year. For now, however, he'll stick with Server 2003 when the need for new servers arises. While it's not hard to install the new operating system, it's quite a bit of work to load the fixes and patches and deal with technical support, he says. "If this one is working, why break it? We have 1,500 other things to do," he notes.

Early adopter Pacific Coast Cos. in Cordova, Calif., upgraded three server-based applications to WS '08 while participating in Microsoft's beta program. The applications, which include an estimator, a design application and a quality-control application, are all hosted using Terminal Services and have been stable. Because they're critical, however, administrators perform a preventive reboot every month, just to be safe, says enterprise architect Matt Okuma. But he'd like to see the operating system season a bit before he migrates other applications. "Would I run an SAP portal on Server 2008 right now? Probably not," he says.

Like Vanguard, Pacific Coast plans to selectively deploy WS '08 as a replacement for third-party products. "We don't want a fancy environment for network access protection. We just want to know when someone unauthorized has accessed our network," Okuma says.
His organization has also deployed Windows Server 2008's Terminal Services, with its ability to publish applications, as a replacement for his Citrix environment, which was hosted by a third party. The new setup saves on licensing and maintenance costs and performs better. "We've offloaded the cost and maintenance of Citrix. That's why we went to Server 2008," Okuma says. It was, he adds, a "no-brainer."

Broader deployments at Pacific Coast will likely start with Active Directory servers, but that's at least a year away. "We'll stick with Server 2003 in the interim," Okuma says.

Virtual possibilities
is probably the most talked about new feature in Server 2008. But with the hypervisor and management tools just emerging from beta, most organizations don't take Hyper-V seriously -- yet. "It's on our watch list, but not on the critical path to our virtualization strategy by any means," says Vanguard's Yale.
"Down the road, I think Microsoft will crush VMware, but they're far behind VMware at this point," says Okuma. He currently has 150 Windows servers, most of which are running virtualized Windows Server 2003 sessions on VMware products. Many of those virtual servers are "Tier 0" virtual machines, where server recovery would be time-consuming. "I would not move them to Hyper-V at this point," Okuma says.

"In 12 to 18 months, [Microsoft] will give VMware a run for their money," says Gartner's Enck. He thinks Microsoft will push Hyper-V into the enterprise through aggressive licensing practices. "It is very good at using the as a tool to shift the base," he says.
VMware also faces a competitive challenge from Microsoft for IT organizations that use more than one hypervisor. The of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, which offers some of the same tools found in VMware's VirtualCenter, will support not only Hyper-V but VMware ESX hypervisors as well when it's released later this year. And support for Xen is planned, according to Microsoft. VMware supports only its own hypervisor.
Right now, management tools are the No. 1 issue when it comes to virtualization, according to IDC. Microsoft's offering is not nearly as complete as VMware's, says Amarillo's Redman. But as it matures and the number of virtual machines under management continues to grow, System Center Virtual Machine Manager's flexibility will be increasingly attractive.

For now, however, most large companies are already committed to VMware. While 62% of large-company respondents in the Computerworld survey said they were using VMware for virtualization, nearly half (45%) of small companies and 29% of midsize companies said they weren't using virtualization at all yet. Gartner estimates that the installed base for virtualization as a percentage of all servers in use is still somewhere around 10%. That leaves plenty of room for Microsoft to move in.

"We think Microsoft will get big chunks of the market" and push out competitors, Enck says, leaving the market with two dominant players: VMware and Microsoft.

Scott Zimmerman, CIO at CenterPoint Properties in Oakbrook, Ill., is using VMware to host six of the real estate development and management company's 25 Windows servers. Zimmerman says he's very interested possibly using Hyper-V. "Is it a viable substitute? We'll want to find out," he says.

The city of Amarillo, with 100 to 150 Windows servers, is just starting to look at virtualization, Redman says. He's interested in Hyper-V but wants to see a broad community of support surrounding it before he'll consider deployment. "With VMware, a lot of people can help," he says.

Chad Mawson, IT manager at law firm Woods & Aitken LLP in Lincoln, Neb. agrees. He says he's seen "bits and pieces" of information on Microsoft's but notes that "there doesn't seem to be any real community base."
Overcoming VMware's entrenched position and customer loyalty won't be easy. "We're probably going to stick with VMware unless there's a huge price differential," Mawson says, noting that his ESX virtual machines are "incredibly stable." VMware isn't cheap, but that doesn't keep him up at night. "We get a good value for our money," he says.

Better living through Active Directory
and group policy are another area where users say even incremental improvements are welcome. Overall, however, the improvements in Active Directory, such as the new read-only domain controller and improved logging for change events, are minimal, says Gartner's Enck. More important improvements, including better integration with Lightweight Directory Services or non-Windows Kerberos implementations, aren't there yet.
Microsoft's Ralston counters that WS '08 includes more than 1,800 group policy settings that used to require the creation of custom scripts. "We closed the loop on all of those group policy features that were missing," he says. Microsoft also rolled in tools from its Desktop Standard acquisition, now called Group Policy Preferences, to automate the creation of group policies.

Woods & Aitken deployed a single instance of WS '08 for an Active Directory domain controller in a remote office that needed a new server. Mawson says the system is working fine, but he acknowledges that the deployment was a gamble. "It's more of a test in active use," he says. The enhanced group-policy management features are a step up, and Mawson intends to take full advantage of those features. He'll begin moving to WS '08 immediately but will only migrate as servers come up for their regular replacement, he says.

found the new Active Directory features sufficient to upgrade some servers. "The improvements in the Active Directory services [and] fine-grained password policies are really compelling," says Michael Lebiedzinski, director of infrastructure for the company s Global Wealth Platform. "In the past, different password policies were a driver to separate domains," he says. While the ability to fine-tune password policies drove the firm's adoption of WS '08, enabling domain consolidation was a secondary benefit, he says.
Others say they like the improvements but are in no rush to upgrade servers. "We've had talks about upgrading our Active Directory, but what do we actually gain from it? The risk is higher to go to 2008 than to just stay with 2003 at this point," Okuma says.

