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Today's Topics:
1. FCC: Six Steps To Avoid Captioning Lapses (George Antunes)
2. Mediacom: Sinclair Says Pull Plug (George Antunes)
3. Sinclair Could Pull 30 Stations Off Comcast (George Antunes)
4. Gauging The Demand For Alternative-Fuel Vehicles (George Antunes)
5. 'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears (George Antunes)
6. Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup (Monty Solomon)
7. Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts
Say (Monty Solomon)
8. Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts
Say (Monty Solomon)
9. Tips for Protecting the Home Computer (Monty Solomon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:58:53 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] FCC: Six Steps To Avoid Captioning Lapses
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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FCC: Six Steps To Avoid Captioning Lapses
By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable
1/3/2007 2:34:00 PM
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6403895.html
The FCC says it is trying to give TV station news departments some guidance
on what constitutes compliance with the FCC's emergency-information
closed-captioning rules.
In a public notice released Wednesday, the commission reminded broadcasters
that, as of January of 2006, they had been required to close-caption all
non-exempt programming, which includes breaking news and emergency alerts.
Conceding that emergency information is, essentially by definition, not
available in advance and must be posted on short notice, the commission
says that it recognizes that it can be difficult to meet the 100%
compliance mark. As a result, it will consider those conditions as
mitigating circumstances so long as the captioning lapse is minimal and
"reasonable" under the circumstances, though it cannot make that
determination until presented with a specific set of facts.
But it also listed a number of steps video distributors "may take" to
prevent such lapses. They include 1) finding outside services that can turn
around the captions quickly; 2) making contacting those services
"immediately" a priority; 3) posting the contact information on TV sets in
the newsroom; 4) program a speed dial button on a newsroom phone with the
number of the captioning service; 5) create and circulate a "visual
presentation policy," which could include open captioning, crawls,
on-screen scrolls, prepared signs, charts, or even writing on a whiteboard;
and traing employees about those presentation policies.
At least two TV stations settled with the FCC last year over commission
findings that their news departments had failed to provide sufficient
on-screen information to hearing-impaired viewers .
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:00:59 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Mediacom: Sinclair Says Pull Plug
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Mediacom: Sinclair Says Pull Plug
By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable
1/5/2007 7:50:00 PM
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404769.html
Cable company Mediacom said Friday that Sinclair Broadcast Group had
instructed it to pull its stations--22 of them--from its channel lineup.
The FCC had denied a Mediacom complaint that Sinclair had not bargained in
good faith, and Sinclair had told the company it would have to pull the
signals Jan. 5. The FCC also had asked the companies to submit to binding
arbitration and for Sinclair to keep the stations on the cable system
during that process. Sinclair had said it would consider the advice.
The two have been unable to come to terms for cash payments to Sinclair for
carriage of its mix of network affiliated and independent stations.
Sinclair says it should be paid a carriage fee comparable to that for cable
networks that are similarly rated to its stations.
"We are certainly dismayed with Sinclair's inability to commit to our offer
of binding arbitration made
yesterday, a solution that was strongly encouraged in the recent Order by
the FCC's Media Bureau," said Mediacom Executive VP John Pascarelli.
In the interim, Mediacom will put alternate programming on the vacant
channels, including other cable networks, local programming and even other
TV stations where markets overlap.
Mediacom has also handed out over-the-air antennas to customers. The NFL
playoffs begin Jam.6, and the college championship game is next week.
Sinclair has aired on-screen crawls warning cable viewers they might lose
access to the station, and encouraged them to seek alternatives, especially
DirecTV, with which Sinclair has a standing agreement to get money for each
new sub it refers.
Sinclair is in another retrans dust-up with Comcast, with another couple
dozen stations slates to be pulled in early March if the two sides can't
agree on a price.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:03:26 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Sinclair Could Pull 30 Stations Off Comcast
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
Sinclair Could Pull 30 Stations Off Comcast
By Anne Becker
Broadcasting & Cable
1/5/2007 7:05:00 PM
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6404747.html
Sinclair Broadcast Group could end up yanking 30 stations off of Comcast
because of an ongoing battle over retransmission consent - leaving some 3
million customers without their broadcast signal.
