Peer 2 Peer sharing is basically a network of users that have some kind of Peer 2 Peer software such as Azureus, UTorrent and others. This software allows users to download files and upload files between each other. Although it can be used to share files and information between computers, it is widely used to transfer movies and music which is illegal in most cases. Peer 2 Peer users can get all the latest movies, music, software, pictures and games for free. Many of the Peer 2 Peer websites that host the torrent files (that is what the downloadable files are called) have been closed down or are under pressure to close and reveal the IP addresses of the people downloading the files which break copyright laws. While most people that use Peer 2 Peer don’t see a problem with file sharing, it is open to abuse because it is not monitored by anyone official. This leads to people being able to transfer indecent images and files, such as child pornography and viruses. So in the Peer 2 Peer debate it is split 50% in favour and 50% against.
June 4, 2008
May 14, 2008
Hoaxes
Virus hoaxes are false reports about non-existent viruses, often claiming to do impossible things. Unfortunately some recipients occasionally believe a hoax to be a true virus warning and may take drastic action such as shutting down their network.
These hoaxes are nothing more than a nuisance trying to scare people into deleting files and folders. If you are not sure you can always consult websites that have detailed lists of all the known and current hoaxes.
April 30, 2008
Adware
Adware is a type of advertising software that once on a user’s computer will display advertisements or try to download shareware for many different software products. Basically it is nuisance software that companies use to advertise their products to internet users. The companies that use it see it as a means of recouping some of the costs of e-commerce. A couple of Anti-Adware software packages that i have found are Adaware 2007, Oceanside Adware spyware remover and Spycleaner Gold 9.5.
Spyware
Spyware is a program which tracks and monitors a user as they visit websites and enter personal information. Not only can this program monitor a user’s activity, but it also has the means to redirect a browser to unwanted websites and advertising locations. Spyware can also change the settings on a user’s PC and lead to the loss of programs and files. Anti-Spyware software is now widely used and reconized by the vast majority of computer users. A few examples of Anti-Spyware software are Bazooka Spyware scanner, Advanced Spyware Remover and Spyware terminator.
Mail Bombs
A e-mail bomb or mail bomb is a form of attack by sending massive volumes of email to an address to overwhelm and overflow an inbox. The two ways that this act is perpetrated is by link listing and mass mailing.
Mass mailing consists of sending numerous duplicate mails to the same email ID. These types of mail bombs are simple to design; but due to their extreme simplicity, they can be easily filtered by spam filters. Email-bombing using mass mailing is also commonly performed as a DDoS attack by employing the use of “zombie” botnets, hierarchical networks of computers compromised by malware and under the attacker’s control. Similar to their use in spamming, the attacker instructs the botnet to send out millions or even billions of e-mails, but unlike normal botnet spamming, the e-mails are all addressed to only one or a few addresses the attacker wishes to flood. This form of email bombing is similar in purpose to other DDoS flooding attacks and, because it often targets dedicated hosts that handle the website and e-mail accounts of a business, can be just as devastating to both services of the host. It also is more difficult to defend against than a simple mass-mailing bomb because of the multiple source addresses and the possibility of each zombie computer sending a different message or employing stealth techniques to defeat spam filters.
List linking on the other hand, consists of signing a particular email id up to several subscriptions. This type of bombing is effective as the person has to unsubscribe from all the services manually. In order to prevent this type of bombing, most services send a confirmation email to your inbox when you register for the subscription on that particular website.
January 30, 2008
Different kinds of Anti-Virus software
There are two kinds of anti-virus software, stand alone and memory resident. Stand alone has to be run and the user chooses a file, part of the pc to scan for threats. If a threat is found the user can then delete the problem file or quarantine the file and then try to repair it to return it to it’s original state. Memory resident software does the same as stand alone but is constantly running to protect the users pc, if a threat is found a screen will come up and prompt the user to take action. Most resident anti-virus packages will also scan email and webpages for threats. The anti-virus packages can be constantly updated to ensure that they are protecting against the newest and most recently discovered threats.