Stripping down to the core
Server 2008 offers 19 role-based installations that strip down the operating system to only the components needed to perform a given function, such as DNS. "We removed everything that wasn't needed for those roles. No .Net Framework, no Media Player, not even a GUI," says Microsoft's Ralston.

Redman thinks that the Server Core roles such as Active Directory and DNS server configurations will be particularly useful for remote sites. "A stripped-down operating system has less of a footprint for viruses, etc.," he says. Still, he's not going to put them in ahead of the normal refresh cycle.

Some of the roles fall in areas where Linux has been a popular alternative, but Gartner's Enck doesn't think WS '08 is a Linux-killer. Server Core is limited to a few specific roles, making it less flexible than Linux, he says. And while Server Core versions are easier to administer and are more secure than full-blown Windows Server installations because of the smaller footprint, there's no clear cost benefit to moving off of Linux. However, Server Core could blunt further advances by Linux into the enterprise for those role-based services it does support, he says.
Internet Information Server
, part of WS '08, offers more security features. Like the rest of the operating system, IIS has been componentized. There are more than 40 different pieces that can be installed to build a Web server, says Ralston. IIS 7 includes many security improvements, he adds. For example, a remote procedure call can't write to the registry or file system anymore because the security token for the account it runs under no longer has those privileges baked in.
IIS 7 is the most interesting part of Server 2008 for Zimmerman at CenterPoint Properties. "All of our applications are Web-based, so we like to keep current," he says. He points to improvements in streaming-media capabilities and in how IIS interacts with Active Server Pages, as well as the ease with which WS '08 can propagate configuration updates to Web server farms, as compelling reasons to upgrade.

It's not, however, compelling enough to make an IIS migration a top priority. "We don't have the time and project plan to focus on Windows Server 2008 right now," Zimmerman says. For now, he will continue to deploy Windows Server 2003 as needed and gradually begin upgrading later this year, starting with noncritical servers, he says.

SP2: The new SP1
While it's typical for organizations to wait for the first service pack before deploying a new operating system from Microsoft, in Computerworld 's survey, just over a third of respondents said they'd wait for the next service pack before deploying WS '08. Small companies were the most cautious.

One reason may be the perception that WS '08 has already had its first service pack, since Microsoft rolled up Vista's SP1 into the initial release of the product. Indeed, Microsoft has announced that the first true service pack for WS '08 will be labeled "SP2."

But while Vista and WS '08 do share a common code base, the server OS is far more modular and has many features that aren't part of Vista. At best, Vista SP1 was a partial service pack for WS '08. "SP2 is the old SP1," says Vanguard's Moore. "I'm not convinced that they've fixed all of the quality issues. We'll wait until SP2." Vanguard will begin a gradual rollout only when SP2 finally ships, he says.

Pacific Coast's Okuma is also cautious. "Our organization will definitely wait" for SP2, he says.

But that's not stopping Mawson at Woods & Aitken. SP1 "was already integrated into Server 2008, so that didn't play into the decision for us," he says, adding that he has seen no crashes so far with his test server.

Zimmerman currently has WS '08 running on a test machine. "We like it," he says but notes that he'll wait for the next service pack. "We kind of hang out until [SP2 ships], unless there's some overwhelming argument that it's stable," he adds.

"Sometime after SP2 comes out, we will start to look at rolling through a refresh," says Moore. He expects to start sometime next year. The rollout will require six months of planning and 12 to 18 months to complete.

Perhaps the biggest reason why SP2 doesn't matter is that the update is likely to arrive before many organizations can initiate major deployments. Redman says SP2 is important but not a concern on his planning horizon: "By the time we get around to [deploying Windows Server], there usually is [a service pack]." The real bottleneck, he says, is evaluation and planning time. "It could take us six months to a year to finish looking at the features, play with them and see what it will buy us," he says.

Top-slicing the Beeb: Clueless execs get busy

Some quangos, like jellyfish, seem to be able to reproduce asexually. It's what they live to do. What this means is that without any contact, parthenogenesis occurs and they simply spawn off a little version of themselves, which may grow as large as its parent. Britain's uber-regulator Ofcom, I learned this week, definitely falls into this class. I just hadn't realised how badly it longs to plop out lots of baby Ofcoms.

Ofcom recently proposed that the BBC should share the licence fee with commercial rivals. But with one exception, none of the commercial rivals actually want this to happen - which leaves Ofcom keenest of all on the idea.

At the Westminster Media Forum debate on Wednesday, executives from the top of British TV management discussed the regulator's review into Public Service Broadcasting, in which "top-slicing" the licence fee is The Big Idea. As we discussed here, Ofcom gets itself into terrible difficulties trying to define the subject. It can't decide what "Broadcasting" is in the Noo-Media era, nor what "Public Service" is, either. This culminates in some very strange conclusions, such as lauding Symantec's Anti- Virus help page as a very modern example of Public Service Broadcasting.

