-=PCTechTalk=- Interesting articles

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http://www.technewsworld.com/story/commentary/43413.html

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The Most Powerful Labor Union in the World: Linux?

TechNewsWorld

05/30/05 5:10 AM PT=20

This is power that Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and many governments could =
only dream of having. The power to control the press and the skills =
contained in this organization are likely capable of disrupting travel, =
power grids and other broad national infrastructure systems if their =
demands are not met.

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For several years a number of us have been anticipating the emergence of =
a Software Labor Union. The argument has not been whether it will emerge =
but what form it will take. The conditions for forming technology unions =
have never been better.

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http://www.ciphertrust.com/resources/articles/articles/jaynes.php

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Spammer in the Slammer: Jeremy Jaynes=20

Sentenced to Nine Years

Will other spammers take heed? Don't count on it.

May 2, 2005

Jeremy Jaynes was on top of the world. By age 28, he owned a =
million-dollar home, a high-class restaurant, a chain of gyms and =
countless other toys. Yet those were only the spoils of his main line of =
business, which was swindling innocent people out of their money through =
email scams.=20

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>From an unassuming house serving as his company's headquarters in =
Raleigh, NC, Jaynes sent an estimated ten million messages a day =
pitching products most recipients didn't want, amassing an estimated $24 =
million fortune in the process. Using aliases such as Jeremy James and =
Gaven Stubberfield, Jaynes spammed his way up to the #8 position on =
Spamhaus' Register Of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) and grossed as much =
as $750,000 a month, allowing him to live like a king (but not the Spam =
King).=20

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Last week, though, Jaynes ran head-on into an information superhighway =
road block when a Virginia judge sentenced him to nine years in prison =
for his November conviction on felony charges of using false IP =
addresses to send mass email advertisements (some just call it =
spamming). The conviction was a landmark decision, as Jaynes became the =
first person in the United States convicted of felony spam charges. =
Though his operation was based in North Carolina, Jaynes was tried in =
Virginia because it's home to a large number of the routers that control =
all Internet traffic (it's also the home of AOL and a government =
building or two).=20

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Story URL: =
http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39130830,00.htm=20



Europe home to majority of zombies

Dan Ilett

silicon.com

May 31, 2005

Europe was home to more hacker-controlled (zombie) computers in May than =
anywhere else in the world, according to vendor research.

Zombie computers are typically infected with viruses and used to send =
spam and perform denial of service attacks

Using a tool that can track zombie machines, CipherTrust found that 26 =
per cent of them were hosted in European countries, with most of them in =
Germany (six per cent), France (five per cent) and the UK (three per =
cent).

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http://www.ciphertrust.com/resources/statistics/zombie.php

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CipherTrust's ZombieMeterSM tracks worldwide zombie activity in =
real-time. With more than 1,500 enterprise customers, CipherTrust has a =
very broad, unique view of the Internet and potential threats as they =
happen across the globe. By monitoring global messaging activity and =
identifying behavioral patterns, CipherTrust can continue to provide =
predictive protection against threats before they emerge.

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Through data received from the Company's global network of IronMail=AE =
appliances, which protect more than 10 million enterprise e-mail =
inboxes, the ZombieMeterSM tracks the number of new, completely unique =
zombies per hour, every hour. Visitors can view real-time updates =
regarding new zombie activity across the world, including the =
origination of messages and the number of machines affected by zombie =
activity.

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http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/zombie/

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Spammers use home computers to send bulk emails by the millions. They =
take advantage of security weaknesses to install hidden software that =
turns consumer computers into mail or proxy servers. They route bulk =
email through these "spam zombies," obscuring its true origin.=20

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As part of a worldwide effort to prevent these abuses, the FTC announces =
"Operation Spam Zombies." In partnership with 20 members of the London =
Action Plan and 16 additional government agencies from around the world, =
the Commission is sending letters to more than 3000 Internet service =
providers (ISPs) internationally, encouraging them to take the following =
zombie-prevention measures:

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http://geeks.com/pix/techtips-110404.htm

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5 ways to backup your data...

The data on your hard drive is the most critical item inside your =
computer, and the only item which can not be replaced. It may be an =
unwanted hassle and expense to replace a defective memory module, =
monitor, or processor, but there is no replacing data once lost.

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In addition to the possibility of a simple hard drive failure, the =
threat of internet borne worms and viruses has become an increasing risk =
to data loss or corruption. Although you may not be able to provide =
absolute protection to your hard drive, there are various ways that you =
can ensure that the data on your hard drive is protected. Five methods =
of backing up your data are summarized below.=20

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http://geeks.com/pix/techtips-19MAY05.htm

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CPU Socket Basics, Part 1=20

Intel:Although there are currently only two main players in the CPU =
market, AMD and Intel, the number of choices is still enough to make the =
typical consumer's head spin. Each manufacturer has a few different =
models to promote, and many of these models can be found in a few =
different form factors (namely, the "sockets" to which they connect) =
that exclude interchangeability.

=20

This two-part series of Tech Tips will look at a few details of each of =
the currently-supported CPU (Central Processing Unit) sockets and how =
they are all similar and different from one to another. First up, we =
will take a look at the CPU sockets supporting modern Intel processors.

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http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_22/b3935001_mz001.htm

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Hacker Hunters=20

An elite force takes on the dark side of computing=20

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In an unmarked building in downtown Washington, Brian K. Nagel and 15 =
other Secret Service agents manned a high-tech command center, poised =
for the largest-ever roundup of a cybercrime gang. A huge map of the =
U.S., spread across 12 digital screens, gave them a view of their prey, =
from Arizona to New Jersey. It was Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004, and Operation =
Firewall was about to be unleashed. The target: the ShadowCrew, a gang =
whose members were schooled in identity theft, bank account pillage, and =
the fencing of ill-gotten wares on the Web, police say. For months, =
agents had been watching their every move through a clandestine gateway =
into their Web site, shadowcrew.com. To ensure the suspects were at =
home, a gang member-turned-informant had pressed his pals to go online =
for a group meeting

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Life is what happens in between plans.

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