Chrome Looks Shiny

Google’s entry into the web browser market should liven things up; it will certainly give Microsoft and Mozilla something to think about. If you haven’t already tried it then I suggest that you give Google Chrome the once over.. It’s early days yet, and this is the Beta version so take the usual precautions of setting a new Restore Point, but so far it looks quite promising. My favourite feature so far is the integrated address window/search box, naturally it defaults to Google but you can change it to Yahoo, MSN, Ask or the search engine of your choice on the Options menu. It imports all of your bookmarks and quick links so installation is smooth and quick, though I’m not so happy at the way it also seems to know all of my passwords, I would have preferred it to ask before importing those. Read More »

Introducing the Firefox 3.0 CD

The gold bits of Firefox 3.0 went live on June 17, 2008, over half a year past the initially planned launch which was targeted for the end of 2007. At just a few days short of the first two months on the market for the successor of Firefox 2.0, users of Mozilla’s open source browser now have access not only to the download version of Firefox 3.0, but also to the CD. Via Mozilla’s store, Firefox 3.0 CDs go for $4.20 a pop in the U.S. and £3.00 per item for additional international markets.

“With more than 15,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than ever before,” reads a fragment from the description of the browser. “Dozens of new features including the “awesome” bar, one-click bookmarking, full zoom, advanced tabbed browsing and blindingly fast performance. Instant Web Site ID and other security features keep you safe from scammers and spammers. Over 5000 add-ons let you customize your web experience to your personal needs.” Read More »

One Click Encrypt

We are all concerned about privacy and security but relatively few PC users actually ever get around to doing something about it. Now there’s no excuse, a small freeware utility called EncryptOnClick can encrypt any file on your PC in just a second or two. Just open the program and select the file, tap in your password or PIN and its done. The file is compressed and scrambled using strong 256-bit AES encryption, which will keep most nosey parkers at bay. The program is small, under 4Mb, and it fits easily on a USB pen drive, so you can protect your files when you are on the move.

Double-Quick Data Destruction

If you sell or otherwise dispose of your computer you must delete all of the data it contains. This is vitally important, not just from a security standpoint, but it’s also technically illegal to sell on a PC with Windows and many commercial programs installed unless you also transfer the licences, though this is almost impossible to do.

Active KillDisk remains my favourite method for deleting the data on a drive, but here’s a new one, called Darik’s Boot and Nuke, and this program really lives up to it’s name! Just boot the PC using a CD, DVD, pen drive or floppy and it totally destroys all of the data on every drive it finds. Read More »

Opera 9.50 Fixes Fiesta

On its official website, Opera describes the latest version of its browser as “beautifully engineered”. However, it looks like Opera 9.50 was made available to end users before the cooking process was ready. After the release of the gold version of Opera 9.50 on June 12, 2008, the feedback starting pouring in, and it was not a pretty sight. As a direct consequence of the user input, Opera is now scrambling to make available version 9.51, designed to resolve all the issues introduced with Opera 9.50.

“Discover the new standard in Web browsing. Download Opera today to get the fastest and most powerful Web browser available and make the most of your time online,” is a message on the official Opera welcoming page. And while the evolution of version 9.5 over its predecessor is indisputable, the fact is that so are the many problems plaguing the browser. June 25, 2008 saw the offering of Opera 9.51 Build 10074 Release Candidate 1, and as of June 30 users can also grab Opera 9.51 RC2 Build 10080. Read More »

The Technology Of DVD Media

A Digital Video Disc or DVD is one of the most popular forms of storage media nowadays. It is an optical disc and mainly used to store videos. However, data in any form can be stored on a DVD. The dimensions of a DVD are generally the same as a common compact disc but the amount of data that can be stored is six times greater.

The different variations of DVD are based on the way data is being stored on it. A DVD-ROM has pre-written data that can only be read. A DVD+R and DVD-R are the ones on which the data can be written only once; and on a DVD+RW the data can be written and erased more than once. The lasers used to read DVDs are typically of 650 nm wavelength.

The terms DVD-Audio and DVD-Video discs are DVDs with suitably structured and formatted audio and video content respectively. Other types of DVDs are called DVD-data discs. Read More »

Rooting Out Rootkits

We’ve spoken about Rootkits before, they’re nasty little pieces of malware that can open up your PC to hackers, but are also really difficult to detect and eliminate because they hide inside legitimate applications and files. McAfee, the antivirus people have come up with a new Rootkit removal tool, called Rootkit Detective. It’s still in its prerelease beta version but it seems stable enough and compared with other Rootkit removal tools we’ve tried, it’s blindingly fast. Although it didn’t find any infections on our office PCs it did flag up a few files, belonging to uninstalled applications, that shouldn’t be there, so it’s definitely worth a try, especially if you have any concerns about the security of your PC.

Hack a Laptop Challenge, Winners and Losers

In a three-day contest, held at a major security conference in Vancouver recently, teams of hackers were challenged to break their way into three laptops, running Mac OS X, Windows Vista and Ubuntu Linux operating systems, reports CNet News.

Now I know what you are thinking but you’d be wrong… On the first day all three machines repulsed attacks on the operating systems and via a network connection. The Mac Air laptop was the first to fall, however, two minutes into the start of the second day’s session. This was after the judges relaxed the rules to allow the hackers to attack browser and email vulnerabilities. Read More »

Mac Owners Told ‘Don’t Panic’

Security specialists Sophos are doing a fine impression of Dad’s Army’s Corporal Jones with its latest advice to Apple Mac users, which is ‘Don’t Panic’. This follows the discovery of a Trojan horse web popup that targets OS X users, called Troj/MacSwp-B or ‘Imunizator’. Windows PC owners will be familiar with the trick it plays, it purports to be a security program checking for problems, which needless to say it finds, it then tries to frighten Mac users into paying out for bogus software. Read More »

Don’t Get Sold A Pup

Computer security experts at Sophos are warning of yet another email fraud doing the rounds, emanating from the ever-resourceful Nigerian scammers, this time involving a cute little puppy. The email purports to come from a Christian Missionary couple, offering their puppy for adoption. The email includes a phone number and email address and if you are daft enough to make contact you get a heart-wrenching tale that will have you revealing your credit card or bank details quicker than you can say 419 Advanced Fee Fraud (419 is the Section this crime comes under in the Nigerian penal code). Read More »