Chris Pirillo » phishing

Vipre Protects Your Computer From Malware

Chris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:10:34 +0000

Vipre Protects Your Computer From Malware is a post from Chris Pirillo

There used to be the belief that if one stays away from “bad” Web sites, then malware is not a problem. That is not true, as a recent example with the New York Times illustrated. The popular news Web site was compromised, and the trusted site was serving up malicious ads:

The malicious ad took over the browsers of many people visiting the site, as their screens filled with an image that seemed to show a scan for computer viruses. The visitors were then told that they needed to buy antivirus software to fix a problem, but the software was more snake oil than a useful program.

Exploiting weaknesses in online ad systems is an increasingly common approach for computer criminals around the globe who hope to make a quick buck from the audiences of the sites they attack. Experts say the problem is likely to get worse as companies scramble to satiate a click-happy online culture.”

This is just one way in which criminals / hackers are becoming exceedingly creative in exploiting site visitors. No reputable software company would market products in this manner, but the criminals are relying on the trust that people have in the site.

There have been malware installations without the site visitors having to do anything. These are the so called ‘drive-by’ downloads, and just visiting the site puts one at risk. No click – or download – is necessary.

It is absolutely essential to be running an anti-virus and anti-spyware program. One of our recommendations is VIPRE from Sunbelt Software. It is effective without draining your computer of resources. VIPRE’s memory footprint is very small, and this has brought a lot of memory back to otherwise bogged-down machines.

Sunbelt Software is offering our readers a 20% saving on VIPRE. This offer is good until November 18, 2009.

VIPRE works with “Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista+ (All flavors) 32 and 64-bit, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP SP1, SP2, SP3 (Home, Pro, Media Center, Tablet) 32 and 64-bit and Windows 2000 SP4 RollUp 1.” And yes, it works with Windows 7, too.

The Sunbelt people are making a generous offer to protect all the computers in your home. It is a “home site license” which allows using the program on more than one computer. There is a discount for this “home site license,” and it’s just a huge saving for our readers.

We have worked with the people at Sunbelt for years. They work diligently to keep up with what is happening with computer security. It is a ‘cat-and-mouse’ game where criminals are trying to exploit people in creative and innovative ways. The people at Sunbelt keep up with what is happening and this is reflected in their security product. Many Gnomies use this program… and we recommend it.

Identity Theft Protection

Chris — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:11:21 +0000

Identity Theft Protection is a post from Chris Pirillo

There are items in the news every day about identity theft. The obvious consequence is an unexpected financial disaster. However, it can be worse. There can be crimes committed under a stolen identity and warrants issued for the person who has had his/her identity used. And yet, it can be worse.

Identity theft can be a matter of health and well being. Along with identity theft being a rapidly expanding crime, stolen medical services are increasing. That means that someone uses a stolen identity to obtain medical care. Besides the obvious financial consequences, it can be deadly to the person who has had his/her identity used.

Once a identity is used for medical services, there will be an electronic record. The modern day goal is to have that medical record available to any physician who is treating that person. That means national access. Imagine the health consequences if the electronic medical records are wrong because someone has stolen and used an identity. The consequences can be disastrous.

A common means of identity theft is through your computer and through your passwords. A breach of your password (or passwords) just creates a myriad of problems. To maintain the security of passwords for our readers, Identity Protector with Password Manager from Large Software is recommended.

Wait. Before you say that you don’t need any password manager, here is one of the reasons why we are recommending this program. For the sake of an example, there are some websites that you might visit regularly. Let’s use PayPal. Imagine the damage that an identity thief can do with your PayPal data.
You think that you are careful and savvy but the hackers / criminals who spoof websites such as PayPal are experts at what they do. And regardless of how careful you are, there are times when you are rushed or tired or distracted. Identity thieves bank on these lapses. And some of the phishing websites are identical to the genuine sites. At a quick glance, it becomes impossible to tell the difference from spoofed sites and the genuine sites. Gone are the days of sloppy coding and spelling errors.