Sinclair's carriage deal with Comcast is up Feb. 5 and the broadcaster is
demanding cash from the cable operator to carry its stations in 23 markets.
Comcast, the nation's biggest cable operator, is refusing to pay cash and
says Sinclair is the only broadcaster with which it can't reach a deal.
But in an interesting twist, many of its stations can't go black then due
to a federal law that says no in-market station can be pulled from cable
during a sweeps period.
By demanding cash, Sinclair becomes the latest broadcaster to assert its
legal right to demand money in exchange for allowing the cable operator to
retransmit their signal. Last month, fellow station owner Northwest
Broadcasting Corp. pulled Fox stations on Time Warner Cable in three
states because the two couldn't reach an agreement.
So far, stations have accepted advertising time from major cable operators
or carriage of sister cable networks and have only gotten cash from
satellite and small cable operators. Kagan Research projects that station
owners stand to collect some $225 million in retransmission fees this year
from cable and satellite operators and telcos, and $1 billion in 2009, the
year some station owners? cable deals, notably CBS, come due then.
The cable operators have historically said that they do not want to pay
cash because they do not want to create higher bills for their customers,
bills already getting hammered by the FCC as too high. Comcast would not
say how much Sinclair was seeking and Sinclair did not return calls at
press time.
In a statement, Comcast Corporation Executive Vice President David Cohen
said: "Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the nation?s largest broadcast
television station owners, has demanded large cash payments from Comcast,
and ultimately consumers, so that these customers can continue to view
broadcast television stations that are available over-the-air for free. We
do not believe that our customers should have to pay extra to watch free TV.
"We are currently negotiating with Sinclair to reach a fair agreement, but
are not legally allowed to carry these channels without Sinclair?s
permission. We will do everything in our power to avoid service
interruptions without adding Sinclair?s proposed fees to customers? bills."
Sinclair, which owns mostly Fox and MyNetworkTV stations, has had similar
battles with Time Warner and Mediacom. Time Warners rights to carry the
Sinclair' station in Buffalo was up Dec. 31, according to Sinclair, but was
extended until Jan. 12 when an agreement couldn't be reached, according to
a Time Warner spokesperson. And Sinclair's contentious retransmission
dispute with Mediacom - with Sinclair scheduled to pull 22 stations Jan.
5 - resulted in the cable operator filing a complaint with the FCC .
In a similar standoff, Nexstar pulled its stations off cable systems in
four small markets in December 2004 after the operators refused to pay the
30? per subscriber rate Nexstar was seeking. Most of the disputes have been
resolved, and Nexstar says the majority of cable operators are paying cash
(however, CableOne and Cox, two of the biggest operators Nexstar fought,
are not).
Nexstar says retransmission payments will go from almost zero to some 15%
of the company?s cash flow over the next five years
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:05:38 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Gauging The Demand For Alternative-Fuel Vehicles
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
Gauging The Demand
Before committing to alternative-fuel vehicles, automakers are . . .
By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 6, 2007; D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010501949_pf.html
With great hoopla, automakers will unveil futuristic prototypes next week
at the Detroit auto show, including advanced hybrids and a gas-electric
sports car, the FT-HS, from Toyota.
The only problem is that some of the technology being touted exists only as
fancy fiberglass models.
The buzz machine shifts into high gear tomorrow with carmakers competing to
demonstrate their concern about high gas prices, U.S. dependence on foreign
oil and global warming. But despite all the glitz, what Americans will
drive in the next few years will look a lot like what they drive today.
Industry analysts say automakers won't have significant numbers of
alternative-energy vehicles -- hybrids, diesels and plug-ins -- for sale
until well after the turn of the decade.
The hype is racing ahead of consumer appetite for alternative-fuel
vehicles, industry experts say. Only a small fraction of the cars on the
roads are hybrids and diesels, which get better fuel mileage than
gasoline-only cars and burn cleaner than they used to. While such vehicles
have distinct advantages, consumers for the most part seem unwilling to pay
their higher prices. As a result, carmakers will push ahead cautiously
before deciding to turn out large numbers of the vehicles.
