Back in November 2008, security experts became aware of Conficker, a worm that adds as many computers to its botnet as possible. Then in April of 2009 fear spread that April Fools Day, 4/1/09 would be dooms day, but it never came.  Instead, the worm has built a ring of 7 million machines around the world that only wait instructions on what to do next.  The only thing is, those instructions haven’t come.

Although Conficker is probably the computer worm most known about, PCs continue to get infected by it, said Andre DiMino, co-founder of The Shadowserver Foundation. “The trend is definitely increasing and breaking 7 million is pretty much of a landmark event,” he said.

But why no instructions?

Researchers have a couple of theories.  One is who ever built this thing is scared to do anything with it.  The clever code is adept at re-infecting systems even after it was removed.  Companies have spent time and money dealing with this potential threat and if caught the developer could be looking at a lot of time with the boys in blue.

The fear is with a botnet of 7 million and growing, the army could weaponize and have affect on a great many of us.  To be clear, it doesn’t seem this is the case today, but it is always a possibility.  The most common symptom of Conficker is a machine that cannot be logged onto.  The worm will attempt to gain access to other machines on the network by guessing passwords and in doing so will get locked out.

Do you have it?  Get tested

A simple test, called an Eye Chart is found at the Conficker Working Group that was set up to deal and track these issues.  It is a simple load and see if your machine loads images.  If so, you are clean if not, you can find which variant of the the worm you’ve got and how to expel it.

Read: [NetworkWorld]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Time Warner Cable says it is working on a fix for a security hole found in its SMC8014 cable modem/router devices.  The hole could allow a hacker to join private networks, hijack the browser and steal sensitive information. 

“We are aware of the issue and we are hard at work on a solution and have been for quite some time,” Alex Dudley, a Time Warner Cable spokesman, said on Tuesday.  “The manufacturer has developed a fix,” he added. “We believe it will work and we are testing it now to make sure it won’t affect our network in other ways.”

The problem lies in Time Warner’s sloppy way of trying to keep their customers from changing the configuration of the device.  They used Javascript, which is easily disabled via the browser and the web admin is accessible anywhere on the net.  Add to that the fact that a tool called “Backup Configuration File” displays the admin username and password in plain text and that the router is locked to weak WEP security by default instead of the much better WPA security, and you have a set up that a hacker could do serious damage with.

If you have one of these devices, Time Warner says it has pushed a temporary patch and will soon replace it with a permanent fix.  Really though, you are much better off with a cable modem and a separate router.  I’m a Time Warner customer and wasn’t offered one of those combo devices, fortunately. We were given an Arris cable modem and use our own Netgear router with WPA security, which is a much more secure setup!

Read [CNet]

Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

What is it?

The Belkin Powerline AV+ Starter Kit moves network data over your home’s electrical system up to 300 meters.  Belkin Powerline Ethernet adapters is meant to solve a common problem - needing a network connection where you don’t have one.  It has a list price of $179.99. 

What’s in the box?

• 2 Ethernet adapters: 1 three port adapter, 1 single port adapter
• Power adapters
• CD with user manual
• 2 Ethernet cables

The Good

Set up is minimal.  The instructions in the quickguide sheet explain everything.  Plug in an Ethernet cable in an adapter, then plug the adapter into your electrical outlet.  Do the same for the other adapter.  Just be aware that using these devices in a surge protector is not recommended.  For best speeds, plug directly into an outlet.  The receiver unit has three Ethernet ports so you can connect multiple devices without needing an Ethernet switch. 

Due to the fact the adapters are a bit on the bulky side, Belkin included proprietary extension cables that worked very well.  You can either slide on the regular plug adapter or the extension cable depending on your preference. 

Playing DVDs and 1GB video files over the network worked fine using the Belkin Powerline AV+ Starter Kit.  There were no stalling issues. 

In case you live in an apartment or just don’t want people plugging in their own compatible Ethernet adapters, Belkin has a system to lock others out.  Just press a button on one adapter for a few seconds, then press the corresponding lock button on your other adapter.  Then those units will only talk to each other.  If you want to add more adapters, just repeat the process.  The locking/pairing scheme works even if you have to unplug your device and move it around. 

The Bad

The claimed maximum speed is 200 Mbps, but while moving a 1GB file over a wired network, uploading tests showed only about 34 Mbps.  Downloading tests showed speeds of 43.2 Mbps.  Again, these speeds were not exactly close to the claimed maximum speed.  Speeds were better than my 802.11g wireless connection, which had a download speed at 22.4 Mbps and 19 Mbps for uploading. 

The In-between

There was one hiccup in setting up the Belkin device.  It turns out whatever electrical connection is in my dining room is apparently flaky for networking.  Plugging the Belkin kit elsewhere yielded better results.  Hopefully your home does not have electrical weirdness, but be aware that your home’s electrical system may cause a problem.

The Crux

 
The Belkin Powerline AV+ Starter Kit does not deliver speeds near the advertised maximums.  If you need speeds like 200 Mbps, you are probably better served with something else.  If you want speeds much faster than a 802.11g network, this is probably not your solution either. 

Product Page: [Belkin Powerline AV+]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Digi has announced their launch of a mobile hotspot 3G router, the Digi TransPort WR44.  This router will include Wi-Fi capabilities, GPS functionality as well as security features that promise to keep your data safe.  The router is designed for businesses that work in the transportation and sales industries or have a remote office.

You can install the Digi TransPort WR44 in public safety vehicles, buses, trains and vans.  It comes with a mounting system and has a rugged design meant to protect it from any rough handling.  The network is a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, so users can feel secure about processing payments through the router.  It also has multiple serial ports available, including a GPS module, four Ethernet ports and a USB port.  You can configure and edit your router settings with the included Remote Manager software.

The current retail price is $895 and you get a five year manufacturer’s warranty with your purchase.  Buying information is available through the Digi website. 

Site: [Digi]
Image Source: Digi

Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Windows 7 is just around the corner with its October 22, 2009 release date.  The option to do a clean install can be frightening since you can easily lose your customizations that you’ve created over your time on a computer.  However, a clean install is often a key to keeping a machine running nice and smooth.  Belkin’s Easy Transfer cable is designed to help you get your accounts, files, program settings, music, e-mail messages, and more to your new Windows 7 machine. 

This cable is meant to work with Microsoft’s Windows Easy Transfer utility.  Each computer gets hooked up via their USB ports and then you can transfer at either USB 2.0 speeds or even USB 1.1 if necessary.  Get those computers nearby each other because the cable is only 8 feet.  The Belkin Easy Transfer cable will be available the day after Windows 7 on October 23, 2009 for $39.99.

Company Page: [Belkin]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Verizon DSL and FIOS customers in New York City found themselves cut off from the net Friday afternoon after a router situated between its network and the Internet failed.  Despite their assurances that things are back to normal, many Verizon customers are reporting that they are still experiencing issues accessing certain websites.

The outage occurred around 3:15pm.  By 4:30 they made an announcement acknowledging the problem and saying they were working on it, and announced it was resolved a short time later. To their credit they did post updates regarding the outage to their Twitter feed.  However, you were affected you couldn’t access it so it really didn’t do much good.

Some small business customers are also complaining of server timeouts and other access issues.  I happen to be in NYC and I was affected by the outage.  For several hours I was unable to access most sites, getting time out or “connection interrupted” messages via my Verizon DSL connection. Fortunately I have a mobile broadband card from Sprint that allowed me to access the web normally.