What an excellent password manager should do is protect you from phishing sites. The password manager should NOT release your personal data if the site is not legitimate and has been spoofed.

Identity Protector with Password Manager from Large Software does just that. It secures your logins, hides your keystrokes and encrypts your passwords. Password Manager protects your identity and is a significant extra layer of security from phishing attempts. It is a guard from identity theft.

Large Software is giving our visitors a special offer. Until November 4, 2009, Large Software is offering a ten dollar ($10.00) discount on Identity Protector with Password Manager. This is a third off of their regular price and an exceptional price for this outstanding security product.

Password Manager operates with ALL programs and web browsers, including Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox…. With the security issues with browsers, it is simply too risky to allow a browser to hold your confidential password information. Phishing, spoofing and other identity theft methods are becoming much more sophisticated in separating you from your password information. Protect yourself.

At this point, you might say that identity theft isn’t going to happen to you. The recent data from Australia says one in five people are identity theft victims. And don’t say that you are not worried about this because you have no money to steal. You have a reputation. And you have a health record to protect.

Windows Security Software

Chris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:11:43 +0000

Windows Security Software is a post from Chris Pirillo

It always makes me cringe when someone in my live chat room boasts that they are smart enough to not need any protection software on their computer. I shudder when they claim they couldn’t possibly get infected because they watch what they download. Seriously, folks… in this day and age, do you honestly think that’s all there is to it? Have you not listened to anything we’ve been trying to tell you?!

Your machine can get infected in so many more ways besides downloading something malicious. Have you heard of drive-by installers? That is where you visit a site that appears to be harmless and legitimate, and have malicious software install itself to your computer without your even knowing it. You don’t have to download something. You don’t have to click on anything. It just happens. There are even sites that appear to be geared towards kids that will do this.

Often, these pieces of malware don’t even display any symptoms. There aren’t popups, slow downs, or anything of the sort. They just sit quietly on your computer, hidden from view, doing their thing to steal your information. You won’t even know they are there. How, then, can you be 100% sure you are not already infected?

When it comes to keeping your information and identity private, you cannot be too careful. We’ve worked hard over the past several months to bring you some good savings on several different excellent pieces of software, all of which are designed to keep you safe online. Keep in mind that you should never use more than one AntiVirus, one software firewall, and one AntiSpyware program at the same time. You can (and should!) have one of each of those, along with a hardware firewall if at all possible to keep you as protected as humanly possible.

Here, in no particular order, is a listing of the software we recommend you use for yourself.

SafeBit Disk Encryption – SafeBit features on-the-fly disk encryption, by creating encrypted virtual disk drives, where you can hide files and folders, keep them encrypted all the time, but still work with these files just like you work with normal files. Disk Encryption is transparent to the user.
Invisible Secrets 4 – Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the Net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or Web pages. With Invisible Secrets 4 file encryption software, you may encrypt and hide files directly from Windows Explorer, and then automatically transfer them by e-mail or via the Internet.
SUPERAntiSpyware – SUPERAntiSpyware has Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing! First Chance Prevention examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.
Acronis True Image Home 2010 – It should be a simple rule that every computer user should follow: back up your data. It is not a matter of “if” your computer will give you problems. It is a matter of “when.” Acronis makes it simple for you to back up your information in the case of an emergency. You can find coupons for Acronis True Image on Coupons.Lockergnome.com.
MailWasher Pro – One of the ways that spam is handled is by means of filters. The problem is that sometimes a filter screens out legitimate email. And sometimes spam bypasses the filters. One of the great features of MailWasher Pro is that it allows the user to preview the email prior to downloading onto the computer. With a brief glance, you will be able to tell what is legitimate email and what is junk. And you do this while the email is not on your computer.
VIPRE – VIPRE is a seamless solution that provided anti-virus protection and anti-spyware protection, along with anti-rootkit, anti-malware, and many other security technologies. It is really easy to use. It doesn’t slow your system down at all, either.
Sunbelt Personal Firewall – Even if you are protected by a router that sits between your computer and the Internet, you still need a firewall. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall blocks unwanted traffic that is incoming – but it also monitors what leaves from your machine. This is critical, as the information going out could be your personal information.
RoboForm Pro – You can safeguard your personal information with RoboForm Pro. It will protect users from phishing attempts. It will remember the sites that you want to use, and it won’t allow you to use a spoofed Web site. The phony sites are sometimes so good that it’s almost impossible to tell they are fake until it’s too late. RoboForm Pro will identify which sites are “real” and which sites are not. You can find coupons for RoboForm Pro on Coupons.Lockergnome.com.
Password Manager – Password Manager secures your logins, hides your keystrokes and encrypts your passwords. Password Manager protects your identity and is an added layer of security from phishing attempts. It is a guard from identity theft.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep yourself safe. Criminals and hackers are getting smarter by the day, just as you are. It’s literally impossible to know everything, right? How, then, can you be 100% certain that you “know” your computer couldn’t become infected – if it isn’t already?

Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?

Chris — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:03:26 +0000

Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy? is a post from Chris Pirillo

One of the absurdities that is circulating the Internet is that even hackers are suffering in this economy. With the tough economic situation, supposedly hackers are having more competition. This is just one of the theories to explain why there is a steady increase in malware and criminal activity such as phishing and identity theft.

Whether it is a natural disaster or the death of a celebrity, hackers / criminals are almost always first responders, ready to exploit the situation at hand for personal gain. For example, you may find email that supposedly gives you the latest news about a tragic situation that just occurred. The news story itself may have happened but that email is dangerous. It could carry malware.

The email is just one venue. Are you on Facebook? Have you joined Twitter? These are just some of the examples of social media where people are sharing and clicking on links. If you are on Twitter and have a good number of followers, there are links posted every minute. It would be so easy for a hacker to play the social network and drop some malicious link there. And it will happen more and more often.

There’s even a spam campaign on YouTube. Reports say that this spam does not contain malware. However, it may be a matter of time before slick malware infections find its way onto this popular video site.

This should be frightening to you. These criminals want to exploit you and your computer. You may think you are careful enough. However, no one can be vigilant 100% of the time. There are drive-by downloads that can install things on your machine without your even having to click a link. This is the type of incidence that calls for an excellent security regime on your computer.

You should have an anti-virus, a firewall, and at least one anti-spyware program running at all times. It is foolish to be online without security protection. For an anti-spyware program, we are recommending SUPERAntiSpyware. We have an excellent deal for you that offers real time protection:

SUPERAntiSpyware has Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing! First Chance Prevention examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.

The program offers much, much more and you can read about it at the links provided. It is being offered at a special rate for our readers. There is a ten dollar ($10.00) savings for our readers until October 15, 2009.

This is a program that is highly recommended within the security community. People who work on these pages use it and recommend it, too. We use it. We need it and so do you. SUPERAntiSpyware will detect and remove spyware, adware, malware, Trojans, dialers, worms, keyloggers, hijackers, rootkits, and many other types of threats. This program is easy to use and it is effective. If you have any problems with SUPERAntiSpyware , let us know. We will tell the founder / director of the company and have any problems addressed. Nick Skrepetos is well known in the security community and he stands behind his products. And if you need this program in large numbers, let us know. We will see if we can help with pricing for your company.

You may be wondering why we are recommending security programs when there are programs that are available for free. There is an old adage: ‘you get what you pay for.’ SUPERAntiSpyware has been doing Internet security for years. It is excellent. It works. It protects our machine and has for years. That’s why we recommend it.

Password and Phishing Protection

Chris — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:44:04 +0000

Password and Phishing Protection is a post from Chris Pirillo

Students returning to school at colleges and universities need to be concerned about their security online. However, the same security measures should apply to ALL Internet users. For students, they will be using new Web sites, and setting up new accounts via the school. As such, they are prime targets for hackers and criminals who phish and steal identities. College students make such nice sitting ducks because there is a high probability that they do not have criminal records, nor high financial debt.