Amongst other things I also learned is how this purportedly "blue sky consultation" contrives to leave most of the interesting options out of the debate. Which isn't surprising when you see how few people there are at top of the public service TV business - they all simply swap jobs every few years - and how almost all of the Professorial "independent experts" are really just part of the furniture. Shafts of insight were as rare as rude words in church. But more of that in a moment. As for top-slicing, where do they stand?
Take your positions

Naturally the BBC regards Ofcom's review as an attack, or "pickpocketing". In a speech on Tuesday, BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the licence fee is "not a back pocket for government or regulators or anyone else for that matter. It is not a spare pot of cash, a contingency fund, to be raided every time there is a cause, however worthy, with a hole in its balance sheet and a media flag attached."

In other words, it's the Ark of the Covenant, and the BBC alone is trusted with the sacred duty to spend it. That's not so surprising - what is rather startling is that neither ITV nor Five want a slice of your money.

"We're not asking for money, we're asking for freedom," said ITV's director of strategy Carolyn Fairbairn. She agreed that the old model no longer worked, and that a multi-channel world meant only a fraction of revenue - around ten per cent - was being invested in programming by the newer channels. Magnus Brooke, ITV's directory of regulatory affairs, added that ITV would be tied by bureaucracy and compromised by public money.

Five echoed this theme, with its regulation exec Martin Stott chastising "an experiment in intervention that may or may not succeed". He also criticised the lack of accountability of a licence fee diffused between commercial broadcasters, and thought that by the time the cost of the additional bureaucrats had been totted up there wouldn't be a great deal of extra money for programmes. So you might as well give the money to the BBC.

BSkyB, which receives no public subsidy and has no public service broadcasting obligations, also thought it was a daft idea. There wasn't really a problem with a dearth of material, what with shows like Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, said Sky's director of corporate affairs Graham McWilliam. Sky's subscription highbrow arts channel was a good example of the market meeting the demand, he added. None of Ofcom's four proposed options involved less regulation, McWilliam pointed out - they all involved more. Jellyfish syndrome, again.

Naturally Channel 4's chief executive Andy Duncan disagreed. Duncan's main problem was not looking too chuffed at the suggestion of top-slicing, since Channel 4 is the biggest beneficiary.

His argument was primarily economic - the TV advertising market is shrinking, and C4 is great value, since it doesn't have to pay a dividend to shareholders. (ITV also points out the looming crisis in ad spend, but would prefer to have the public service obligations lifted so it can compete with Sky, rather than get a cash hand-out.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/15/westminster_forum_bbc/

online computer support

Paper isn't waterproof. Your house title, insurance information, Social Security card and wedding photos could be ruined in a hurricane, and so could your computer and the data stored there.

So when preparing for a hurricane, it is wise to both safeguard the original versions of your vital documents and to make sure you have your most important data backed up.

Fortunately, the cost of scanning and storing information is dropping all the time, and it is easy to create digital copies of your photos and documents and to find a safe home for them.

Some public libraries, including the Palm View branch library in McAllen, will help you scan your documents for free. But if you're less tech-savvy or short on time, stores like Fed-Ex Kinko's and McAllen's Copyzone offer scanning services. Kinko's will burn a CD with 100 of your old snapshots for around $10, while Copyzone charges $0.49 to scan a color document and $1 to burn it to a CD.

Once you have digital copies of your information, it is best to store a set where it can be accessed easily, no matter where you end up.

The simplest method is e-mailing documents and information to yourself. High-storage free e-mail systems like Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Hotmail will save these e-mails and allow you to retrieve your information from any computer hooked up to the Internet.

In order to back up your larger files, like digital photos and music, there are a host of online computer support back-up and storage centers, some free, some of which charge a monthly fee. For example, Carbonite.com will automatically take your computer's hard drive and regularly back up files for around $50 per year. Sites like AllMyData.com will allow you to store 1 gigabyte of the most important files in an individual account for free.

Of course, the easiest way to take your digital information with you is to burn files to a CD or DVD and put them in a plastic bag with your passport, checkbook and other vital information, ready to be grabbed on your way to the car if you have to evacuate.

http://www.foxriverantiques.com

source :http://www.themonitor.com/news/information_12559___article.html/files_documents.html

How to Clean Spyware from Your Computer

Spyware is computer software that gets installed secretly on personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's contact with the computer, without the user's consent.
Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs.

To keep you computer working finely it is necessary to remove spyware. For this you need help of a spyware remover program. There are plenty of anti-spyware software available as it has become a blooming industry. You need to keep a good firewall in place as well as email virus help protection. But these two ways are not sufficient and any time these malicious viruses can get into your computer.

Anti-spyware programs can combat spyware in two ways:
• They can provide real time protection against the installation of spyware software on your computer
• Anti-spyware software programs can be used solely for detection and removal of spyware software that has already been installed onto your computer.

Some examples of such spyware removing programs are:
• Norton Internet Security
• Microsoft Windows Antispyware (Beta)
• X-Cleaner (freeware)
• Spy Sweeper
• Pest Patrol
• Hijack This
• Spy Remover
• Who's Watching Me

The other way to remove a spyware is through the Add/Remove Programs section of Windows to see if any worm, virus help or spyware help is listed. Some of the quasi-legitimate adware programs may include uninstallers, but malicious pests do not.

For a home PC a clean format can solve the problem. But for a computer which is storing huge amount of information, it would not be a good choice. You need to take back up before formatting a computer. In this case you need to keep these tips in mind.

Hard disk partitioning method:
• Shrink and hide the current infested partition, create a new visible and bootable partition, install the clean copy of Windows into this new partition.
Disk imaging method:
• The best location for the image backup is outside the infested computer, either on CDs, DVDs, an external hard disk or another computer on the LAN.