Auto companies are hesitant about the price of new technology. In hybrids,
batteries and other components add $1,500 to $3,000 to the cost of each
vehicle. Current cost pressures have auto companies scrounging to save as
little as half a cent on some parts.
But the manufacturers are doing everything they can to be perceived as
environmentally friendly.
Automakers are "investing large sums of money attacking the problem" of
heavy fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, which scientists say
lead to global warming, said Tom Purves, chief executive of BMW's North
American operations. "As an industry, I believe we've never worked as hard
on these problems."
Environmental groups contend that the companies are delivering "automotive
vaporware" to deflect attention from political momentum in Washington that
could force them to boost fuel efficiency. The groups say carmakers are
also trying to stay out of the crosshairs of a looming federal debate on
global warming. The car companies have gone to court to fight attempts by
states to regulate global-warming gases and have resisted attempts by U.S.
lawmakers to mandate fuel efficiency increases.
"We would be much more impressed if GM were to say the U.S. needs to cap
greenhouse gas emissions. That would be a wonderful new concept," said John
M. DeCicco, senior fellow at Environmental Defense. "The country needs a
climate change policy, and automakers need to step up to the plate."
Vehicles powered by fuels other than gasoline occupy a small corner of the
U.S. auto market. Diesels have accounted for about 3 percent of the U.S.
market over the past few years, and most are extra-large pickups used as
work trucks. Diesels, which get 30 percent better fuel mileage than
gasoline-powered cars, account for nearly half of the market in many
European countries.
Though still small, hybrid sales are growing steadily. In 2006, automakers
sold 255,000 hybrids, according to estimates by J.D. Power and Associates.
This year, the figure is projected to be 350,000, in part because Toyota is
increasing production of its popular Prius. Even with the growth, analysts
don't expect hybrids to reach 1 million units, or 5 percent of the total
market, until after 2011.
Plug-in technology is probably even further in the future because battery
technology does not yet exist. Several sources in the industry said they
expect Toyota to add plug-in power to the next-generation Prius, which is
due later in the decade. Toyota declined to comment. Later this year,
Toyota will bring out the Lexus LS 600h, a hybrid version of the luxury
brand's flagship sedan.
Analysts say hybrid demand could dry up as early adopters finally get their
hands on Priuses after waiting-list delays.
"Everybody who wants a hybrid is probably driving one," said Eric Fedewa,
an industry analyst with CSM Worldwide. "There might not be substantial
upside on the numbers unless there is legislative change or fuel prices
change dramatically."
Other hybrids will go on sale this year. They include the Nissan Altima
sedan and the Saturn Aura. GM will also begin selling hybrid versions of
the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon sport-utility vehicles. Dodge plans to
introduce a hybrid version of its Durango SUV later in the year.
European automakers have been at the forefront of pushing acceptance of
diesel technology. Despite diesels' fuel economy, the U.S. government has
long considered their tailpipe emissions to be a health hazard.
Manufacturers have talked up the new technology and worked with federal
regulators to improve diesel fuel and engines to address air-quality concerns.
"Increasingly, people are going to become aware of the fact that there is
more than one solution," said Purves, the BMW executive.
Just a few new diesels are due over the next few months, including a diesel
version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Automakers will monitor how consumers
react to them before they make plans to expand model lines or add
production, said Fedewa, the CSM Worldwide analyst. "If we see that
consumers buy every one that's made, then we know diesels are going to be
strong sellers in North America," he said.
Other big automakers, such as Volkswagen and BMW, have pushed diesel
introductions to 2008 in order to meet clean-air standards in all 50
states. BMW said it will bring a new diesel vehicle to the U.S. market in
2008, but so far the company won't identify the model.
Purves said improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions is expensive
and technologically challenging. He said any tax breaks Congress enacts
should include credits for diesel-powered cars. "You shouldn't discourage
diesels here," Purves said. "You shouldn't have legislation that backs one
horse."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 15:11:55 -0600
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] 'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears
Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 6, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010501953_pf.html
A Texas company has started producing batches of ready-made embryos that
single women and infertile couples can order after reviewing detailed
information about the race, education, appearance, personality and other
characteristics of the egg and sperm donors.