As students, they will be told repeatedly to guard their passwords and not share them with anyone. Unfortunately, people who give this advice don’t go far enough. There are spoofed Web sites designed to steal personal information – seemingly innocent and viable sites. There are keyloggers and various other tools that hackers use embedded on these types of sites. Fortunately, there is software available to protect these people – and their passwords.

You can safeguard your personal information with RoboForm Pro. It will protect users from phishing attempts. It will remember the sites that you want to use, and it won’t allow you to use a spoofed Web site. The phony sites are sometimes so good that it’s almost impossible to tell they are fake until it’s too late. RoboForm Pro will identify which sites are “real” and which sites are not.

There are many additional features to this software, and there are online tutorials to teach you how to use it effectively. It is more than worth the time to become an expert in the use of RoboForm Pro.

With the security of our readers in mind, the RoboForm Pro people are offering all of you a very healthy savings on this product. From now until August 19th, you can save 20% off your purchase of RoboForm Pro.

For those of you returning to school – and even those of you long out of school – we highly recommend this product for your own safety. You want to guard your personal information. With as much as you have going on in your life, you may not always be as careful online as you think you are. It’s so easy to get sidetracked!

In this day and age, you can’t be too careful with your identity or your passwords. RoboForm Pro will give you the peace of mind to know that you are much safer than you thought you could be.

Top-Rated Firewall Back by Request

Chris — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:46:16 +0000

Top-Rated Firewall Back by Request is a post from Chris Pirillo

Some people who spend many hours online fighting malware requested that this top-rated firewall be brought back, as an offer for our readers. It was formerly known as the Kerio Personal Firewall. Now, it is called the Sunbelt Personal Firewall.

This firewall was discussed previously. Not all firewalls are the same. They differ in efficiency. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall blocks unwanted traffic that is incoming but it also monitors what leaves from your machine. That cannot be stressed enough.

Let’s say that for some reason a malware does infect your machine. If that malware starts sending out information from your machine, you want to know that. For example, what is sent out may be your personal information. Furthermore, it may be that your computer is now part of a bot spamming operation. A good firewall, which monitors the outgoing traffic, will give you an additional chance at catching some infection that has occurred on your machine.

This offers expires on May 20, 2009. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall is really a gift at ten dollars. Yes, it is only ten dollars when you use this link and the coupon code SPFLOCKERGNOME when you place your order.

There is one further note from the people who deal with malware, like our very own resident Malware-removal Expert Kat. It is a bit of a shock – but there are still people who do not use a firewall. That may be hard to believe but when these malware fighters inspect logs of what people have on their machines, there isn’t a firewall. At this price, the Sunbelt Personal Firewall is more than affordable protection. Look on your email contact list and see if there is a family member or some newbie who might be just learning about computers. Ask them if they use a firewall. And don’t be surprised if they ask you… “what is that?”. – Then just buy this for them. You’ll be glad you did.

Managing your Passwords: Protection from Phishing / Identity Theft

Chris — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:04:08 +0000

Managing your Passwords: Protection from Phishing / Identity Theft is a post from Chris Pirillo

It is baffling when some people put their passwords on a sticky note and leave it on the edge of their monitor. Yes, that really happens. There are other things that people do with passwords that would make your jaw drop. Do you use a universal password for numerous sites? Is your password really your cat’s name or your dog’s name? Please tell me you don’t use your birthdate, or that of your daughter?

These are just some of the horrors that people do with passwords. Recently, for example, some people on Twitter were entering their password to gain a bit of data. People simply do not seem to recognize the implications of being lax with one’s password. Not only are finances at risk with a breach of privacy and security, but one’s reputation can be trashed, if someone breaches your personal accounts.