Formatting may be one of the safer methods, but you need to clean spyware thoroughly and eradicate it whenever you find it.

To keep your PC spyware free it is advised to constantly update your spyware definitions to the latest versions. Scan your system at least once a week, more often if you can, and use at least two proven spyware remover programs to clean spyware completely and keep your computer in good shape.

Source : http://www.itvoir.com/portal/boxx/knowledgebase.asp?iid=696&Cat=3

Adding to memory can help a slow PC

use Windows 2000 and have DSL service . My computer is 10 years old. About two weeks ago, everything began slowing down. I have spoken with my Internet provider and we ran a test - my speed is fine. I did a complete virus help scan and there are no viruses. I did a defrag and it did not help. Every time I use my computer a message comes up saying I am low on virtual memory and Windows is increasing its size. It is frustrating using my computer as I now sit and wait. Any suggestions or links to fix my problem?


When a computer needs more memory than can be furnished by the actual RAM chips - a super quick form of memory - installed, it creates a substitute memory using the hard disk. Memory created this way is much slower than what you get from a chip, since the chip is a solid-state device and the hard disk is mechanical.

So what should you do? You can add more RAM memory, it's pretty cheap these days. Even if you don't add more memory, turn the computer off and restart it a few times each day. That can release memory. Windows has a nasty habit of holding onto memory, even when the program that was using it closes.

Another thing to do is make sure that the computer is clear of adware and spyware. That's not your main problem in this case, but it is a cause of slowdown. Use Adaware, SpyBot Search and Destroy, or Windows' free Defender. Combining this with more RAM will almost certainly give you a faster computer.


source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.pl.helpdesk15may15,0,1769633.story

The future of security

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 12 MAY 2008 - A futurologist in IT security? Difficult to believe, but it is true. On a recent visit to Dubai to discuss the risks of the global Internet, David Perry, Global Director of Education for Trend Micro, is a futurologist, predicts the upcoming dangers and thefts in the IT industry globally. He has been working for Trend Micro for the past 10 years and was earlier associated with McAfee. CNME met up with Perry to get a brief analysis on the scenario today.

CNME: Why do you call yourself a futurologist?

Perry: At Trend Micro there has always been stress on the role of Internet security which is a dense area. There are all kinds of considerations to be made like vocabulary, messed up mathematics, be able to interpret languages from Russians, Chinese and Americans. I am constantly involved in research and I have a good grasp of the English language. You don't find a lot of computer virus help experts with the same ability therefore I am able to interpret all the technical information for the ordinary person. Due to this I am able to predict trends and initiatives which also help me to understand threats. We are able to articulate it and make sense before selling the solution to the end-user.

CNME: How you see the state of Internet Security today?

Perry: Customers must be made aware of basic facts like for example the original computer virus help was not on a PC or an Apple machine or mainframe or storage device. The original virus was a work of fiction by a writer named John Brunner. Viruses existed in fiction before they existed in fact. All the ideas we carry on viruses are fictional and they are not responsible for destroying the hardware. Somebody is not writing viruses in the backroom of an antivirus company. They are invisible, silent and most importantly at this point of the history of the world viruses and malware are stealing your bank accounts. This is happening in the behest of giant organized crime rings in Russia, China, Etnovia, Latvia, South America, Columbia and even including United States and Australia.

The real crime is not about stealing a bank but about stealing passwords, credit card numbers and logins of users. According to the FBI last year 15 million users from America got their identity stolen and computer crime put together accounted for $89.9 b. This means its approaching the same level of crime from drugs therefore making it front rank crimes.

CNME: As a security expert, do you think Trend Micro has done enough to stand apart from competition? What kind of initiatives is being undertaken by the vendor?

Perry: I am influential and one of the most famous anti-virus people in the whole world, probably not as much Gene Kaspersky because he owns a company. At Trend Micro I am able to share any kind of concern with the top management which is a big difference compared to companies like Symantec. They have moved onto hiring professional managers who are only interested in sales, numbers and finances. But in Trend Micro the CEO has 9 patents, she is an engineer, has invented many of our hot products and been with the company for 20 years. The top management - Steve and Jenny Yang - has been around for the entire history of the company. They have a passion and understanding of what makes good protection.

At Trend Micro one of the initiatives we have decided to take up as a public affairs issue is that of children being bullied on-line. We are getting ready to launch information, give lectures and also conduct these sessions in schools. There are market initiatives launched in EMEA where I have gone and given presentations.

CNME: Has security today moved beyond the computer?

Perry: It has definitely moved from the basic computer. Today it's about identity, not about computer security. In the United States if I purchase a sofa, telephone or a car, the credit rating company is called to check on your reputation. The same is applicable with your passport, which is checked every time at the airport for your identity.

In the same situation, if your identity is stolen through your credit card you have lost your credit rating and you cannot buy a car.

We are heading into a future which is not protected and there will be more sensitive data for the end user. There is often a comment made that antivirus companies are catching up with hackers. Even for us, there is immense effort put into research for e.g. there are thousands of research engineers at Trend Labs in Manila. On my way back from Dubai I will be stopping by at the lab. There is a lot of advanced study and research done in this direction but you don't hear about all the products being developed in these labs.

CNME: You have made comments in the past about security vendors not behaving like grownups, please comment.

Perry: Security vendors are always fighting on what to name viruses. In the era of worldwide virus outbreaks, that was affecting the entire world. But now it's a different scene as the virus attacks target a few hundred end-users. The name of the virus help was an important issue and all the anti-virus vendors wanted to name it differently. The question was always 'Who would name it?' so 'Who was the grown up?'