I’m no longer having problems here, but for those who are, here’s a tip. If you haven’t yet, reboot your computer and at the same time, unplug your router/modem.  Wait about 30 seconds and plug back in.  This power cycling seems to help, at least it did for us.  If you’ve been affected by this outage leave us a comment and tell us about it!
Read [PCWorld]

Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Wireless N finally became official, so if you were holding out on switching your older machines over to the new standard, now may be time to make a move.  TrendNet has introduced its new Wireless N USB adapter, the TEW-648UB, and it is tiny.  You can see that it is a little larger than a quarter.  TrendNet is claiming that you can get 150Mbps on this adapter.  If you get half of that speed, you’ll still have a pretty pleasant experience sending data around your network.  This device has a MSRP of $24.99, which means you can probably land it for around $20. 

Product Page: [TrendNet Wireless N Adapter]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Amazon is getting in on the cable business.  The AmazonBasics line of cables is Amazon’s audio/video and computer cables that come in Amazon’s Frustration Free Packaging (meaning no blister-packs).  Assuming AmazonBasics are decent quality cables, this is an interesting development.  Finding a particular cable on Amazon.com can be somewhat troublesome with so many different vendors selling various brands of cables.  The AmazonBasics line ought to streamline picking up odds and ends for your computer or home theater. 

I would imagine that certain companies will not like the idea of Amazon pushing its own branded goods over their own.  Would you pick up a $99 Monster HDMI cable or an AmazonBasics HDMI cable for $8.94? 

Right now, the AmazonBasics line includes USB cables, FireWire cables, CD-Rs, DVR+R, DVD-Rs, networking cables, and various home theater cables.  Prices seem quite reasonable when compared to some other brands.  I wouldn’t expect to see televisions or portable electronics under the AmazonBasics brand, but Amazon could always come up with some other clever name for that - maybe AmazonElectronics?

Read: [Pocket-Lint]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

The Pogoplug has been loved by several Gadgetell writers from the time we stumbled upon them during CES 2009 and since then they have only gotten better.  Now the latest announcement coming from Pogoplug has them partnering with Seagate.

The partnership means that the Pogoplug service is going to soon power the FreeAgent DockStar from Seagate.  That alone sounds good, especially for Seagate fans and even better is that the Pogoplug team was quick to point out that the “DockStar set up is as simple as the Pogoplug device.”  And for anyone that has not yet used a Pogoplug—it is about as simple as it could be.

Moving forward, FreeAgent DockStar users can expect to find the same features that we have come to love from Pogoplug which include full web access, sharing through email or RSS, local drive support as well as an iPhone application.

In addition to the current sharing through email and RSS, Pogoplug users will also soon be able to share using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.  With this, users will be able to do things like publish links to their home hard drive which will allow friends and family members a direct look.  Of course, depending on who is or who you are following those links this feature should most likely be used with some caution.

Read [PogoPlug]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

We’ve been seeing wireless 802.11n products for so long now, its been easy to forget that what we’ve been using are the pre-certified units.  From now on 802.11n is officially approved by the IEEE standards group.  The final standard will be published by the group in mid-October, just in time for all those new Windows 7 laptops.

Wireless n actually started development back in 2002, but Atheros and Broadcom both had competing formats for what was then Pre-N.  Sine then we’ve seen Draft N, which is the most prevalent.  These Draft N products should work with the final version of 802.11n, which features theoretical speeds of 300Mbps.  That speed is six times the maximum speed of out current 802.11g, which is quite impressive.  The new standard also has a much longer range, as you may have witnessed already with current wireless n routers.

While the approval of the standard obviously has not stopped manufacturers from including the standard in most, if not all current laptops and netbooks, it’s great to know it is finally approved.  Now it can finally be on its way to finally becoming a more widely used standard, if only routers using 802.11n would come down in price a bit.  The next step is obviously improving our broadband speeds to reach the theoretical peak of the new standard, though that’s likely going to take some time.

Read [Electronista]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

S1Digital introduced what it calls the “Digital Entertainment Platform.”  This system uses three parts: “an Entertainment Server, Media Center clients and a control solution.”  You load all your content on the Entertainment Server which can support up to 32TB of hard drive space.  The server also has a Blu-ray player that can also play CDs and DVDs and supports CableCards.  Next up a Media Center client can play content from the server.  Their third part of their solution is a touch screen controller.  If you’re up for their system, you can buy only one version of the clients yourself for $1799.  For the rest, you’ll need to contact a dealer that does home theater installations.  Judging the price based on that media center client, you can expect to pay quite the hefty amount to get this system in your home.  If you are a geek, you could probably build yourself a pretty great solution using a Drobo, a server, some wired Ethernet, and small PCs hooked up to your televisions for less.

Company Site: [S1Digital]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Remember the first time you found out that if someone turned on the microwave that your Wi-Fi connection would go to heck?  Maybe you’ve noticed that on certain wireless devices a statement saying that it is designed to accept any interference caused by radios?  Kyocera may have put something together that could make radio interference a thing of the past. 

Kyocera has created two “Surface Acoustic Wave” filters that stop radio interference in the 2.6 GHz range.  This technology is expected to help in the deployment of WiMAX as well as help Wi-Fi.  The “filters are used to separate desired signals in high-frequency bands.”  Less interference means a higher quality signal to wireless devices. 

As great as wireless technology is, it’s just not as reliable as a wired connection.  Maybe with Kyocera’s SAW filters things will change.

Company site: [Kyocera]
Press Release: [SAW filter]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Ah, summer.  Time to relax, go visit friends, vacation.  No worries, right?  Well, there may be a small one if you like to use public Wi-Fi on your travels.

The latest trend for the in hacker is what has become known as “vacation hacking.”  It works by the hacker setting up fake Wi-Fi hot spots where they can lure in unsuspecting travelers.  Some favorite locations are airports and hotels.  Vacationers think everything is safe, especially if it is set up to somehow include the name of the place they are currently in while trying to connect.  Little do they realize that instead, they are logging on to phony networks, and handing over all the information on their laptops.

A recent investigation by Fox News showed that a wireless security company called AirTight Networks, based out of the Silicon Valley, sent in a crew of their own hackers to see what was up with all of this.  These guys are known as “white hat” hackers, the good guys.  They try to shut down the “black hat” hackers to see what they do and how they do it in order to stop it.

What they found was rather disturbing.  After checking out the Wi-Fi networks at 27 airports (20 in the US, five in Asia, and two in Europe), they found insecure networks all over the place being used to run things like baggage claim and the ticketing system.  On top of that, a huge percent (77%) of the Internet connections being made were actually peer-to-peer networks.

At every single location, they found fake Wi-Fi hot spots that were set up by hackers on a mission—phishing for the clueless vacationers’ information successfully.

“More and more people are traveling with Wi-Fi devices like smartphones and laptops,” says Marian Merritt, Internet safety advocate at the computer-security giant Symantec.  “Airports and airlines and hotels are responding. They’re setting up free Wi-Fi networks to lure in customers. Now they’re luring in hackers as well.”

Most of the people didn’t seem to either realize or care if the Wi-Fi they were using was secure or not.  The just would sit down, open up their laptop and look for a connection, and get down to business.  And, they did all kinds of business on insecure connections.  Not just checking email, but banking, paying credit card bills, buying stocks—all the sorts of things a person shouldn’t be doing on public Wi-Fi.

“Much of the time, people just log in to the first robust network they see,” says AirTight spokeswoman Della Lowe. “When we did our airport study, we found only 3 percent of the people were using secure networks.”

And even those “secure” networks may not be too safe according to their study because 80% of the private Wi-Fi networks that they surveyed were secured by Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol (which was cracked 8 years ago).

As a result of the study, some companies are starting to beef up security.  American Airlines made changes, as did JetBlue, where they found the insecure baggage claim machines at JFK. 

“Phishing is a risk that exists anywhere there are wireless services available, which is pretty much everywhere these days,” says JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin.  “At our Terminal 5 at JFK, where we offer free Wi-Fi, we have measures in place to minimize risks for our customers,” he said. “We’d prefer not to go into detail about the specifics of those measures, because the details could be used by clever hackers against the defenses.”