One of the prime reasons for a password manager is that it guards your online identity and protects you from identity theft. There are some websites that you might visit regularly. For the sake of an example, let’s use PayPal. Imagine the damage that an identity thief can do with your PayPal data.

You say that you are careful, but the hackers / criminals who spoof websites such as PayPal are experts at what they do. Regardless of how careful you are, there are times when you are rushed or tired or distracted. Identity thieves bank on these lapses. And some of the phishing websites are identical to the genuine sites. At a quick glance, it becomes impossible to tell the difference from spoofing sites and the genuine sites. Gone are the days of sloppy coding and spelling errors.

What an excellent password manager should do is protect you from phishing sites. The password manager should NOT release your personal data if the site is not legitimate and has been spoofed.

Password Manager from Large Software does just that. It secures your logins, hides your keystrokes and encrypts your passwords. Password Manager protects your identity and is an added layer of security from phishing attempts. It is a guard from identity theft.

Large Software is giving our visitors a special offer. Until May 14th, 2009, Large Software is offering a ten dollar ($10.00) discount on Password Manager. This is a third off their regular price and an exceptional price for this outstanding security product.

“Password Manager operates with ALL programs and web browsers, including Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox…”. With the security issues with browsers, it is simply too risky to allow a browser to hold your confidential password information. Phishing, spoofing and other identity theft methods are becoming much more sophisticated in separating you from your password information. Protect yourself. Keep your passwords safe with Password Manager. This program works exceptionally well.

Password Manager is portable and ideal for laptops too. If, for example, your government agency or business requires this program in high volume, we will try to make large purchases financially viable.

Phishing Scam Spreading on Twitter

Chris — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:15:36 +0000

Phishing Scam Spreading on Twitter is a post from Chris Pirillo

A few minutes ago, I received a direct message from one of my twitter followers:

hey! check out this funny blog about you… jannawalitax . blogspot . com

And there’s another one:

Hey, i found a website with your pic on it… LOL check it out here twitterblog . access-logins . com / login

DO NOT VISIT the URL in question. It will redirect you immediately to a suspicious domain: twitter . access-logins . com – notice the subdomain? Worse yet, here’s what you’d see there right now:

This is NOT the Twitter login page, and it smells completely phishy! Suggestion: do NOT log in to your Twitter account through any site other than Twitter.com. This may go without saying, but consider how many third-party Twitter services you use? Seems it’s about time for some kind of verification / validation for applications using the Twitter API – so you can be sure you’re passing your credentials to the right people. I’m guessing this particular phishing scam is not using the API (but there’s no way for a user to properly verify).

This phishing domain appears to be registered in China, and I’m about to report ‘em to OpenDNS (via PhishTank.com):

Organization : zhang xiaohu
Name : zhang xiaohu
Address : changningzhonghuainanlu192hao
City : changning
Province/State : Hunan
Country : CN
Postal Code : 421500

Please, tell your followers to NOT VISIT or LOGIN THROUGH that site! Watch out for these direct messages. If you did happen to visit one of the offending URLs, you should be safe so long as you didn’t try to log into your Twitter account there.

Top Five Ways to Prevent Phishing

Chris — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:54:25 +0000

Top Five Ways to Prevent Phishing is a post from Chris Pirillo

This is Ognjen Regoje’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

Phishing is a Cybercrime where the criminal attempts to acquire important information about you, such as user names, passwords and credit card details. It is usually done by sending fake emails and redirecting unsuspecting users to fake websites whose look, feel and even the URL are quite similar to the original and legal ones. With the increasing number of Phishing websites and people who make them, it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between a real site, and the ones that are there just as a front. However, by following these five easy things you can avoid being the victim of such emails.