Nobody respects the other to differ from them and they don't want to make Symantec more powerful. There are no grownups in this fight as it moves on to other issues like setting security standards for testing. These are political decisions to be made on how to test the software based on who is going to win this test?

There are companies pushing one kind of standardization putting them into the good light completely. This is a business where billions of dollars are made and therefore the naming problem has to be fixed.

CNME: Should there be set parameters for security in an IT network?

Perry: The first point to keep in mind for an enterprise end-user is to understand what is happening in your network. You cannot fly blind as you have to know what you are protecting and secondly have comprehensive protection. Customers would earlier purchase different security solutions from various vendors. But now customers use heterogenous networks and they could be using a Linux or Nuventu or a Mackintosh OS other than a pure Microsoft XP system.

Computer security is based on four pillars beginning first from systems, then security, followed by hardware, software in all the systems has to be designed in a secure manner and the security products have to be aware of the changes in the system and product.

User education and awareness are the other important factors. Security awareness within the enterprise begins with recognizing the need for it. At Trend Micro we will be able to help end-users do this as we have acquired several new companies and are in a position to start with knowledge assessment then move onto training programs.

source : http://computerworld.com.my/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=8267&pubid=4&issueid=135

Computer Virus Help

t’s been weeks since a corruption scandal humiliated the Bush administration, so I suppose we were overdue for news like

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Office of Special Counsel here, seizing computers and documents belonging to the agency chief Scott Bloch and staff.

More than a dozen FBI agents served grand jury subpoenas shortly after 10 a.m., shutting down the agency’s computer network and searching its offices, as well as Mr. Bloch’s home. Employees said the searches appeared focused on alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Bloch during the course of an 2006 inquiry into his conduct in office.

The independent agency, created by Congress in the wake of the Watergate scandal, is charged with protecting federal employees and deciding whether their complaints merit full-scale investigation — a first line of defense against fraud and mismanagement in government. It also enforces a ban on U.S. employees engaging in partisan political activity.

This story has taken a few twists and turns, but it’s actually really interesting, and more than a little comical.

The Office of Special Counsel isn’t the most high-profile office in government, but it’s generally tasked with investigating whistleblower complaints. Bloch, however, has been ambitious — about a year ago, the OSC launched a broad investigation into Karl Rove’s political activities, with particular attention on the prosecutor purge, RNC emails, and fairly obvious Hatch Act violations (Rove’s office politicized various federal agencies). “We will take the evidence where it leads us,” Bloch said.

But while the investigator was investigating Rove, he was also facing his own investigation.

The Special Counsel looking into a potential cover-up appears to have been

The head of the federal agency investigating Karl Rove’s White House political operation is facing allegations that he improperly deleted computer files during another probe, using a private computer-help company, Geeks on Call. […]

Recently, investigators learned that Mr. Bloch erased all the files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up, lawyers close to the case said.

Bloch claims that he contacted the private PC-help service — bypassing his own agency’s computer technicians — to deal with a virus that had control of his computer.

He apparently asked the technicians to do a “seven-level” wipe, which, as the WSJ reported, “makes it nearly impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later.” While Geeks on Call was there, he also directed the technicians to wipe laptops used by his two top political deputies.

Bloch used tax-dollars to pay for all of this, and the $1,149 receipt makes no mention of a virus. Jeff Phelps, who runs Washington’s Geeks on Call franchise, said it would be unusual to address a virus problem by wiping a hard-drive. So for virus help he called the somebody.

Nothing suspicious here. No sirree.

This is, as David Corn while back, “a dizzying situation.”

The investigator investigating officials who oversee the agency that is investigating the investigator. Forget firewalls. This looks more like a basement flooded with backed-up sewage — with the water rising.

I should note, by the way, that this probe was launched while Bloch was already under investigation for

Only with the Bush gang is this set of circumstances even possible — Bloch is ostensibly investigating the Justice Department for its political activities, and simultaneously the Justice Department sends the FBI to raid Bloch’s office and home. What’s more, everybody is probably guilty.

source : thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15449.html

Virus Types to the Computer System

In the present scenario of technology, computers play the most significant role. Whether you are working in an income tax department, a private firm or any of the other organization, storing data on these computer systems is a very common process and thus the reliability of the data saved matters a lot.

But unfortunately people who want to disrupt the use of computers can well perform this task with the help of some programs that are able to infect the computers and at last damage to it one or the other way. The data may get lost or corrupted and you may feel a need of data recovery.

These malicious programs can damage the data ranging from mild to the severe one. Widely the infections which could affect the computer systems can be categorized as:

virus: These are the malicious programs that can copy themselves and infect a computer without the prior permission or knowledge to the user. They attach themselves with specific programs and when these programs are run and so do the viruses . A computer virus may get spread from one computer to another computer when its host is taken to the uninfected computer either through internet or through carrying it to on a removable media like USB, CD, floppy disk etc , we need virus help to remove these viruses

Trojan Horse: Trojan Horse is a software program which appears to perform some other task but in real sense the action carried out is some other damaging actions such as erasing your hard drive or allowing an open access to some other users. They have no way to replicate themselves but rely heavily on the exploitation of the end user.

Worms: Worms are the self replicating programs that use the network to send the copies of it to the other nodes. It does not attach to the existing program but instead scan the whole network for other computers with similar security holes through which it can then move to another computer for duplication.

Rootkits: These are the programs which are designed to take fundamental control of a computer system without user´s authorization. It is intended to seize control of the operating system running on the hardware and can also results into sabotage.