Anyone knows, and the security experts agree, you want to stay on the offensive when it comes to this area.  Some advice from Symantec comes in five simple steps.  While it may seem like common sense to some, it still bears repeating.

1. Pay attention to your surroundings.  Just because you are on vacation does not mean you’re not in public.  Don’t look at important documents when sitting in a waiting area for a plane or a train — wait until you’re alone and in private for that.

2. Beware of “Evil Twins.”  Some Wi-Fi networks look legitimate but are actually dummy networks created by criminals.  Even if they contain the name of your airport, airline, or hotel, they will directly link your computer to the hacker’s.  If you always use the official access keys provided by the establishment, then you should be safe.

3. Always assume Wi-Fi connections are being eavesdropped on.  Never enter sensitive data—Social Security numbers, bank account information, etc.—when browsing the Web via a Wi-Fi network.

4. Set all Bluetooth devices to “hidden,” not to “discoverable.”  Better yet, if you don’t use Bluetooth, just shut off the function altogether.

5. Keep your security software current and active.  Mobile PCs are just as vulnerable to viruses, worms and Trojan horses as are desktops, so make sure you have the latest protection installed.

Bottom line, just because you are on vacation, don’t assume the “black hats” are as well.

Read:  [foxnews]

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Siemens AG and Nokia Corp. should be so proud as they watch the news.  Look, Ma.  Look what I’ve helped to create.  A joint venture between the two companies helped lead to the massive spying technology being used by the Iranian government.  They’re using a practice called deep packet inspection.  This practice is one that is even more invasive than anything China is doing.  With deep packet inspection, it allows the government to block communications, monitor information, and alter it for disinformation purposes.  And this capability was provided by Siemens/Nokia in the later part of 2008 according to Ben Roome, a spokesman for the joint venture.

There was a “monitoring center” installed within the government’s telecom monopoly, which was part of a bigger contract with Iran that was part of a mobile-phone network technology, Roome confirmed.

“If you sell networks, you also, intrinsically, sell the capability to intercept any communication that runs over them,” said Mr. Roome.

It was known even last year that the technology was there, just not how much the government could do with it.  “We didn’t know they could do this much,” said a network engineer in Tehran. “Now we know they have powerful things that allow them to do very complex tracking on the network.”

How it works is that equipment is inserted into a flow of online data, whether from internet phone calls or emails or images and messages from sites like Twitter or Facebook.  Then, every single packet of data is deconstructed and carefully analyzed for keywords.  It is then reconstructed again within just milliseconds. 

In Iran, this is all done at just one hub.  Whereas in China, where it is done to a lesser extent all over the place through several ISPs.  Here, every piece is analyzed through one single choke point.

Users in Iran have been complaining of the horrifically slow internet speeds.  This deep packet inspection would obviously explain that.  Unless there is a massive increase in processing power, deep packet inspection will delay transmission of online data.

This may also explain why the government has been allowing the ‘Net to work instead of totally knocking it offline like they did briefly recently.  They want to see what is being said and readjust it accordingly as well.  Bradley Anstis, director of technical strategy with Marshal8e6 Inc, says that Iran is “now drilling into what the population is trying to say”.

Obviously, human-rights groups have not had very nice things to say about selling this kind of equipment to Iran, or other regimes considered to be repressive.  When asked about it, Mr. Roome of Nokia Siemens Networks said the company “does have a choice about whether to do business in any country. We believe providing people, wherever they are, with the ability to communicate is preferable to leaving them without the choice to be heard.”

Ummm…ok Mr. Roome.  So, you’re saying, yeah, it’s probably better to let them talk, but hey, business is business and we’ll give you the means to do the opposite anyway?  That’s what I like to see - strong character.

They aren’t the only government with this kind of filtering technology by the way.  Most start out nice and innocent.  Spam, porn, that sort of thing.  The Australian government is trying one out to protect its kids from online porn right now, Britain has blocked sites, and Germany is thinking about it.  And the good ‘ole US has the capability as well since the whole “Terrorist Surveillance Program,” although White House Officials won’t comment on how or if it is currently being used under the Obama administration.  If not, why aren’t they talking though?

Even in Iran, the justification they used for starting the whole censoring bit was blocking online porn (as well as other material “offensive” to the regime) according to people who studied the country’s censoring.

And it spiraled from there.  In 2001, ISPs were required to install filtering systems, and all international connections had to link to a single gateway controlled by the country’s telecom monopoly.  Over 5 million sites were then blocked in recent years, according to Reporters Without Borders, a press-freedom group.  During the ‘05 Presidential election, the internet was shut down for hours and it was blamed on a foreign cyberattack, a claim that was later proven false according to several Tehran engineers.  A few years ago, OpenNet discovered the government was using filtering equipment from the US company, Secure Computing Corp. which is now owned by McAfeee Inc.  They denied any knowledge of the use of its products in Iran at the time.

Internet experts say that building online content inspection on a national scale and coordinating it at a single location requires “hefty resources, including manpower, processing power and technical expertise” and they apparently have it.  But watch out, because Iran isn’t the only country that does.

Via:  [WSJ.com]

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Microsoft has certainly been the charmer at E3 this year.  People went gaga over their new Project Natal (as well they should!), they announced a way to deliver movies in 1080p format…no disks and no waiting for download.  And also, they worked with the uber-social networking site of the time, Facebook, to have it work fluidly right with your Xbox.

With this new technology, Facebook users will be able to hop on through the Microsoft Xbox Live service, and bring Facebook right to their television screen.  You will be able to do all kinds of Facebook actions, like update your status, check out your news feed, listen to music and browse photos. 

The gamers that use FB will probably like the newest perk…the ability to take advantage of Facebook Connect to show off their gaming prowess and ability.  Gamers can publish screenshots and other things right to their Facebook account.  You can also take your Friends list on Xbox Live and, if you’ve linked your accounts, send out friend requests for those people on Facebook.

Microsoft clearly want to make it one-stop shopping on the TV.  In addition to adding Facebook, they have also added the Internet radio service Last.fm, Twitter, and XBox Live Party.  John Schappert, corporate VP for interactive live, software and studios at Microsoft says:

“We are always asking ourselves how to make TV more social.  By bringing Facebook, Last.fm, and Xbox Live Party for movies and TV shows to Xbox Live, we’re not only extending the walls of your living room beyond your home to your friends in different corners of the world, we’re creating the definitive social network.”

With the Xbox, you may never have to leave your living room anymore.  Has this really become our life??  I’m not convinced that is saying a lot.

via:  informationweek

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

The Pogoplug, the tiny device connects any USB drive to the internet, is rolling out some new features this week.  These features streamline things allowing you to send out links to more than one person at a time.  You’ll be able to find files faster via the web or the iPhone.  Plus, you’ll have support for 64-bit versions of Windows and Linux. 

On Friday, there will be more features.  Pogoplug will allow sorting by file size, type, and name.  I think the most interesting feature that’s coming up is what they are doing with RSS feeds. 

“Any RSS client that supports Media RSS (based on the Yahoo implementation) can play videos and listen to music with the information provided by Pogoplug.  Since Boxee accesses media sources through Media RSS feeds, Boxee users can use their Pogoplug RSS to watch movies (or listen to music) directly from their home hard drive.” - Emily Joffrion

While the Pogoplug is built to be used by someone’s mother, the Pogoplug team seems to be putting in more and more features for geeks.  I’m all for it.  After all, it is just a mini computer.  Why not keep adding features? 

