The Conficker Awakes

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39640215,00.htm

It seems conficker is starting to reveal its true purpose - making money. One method is to display a fake warning that a system is infected and can be cleaned using Spyware Protect 2009. Needless to say, this is a scam. You pay up, your credit card details are logged and you end up paying a damn sight more than the £35 asking price

Check for signs of conficker infection here or here.

And practice safe surfing!

IE8 Arrives

Internet Explorer 8 has finally been released. As expected, this latest version builds on previous versions and exhibits some useful features. And it is a more secure browser than IE7, though remember that no browser is completely secure.

New features include:

• Colour-coded tabs
• Option to reopen closed tabs (a la Firefox)
• Isolated tabs - if one tab crashes, the rest are not affected
• InPrivate browsing, where private data is dumped on exiting the session
• Protection against clickjacking (where a mouse click acts on an invisible layer above the intended target, intended to redirect the user to a malicious site)
• Compatibility mode to render IE7-optimised sites correctly (this feature should really be automatic)

Sadly, those using Windows 7 Beta will not be able to upgrade to the full version of IE8 as the IE8 Beta included with the Windows 7 download is optimised for that operating system. Still, if you run IE7 under Win 2K, XP or Vista then upgrading to IE8 is the only sensible choice.

Internet Explorer 8 is currently only available as a separate download. Let's hope it is soon included in Windows Update.

Download IE8 from here
Read more here

Free Security Software

Confused about buying security software? Don't know whether to go for an integrated suite or separate firewall, antivirus, antispyware? Check out the new Free Security Software list at SpywareHammer.

OK, it's free so what's the catch?

Simply put, there isn't one. Many of the applications listed are designed to encourage the user to upgrade to the paid-for version. Having said that, everything in the list works well and often outperforms a commercial equivalent - I personally have the free versions of Antivir, Comodo and AVG (amongst others) on my systems. If I didn't trust them, I wouldn't use them.

One word of warning - some of these apps try to install the Ask! toolbar, Yahoo! toolbar or similar. (The ones concerned are highlighted in the list). Please remember to uncheck the option when asked during the installation process - you don't need them.

This list has been compiled by 1972vet - many thanks!

So, what are you waiting for? There's no excuse for running an unprotected system!