Spyware: These are the programs which are installed surreptitiously on a computer system in order to secretly monitor the user´s behavior and also it can collect certain other information of the user like personal information such as internet surfing habits, most often visited sites etc.

These programs can badly damage the data side of the user and the data may get lost. So all you need to be knowledgeable about the solution prior to any kind of infection that can happen to any of the hard drive.

source: americanchronicle.com/articles/60617

Computer Virus Crashes San Diego Court Computers

A computer virus infected San Diego Superior Court computers, forcing employees to work manually and causing some public service delays, court officials said Thursday.

The virus was discovered Monday after reports of unusual desktop behavior.

Employees reported that computers were repeatedly restarting or freezing, and that they could not get some applications to work.

To keep the virus from spreading, courthouse computers were taken off the county and state computer network, forcing court personnel to revert to paper files.

Employees are also having difficulty accessing information such as court dates and case information, said Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton.

Court officials asked the public for patience and urged those who need information to have their court-issued paperwork, courtesy notices or tickets with them when they come to court.

Information technology personnel and outside vendors are working to get rid of the virus, but it was unknown when the court computers will be back online, Dalton said.

Security needed to help battle botnet viruses

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

Botnet scams are often misunderstood as a virus, however, they exist in a computer without the user being aware their machine in compromised.

According to the article “Botnet Scams are Exploding” by Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz in USA Today on March 17, botnets are largely unknown by the public.

"Botnet is a term used to describe a collection of compromised computer systems that are working together for some common, usually nefarious goal," said Curtis Larsen, assistant professor of computer science.

In the article, Rick Wesson, CEO of Support Intelligence, explained that 30 percent of the 800 million computers connected to the Internet are bots taking part in spreading e-mail spam, stealing data from shopping and banking Web sites, and bombarding Web sites in a "denial of service" attack.

A denial of service attack uses mass amounts of bots to flood a certain Web site. All of this intensive traffic can cause a Web site to crash. This is a serious threat to large corporations' Web sites.

An example of phishing students may relate to takes place on MySpace. When clicking on an illegitimate advertisement, the user is redirected to a Web page that looks like the user has accidentally logged off. The user is tricked into entering his or her log on name and password. Now the hacker has total control of the account. Typically the hacker will post advertisements in the form of comments and bulletins, and the user's network of friends has no way of knowing the original user didn't actually post them. Also, the hacker has the user's e-mail address, and if the user uses the same password for his or her e-mail, it can be violated as well.

Users may not even be aware they are in the botnet network. Larsen said a compromised computer may exhibit symptoms similar to other virus compromises. He said the computer becomes unusually slow to respond or responds unreliably.

The botnet is not a virus. However, viruses can easily take advantage of machines that are a botnet.

"Hackers break into a machine, then install a code, which runs a botnet," said Chris Mosteller, campus systems administrator at DSC.

Luckily, anti-virus programs can detect botnets. Set up scheduled virus scans to occur automatically.

"The bottom line is, the program is running on your machine and you can't control it," Mosteller said.

According to www.fbi.gov, the FBI launched Operation Bot Roast last year. Operation Bot Roast was launched because national security implications of the growing botnet threat are broad.

According to the Web site, hackers may use the computers themselves or they may rent out their botnets for a charge. The more computers they control, the more they charge their clients.

Instead of being invaded by a botnet, prevent it from happening in the first place. Mosteller said to keep the computer patched. This means updating the computer on a regular basis, and downloading security updates and service packs. Most operating systems prompt the user when there are new updates available.

"I recommend checking more than one source when trying to determine if a computer has unusual network traffic," Larsen said.

Larsen suggested monitoring network connections and network traffic rates. For Windows, the user can use the netstat command from the command prompt to monitor open connections and volume. Larsen said users can also download TCPView to help find unusual network connections. Other prevention strategies include e-mail filtering, staying away from untrusted Web sites, activating the port filter on the DSL or cable modem, and not downloading software from untrusted locations.

Source : sun.dixie.edu/index.php?pg=story&storyid=3149

Linux without virus

OKaY! So you’re sick of the old computer and want a new one. You have it all figured out a nice processor with a lot of RAM, an elegant TFT screen and of course, a huge hard drive to store all your ‘stuff’.

You go to the store, give your specifications, browse the models and the options for operating systems.

Going all legal is an expensive proposition. Windows itself costs a great deal of money and once you add on an office package, anti virus software and a firewall (with paid renewal every year), you realise that you haven’t really budgeted for all of it.

What if you could find a way to keep software costs down and spend your money on hardware and that sleek 22 inch TFT monitor?

Ubuntu joy

Enter open source. Many years ago, Bruce Perens published the ‘Open Source Definition’, outlining a philosophy of software development that gave anybody the right to possess, install, redistribute and re-engineer software free of charge.

Ubuntu, tagged ‘Linux for human beings’, is becoming popular among home users. You can order a free Ubuntu installation CD with free shipping at www.ubuntu.com (Yes! You will not be charged even for shipping.)

Installing Ubuntu is simple. Its installation, by default, includes the Mozilla Firefox web-browser and Pidgin, an instant messaging client that lets you use Yahoo, MSN AIM and GoogleTalk in a single window.

The package comes with OpenOffice, with a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database programme and a presentation tool. Evolution Mail, an Email programme is also a part of the default package.

No virus!

You do not need an anti virus package because most computer viruses are designed to attack Windows computers.

Once the initial install is done, your computer can connect to the Internet and download all the updates.

In case there is any hardware on your system that you don’t have drivers for, Ubuntu will download them automatically.