Company Site: [Pogoplug]

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Today on its blog, Pogoplug answered the burning question: “What happens if Pogoplug goes out of business?”  The group over at Pogoplug has taken the impressive and humbling step of thinking about what will happen to their customers if Pogoplug should ever go belly up.  You don’t come across such forward thinking very often.  So, what exactly does Pogoplug have planned for its afterlife?  The company has set up an escrow account that contains Pogoplug’s back-end services’ source code.  Should Pogoplug cease to exist, SourceForge will publish the source code for Pogoplug’s community to use in maintaining the servers.

This sounds like a great plan for those in the Pogoplug community who can actually use the code to do something worthwhile.  However, the Pogoplug was designed to be simple enough for anyone to use - one of the designers actually had his Mom in mind when making the product.  These “simple users” are going to have to rely on others to take up the source code and keep Pogoplug servers active.

Now, if you haven’t heard of Pogoplug yet, it is a small-sized home server box available for $99 (not including tax or shipping) that lets you access your files over the internet.  You simply plug it into an electrical outlet, connect it to the internet via ethernet, connect your USB hard drive to it and share away.

Read [Pogoplug Blog]

Full Story » | Written by Merlyn Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

There’s a fairly new file syncing program in town, and it is getting lots of positive feedback from its users.  Dropbox is an online sync and storage service that is able to be used over Windows, Linux or Mac. 

It relies on Amazon S3 storage, and has both a free and a paid storage service; although the free version does provide you with a more limited amount.  They claim to have over one million members currently, which isn’t bad for a rather recent start-up.

Signing up

When you first sign up with Dropbox and create your virtual machine, it then uploads the “virtual disk” to their site.  The time this takes can vary depending on your upload speed, but once this disk is created, it then gets syced with all of your Dropbox machines.

P2P coming soon

One feature they don’t have yet, but are supposed to be getting is P2P sharing.  This will let users that share the same network share any of their files directly.  They will be able to bypass first uploading them to the Dropbox servers.  As it stands, you can open up your virtual disk from any machine on the network, make any changes you want and sync and save them, and the changes on the virtual machine are able to be seen by everyone.

A word of caution

There is one important thing you will want to take note of before using Dropbox though.  If you make any major changes to a file, you have to wait for it to completely finish syncing before shutting down your computer, or you will lose your changes.  Also keep in mind if you are looking to do an large shared install…make sure there is enough room if you are using the free version (2 GB), you may need to go Paid which gives you 50 GB.

Have you used it? Do you like it?  Let us know your thoughts.

Product Site: [Dropbox]

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When, oh when, are they gonna learn it is pretty much senseless to even attempt to hunt down the pirates?  Right or wrong, P2P file sharing happens.  And suing the creators of the popular Pirate Bay isn’t gonna stop it.  And now, in a rather obvious attempt to support that fact, someone went out and created a The Pirate Google Bay.  And you have to appreciate how bright and colorful they made their ship!

The Pirate Google Bay is a custom Google search made to find torrent files.  They say right on their home page that:

“Please Note: This site is not affiliated with Google, it simply makes use of Google Custom Search to restrict your searches to Torrent files. You can do this with any regular Google search by appending your query with filetype:torrent.”

But slapping the “Google” name right on there sure makes it sound all official like, eh?  Ahhhh….I can see a lawsuit against Google brewing anyway.  That one should be entertaining.  I mean, even a recent article in Forbes magazine said that Google itself is an incredibly efficient torrent tracker.  That’s not any big secret.

You could already find any torrents you wanted on Google, but this site just made it a tad easier for you.  And when the torrent police come to this site and run helter-skelter trying to shut down every directory they find containing them new ones are going to just keep popping up.

So, what does this teach us?  They are going after the ones they thought they could get obviously.  Google is also an “information trawler”, whereas Pirate Bay is pretty much a clear cut “administered aggregate.”  Well, that and Google has zillions of dollars to fight back, and Pirate Bay is just four guys in their twenties. 

I wonder how long the creator will be able to keep this site up with that name before Google has a canary.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

via: gizmodo

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Well, the Conficker worm is still alive and well and out there on the move.  Though some thought it was just an April Fool’s joke, the fact that it is still here, still coming up with new mutations, kind of dispels that theory.

Just last week, Symantec detected the latest variant to the Conficker worm, (.E), which is the update to the .C variant.  This one tries to update the previous variant with new capabilities, rogue antivirus software, and new spamming malware. 

We’re not out of the woods yet.

In my opinion, just because this thing didn’t shoot off firecrackers and make a million computers explode on April 1st doesn’t mean it is something to simply ignore.  Nor do I think it is all necessarily overblown media hype.  Yes, if you have your definitions up to date obviously that is in your favor.  But those that don’t, to say “Ahhh…big deal…there have always been viruses out there”...yeah, but not necessarily one of this type and magnitude and complexity.  The simple fact that the total yahoo that created this is playing such a stinking game with the whole thing is what makes it all the more real.  And the fact that (s)he knew how to play such a game so darn well.

The creator(s) changed up their malware several times, adding on new infection vectors and new capabilities.  Conficker also gets around through weak admin passwords.  What it does is attempt to guess them using a password guessing attack.  It also spreads through USB devices.

The University of Utah believes this was how they were just infected.  The Conficker worm infected around 800 computers at the University last week, causing them to block internet access while they contained the infection.  They say they believe that no data was stolen.  “We think we caught it early” said a spokesman with the university’s school of health sciences.

And while it keeps on spreading, it now seems like it’s reaching out for the money.  You know, just like in Jerry McGuire….“Show me the money!!”

After about a week of not doing much at all when everyone was waiting with bated breath to see what it would do on April 1st, Conficker seemed to wake up.  It began transmitting updates via P2P and sticking some mystery package onto PCs.  Most researchers seem to think that the payload program it is putting on the machines is either a keystroke logger or spam generator (or both).

What it does now, is also tries to connect to a random one of five websites: MySpace.com, eBay.com, CNN.com, MSN.com, or AOL.com to test that there is an internet connection. It then deletes all traces of itself in the host machine (how polite!), and has some kind of code written in to shut down some functionality on May 3rd.

Waledac

Now, if we thought it was just disappearing come May 3rd it would be fine and dandy.  Ummm…no.  It also just so happens to reach out to this domain that is KNOWN to be infected by this worm you just may have heard of called Waledac.  There, it downloads an encrypted file.  Researchers are trying to analyze both the code and the program that is being plunked onto infected machines by other infected machines to figure out what is in it.  And what they are pretty darn certain of at this point, is that Conficker and Waledac are coming from the same folks.  Paul Ferguson, an advance threats researcher for Trend Micro says “I’m pretty certain the same people are behind both of them.  Conficker has got their (Waledac creators’) fingerprints all over it.”

He believes that Eastern Europeans are behind the Waledac worm, first creating the Storm botnet to try out different business models and payloads, and that Waledac was a result of that.  He further thinks that they are taking what they learned from that and putting it into practice with the Conficker virus.

“There is empirical evidence that these guys are a for-hire, for-profit criminal operation on the Internet and that Conficker is nothing more than part of that organization’s best efforts to monetize their efforts on the Internet,” Ferguson said.

VP of Symantec Security Response Vincent Weafer, confirmed that Conficker does indeed have a connection with Waledac, but would not speculate on who might be spreading the worms.  He did say however that Conficker now downloading a Waledac file “reconfirms our belief that ultimately this is a large botnet designed to make money,” he said. “It’s the first example of how these guys are trying to leverage this botnet for profit.”

Weafer says he thinks the May 3 shut down code has to do with the first variant of the worm, Conficker.A.  Symantec is calling the latest variant of the worm Downadup.E, since apparently Downadup is another name for Conficker.  (Isn’t one name good enough?)

Staying safe

Piece of advice, be careful if you think you do have it, or when running searches for “Conficker.”  With all the hype out there right now, there are plenty of people more than happy to cash in on that, and are actually going to link you to a malware site of their own.  They will have you run a virus scan, and then have you download their software for a mere $49.95, which then only installs malware on your system.  Don’t.  If you don’t have any virus removal programs on your computer, here are some really good free ones worth checking out. 