Check who the email is from – This is an extremely effective and easy way to stay safe. Just check the sender of the email. If the email address is not the domain of a legitimate bank/service, then it is certain that it is a phishing scam. Also, be aware of banks or institutions who send you an email saying you need to verify your account information, and it’s a place you don’t even do business with! Simply delete any emails like these.
Do not follow a click here link in the email – Phishing emails usually have a “Click here to re-enter your user information” kind of link that leads to an illegitimate website. This is not fool-proof. Just by looking at the link, you may be able to determine whether the link is the real deal. Also, do not just focus on the domain, take a look at all the slashes that follow. Also, make sure that if there is a copy-and-paste link that the one that is embedded is the same like the one written. Furthermore the connection should be encrypted – the link should start with https:// instead of http:// . Don’t click the link in the email thinking you will set them straight. Instead, you would have just fallen into their trap by letting them have your information.
Check contact information provided in the email – A lot of Phishing emails contain bogus contact information that would just serve you into their hands. In case you get an email with a phone number or an address, check that against the one that you got when opening the account. If they are not the same the email is a scam.
Check the information about you provided in the email – Perpetrators are getting better and better at obtaining your information. Just because they know your name does not mean that the email is legit. They could have gotten that from any social networking website. Instead, if there is any other information provided, such as an account number, make sure it corresponds to what you have.
Use your browser – All newer browsers have some sort of website identification mechanism that allows you to check the identity of the site. “Real” websites will have that information… while those set up solely for the purpose of farming information will not.

By following these simple steps you can decrease your chances of being hooked by a phisher (a little pun intended). Now that we have taught you more about how to stay safe, why not test your Phishing IQ?

Does Computer Crime Affect You?

Chris — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:25:42 +0000

Does Computer Crime Affect You? is a post from Chris Pirillo

This is Blake P’s submission for the HP Magic Giveaway. Feel free to leave comments for this article as you see fit – your feedback is certainly welcomed! If you’d like to submit your own how-to, what-is, or top-five list, you can send it to me. Views and opinions of this writer are not necessarily my own:

When someone uses the Internet to connect to a computer remotely without the other computer owner’s permission, they have just taken part in a new crime wave. Computers have become the new weapon of choice for those choosing to commit crime today. Computers can be used to open attacks on single computers, or entire networks. To address this crisis, it is necessary to look at the human factors involved. We know that this is a serious issue for businesses around the world and the public alike, but it is almost impossible to state exactly how much computer crime exists.

Some computer crime can remain undiscovered for lengthy periods of time. Many computer crimes may never be reported. If your computer is connected to the Internet, it is a target for criminals wanting to access your personal information and use it for their own purposes. The stealing of private e-mail addresses is another example that can have dangerous repercussions. More and more of our important information is stored, transferred, and processed on computers via the Internet.

The same interconnection between millions of computers that allows you to send e-mail across the world with the press of a button also allows computer criminals to do their dirty work. They wish to gain access to your financial information, and collect email addresses to spam. There are people out there trying every day to get past your security features. The cost of their crimes to businesses is huge. Computer crimes are growing and becoming a serious problem for businesses, the public, and government. Law enforcement agencies rush to keep up with growing computer technology and growing rates of computer-based crime.

As the use of computers has risen over the past twenty years, so has the use of this technology involved in crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, terrorism, theft, larceny, extortion, malicious mischief, espionage and sabotage. Most of the focus in the news today relating to computer crime deals with crimes committed using a computer… and crimes where a computer or a network is the object. The previous type includes crimes such as storing records of fraud, producing false identification. Crimes where computers are the targets can result in damage or change to the computer system.

Many times, officials cannot be sure what information was accessed during the computer attack. These two types of computer crimes are increasingly the computer crime of choice by most computer hackers. When you browse the Internet in the privacy of your own home, that information is not as private as you think because search engines track your every move. Every site that you visit, download, or post messages to is monitored. Privacy is a value, which is most appreciated once it is lost. It is important that we are aware of what is at risk and what our rights are. The Internet is one of the most common tools used to commit computer hacking.

The computer is here to stay. Computers are everywhere. We need not fall victim to computer crime. First, we must acknowledge its existence then do something about the problem. We need to take steps to detect and prevent computer crime.