Your Internet enabled Ubuntu computer will be able to connect to a global repository of over 20,000 Linux applications from where you could download and install any programme you like, absolutely free of cost.

The add-ons

Playing MP3s and movies require some additional work. You will have to install the MP3 codec via Synaptic Package Manager. Media players like VLC and Totem that play all video and audio types can be performed via the Package Manager without having to visit any product websites.

There is a programme called WINE (www.winehq.com) that allows you to use windows programs on Linux. This works well with Microsoft Office and some games, but other programmes may not perform as expected. If downloading is your thing, Azureus and Limewire are available for Linux.

One of the advantages of being on Ubuntu is the vast support network available.

There are thousands of pages of information out there on virtually every problem that you can encounter.

Volunteers offering help will be patient with you if they know that you are a total newbie.

Make it a point to join one of the discussion groups and put your questions to the more experienced users.

Teething trouble

So, Ubuntu is free, all the applications are free, you don’t have to worry about virus, hey, that’s like having a supermodel girlfriend who is a cordon bleu chef and has a PhD in particle physics, right? Not quite.

Ubuntu comes with some constraints. A majority of the world’s computers run or Windows or a related platform. Many business applications do not have a Linux version simply because it will not be worth anybody’s time to produce.

Also, the idea of paying for software goes against the essence of Linux and Open Sources.

If you’re looking for a computer that you can use to surf the Internet, check Email, chat, listen to music and watch videos, Ubuntu is for you.

Lessons from getting hit by a computer virus

FOR the nth time, I got hit by a computer virus. This time, though, it was a nasty hit.

I was happily surfing the Internet last weekend when my antivirus software started detecting it. I am not yet sure if it is a Trojan (a malicious program that leaves a backdoor open in your system for hackers to take control), or a computer worm (self-replicating malware). But it was clear. It was annoying and it took control of my laptop.

As one saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. The most effective and yet desperate way to get rid of a computer virus is to format the computer. Wipe the hard drive clean, and start afresh. But that would mean losing all your important files, data, and programs — not to mention wasted man hours in reinstalling the operating system, drivers, etc. So that wasn’t an option. I had to find a way to take out the computer virus with surgical precision.

A friend who is computer virus expert told me that getting rid of a computer virus is like peeling an onion. No, it does not make you cry. You have to pass through several layers to get to the juicy part. Hmmm, I hope that makes sense. Anyway, it took me and “Ownyot” (our in-house techie) to kill da bastard . We ran full scans, using both my existing antivirus software and an online free service from Trend Micro. The software was able to detect it. It was called . It was a Trojan. But when we checked for a solution, there was none at this time. I Googled it and found that others have recently been hit, and were asking how to get rid of it.

Ownyot eventually found a two-punch solution, thanks to the Internet. He used a free trial antivirus software version from Avira and launched a Filipino-made solution called Noob Killer, which fixed Windows registries in my system. You can Google both and find a way to download the software. Noob is apparently a solution developed by Pinoy techies, according to Ownyot (that’s another story, though). The free antivirus detected 30 more infected files. They were all quarantined. The Noob Killer was then launched, correcting registries affected by the computer virus. I asked what Noob Killer did to the nasty computer malware, and our in-house techie said that it “patched” the damaged “autorun” configuration of my system, and sought other computer virus/worms that are spreading through removable medias.

Lessons: if you’re patient enough, there are free and effective fixes online. But you have to have an expert with you when using such software. Also, numerous free trial versions of antivirus software are on the Internet. You can download them and use them to scan and quarantine computer virus. Finally, it is best to update your antivirus software. If it’s a corporate account, then ask your network administrator if it comes with the latest fixes.

More lessons: be careful in deleting files during computer virus scans. It is best to quarantine them first. Also always make sure that you scan removable media you plug in to your computer. That means USB thumb drives, external hard disk drives, and other media. Computer worms are now spreading through removable media, and it can be a nasty problem.

Finally, I learned that today’s computer viruses will not necessarily render your system useless. But when not dealt with quickly, it would. In past discussions with computer virus experts, computer malwares are increasingly being launched to steal passwords, usernames, and other personal information on an infected system. So when you’re infected, it is best to seek the help of an expert. You would never know that they are just sitting in a little corner in your office. Thanks, Ownyot!

Source: blogs.inquirer.net/techaddicts/2008/04/02/lessons-from-getting-hit-by-a-computer-virus/

Protect Yourself From Computer viruses

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you have a computer connected to the Internet, watch out! You'll be surprised to learn how often it's being attacked by computer hackers. Ivanhoe explains how to protect yourself and your PC.

It can strike at any time and can attack and destroy your computer. A virus hit Nicole Gentile's PC with a vengeance. "It was terrible," Gentile recalls. "It destroyed most of my files." And it also left her with a mess to clean up.

"It was a horrible feeling," she says. "I felt invaded and it caused me a lot of time and money to get everything fixed on my computer."

Nicole's ordeal is common. Computer scientists now reveal that computer hackers are using the internet to attack your computer every 40 seconds! "He or she will get on your computer and then see what is interesting on your computer." Michel Cukier, Ph.D., a computer scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, told Ivanhoe.

Hackers can use disc space on your own computer and steal credit card numbers and personal info. Computer scientists also discovered hackers try common usernames and passwords to break into computers. "If you have a weak password, it will take a few minutes for that password to be found." Dr. Cukier explains.

Consumers should avoid easily guessed usernames like "test," "guest" and "info," and easy passwords like "1-2-3-4-5-6," "password" and "1-2-3-4." Instead, use longer, complicated usernames and passwords with random numbers and upper and lowercase letters.