If you aren’t even sure if your computer is infected, you can go to this site and check out the Conficker eye chart.

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Fon, the European company that specializes in sharing Internet connections between its users is set to release its new router soon.  The Fonera 2 will still have the same basic functions of the Fonera 1 that makes it a Fon router.  The routers create two networks, one private and one public.  The idea being that you can use your own private network at home, and access any other user’s public network when you’re not at home.  The Fonera 2 has so much more, though.

One huge draw of the Fonera 2 is the ability to connect Network Attached Storage to the router through the USB port.  The NAS drive can be shared across the network as storage or backup (which may actually support Time Machine for OS X), whichever you prefer.  Or, the drive can be used to store BitTorrent, RapidShare or MegaUpload downloaded files that the router handles on its own, so it’ll no longer be necessary to have a computer on all night, or over a vacation to download your (obviously legal) files.  Or, the USB port can be used to attach a 3G dongle, and the Fonera 2 can share the 3G connection over the network, which should prove fairly useful for some.

The Fonera 2 seems like a bit of a breakthrough in routers.  It’s almost surprising nobody ever thought of packing all these features into a router, which can even read your NAS for a “YouTube” folder and upload all of the videos to the website.  The downloading feature can potentially save a lot of electricity rather than having a computer or laptop plugged in all night downloading files.  The previous Fonera never seemed to be too popular in the US, but with the May release of Fonera 2, it might prove a bit more popular, or maybe gain some traction beyond those who obtained a free Fonera a few years ago and hacked it to do what they wanted it too.

Read [Wired]

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The Pogoplug, a device that lets you get to the stuff on your hard drive through the internet, and one of Gadgetell’s favorite things at CES, is now shipping to US customers. So, if you pre-ordered it, your wait is finally over. If you didn’t order one yet, you can pick one up now for $99 at the company’s site.

If you didn’t catch Gadgetell’s coverage of the Pogoplug from CES, the Pogoplug is a small box-shaped device that lets anyone easily gain access through the internet to their pictures, music, and other files stored on a connected hard drive. Set-up has been made really simple. You plug in the Pogoplug to an electrical outlet, connect it to the internet via an ethernet cable, and then plug in your USB hard drive to the Pogoplug. That is it – a home server that anyone can set up, which is exactly what Pogoplug’s designers wanted. In fact, one of the designers told our Editors that he designed the Pogoplug to be simple enough for his mom to use.

Gadgetell Editors had a chance at CES to see the Pogoplug in action and are eager to get their hands on the device. Who can blame them? Instead of uploading photos and videos to online sharing sites, Pogoplug lets you act as your own server. Imagine not having to bother with purchasing a FTP, a domain name, or having to cough up a premium fee for your online photo sharing site because you need more storage allowance. For $99 (not including tax or shipping), Pogoplug lets you simply send a link to anyone you want to see your files and storage space is limited only by the size of the hard drive you connect to the device. If Pogpplug actually works like its designers say it will, which I certainly hope it does, it is going to change the game of file sharing.

This is a guest post by Merlyn Akhtar.  Merlyn Akhtar is a tech-savvy person who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty with hardware.  One of the first upgrades she performed was installing a 2X CD-ROM drive in a PC in her early teens back when Prodigy was an awesome ISP.

Company Page [Pogoplug]

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Stories are starting to fly around the Internet about the latest worm attacking Windows PCs.  Why is this one gaining such mass attention?  Because of the mystery surrounding it.

The mystery update

The Conficker worm has supposedly already infected millions of PCs around the world and it has plenty of people worried what exactly it is up to.  What is known is that the next scheduled “update” for the worm is ironically enough, April Fools’ Day.  Look at that, malicious hackers with a sense of humor.  Apparently though, Microsoft is not seeing any humor in the situation, given that they offered up a $250,000 bounty for the creator. 

What is the Conficker worm?

The Conficker worm gets its name from a combination of two words—“configuration” and the “nicer” way of saying f**ker.  How clever.  And it seems as though it may just fit its namesake. 

It is amazingly sophisticated and resilient.  It has built-in p2p and digital code-signing technology, and it apparently is happiest killing security software.  Friendly little bugger, huh?  Pretty easy to see why Microsoft hates it so much. 

The thing is, Conficker isn’t even a new worm.  It started out, according to Vincent Weafer, VP at Semantic Security Response, as a “not very successful worm” way back in November.  It attacked and exploited a remote server vulnerability of Microsoft’s, but since this specific vulnerability had already been made known, only systems that were not up to date were affected.

Conficker: The B and C revisions

But, it didn’t stop there.  Next came the B release, which was a whole lot more successful.  It went and infected millions of unpatched systems.  Because of its p2p abilities, it pushes its way into open shared folders and printers, so it can zoom easily through a networked system.  What makes it more threatening is that it also piggybacks onto USB flash and hard drives.  It is designed to fight back, disabling Windows Updates, and destroying security software.  It gets in deep.

Last month saw the release of the it’s latest launch, the C release.  It goes after computers already infected with B, not new machines.  The p2p abilities are extended, now we have digital code-signing.  It only accepts trusted code updates from itself.  So, a neutralizing code can’t simply be injected.  It also got better at killing off security software with the patch.  And the domains it attempts to contact with instructions jumped from 250 to 50,0000.  So, at this point, security experts hands are kind of tied with stopping it.  It looks to be as though April 1 will be the day it receives its next commands.

What is going to happen on April 1st?

And that is where all the hoopla comes in.  What exactly are the instructions going to be?  No one really knows.  Some speculation has been that it will setup what is known as the “Dark Google” syndicate, where it would allow it to scour “zombie machines” all over the place for data to sell.  Other theories are the launch of a massive denial-of-service attack, or the generation of waves of spam that could crash servers all over the place.

A main theory is that it is a kind of “computer for hire” scheme.  Previous botnets were designed so they could be split up and rented out through black market schemes, according to security researchers.  But researchers think it may imitate the biggest fad in the computer industry right now—cloud computing.  With this, companies sell computing as a service over the Net.

Some theorize however, that it may be absolutely nothing.  But Weafer states “you can bet” that other malmare writers have their eye on it all, watching to see his level of success.  Because his results could clearly show others the path of developing a similar threat and attack, which could be taken in wicked directions.

Stay patched

Microsoft Report’s Ed Bott says if your system is patched and up to date, you will probably be just fine.  (probably?)  And while there is the off chance that April 1st will cause computers to self-destruct, there is a much higher chance you will just see a bunch of spam for Viagra in your inbox.

via:gizmodo

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Wednesday was day one of the CanSecWest Pwn2Own hacking contest, and the results are in.  Using fully patched copies of Safari, IE8, and Firefox, hackers broke them all.  They each failed to what is called hacker “Nils.”

The Pwn2Own contest challenges experts in security to find and exploit vulnerabilities in browsers.  And it apparently didn’t take them very long.  They broke Safari in just seconds, and both IE8 and Firefox in a few hours.  Chrome, however, remained intact.

Chrome isn’t perfect

This doesn’t mean Chrome is flawless however.  Previous Pwn2Own winner Charlie Miller says that he did, in fact, find a bug in Chrome, but he isn’t able to exploit it due to the browser’s system security measures and sandboxing feature working together, which poses a steep challenge.

How the contest works

The contest has different tests run, using both Windows PCs and Macs.  Day One has the “hackers” attacking default installations, with no additional plugins.  Day Two has a little added.  Now they are looking at Java, QuickTime, and .Net to make the “attack surface” greater.  Day Three sees more popular apps, like Adobe Reader, added to the mix.  To succeed at these tests, there must be code execution within context of the application.

