Greetings from SurfSafely.com! If you enjoy reading this newsletter as much as I do writing it, pass it on to all your friends and family but please respect their privacy. Place the addresses of those you send to in the BCC: field rather than To: or CC:. And as always, this newsletter is opt-in only. If you feel you've received it in error, reliable removal instructions are at the bottom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this issue: 1. New feature @ SurfSafely.com 2. New worm spreading via MSN Messenger 3. Latest poll results: "Has your computer ever been infected by a virus?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't forget, archived copies of all past news letters can always be found at http://surfsafely.com/surfsafety/frameset_news.html and are fully searchable. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. New feature @ SurfSafely.com =============================== In our ongoing commitment to provide relevant information to our users, SurfSafely.com has adopted daily news feeds from Moreover. Top Tech News is our featured category displayed on the home page at http://surfsafely.com/. We're also looking into adding news feeds from other categories on a page dedicated solely for that purpose. Check back every day and see what's new! Understanding that most, if not all of the linked content from the Moreover feeds is unlabeled, we will also be adding a disclaimer to the effect of "News is news. Not all news is suitable for all ages. Please leave your filters set to block unlabeled content and supervise the viewing of news articles until you are comfortable with the safety of content presented by the various news agencies. Those domains can later be added to your personal white list of sites, bypassing the filters if you desire." Please let us know what you think of the new Moreover feature. We would greatly appreciate any comments you might have. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. New worm spreading via MSN Messenger ======================================= Microsoft does it again. The top tech story at SurfSafely.com today is from Computer Weekly who reports there is a new worm propagating the Net via Microsoft MSN Messenger. It is reported that this worm exploits security flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer that they have been aware of for months but have done nothing to correct. Big surprise, right? In light of Bill Gates' recent announcement of a renewed focus on security over functionality, it would appear those were once again the right words uttered at the right time containing absolutely no substance whatsoever. Just more in a never ending stream of empty Microsoft rhetoric. Quoted from Computer Weekly: "The worm arrives in an instant message that tells the recipient to go to one of several Web sites. The text says either 'URGENT - go to [url] now,' or 'ATTeNT!oN -- go to [url] now.' Clicking on the link opens a Web page with malicious JavaScript code that sends instant messages advertising the Web page, or other Web pages with the code, to all the MSN Messenger users on the user's contacts list." The full Computer Weekly news article can be read at http://www.cw360.com/article&rd=&i=&ard=110013&fv=1 Also be sure to look at http://jscript.dk/unpatched/ which lists all of the known unpatched vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer. So, while the worm does no damage to a user's system, it's not a harmless prank. What it DOES is clog Internet traffic with useless instant messaging propagating itself to every user in one's MSN Messenger contact list who happens to be logged on at the time. Are we having fun yet? It's more than a nuisance. It's yet another wake up call for Microsoft, and the rest of us as well for those who will listen. There have also been concerns already expressed over security of the Microsoft Visual Studio .Net development suite being launched next week. Yours truly is scheduled to attend the official launch and this very question will be at the very TOP of my list for Mr. Gates to address. Now THIS should be interesting! :) People just don't believe me when I say I would LOVE to endorse Microsoft products. I really would! Their overall design and user friendliness is second to none. So why can't they be safe too? THAT is the question. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. Latest poll results ====================== Our latest poll @ SurfSafely.com asks whether or not your computer has ever been infected by a virus. If you have not yet voted we urge you to do so. To date 429 have voted and the results are alarming. 51% say their computer HAS been infected 40% say it hasn't 9% don't know. Obviously, all of the 51% who have been infected did not have any antivirus software running. Of the remaining 49% we estimate more than two thirds are also still surfing "On a wing and a prayer" without antivirus protection. For them it's only a matter of time. That means about 85% of all users have NO antivrus protection. Is it any wonder why viruses are so common? Which one are you? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's news for now. Be informed, Be involved, Be well. Sincerely, Mark Brasche Founder and CEO, SurfSafely.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ::Tech News @ SurfSafely.com