The Abraham Center of Life LLC of San Antonio, the first commercial dealer
making embryos in advance for unspecified recipients, was created to help
make it easier and more affordable for clients to have babies that match
their preferences, according to its founder.
"We're just trying to help people have babies," said Jennalee Ryan, who
arranged for an egg donor to start medical treatments to produce a second
batch of embryos this week. "For me, that's what this is all about: helping
make babies."
But the embryo brokerage, which calls itself "the world's first human
embryo bank," raises alarm among some fertility experts and bioethicists,
who say the service marks another disturbing step toward commercialization
of human reproduction and "designer babies."
"We're increasingly treating children like commodities," said Mark A.
Rothstein, a bioethicist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. "It's
like you're ordering a computer from Dell: You give them the specs, and
they put it in the mail. I don't think we should consider mail-order
computers and other products the same way we consider children."
Prospective parents have long been able to select egg or sperm donors based
on ethnicity, education and other traits. Couples can also "adopt" embryos
left over at fertility clinics, or have embryos created for them if they
need both eggs and sperm. But the new service marks the first time anyone
has started turning out embryos as off-the-shelf products.
Before contracting for the embryos, clients can evaluate the egg and sperm
donors, and can even see pictures of them as babies, children and sometimes
adults. A fertility specialist will then transfer the embryos into a
client's womb or into a surrogate, which Ryan can also arrange.
"We're unique," Ryan said. "We're the only one in the world doing this
right now."
Some fertility doctors and ethicists are undisturbed by the Abraham Center
because the service does not differ markedly from what already happens
routinely at fertility clinics.
"I know some people say: 'This is shocking. Embryos made to order,' " said
John A. Robertson of the University of Texas at Austin, who advises
fertility specialists on ethical issues. "But if you step back a little
bit, you realize that people are already choosing sperm and egg donors in
separate transactions. Combining them doesn't pose any new major ethical
problems."
But others condemned the process as the unsettling culmination of recent
objectionable developments, including the payment of egg and sperm donors
and the growing tendency to try to select traits such as sex, intelligence
and appearance.
"People have long warned we were moving toward a 'Brave New World,' " said
Robert P. George of Princeton University, who serves on the President's
Council on Bioethics. "This is just more evidence that we haven't been able
to restrain this move towards treating human life like a commodity. This
buying and selling of eggs and sperm and now embryos based on IQ points and
PhDs and other traits really moves us in the direction of eugenics."
"We find this very troubling," agreed Steven Ory, president of the American
Society for Reproductive Medicine. "This is essentially making embryos a
commodity and using technology to breed them, if you will, for certain traits."
Ryan dismissed the complaints.
"People can say, 'Oh, this is the new Hitler.' That's not the case," she
said. "I don't take orders. I say 'This is what I have' and send them the
background. If they don't think it's right for them, they don't have to
take them."
So far the embryos Ryan has created have been from white donors, but she
said that was because most of the couples that have contacted her are
white. Among the more than 150 couples on her waiting list are African
Americans, and she plans to try to create embryos for them, as well as
possibly other races and mixes of races.
Ryan is, however, using only egg donors who are in their 20s and have at
least some college education and only sperm donors who have advanced
education, such as a PhD or law degree. All must undergo a standard round
of health tests required for all egg and sperm donors, as well as screening
to make sure they have no criminal record or family history of mental
illness, Ryan said. They answer detailed questionnaires that ask about
their childhood temperaments, favorite books, adult hobbies and family
histories.
"If I do discriminate, it's that I only want healthy, intelligent people,"
Ryan said. "People will say, 'You're trying to create the perfect human
race.' But we've always done gene selection just by who women choose as
their husbands and men choose as their wives. This is no different."
Ryan said the main advantage is not the attributes of the donors but the
cost: She charges $2,500 per embryo and estimates the total price tag
should be less than $10,000 for each attempt at pregnancy, which is much
less than the cost of standard adoption or in vitro fertilization.