"You try to make something as complex as possible." Dr. Cukier says. Changing usernames and passwords more often can help guard against future attacks. Also, anti-virus software may help keep computers hacker-safe.

"I bought a lot of virus protection software for my computer, so let's hope it works," Gentile says.

Hackers also break into large numbers of unsuspecting computers to control and manipulate the computers remotely for fraudulent purposes like identity theft, to disrupt networks and corrupt computer files.

source: ivanhoe.com/science/story/2008/04/415a.html

virus help in 7 steps

ROCKLAND (March 27): 3. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly.
Dealing with anti-virus and firewall protection may sound about as exciting as flossing your teeth, but it's just as important as a preventive measure. Having intense dental treatment is never fun; neither is dealing with the effects of a preventable computer virus.

Anti-virus Software
Anti-virus software protects your computer from virus that can destroy your data, slow your computer's performance, cause a crash, or even allow spammers to send email through your account. It works by scanning your computer and your incoming email for virus, and then deleting them.

To be effective, your anti-virus software should update daily with antidotes to the latest "bugs" circulating through the Internet. Most commercial anti-virus software includes a feature to download updates automatically when you are on the Internet.

What to Look For and Where to Get It
You can download anti-virus software from the websites of software companies or buy it in retail stores. Look for anti-virus software that:

Removes or quarantines virus.
Updates automatically.
Anti-spyware Software
Installed on your computer without your consent, spyware software monitors or controls your computer use. It may be used to send you pop-up ads, redirect your computer to websites, monitor your Internet surfing, or record your keystrokes, which, in turn, could lead to the theft of your personal information.

Clues that spyware is on a computer include:

A barrage of pop-up ads
A hijacked browser — that is, a browser that takes you to sites other than those you type into the address box
A sudden or repeated change in your computer’s Internet home page
New and unexpected toolbars
Unexpected icons on the system tray at the bottom of your computer screen
Keys that don’t work
Random error messages
Sluggish or downright slow performance when opening programs or saving files.
You can take steps to limit your vulnerability to spyware:

Update your operating system and Web browser software. Your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that spyware could exploit. Make sure to set your browser security high enough to detect unauthorized downloads.
Download free software only from sites you know and trust. It can be appealing to download free software like games, file-sharing programs, customized toolbars, or other programs that may change or customize the functioning of your computer. Be aware, however, that many free software applications bundle other software, including spyware.
Firewalls
Don't be put off by the word “firewall.” It's not necessary to fully understand how it works; it's enough to know what it does and why you need it. Firewalls help keep hackers from using your computer to send out your personal information without your permission. While anti-virus software scans incoming email and files, a firewall is like a guard, watching for outside attempts to access your system and blocking communications to and from sources you don't permit.

Some operating systems and hardware devices come with a built-in firewall that may be shipped in the "off" mode. Make sure you turn it on. For your firewall to be effective, it needs to be set up properly and updated regularly. Check your online "Help" feature for specific instructions.

If your operating system doesn't include a firewall, get a separate software firewall that runs in the background while you work, or install a hardware firewall — an external device that includes firewall software. Several free firewall software programs are available on the Internet.

Don't Become a Zombie Drone
Some spammers search the Internet for unprotected computers they can control and use anonymously to send unwanted spam emails. If you don't have up-to-date anti-virus protection and a firewall, spammers may try to install software that lets them route email through your computer, often to thousands of recipients, so that it appears to have come from your account. If this happens, you may receive an overwhelming number of complaints from recipients, and your email account could be shut down by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

source: http://waldo.villagesoup.com/financial/story.cfm?storyID=111716

Seven Tips for Avoiding Computer virus

1 Old Hardware. “Studies have shown that the likelihood of physical problems with computer equipment goes up significantly after 24 to 36 months,” says Reaves. “Consider replacing computer systems every three years – considering how inexpensive computers have become, one major repair bill could easily cost more than purchasing an entire new system.”

2 Power Protection. “Surges and power drops can cause data loss and are always damaging to sensitive components, reducing their lifespan. Most people do use surge protectors, but what many don’t realize is that surge protection wears off over time. For the best protection make sure that the surge protectors for all your computer equipment are replaced every 2 to 3 years. “

3 Illegal Software. “Many businesses don’t realize that they don’t ‘own’ software; just the licenses to use it on a specific number of PC’s. Manyt software programs automatically report their usage via the internet, and breach-of-license letters and audits from software manufacturers to businesses are on the rise.”

4 Training. “Having to spend money training your staff might sound like a waste, but most employees understand less than 20% of the software packages they use. The gain in productivity far outweighs the training costs.”

5 Firewall and Security. “The internet is full of hackers who regularly try to access computers for nefarious purposes. If they get in (either directly, or with the help of exploits from malware or viruses) the list of problems they can cause is pretty big; including stealing files or customer records, and deleting important data. It’s important to be sure that all computers in your organization are updated with the latest security patches from Microsoft or Apple, and that firewalls are installed and maintained properly.”

6 Backup Data. “It sounds so obvious but most companies fail to keep 100% of their important data backed up 100% of the time – there are often gaps in what’s being backed up which are only discovered when it’s too late. The consequences of lost data can put a company out of business on the spot, and data retrieval is frighteningly expensive.”

7 Spam, Virus and Spyware. “80% of all Computer Troubleshooters’ service calls worldwide are from people with problems directly linked to these issues. You should consider good virus protection, spam filters and anti-spyware programs as mandatory if you want a trouble-free computer.”

source: http://americajr.com/news/computersickness0326.html