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PC industry “disappointed” with Vista

PC World reports that PC manufacturer Acer has acknowledged widespread industry disappointment with Microsoft’s new Vista operating system.

Gianfranco Lanci, president of the fourth largest PC manufacturer worldwide, points out that Vista has serious stability and compatibility issues, and that customers are still demanding Windows XP on new hardware, particularly business customers.

The article also notes that despite Microsoft’s claims of strong Vista sales, Windows XP sales are predicted to be 50 percent higher this year than Microsoft’s original estimates, potentially totaling 22 percent to Vista’s 78 percent.

In other words, Vista has taken off more slowly than any new Microsoft OS release since Windows achieved desktop dominance in the early 1990’s. Furthermore, Vista is not driving new PC sales as hoped. People are settling for Vista because it’s all they can find.

The release of the first service pack for Vista has still not been announced. Service Pack 1 for Windows XP was a significant milestone, making the product ready for widespread deployment. Given the major hurdles Vista still must overcome in terms of hardware and software compatibility, Vista SP1 will be expected to work miracles. It had better.

The bad guys are getting smarter

Continuing on the theme of “More Ways Your Poor Computer Is Under Attack,” we look today at the phenomenon of phishing, a scheme which gets hold of your personal information in a very simple way – by tricking you into willingly providing it.

You already know that you should avoid following web links in e-mail messages. A spoofed message claiming to be from PayPal, for example, can direct you to a fake website that looks just like PayPal, which then captures the password and credit card information you type in. Fraudulent purchases, or even identity theft, are likely to follow.

Fortunately for us, most of the hackers behind these tricks know their way around a computer, but not a dictionary. Lousy spelling and grammar are a good tip-off that you’re on a bogus site.

That’s why I was surprised to learn of a new Trojan horse called Kardphisher, which mimics the activation procedure for Windows XP. If the Trojan gets on to your computer, it waits until you reboot and then informs you that you have to “re-activate” your copy of Windows.

 

 
On the next screen, Kardphisher gets down to business.


 
For the record, Microsoft does not request credit card numbers during activation, and it certainly wouldn’t ask for your ATM PIN.

Nonetheless, Kardphisher is a well-designed hack. I saw no grammar or spelling errors; just a clumsy use of punctuation.

The Trojan is not widespread, and Symantec rates it a very low risk. Any updated anti-virus program will be able to deal with it, so odds are you will never see this on your computer.

However, it’s worth knowing about, because anti-virus programs and firewalls are no substitute for vigilance. We all need to pay close attention to what we are doing on the computer, because the bad guys have learned how to spell.

Surfing safely on public wi-fi

Free wi-fi is becoming ubiquitous at restaurants and coffee shops (Starbucks and Panera Bread are two that come to mind). It’s convenient, but it’s not secure.

Once again, hackers have found a way to ruin the fun for the rest of us. By using nothing more than a laptop or handheld PDA with wireless capability, a malicious individual can establish a spoofed access point that looks identical to the one hosted by the store. If you innocently connect to it, the hacker can capture all of the data you send and receive from your laptop, including passwords.

Worse yet, a hacker can use a public access point to launch exploits — code that attacks known security vulnerabilities in both the wi-fi network hardware and your laptop.

Chances are that the fellow jerking lattes at Starbucks is not a network security expert. Therefore, you need to take basic steps to protect yourself and your equipment.

A pcmag.com article by Jamie Lendino lists four things you can do to protect yourself on public wireless networks, which I will summarize as follows:

1. Keep your shields up. Make sure you have security tools installed on your portable device. Antivirus software is a must, as well as a firewall. The built-in firewall provided with Windows XP is sufficient for most purposes, but if you use a wi-fi network frequently, consider a two-way firewall such as ZoneAlarm. A full suite such as Norton Internet Security will cover all the bases, but it tends to be a resource hog, especially on older laptops.

2. Stay up to date. Make sure you have installed all the latest updates for both your security software and Windows.

3. Don’t share. Make sure Windows file and print sharing are disabled when you are out in public. It’s a convenience when you’re in the office or at home, but an unnecessary exposure when you’re not.

4. Watch where you’re going. Before entering any personal info on a secure site, make sure it’s secure. Look for https:// in the address bar, as well as the padlock icon on your browser. Better yet, maybe you should think twice before conducting any major financial transactions on a public network.

I don’t want to scare you off using public wi-fi. It can come in very handy sometimes. These four tips are important for any PC use, public or private. But on a public network, they are vital.