Some experts questioned the creation of embryos for unspecified recipients
when about 400,000 excess embryos are in storage at fertility clinics. But
Ryan said her embryos are better because she uses young, fertile donors,
whereas excess embryos frozen in storage tend to come from older women with
fertility problems.
The cost, convenience, prospects of success and ability to vet the donors
all are attractive to Ryan's clients -- potentially not only infertile
couples and single women but also gay men and lesbian couples.
"You get to get an idea of what your baby will look like, and it just seems
like it's a lot easier and more affordable," said Joan, 42, of Birmingham,
Ala., who asked that her last name not be used. She contacted Ryan after
she was unable to get pregnant using three egg donors and becoming
disenchanted by the prolonged process of trying to adopt a child or a
leftover embryo. She and her husband want a sibling for their 3-year-old
son. "I am not going to give up until I have another baby. This seems very,
very attractive," she said.
Some experts, however, warn that the legal status of these embryos remains
unsettled.
"Having an interstate business involving human embryos seems to be a bad
practice from pretty much every perspective," said Susan L. Crockin, a
lawyer in Newton, Mass., who specializes in reproductive technology.
So far, Ryan said, she has produced one batch of 22 embryos using an egg
donor in her 20s from Arizona and a sperm donor from Fairfax Cryobank, a
sperm bank operated by the Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax. He is a
6-foot-tall lawyer with blond hair and blue eyes. She is a student with
brown hair and hazel eyes.
A single woman in her 40s from California and a married woman from Canada
in her 30s each had two of the embryos implanted and are five months
pregnant, Ryan said. In case they want more children or the pregnancies
fail, the two clients split the rest of that batch and had the embryos frozen.
A Houston doctor whom Ryan planned to hire to create the second batch
dropped out after learning what Ryan was doing, she said. Another doctor in
New York subsequently signed on to use the same sperm donor and a
blond-haired, blue-eyed egg donor from Utah who works for an airline. The
egg donor started taking hormones this week to trigger ovulation.
Another single woman from California in her 40s has signed a contract for
two of these embryos, with a 30-day option for more, Ryan said. Any
remainders can be shipped frozen to clients on the waiting list, she said.
"When the first 'test tube' baby came out, some people said it was evil,"
Ryan said. "I think the same thing is happening with this. Because it's
new, it's getting all this criticism."
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 17:44:54 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
State of the Art
Fewer Excuses for Not Doing a PC Backup
By DAVID POGUE
The New York Times
January 4, 2007
If there's one New Year's resolution even more likely to fail than "I
vow to lose weight," it's "I vow to start backing up my computer."
After all, setting up and remembering to use a backup system is a
huge hassle. The odds are good that you don't have an up-to-date
backup at this very moment.
Fortunately, 2007 may turn out to be the Year of the Backup. Both
Microsoft and Apple have built automated backup software into the
latest versions of their operating systems, both to be introduced
this year.
At the same time, an option that was once complex, limited and
expensive is suddenly becoming effortless, capacious and even free:
online backups, where files are shuttled off to the Internet for
safekeeping.
Online backup means never having to buy or manage backup disks. You
can have access to your files from any computer anywhere. And above
all, your files are safe even if disaster should befall your office -
like fire, flood, burglary or marauding children.
As it turns out, the Web is brimming with backup services. Most of
them, however, offer only 1 or 2 gigabytes' worth of free storage.
That may be plenty if all you keep on your PC is recipes and a few
letters to the editor. But if you have even a fledgling photo or
music collection, 2 gigs is peanuts. You can pay for more storage, of
course, but the prices have been outrageous; at Data Deposit Box, for
example, backing up 50 gigabytes of data will cost you $1,200 a year.
Nobody offers unlimited free storage, but lately, they've gotten a
lot closer. Two companies, Xdrive and MediaMax, offer as much as 25
gigabytes of free backups; two others, Mozy and Carbonite, offer
unlimited storage for less than $55 a year.
