| McAfee Total Protection 2007
So many security threats now target our PCs every day that combating them all involves an arsenal of protection software. To save you needing to install multiple programs, McAfee's aptly-named Total Protection 2007 package covers no less than 10 danger areas to offer comprehensive and complete security when you're online. Features Essentially an enhanced version of McAfee Security Center, Total Protection combines the essentials anti-virus and anti-spyware tools and a firewall with a variety of powerful features for virtually every conceivable internet risk. These include the ability to conceal your presence on the web, activate parental controls, back-up and restore files, block spam and remove rootkits. The software monitors your wireless network for security weaknesses, prevents hackers from connecting and encrypts your personal data.
Web-based mail is often the best for fighting spam
Q: I'd like to know if there's something I can do to limit the amount of junk e-mail I get in Outlook Express. Each day, I receive dozens of messages offering everything from cheap mortgages to Viagra. [Podcast: James Kim on Sub-$50 MP3 players and the next gen Slingboxes. Also, David Einstein on standalone DSL service. ] A: You probably can't completely eradicate junk mail (also known as spam), but you can do a reasonable job of keeping it in check. If you use Outlook Express, you can create a "blocked senders list" by going to Message Rules in the Tools menu. You also can get anti-spam software. Popular programs include SpamBully ($29.95 from spambully.com), iHateSpam ($19.95 from sunbelt-software.com) and Cloudmark Desktop ($39.95 from cloudmark.com). SpamBully may have the edge because it doesn't charge for annual subscriptions to updated filter lists.
ASK THE EXPERT: Spam is a formidable enemy
QUESTION: What can be done to stop (unsolicited e-mails about) stock tips and discount drugs .... that have no remove instructions. Or those that, when I reply to them, I find that their e-mail address is not recognized? -- David Griffith ANSWER: My answer isn't going to cheer you up. Spammers are getting more skillful. Even my commercial anti-spam software is doing a poor job stopping some of these e-mails, especially the stock tips you mention. Most spam-blocking programs either use the Internet address of the mailer or a set of rules that help the program identify spam. The stock tip e-mails change addresses for almost every mailing. So you may get one from john@thisaddress.com and the next will come from jake@thataddress.com. Many of them use an electronic image of text -- basically a photograph of the text message -- rather than text itself.
New Bug Installs Legit Anti-Virus Program
Are you using a Microsoft Windows machine to cruise the Web but don't have up-to-date anti-virus software installed? No worries: A sophisticated new breed of malware identified this week will silently download and install a legitimate anti-virus program on your computer if it manages to sneak its way onto your machine. But this isn't a good thing, as the malware is really intended to make it easier for spammers to do their business. For several years now, the top method for sending spam has been to infect Microsoft Windows machines with malware that turns the PCs into "zombies" (or "bots") that bad guys can use to anonymously relay junk e-mail. Tons of malware in circulation today will actively search for and remove other hacking programs that may have already set up shop on infected computers.
European software patents meet Spam and Beyonce in this week's ...
Hormel, makers of the tinned meat Spam have failed to register the same word as an Europe-wide trade mark in relation to services that filter unsolicited emails. The Office of Harmonisation for the Internal Market (OHIM), the EU trade mark body, rejected Hormel's argument that computer software which feature the word "spam" would lead to confusion amongst the general public. In its judgement OHIM pointed to the widespread of the term "Spam" amongst the public as a term for junk email as evidence that there was little risk of consumers thinking "anti-spam" software had something to do with meat. This is the latest in a series of attempts by Hormel to wrest the term from general use (amongst IT types at least), which have included an advertising campaign in 2004 and a failed attempt to prevent the registration of the trade mark "bopsam" for an email filter program (as we reported here).
Symantec announces new security product for Windows Small Business ...
When small business owners needed to protect its business from spam and viruses, they would often buy two separate products and then something else for content filtering; but Symantec Corp. has come out with a security product that combines all three into one package. The Symantec Mail Security with Premium AntiSpam for Windows Small Business Server fully integrates Symantec's Mail Security for Exchange and its Premium Anti-spam product into a single user interface. "[Customers] said make it simple. They don't want to maintain a spam license and an anti-virus license at different times. They want to buy one license," said Dave Scott, group product manager with Symantec. He added there was confusion over some of Symantec's licensing programs because it seemed to cater to more large enterprises and not small businesses.
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