michael k's List: Academic

• Can You Trust Free Antivirus  Protection?

   

  <!--Start AUTHORS-->Erik Larkin. <!--End AUTHORS--><!--Start PUB_TITLE-->PC  World<!--End PUB_TITLE-->. <!--Start PM_QUAL-->San Francisco: <!--End PM_QUAL--><!--Start ISSUE_URL-->Oct  2009. <!--End ISSUE_URL--><!--Start PCVOLUME-->Vol. 27<!--End PCVOLUME--><!--Start PCISSUE-->, Iss. 10;<!--End PCISSUE--> pg. 81, 7  pgs

• Free antivirus programs vary just as much as their  paid counterparts do in the quality of their protection. And frugal PC users on  the 'hunt for no-cost antivirus software- already faced with tons of options -  will have even more to choose from when new free offerings from Microsoft and  Panda join the programs currently available froid Alwii (Avast), AVG, Avira,  Comodo, and PC Tools.

• Spam e-mails killing the environment, McAfee  report says

   

  <!--Start AUTHORS--><!--End AUTHORS--><!--Start PUB_TITLE-->Network  World Middle East<!--End PUB_TITLE-->. <!--Start PM_QUAL-->Dubai: <!--End PM_QUAL--><!--Start ISSUE_URL-->Apr  15, 2009. <!--End ISSUE_URL-->

• If annoying users and wasting their time wasn't bad  enough, spam e-mails are also responsible for clogging our atmosphere with  carbon dioxide, a gas that shoulders much of the blame for global warming,  according to a report commissioned by antivirus vendor McAfee.

   

  "When you look at it from an individual user  perspective you're only talking about 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide per spam  message," said Dave Marcus, director of security research and communications at  McAfee's Avert Labs, in a telephone interview. "When you extrapolate the math  out to the larger numbers, it definitely is significant."

   

  The McAfee report, which was written by consulting  company ICF International, said the estimated 62 trillion spam e-mail that get  sent each year consume 33 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power  2.4 million homes. In addition, spam e-mail releases as much carbon dioxide into  the atmosphere as 3.1 million cars consuming 2 billion gallons of gasoline.

• That sounds bad, but what does it mean? McAfee's  report didn't provide an estimate for the daily energy usage of a PC or server,  or the energy consumed by other applications. Without these numbers, it's  difficult to put the spam energy numbers into context and understand their  significance.

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• Let Your ISP Provide YOUR SECURITY  SUITE

   

  <!--Start AUTHORS-->Tom Mainelli. <!--End AUTHORS--><!--Start PUB_TITLE-->PC  World<!--End PUB_TITLE-->. <!--Start PM_QUAL-->San Francisco: <!--End PM_QUAL--><!--Start ISSUE_URL-->Jul  2006. <!--End ISSUE_URL--><!--Start PCVOLUME-->Vol. 24<!--End PCVOLUME--><!--Start PCISSUE-->, Iss. 7;<!--End PCISSUE--> pg. 106, 1  pgs

• AOL's package, a 28MB download, consists of numerous  different applications, but to users the bundle should appear as a single,  seamless program, according to Andrew Weinstein, a company spokesperson. "We  made the Internet easy; now we want to make security easy, too," he says.

   

  One of the ways AOL tries to make life easier for its  customers is by blocking many Internet threats at its servers, before they ever  reach users' computers. Weinstein says that each day the company blocks about 8  million phishing attempts and nearly 1.5 million pieces of spam from reaching  its customers
• So why are ISPs going to all the trouble and expense of offering these  comprehensive security services? It's simple-they want to keep their customers  happy. As Kaplan puts it, "We're heavily invested in protecting our consumers  and bringing great value to their staying with EarthLink." -Tom Mainelli

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• Name That Virus; The inability of antivirus and  security companies to agree on common names for viruses can confuse  users.

   

  <!--Start AUTHORS-->Robert Lemos. <!--End AUTHORS--><!--Start PUB_TITLE-->PC  Magazine<!--End PUB_TITLE-->. <!--Start PM_QUAL-->New York: <!--End PM_QUAL--><!--Start ISSUE_URL-->May  23, 2006. <!--End ISSUE_URL--><!--Start PCVOLUME-->Vol. 25<!--End PCVOLUME--><!--Start PCISSUE-->, Iss. 9;<!--End PCISSUE--> pg. 1

• Not so in the digital world. In January, when a new  computer virus appeared on the Internet, antivirus companies rushed to issue  alerts, inundating consumers with a confusing array of names for the same  threat: Blackmal, KamaSutra, MyWife, Nyxem, Tearec, and Worm_Grew. This had many  users wondering whether a deluge of viruses had risen to attack their PCs.

   

  The incident was an extreme case, but not an uncommon  one. Antivirus companies frequently assign different names to a single threat.  Sometimes, the disagreements are small, such as whether the latest attack is the  E variant or the F variant of a virus. In other cases - such as with the MSBlast  worm, which was also called Blaster and Lovesan - the names can be quite  different

• Consumers won't get relief from the jumble of names  any time soon. Thanks to the Internet, the hundreds of new threats that appear  every month pop up simultaneously across the world. Seldom does a single  antivirus firm actually break the news of a new virus discovery and thus stake a  claim to the name. Instead, the companies all find a threat at about the same  time and focus more on protecting their customers than on harmonizing on a name.  

   

  Adding to the confusion, each security company sees a  major marketing windfall in getting the media to quote its name for a virus.  That incentive makes it more unlikely that rivals in the antivirus community  will agree on a single name.

• In the end, confusion compromises security. With PC  users increasingly becoming the focus of attacks via social engineering, keeping  security simple should be a top priority for security firms.

   

  Robert Lemos is a freelance technology journalist and  the editor-at-large for SecurityFocus.

   

  A Shot In The PC

   

  1 Make sure your system has antivirus software, a  personal firewall, and separate antispyware protection (if that feature is not  available in the antivirus package).

   

  2 Find a trustworthy browser password manager, such  as those built into Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer.

   

  3 Don't open unexpected attachments from anyone, and  beware of visiting unknown Web sites.

   

  4 Keep up to date on known methods of attack. There's  an arms race in computer security, and having the latest knowledge can make all  the difference.

   

  5 When antivirus firms warn of an epidemic, check the  CME identifier (cme.mitre.org), not the names used in the media and antivirus  alerts.

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