Gift Ideas for the Christmas Holiday Season

Chris — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:31:45 +0000

Gift Ideas for the Christmas Holiday Season is a post from Chris Pirillo

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With the holidays coming up once again, I’ve been asked to give a roundup of gift suggestions. I decided to look around my house, to see what I had. I started asking myself what I’d like to give as a gift, or what my friends and family would want to receive from me.

The first item I came up with is a large, sharp knife. There are just so many things you can do with them! You can well… cut things! There’s always something that needs to be cut, right? Sharp knives are also a lot of fun to run around the house with! My Mom always encouraged my brothers and I to do this when we were little.

My number two suggestion is fire! You can keep things warm. You can also use fire to get rid of any excess paper that you have after you open a gift. Fire is also one of those things you wouldn’t think about giving, but there you have it. It’s free, so it won’t even cost you anything to give!

Number three on my list of must-have items to give has to be a laser pointer. These are great for pointing directly in someone’s eyes! You’ve done that, right? You can also take it with you to a movie theater. Point at the screen so that everyone can see exactly what it is you are talking loudly about.

My number four suggestion is bleach. I wouldn’t use bleach on my dark clothes. I use it on my white clothes though, of course. Sometimes on occasion, I put the bottle in my drink cabinet on accident. The bottle looks kind of like the chocolate milk container. A lot of people would use bleach to clean things though, so it could be a good gift.

Number five is prescription medicine. Even if the person doesn’t have any prescriptions of their own, maybe they always wanted to get some! If you have something lying around you don’t use anymore, why not re-gift it? You never know when it might help them feel a little better. It’s legal right? I mean, it was prescribed by a doctor!

None of these are the safest gifts you can give. If you would like to give your friends and loved ones a gift of safety, why not check out OpenDNS. If you haven’t looked at this site yet, what is stopping you? There’s nothing to install, and using their service can mean the difference between keeping yourself safe… and having a potential disaster befall you or your computer.

Keeping your family safe online has never been easier. OpenDNS gives you more than 50 filtering categories to choose from. Simply check the boxes of the categories you want to block and watch your filtering take effect within minutes. Rid your household of annoying, intermittent Internet outages. Switch to OpenDNS and immediately notice a faster, more reliable Internet experience. Join the millions who’ve already unbundled their DNS service from their ISP’s Internet connection.
Take the guesswork out of identifying phishing Web sites with OpenDNS’s industry-leading anti-phishing service. We’ll tell you when the site you’re trying to visit is fraudulent. Search results get you back on track when you mistype a URL or try to visit a site that’s down. Our smart “did you mean?” spelling suggestions help point you in the right direction, instead of showing you a hard-to-understand error page.

The best benefit of using OpenDNS is not just that it will protect you by blocking sites from ever opening up, it also helps load the sites you do want much faster. Why not give the gift of safe to someone you care about? Email them a link to this site, or even print out the information and hand it to them physically.

Hopefully you understood I’d never honestly recommend any of the products I talked about at the beginning. I do, however, strongly recommend using OpenDNS for your safety and peace of mind.

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Do You Think Google Chrome is Just Another Web Browser?

Chris — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:17:33 +0000

Do You Think Google Chrome is Just Another Web Browser? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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In a few short hours from the time this was recorded, we all had our hands on Google Chrome. I feel this is a game changer in the way the World Wide Web works. I made up a list of five reasons that Chrome will soon become your default browser. You know Google, from Docs to AdSense to Earth. Google is here, and it’s a strong presence on the Web. Let’s look at the reasons I came up with:

Google is focused on user experience. The experience is having a browser that does what you want it to do… browse the Web. Many developers don’t even think about that. I’m sure you have Google in your browser already, whether it’s a toolbar or your home page. Google has already shown us how they are focused on the users… YOU. Read the comic book documentation. It outlines for you why it’s pinpointing user experience, and what that means for you.
It’s open source. You can take the code if you wanted to, and build your own browser. Take it and make it your own. The fact that it is open source is very telling. Google knows it is not in their best interest to lock the code away in proprietary measures. Chrome is open source because they are trying to make the Web better for everyone.
Speed. Google has based Chrome on WebKit, which is optimized for speed. Google’s also developed a JavaScript engine to further enhance your browsing speed experience. You know how sometimes your entire browser will freeze occasionally, because of one site? With Chrome, that doesn’t happen, due to the way the JavaScript runs. Each tab is run as a separate process, instead of the browser as a whole.
It will be cross platform soon. It is being released for Windows first, but will be available for OS X and Linux soon.
Security. This is a big one. Google thought about the security model, all the way down to stop any kind of Phishing attacks within the browser. It’s constantly going to be updated with the latest Phishing information. Google Chrome also helps you to only log onto secure SSL connections whenever possible, and will warn you if the site you’re connected to is not secure.

Those are the five reasons I feel you need to pay attention to Google Chrome. Even if you think you aren’t ready to switch your browser, why not give it a try? You never know what you’re missing until you check it out.

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Phishing Filter Safety

Chris — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:17:48 +0000

Phishing Filter Safety is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – In Boy Scouts, the first badge I earned was a fishing badge. I caught a crappie! Of course, we all know that fishing is a great pastime. But what many people don’t know is that when “fishing” is spelled PHishing, it’s a potentially very dangerous thing.

A Phishing scam is one in which a Web site collects information that you willingly enter. Now, when I say “willingly,” I mean just that. It is of course unintentional on your part that you are entering the information on a bogus site. These scams often come about via emails. Let’s say you get an email from what appears to be your bank… or PayPal. It says something about needing to verify your account information. Many people click the link. That link takes them to a site which is NOT their bank or PayPal, even if it appears to be. Then, they could inadvertantly enter things like bank numbers, social security numbers, and the like. Now the bad guys have all the information necessary to not only take your money… but possibly steal your identity and ruin your credit, as well.

The biggest rule of thumb is to never click on a link within an email. If you do receive something like this, and are concerned it could possibly be from your financial institution, open your Web browser. Manually type in the bank address and log in that way. Do not click the link in the email. As a matter of fact, many banks and savings associations are no longer even putting any links in emails, for just this reason.

So yes… turn on (or leave on) those phishing filters in IE 7 and Firefox. It’s just another layer of protection for you, to help keep you safe. It doesn’t harm anything. It doesn’t interrupt or change your browsing speed and experience. What possible reason would you have for not wanting that protection?

Another good way to help keep you safe from phishers is to use OpenDNS. This is a service you can run on your computer or network without having to install anything. Instead of using your ISP DNS server to resolve a Web site, you would use this service. Not only does it speed up your Internet experience, it also provides a phishing filter!

Bottom line… protect yourself. Every layer you place between you and the bad guys is a good thing. Compute smart… compute safe.

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Flushing Phishing

Chris — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:40:39 +0000

Flushing Phishing is a post from Chris Pirillo

Seems to me the answer to the problem is simple: ISPs should be proxying known phishing sites. I’d make it an “opt-out” toggle, as only people know know what they’re doing would be crazy enough to actually want to view a known phishing site. That’s the key: being able to identify a phishing attack. I suppose this has proabably been done before, but I haven’t seen a widespread deployment of such a service (which should be free, IMHO).

Certainly, it shouldn’t be a browser’s or plugin’s responsibility – as connectivity is the lowest common denominator. I’ve got the Phishing setting toggled “on” in my OpenDNS configuration, largely because I don’t want Ponzi to be phished when I’m not around. This way, I’m protecting all the systems on my home network – not just the ones that have been upgraded to the latest browser configuration. Phishing should NOT be a problem anymore.

For more information, there’s Nigerian 419 Scams, Phishing And Vishing Fix, Phishing Season, Vishing, and Identity Theft.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.