(Note that this roundup doesn't include Web sites that are
exclusively dedicated to sharing photos or videos, like Flickr and
MediaFire. It also omits the services intended for sending huge files
to other people, like YouSendIt and SendThisFile; such sites delete
your files after a couple of weeks - not a great feature in a backup
system.)
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/04/technology/04pogue.html
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 17:56:54 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing
Threat, Experts Say
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts Say
By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times
January 7, 2007
In their persistent quest to breach the Internet's defenses, the bad
guys are honing their weapons and increasing their firepower.
With growing sophistication, they are taking advantage of programs
that secretly install themselves on thousands or even millions of
personal computers, band these computers together into an unwitting
army of zombies, and use the collective power of the dragooned
network to commit Internet crimes.
These systems, called botnets, are being blamed for the huge spike in
spam that bedeviled the Internet in recent months, as well as fraud
and data theft.
Security researchers have been concerned about botnets for some time
because they automate and amplify the effects of viruses and other
malicious programs.
What is new is the vastly escalating scale of the problem - and the
precision with which some of the programs can scan computers for
specific information, like corporate and personal data, to drain
money from online bank accounts and stock brokerages.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/technology/07net.html
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 17:58:19 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing
Threat, Experts Say
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/technology/07tips.html
Tips for Protecting the Home Computer
By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times
January 7, 2007
Botnet programs and other malicious software largely take aim at PCs
running the Microsoft Windows operating system, because Windows'
ubiquity makes it fertile ground for network-based attacks.
Using a non-Windows-based PC may be one defense against these
programs, known as malware; also, anti-malware programs and antivirus
utilities for the PC are available from several vendors.
Microsoft entered the computer-security business last year and now
offers a free malware-removal tool for download from its Web site.
The company says the program removes about two million pieces of
malware each month, of which 200,000, or about 10 percent, are botnet
infections.
Like Windows, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is also a large,
convenient target for code-writing vandals. Alternative browsers,
like Firefox and Opera, may insulate users. Microsoft's most recent
browser release, Internet Explorer 7, is said to offer significantly
improved defenses.
Adding software to your browser like Noscript, a plug-in utility, can
limit the ability of remote programs to run potentially damaging
programs on your PC.
Security experts also offer these tips:
?Don't share your computer (on which you pay your bills) with your
children (who download games).
?Use a firewall program that warns you about outgoing connections
that botnets make to communicate with control software.
?Don't use the same password on more than one financial site.
?Don't let your browser store your password for such sites.
?Don't buy anything offered by a spammer.
?Don't click if someone offers you something too good to be true. It is.
JOHN MARKOFF
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 17:58:33 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Tips for Protecting the Home Computer
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/technology/07tips.html
Tips for Protecting the Home Computer
By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times
January 7, 2007
Botnet programs and other malicious software largely take aim at PCs
running the Microsoft Windows operating system, because Windows'
ubiquity makes it fertile ground for network-based attacks.
Using a non-Windows-based PC may be one defense against these
programs, known as malware; also, anti-malware programs and antivirus
utilities for the PC are available from several vendors.
Microsoft entered the computer-security business last year and now
offers a free malware-removal tool for download from its Web site.
The company says the program removes about two million pieces of
malware each month, of which 200,000, or about 10 percent, are botnet
infections.
Like Windows, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is also a large,
convenient target for code-writing vandals. Alternative browsers,
like Firefox and Opera, may insulate users. Microsoft's most recent
browser release, Internet Explorer 7, is said to offer significantly
improved defenses.
Adding software to your browser like Noscript, a plug-in utility, can
limit the ability of remote programs to run potentially damaging
programs on your PC.
Security experts also offer these tips:
?Don't share your computer (on which you pay your bills) with your
children (who download games).
?Use a firewall program that warns you about outgoing connections
that botnets make to communicate with control software.
?Don't use the same password on more than one financial site.
?Don't let your browser store your password for such sites.
?Don't buy anything offered by a spammer.
?Don't click if someone offers you something too good to be true. It is.
JOHN MARKOFF
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 145, Issue 1
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