Microsoft must be pleased

I’m sure Microsoft was thrilled with this announcement, given it occurred just as they were publicly releasing IE8 on the web.  IE8 is the latest browser-child of Microsoft, and it is purported to include several corporate features.  These features include tools that let the user “customize and control the software via centralized policies.”  It’s also supposed to include new privacy and security settings.  (Better take another look at those security settings Microsoft folks!)

The winner of the Pwn3Own contest won a cash prize as well as the Sony Vaio which was used in the contest. 

via: yahootech

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Oh, is Twitter making the news as of late.  And the latest is really not for a positive reason.  If you, like many, are a Twitter user, you better be careful since it was just found out that they are vulnerable to a major cross-site scripting (XSS) hack vulnerability which could let someone in the hijack someone’s account.  When the hacker does this, they could also use other exploit code to have a have a hey-day on the users computer.

Click a link, get pwned

Secure Science researchers Lance James and Eric Wastl posted evidence of this proof-of-concept exploit code.  Although they did notify Twitter, they say they have yet to receive a response back.  On the page offering proof-of-concept, there is a link where Twitter users can choose whether they want to be exploited or not.  (I can see everyone yelling “pick me! pick me!”)  If you do happen to click the decide exploitation is your thing, and click the button, you will then kick start the exploit.  A posted message will show up saying “I just got owned!” on the Twitter XSSExploits account.

Wastl says that “The vulnerability is still active.  Basically, we produce a link and if a Twitter user clicks on it, it allows us to hijack their accounts.”

Be careful everywhere

With an XSS vulnerability, malicious code can be placed into Web pages, these can include HTML and client-side scripts.  Access controls can be bypassed, information stolen, and then you’ve also got the good old phishing going on.

James stresses that it is important to keep in mind that these XSS vulnerabilities are not to be taken lightly since they can go beyond just web pages.  “A lot of people think XSS is limited to the Web,” he said. If there’s another vulnerability in the victim’s browser, the Twitter flaw could be used to launch additional malicious code, he explained.

Why this is especially applicable to Twitter is since a vast majority of them do rely on third-party Twitter browsing apps.  And usually, these applications are subjected to the same securities that major Web browsers are subject to.

Spam and Twitter

This isn’t the first security breech Twitter has seen.  Just last week, around 750 accounts were hacked and then used to send spam tweets.  (Although I have to say it sounds much friendlier being labeling a “tweet” than junk mail at least).  In January, 33 celebrity Twitter accounts were hacked.  Twitter said that month that it was conducting a full security review.  So far, there have been no findings provided.  The Washington Post also reported last week that Twitter had fixed spoofing vulnerability that was almost the exact same one reported by a different security researcher way back in 2007.

It’s thought that the fact that Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds is also making it more and more attractive for those wanting to use it maliciously.  And Wastl feels the just the basic design of Twitter makes the problem even worse.  “The structure that Twitter uses makes it the perfect architecture for spreading something virally,” said Wastl.  As with social networks, the feeling that one is among friends on Twitter may lead to insufficient caution.

Is Twitter being careless?

James feels that Twitter doesn’t do enough to encourage safe security practices, instead, they do precisely the opposite by doing things like using URL redirection and displaying links that promote a false sense of security since that trust really isn’t necessarily deserved.  “It breeds bad human behavior to serious security problems,” said James.

So, on Twitter, as on any social networking site, or any site, caution is key.  Don’t go clicking on links unless you are darn sure where you are going or that it is safe.  Always practice safe surfing.

Via: techweb

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When news falls through the cracks… wait, that’s the intro to “The Daily Show’s Back in Black” segment. There’s lots of stories in the tech world and sometimes they get buried by Google, Microsoft, and Apple’s every move.  Here’s a round up of stories that you may have missed.  Pioneer wants to be in your car, Cisco wants to make splash with the business world, and OS X for everyone is coming. 

Pioneer to partner up, but not with Mitsubishi

Pioneer is jumping out the television market, but they aren’t done making consumer electronics just yet.  The rumor was that Pioneer was speaking to Alpine, Clarion, and Mitsubishi with a focus on making in-car tech.  Pioneer has cleared things up by saying they are not speaking to Mitsubishi, but did confirm they are speaking with others.  On the surface, it seems like a strange move the company to focus on in-car tech, but who knows—maybe the profit margins are higher.  [Source].

Cisco entering server business

IBM may be trying to bolster its position on servers by picking up Sun Microsystems, but they’re about to have some company in the form of Cisco.  Cisco announced they will be entering the server business.  Also of note is the fact that Cisco is working with VMware.  Sure, plenty of folks put VMware on servers, but Cisco will be working with the company to better take advantage of virtualizing machines.  [Source]

Leo4All still paused

Perhaps influenced by a recent Gadgetell article, you’ve been looking at alternative OSes.  Maybe you’ve been looking at installing OS X on your PC.  Well, we all know Apple’s position on that.  The simple fact is, people will just keep trying to get OS X on a generic PC.  Leo4All is a project that tries just that.  The newest version was slated to be released early this month.  However, more than two weeks later, the latest version of Leo4All has yet to surface.  This version was to have a LiveDVD which would also give you an option to install.  It’s an ambitious project.  When there’s an update, we’ll let you know.

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Just about everyone has probably seen that dreaded Blue Screen of Death (“BSoD”) at some time or another.  Or, at very least you’ve heard someone screaming about it coming up on their system.  When it happens, you can feel a sick feeling in your stomach.

The origin of the BSoD

The term “Blue Screen of Death” first came about during an OS/2 pre-release activity held by the makers of an early Windows and OS/2 compiler, Lattice.  At some point during the whole show, while porting some of Lattice’s other tools, the BSoD came up.  The developers used the term “Blue Screen of Death” in their description to IBM Austin, Texas when trying to explain the screen and the finality of what was happening.

What the heck is it?

A BSoD can be caused by several different reasons.  Pretty much boiled down to basic terms, when your operating system comes up against a problem that it can’t recover from, it shows a Stop message.  These Stop messages are text-mode error message and they report information about what’s going on.

So great, what does that mean to you?  You’ve still got a blue screen and a bunch of white text all over your screen and you aren’t going anywhere.  Actually, it could mean something to you if you know what to look for.  These BSoD messages, or Stop messages, contain certain information that can help you to figure out what went wrong and hopefully fix the problem that the Windows kernel detected. 

I’ve got it…now what?

Chances are pretty darn high that if you are getting this message, that someone else already has too.  One way to get help with your error code is to simply do a search on it and see what you find.  Go to a reputable tech newsgroup or to the Microsoft site and enter the name of the Stop code. 

The good news is, later versions of Windows have fewer and fewer problems with the BSoD.  With Vista what you usually get is the “system is not responding” message, with the option to close or wait for the program to respond.  In Windows XP, the BSoD wasn’t quite as frequently seen.  Many times it was just a flash before it went right into an auto reboot. 

There is a feature in Windows that allows you to start the blue screen manually.  To do so, you have to add the value to the Windows registry (with regiedit.exe).  Then, you will have a BSoD pop up when the SCROLL LOCK key is pressed twice while at the same time holding the right CTRL key.  This is sometimes useful for getting a memory dump of the computer while it is in a given state.  Because of this, it’s used most of the time to troubleshoot system hangs.

Random Blue Stuff

By the way, you can see the Blue Screen of Death other places too.  Some Macs have it, Playstation Portable has it, GameBoy Advance has it, Nintendo DS has it (although those that run version 5 firmware get the magenta screen instead of blue), the Apple IIgs has it, complete with a bouncing apple for added fun, although the Apple iPod’s BSoD is actually white.

Common BSoD stop error messages

The following is just a couple of the error messages that you might come across.  This list is clearly in no way exhaustive, so chances are good you may get a message not shown here.  If you do, again, try Google or Microsoft or a good newsgroup.

Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL - The Stop 0xA message indicates that a kernel-mode process or driver attempted to access a memory location to which it did not have permission, or at a kernel interrupt request level (IRQL) that was too high. A kernel-mode process can access only other processes that have an IRQL lower than, or equal to, its own. This Stop message is typically due to faulty or incompatible hardware or software.

Verify that the tools you use to continually monitor your system, such as virus scanners, backup programs, or disk defragmenters are compatible with Windows XP. Some disks and adapters come packaged with diagnostic software that you can use to run hardware tests.

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

As I talked about recently, we all know that Facebook, along with most social networking sites in general, is growing in popularity in a major way as of late.  And with an increase in users comes an increase in the interest of those wanting to target those users maliciously.  So what do you have as a result?  Just like in nursery school when you have all the little kiddies blowing their nose into their hands and then running those germy little hands all over the tables and toys to share the wealth—you have a spread of viruses.  And in this case, worms. 

One of the latest in the launched threats against Facebook (as well as other social networking sites including the popular MySpace, Bebo, and Friendster) is an updated variant of the worm known as “Koobface.”  Yep, this one was around last summer, and it’s back.

Freddy35.exe

McAfee’s site gave an updated description and “threat” announcement regarding the worm just days ago.  According to their site, a new variant of Koobface.worm has been seen spreading. It creates a copy of itself in the Windows directory as: * freddy35.exe.

Facebook states that most of its users are in the age demographics of over thirty years old, and some of these people are just getting into using computers and networking sites and may not be as tech savvy as their younger counterparts.  Thus they may not be as quick to detect what may be a lure to a virus.  Obviously, this is a problem, and one to keep in mind with using such sites safely.

How to identify “Koobface”

The way “Koobface” operates is like this:

You get a message from one of your friends on Facebook (or other site), which invites you to watch a video by clicking on a link.  Now, most of us obviously know the old adage “don’t click on links if you aren’t sure where it came from!” but they are trickier with it since it is supposedly from a friend of yours, which makes it appear safe.

Then, if you do go and click on the link, it takes you over to a page that looks like a YouTube page.  This page even has a picture of the friend who supposedly sent you the link.  Doing this, using your friends to lure you in and then trick you into downloading malicious software, is called “social engineering.”

Ok, so you are now on the “YouTube page,” which isn’t a real YouTube page.  Next, it tells you to install Adobe Flash Player so you can watch the video.  Ding! Ding! Ding!  Warning! Warning!  This is where the red alarms and sirens should be going off.  But again, for many not familiar with this sort of thing, it all seems perfectly legit.  If you DO decide to follow the command, guess what?  You won’t be downloading Flash Player.  Instead, you will be getting the worm.

What the worm does is gains control of your computer, as well as helping itself to looking through your Facebook friends and sending them messages with the link to the “YouTube site.”  The more the merrier is the Koobface motto.

Stay Safe

Obviously, it is very important to be extremely careful about what links you click on (even if you think your friends sent them).  It’s not like viruses tend to come with the subject line of “Hey! I’m a virus. Click on enclosed link so I can really f@*k with your computer!”  While that would be ever so helpful, it’s not very realistic.  Also, if you are going to install any kind of program or plug-in, it is always better to go and get it right from the vendor site.  So, in this case, if you were told to install flash, go to adobe.com to get it.  Another site I do trust is download.com. 

Facebook has a ton of applications for download.  Make sure you know what you are installing.  If it is new especially, you may want to search its name out to make sure it isn’t a spam program or worm.  TrendMicro has reported two “rogue apps.”  One is “The Error Check System”, and the second is an application that shows a notification telling users that they’ve violated Facebook’s terms of service.

What else can you do?  Keep your anti-virus software up to date and run scans on your system.  A list of some good (free) programs can be found here. 

via: orlandosentinal

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

If you have ever tried to hook up a whole-house entertainment system, it can easily become a real pain since you have to pull a whole lot of cables around the house.  Black Box has come out with a new solution that allows for video and audio over Ethernet.  You can take one display and watch it all over your home.  This greatly simplifies installation of your networked home entertainment system since you would only have to run Ethernet cable. 

Black Box has three different devices to handle this content delivery system.  Two of the devices are transmitters.  Of those two, one of them is a PCI-e card that you would install into your system.  Another is a stand alone box.  The remaining device is a receiver.  You would just need to feed a transmitter your video and audio and be able to receive it wherever you have a Black Box receiver.  This an interesting way to get some video on to an HDTV without directly hooking up a computer to it.

All of these devices are pricey.  The receiver is $975.  The stand alone receiver is $1395 and the PCI-e is $1255.  While the video can be up to 1080p in resolution, the audio is only stereo.  That’s a bit of a downer considering the price.  For a lower priced alternative, the ZvBox is only $499 and works using coaxial cable. 

Read: [CE Daily News]
Product Page: [BlackBox.com]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Circuit City’s closing has left millions of customers trying to decide which electronics store they will frequent.  The same is true for those that used Firedog, Circuit City’s installation arm.  One competitor, Zip, has stepped in to offer a discount to former Firedog clients.

Zip is an independent installation company that does everything from furniture assembly to full home theater installs.  You may have used them if you bought products from Target, Amazon, TigerDirect, or Office Depot and had them installed or assembled what you just bought.  Zip has over 16,000 installers available nationwide.  If you are a former Firedog client, or want to save some money, go to the Zip website, schedule an installation, and use FIREDOG as the coupon code to receive 15 percent off your installation.  Not a bad welcome mat.

Read: [Electronic House]

Full Story » | Written by Chris Shore for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Futureproofing your gear is always a smart idea.  Why pick up a 3G USB modem when you can get a combination 3G and 4G WiMAX modem instead? 

Beceem Communications and Franklin Wireless has put together “the world’s first dual-mode 3G CDMA/4G WiMAX USB Modem, the Franklin U300.”  After years of false starts, WiMAX is finally taking off.  The modem can support 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up over WiMAX.  Over EVDO, it can handle 3.1 Mbps down and 1.8 Mbps up.  The modem is compatible with Windows 2000 and higher.

If you’re unfamiliar with WiMAX, it’s a fast, wireless Internet connection with a much larger range than Wi-Fi.  Plenty of manufacturers are building WiMAX into their machines.  If you’ve got an older machine or are looking for a device that lets you connect to multiple machines, a USB solution may be your best bet. 

Read: [Press ReleaseBusinessWire
Product Page: [FranklinWireless]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Ever try to get people around your laptop so they can watch a video or listen to a song, but your puny speakers just can’t do the job?  Share Speaker Player is a solution for this problem made by Detong Technology.

The application allows you to connect to another computer on your network and use that computer’s speakers as your own.  The application doesn’t allow you to just take over someone else’s speakers.  The host system must accept a request to play audio.  The app costs $19.95 and runs on Windows XP and higher.

A lot of resources have become shared like printers and hard drives.  Networking speakers is a pretty cool little twist.  Poor audio from my laptop is something I’ve learned to live with.  If this application lives up to its promises, maybe I won’t have to deal with my tinny speakers. 

Read: [Press Release]
Company Site: [Share Speaker]

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VMWare announced that the city of Aurora, Colorado will use their management and visualization suite VMware Infrastructure 3 for different systems within the city.  These systems include applications used by the town’s fire and police departments.  This system will help deliver numerous services to town residents while consolidating the information technology resources.

With the VMware program, the town has downsized their 70 boxes down to 5, with each box running close to 20 VMs.  By simplifying the management system and consolidating it as well, the town estimates that it will save their taxpayers thousands of dollars.  Features include applications like VMotion technology, which has helped ensure application availability by allowing the IT staff to move VMs during routine maintenance of physical hosts or when potential problems come up.  Another feature, the VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler, adds or reduces resources for specific applications as demand ebbs and flows.

The system has worked so well for the town that they achieved 100 percent ROI in a mere 90 days.  Most of the town’s applications run in either Windows or Linux.  Applications used by the town include a mobile application for police and fire officers, a self-serve GIS mapping system for residents, Remedy Help Desk, Blackberry Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Stellent document management, and payment and permit processing applications.

Site [VMWare]

Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Have you ever wondered what your colleagues would look like in high def while attending a video conference?  You can now find out with the use of HD video conferencing from Radivision.  The high definition video conferencing will be available through IBM Lotus Sametime using the SCOPIA conferencing platform.

With the new Sametime plug-in users can easily add multipoint high definition video to Lotus Sametime instant messaging or web conferencing sessions on their PC, high definition video conferencing room systems, videophones and 3G mobile devices.  Users can still use a standard PC and webcam to utilize these services.  It will produce the high definition images, obtaining H.264 image quality, through processor efficiency and network bandwidth.  The tool will also have features like echo cancellation, integration of the Lotus Notes feature and background noise suppression.

Radvision plans to showcase this device at the Lotusphere 2009 Product Showcase taking place in Orlando this week.  A release date has yet to be announced for the new web conferencing tool.

Read [The Earth Times]

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Back in March of 2008, we reported that Myka created a BitTorrent box that was capable of directly receiving your Torrent downloads and replaying them on a TV.  It’s a competitor to Apple TV, and people who torrent a lot would definitely like the Myka box.  When the product was announced back in March, it was set to start shipping in the summer, but nearly half a year later, it looks like that time has come.

Myka was having trouble meeting financial deadlines, so the had to put the Myka operation to a halt until recently.  They got their factory based in China running again and users who ordered a Myka should expect their unit within 4-6 weeks.  The Myka receives direct torrent downloads using LAN, or Wi-Fi, and it’s preloaded BitTorrent software, and it can connect to your TV using Composite, S-Video, or SPDIF.  The product sells in various models including an 80GB, 160GB, or 500GB model.  If you want to buy a Myka now, they cost $299, $349 or $459, respectively. 

Read [Myka]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Pogoplug was one of Gadgetell’s Editor’s Picks from CES 2009.  For the nerds, it’s a home server.  For everyone else, it’s a really easy way to share all of your content from a USB hard drive with anyone on the Internet.

Our Associate Editor, Robert Nelson, wrote about the Pogoplug during our live CES coverage.  Here is an overview on how you can share files online.  Hook up your Pogoplug to your router, connect your USB drive, and plug it in. 

After some setup done from your browser, you can share files online.  You send a link to your content to your friend and that link is only good for 14 days.  There is an iPhone app that gives you access to your files; the app will be free. 

There is no need to go around firewalls or anything.  For video, you can download or stream.  The web interface allows you to watch your own videos in a built-in flash player if your files are in either the H.264 or FLV (flash video) format.  Other video files can be downloaded, but not watched via flash player.  There is no transcoding done by Pogoplug (yet).

The tiny device is actually a pretty powerful computer with a 1.2 Ghz processor (the maker of the processor was not disclosed) and 512MB of RAM in the press unit.  The final version may have different specs depending on the market. 

The makers of Pogoplug will be supporting developers so the device may gain more functionality as time goes on.  This really is a special device.  It pretty much allows anyone with any skill level to share files on the Internet without a lot of work. 

Product Page [Pogoplug.com]

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Intel dedicated part of its booth at CES to mobile Wi-Fi personal area networking (PAN).  The idea is simple, Wi-Fi enabled components speak to each other using an ad hoc network without the need for a router.

The idea seems promising.  Intel had a pair of Wi-Fi headphones that supposedly worked with the computer there.  There were also a pair of Wi-Fi speakers under the display table that are not out yet.  The PAN would work similarly to pairing your Bluetooth headset with your phone using a personal identification number.  That would avoid people just randomly joining your PAN and hijacking your speakers or headphones.

Intel’s part in all of this is promoting its Centrino line of processors that has built-in Wi-Fi capabilities.  Battery life is extremely valuable and to waste it on sending a sound signal to your headphones seems like a mistake for now. 

With the introduction of wireless USB, at least there will be some competition in this space.  Bluetooth has proved inadequate when it comes to reproducing great sound.  Wireless USB should be able to transmit data at a much higher rate than Wi-Fi, so it may be better suited to putting together a PAN. 

Company Site: [Intel]

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TRENDnet, a company known for their wireless networking devices, introduced the world’s smallest Wireless N Travel Router Kit, so small that it fits easily in your pocket. The TEW-654TR has a transfer rate 300Mbps, measures out at 2.50 inches x 3.25 inches x 0.75 inches, comes with a carrying case, a 3 foot Ethernet cable, adapter, and a USB cable.  In addition, it comes with a power port, reset button, 10/100 Mbps WAN Ethernet port, and a LED display that shows important information such as power and link status.  The nice thing with this device is that it gives high speed internet on the go, and with its uber compact design, it will fit easily in your luggage when you have to go on a business trip.  It also adds in wireless encryption technology, so you never have to worry about anyone hacking into your network. 

Brian Chu, IT Director of TRENDnet, had this to say about their latest wireless networking device:

“This high speed wireless n travel router is great for people on the go. The product’s lightweight and ultra-compact design can fit into even the most over-stuffed luggage. The router also provides multiple users with high speed access to a single Internet connection.”

No word on pricing or availability at this time.

Via [TRENDnet]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Last night at the ShowStoppers event, the Gadgetell crew was frantically running around looking for something unique to highlight, and it seems that something instead found us, which came courtesy of an very enthusiastic booth representative.  The product is called the Pogoplug and it allows the user to hook up an external hard drive via a USB connection and then be able to access that content from anywhere you may be.

While I have not set this up myself, judging from what we were told, it is very simple to get up and running.  Simply plug the device into the wall, plug in an Ethernet cable and external USB drive and you are all set.  After than the data is accessable through Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder.  Honestly, I cannot wait to get some hands-on time because it almost sounds like it is too easy.

Additionally, the Pogoplug is compatible with both a Mac or PC, and can use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE and Opera.  They also have an iPhone app that is available in the App Store.  Though nothing was mentioned as to when we can expect this, they did mention that some backup, priniting and file syncronizarion options were coming.

The Pogoplug is currently available online, and is selling (as a preorder special) for $79.  No mention on how long the preorder special is valid until, however after that time the price is going to go up, but not by very much.

Read [pogoplug]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

In a media driven world, finding a way to organize and manage that media on your computer can be a pain.  For someone who has over 3,500 songs alone, it can be a nightmare if you start adding video and other media.  Twonky is here to save the day, hopefully.

Twonky is a media management software that, at first glance, looks much like any other media player.  But upon further inspection and reading, this software is not like other media players at all.

Built around a foundation using the TwonkyMedia server, a DLNA 1.5-certified reference media server that allows you to access your media on a wide range of hardware devices around the home, it is an organization whiz.  Its intuitiveness and drag and drop features make it great for creating playlists easily from a media folder.  It can also read iTunes databases and other 3rd party media servers.

All around, Twonky is impressive as a management tool, but when you start to take into account that you can control it remotely from another PC, it can be used to control supported hardware connected to your television or stereo, and it can access your Flickr, YouTube, and ShoutCAST files…this software is a media management dominator.  You can see below just how easy it is to navigate your music in a variety of ways.

If you’re tired of having disparate media that seems as if someone just vomited it all over your computer and the internet, then Twonky may be the tool for you.  And it’s got a free 30-day trial so you can determine for yourself if it’s for you.

Company site [Check out Twonky here]

Full Story » | Written by Eric Brown for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »