Recent Articles

Is PCI Compliance a Law?

Should it be?

Is PCI compliance a law? The short answer is no. The long answer is that while it is not currently

a federal law, there are state laws that are already in effect (and some that may go into effect) to

force components of the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) into law. In addition, there is a

big push by legislatures and industry trade association to enact a federal law around data

security and breach notification.

Read more...


http://www.pcicomplianceguide.org/

breathe new life into your PC.

Today I would like to share some quick tips on hardware upgrades for your PC

My PC runs like Molasses: How can I speed it up?

Remember when your PC was a few hours old? It booted up like greased lightening and was generally chipper when loading and running your applications; everything just seemed perfect. As time moves on you may notice that your PC isn't running like it used to run; it has a lethargic, snail-like feel when running applications, and the time it takes to boot up into a usable state just keeps increasing. What's going on here?

As you install more and more applications, filling up every corner of your hard drive, subtle and invisible changes may occur inside your XP system. You may not even realize it, but a lot of applications install little hidden services that ride in from disk at boot time, residing in vital memory, hogging essential resources, and increasing the time it takes for XP to boot up. These services--a lot of them being nonessential--can range from services that check for updates for a certain application to obnoxious spyware.

To put the much needed spring back into your PC's step, your computer may be in need of more elbow room--RAM--and a few software tweaks that'll get your PC running like a champ again. There're multitudes of settings you can adjust and software tweaks that you can apply; let's get started with a popular hardware performance boost that's sure to pep up your PC.

Increasing your PC's workspace Real Estate

You wouldn't work on your desktop PC in the backseat of your car, would you? Aside from being terribly uncomfortable, you wouldn't have enough elbow room to work efficiently, performing a cumbersome balancing act between your keyboard and mouse and the rest of your peripherals. For the same reason, the less "workspace" your PC has to manage its data with, the more

inefficient and sluggish it will seem.

Your PC's workspace is its RAM--random access memory. Simply put, the more memory your PC has to work with, the quicker it'll seem to operate. When your PC is taxed for memory space, it must perform a complex juggling act, constantly swapping data back and forth from RAM and the slower hard drive; this is when computing operations begin to lag.

Give your computer more "work space" by increasing its amount of RAM. Before you run out and get more memory, you'll need to check your motherboard's specs to find out what type of RAM it requires. PC32000 DDR SDRAM is a popular type along with the quicker DDR2 variety. PC's of yesteryear may still use the considerably slower PC100 or PC133 memory. If you're running XP and have less than 512 megabytes of memory, an upgrade to 1 gig will certainly improve your system's overall performance.

If you are confused about what type of memory your PC - my favorite is try out the memory scanner by Crucial Technology. Their online test http://www.crucial.com/ will scan your desktop or even your laptop PC and determine what memory you can upgrade too. Plus you can purchase from them direct or the same type of memory elsewhere

Installing memory on your PC is a lot easier than you think - and can be done typically in five minutes or less to give your PC a real boost.

Good Advice From Snopes FYI

Get Good Advice From Snopes FYI

By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with www.snopes.com and/or www.truthorfiction.com for determining whether information received via email

Is just that: true/false, or fact/fiction. Both are excellent sites.
This advice from Snopes.Com is excellent and very important!

1) Any time you see an e-mail that says:

"forward this on to '10' (or however-many) of your friends",

"sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck",

"you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever
it almost ALWAYS has an e-mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies
and e-mail addresses of those folks you forward to.

The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded
And then is able to get lists of 'active' e-mail addresses to use in

SPAM e-mails, or sell to other Spammers..

Even when you get e-mails that demand you send the email on
if you're not ashamed of God/Jesus .....

that's e-mail tracking and they're playing on our conscience. These
people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as

They get them.

Also, e-mails that talk about a missing child or a child with an
incurable disease - "how would you feel if that was your child".....

E-mail tracking!!! Ignore them and don't participate!

2) Almost all e-mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others
are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business
cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of
Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of e-mail is,
is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking information for telemarketers and
spammers - - to validate active e-mail accounts for their own profitable
Purposes.

You can do your friends and family members a GREAT favor by sending this
information to them; you will be providing a service to your friends, and will
be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam e-mailsin the future!

If you have been sending out (FORWARDING) the above kinds of e-mail, you now
Know why you get so much SPAM!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listings
regardless of how inviting they might sound or make you feel guilty if you

Don't!... it's all about getting email addresses - nothing more!

You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT!

Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus
attached! Plus, you are helping the spammers get rich! Let's not make it
Easy for them!

Also: E-mail petitions are NOT acceptable to White House, Congress or any other
organization -i.e. Social Security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions must have a
signed signature and full address of the person signing the petition,
So this is a waste of time and you're just helping the e-mail trackers.

Please read the full story here:http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp
Also: when forwarding mail, delete the senders name and e-mail address before
forwarding. You can do this after you click "forward," then just backspace the
names and e-mail addresses of those who sent it to you off of the e-mail that you are forwarding.

Rosemarie Grabowski
PC Security & Identity
Theft Protection
308 687 6085

www.snopes.com

www.truthorfiction.com

Methods To A Better Performing Computer - Breathe New Life In Your Computer

Follow these instructions regularly and you'll breathe new life into your PC.
Now its time to get focus on mastering Windows
Windows Explorer: Basic File System Navigation
Many novices find the Windows file system enigmatic and confusing. What's the deal with the "C" and "A" drive? What's with all those folders inside the main Windows folder? Most beginning PC users don't know the first place to start when learning the ropes.
It's really quite simple, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be creating, deleting and shuttling files to and fro, organizing hierarchies of folders, and navigating XP's file system like a pro. Let's take it step by step.
A Digital File Cabinet
Think of your PC's hard drive as a massive file cabinet that'll store your computer's content: digital images of your last family gathering; all of your precious mp3s; important productivity applications like MS Word and Excel. It stores everything so that you can access, modify, or delete your files when you choose to do so. If you need to access anything digital--software, files, XP--it'll be located on your PC's hard drive.
Windows Explorer: A File System Interface

Now that you know the basic purpose of your hard drive--storage medium--let's discuss XP's powerful built-in navigation application: Windows Explorer. Explorer allows you to peer into your hard drive, organizing your applications, files, and folders into a visual hierarchy. Because of Windows Explorer's method of visually presenting your content, searching and sifting through your files becomes a cakewalk, especially when your PC's content grows, your software and files accumulating as time passes. Let's fire up Windows Explorer and get to know this essential

Windows program.

Check and see if your desktop contains a "My Computer" icon; if so, double tap on it to run Explorer. You can also access "My Computer" from the start menu. If you're like me, you enjoy instant gratification. A convenient shortcut key combo is "Windows Key+E". Most keyboards have a "Windows Key" located in between the "Ctrl" and "Alt" keys; it'll have the little Windows logo on it. This nice little shortcut will instantly fire up Explorer for you without your lifting a finger to manipulate the cursor.

Take a look at the little icons inside the Explorer Window. You'll see various icons labeled with a letter beside them. These lettered icons represent your various hard disk, floppy, CD, and DVD drives. Other drives may be in the mix as well--USB thumb drives and suchlike. It's common for your main hard drive to be labeled as your "C" drive for historical reasons. Your "C" drive is where Windows stores its essential files needed for operation and, inside the "Programs Files" folder, where most of your applications will reside after installation.

Basic Navigation

Basic navigation across each folder is accomplished by double tap on the folder icon itself; this operation will place you inside of said folder. This is a good time to make sure that you have the "Standard Button" toolbar displayed in Explorer. This toolbar contains a "Back" button that, when pressed, will allow you move back into the folder you came from. If you don't see this toolbar, go to the "View" menu on Windows Explorer and slide out the "Toolbars" pop out menu, and make sure that "Standard Buttons" is checked.

Along with your drives, you'll see a folder named after your login username. For example, my username is "liquidbinary", so I see a folder named "liquidbinary's documents". This private folder is a little piece of space that Windows sets aside just for you. You can do anything within this folder. It's your personal cubby hole for all of your documents, and any user with lesser system privileges than you will not be able to navigate to your private folder; it'll be off limits to them. Let's explore the contents of your personal folder right now.

Windows usually creates default folders for different file types. For instance, Windows created a "Music" and "Pictures" folder for me. To better organize your documents directory, you can create as many folders as you desire. Let's suppose you want a special folder used only for your MS Word documents. To create one, go to the "File" menu in Windows Explorer and go to

"New". A slide out menu should pop out; select "Folder". Windows will create a folder aptly named "New Folder". Change the file name to "word docs". Double tap on your new folder's icon. You shouldn't see anything, as you've not stored anything in this folder yet. Now go back into your documents folder by pressing the "Back" button located on the toolbar. You should be back in your "My Documents" directory now.

File Basics manipulation

Windows Explorer not only lets you transverse your folder hierarchy, but it also allows you to modify folders and files. Basic file and folder manipulation operations include moving, copying, and deleting. As an example, let's create a new folder and move the "word docs" folder into this new folder. Create a new folder inside your main "My Documents" folder; name it whatever you like. Now, to move your "word docs" folder inside your new folder, simply drag and drop it on top of its icon. Your "word docs" folder should now reside inside of another folder.

Once you've learned a few navigation fundamentals with Windows Explorer, you'll be able to easily move from folder to folder, create, copy, and delete files, and generally get a broad understanding of the layout of your various hard drives.

Don't want to waste time with your PC problems? I can save you money from high cost PC repairs. Give me a call for more information on hassle-free computing and making being on the computer fun again. You'll be able to relax with true peace of mind.

New Life In Your Computer

Rosemarie Grabowski

308 687 6085

http://www.topsecretfreereport.com/makeadifference-x

Are You Using A ATM Is It safe?

Monitoring all your accounts is important, but these days you want to pay particular attention to what's going on in your checking and savings accounts, because thieves increasingly target bank accounts.

Posted on ZDNet

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls, the newspaper said, citing current and former U.S. national security officials.

The intruders have not sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure but officials said they could try during a crisis or war, the paper said in a report on its website.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," a senior intelligence official told the Journal. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the United States and does not target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official.

"There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official told the paper, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama was not immediately available for comment on the newspaper report.

Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on."

Officials said water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk.

Protecting the electrical grid and other infrastructure is a key part of the Obama administration's cybersecurity review, which is to be completed next week.

The sophistication of the U.S. intrusions, which extend beyond electric to other key infrastructure systems, suggests that China and Russia are mainly responsible, according to intelligence officials and cybersecurity specialists.

While terrorist groups could develop the ability to penetrate U.S. infrastructure, they do not appear to have yet mounted attacks, these officials say.

http://www.news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-286465.html?tag=nl.e539

Source code for Skype eavesdropping trojan in the wild

Earlier this week, Swiss programmer Ruben Unteregger who has been reportedly working for a Swiss company ERA IT Solutions responsible for coding government sponsored spyware, has released the source code of a trojan horse that injects code into the Skype process in order to convert the incoming and outgoing voice data into an encrypted MP3 available at the disposal of the attacker.

Here’s how the trojan, currently detected as Trojan.Peskyspy, works:

"When the Trojan is executed, it injects a thread into the Skype process and hooks a number of API calls, allowing it to intercept all PCM audio data going between the Skype process and underlying audio devices.

Note: Since the Trojan listens to the data coming to and from the audio devices, it gathers the audio independently of any application-specific protocols or encryption applied by Skype when it passes voice data at the network level.

Note:
The incoming and outgoing audio data are stored in separate .mp3 files.

• The Trojan also opens a back door on the compromised computer, allowing an attacker to perform the following actions:
• - Send the .mp3 to a predetermined location
• - Download an updated version
• - Delete the Trojan from the compromised computer"

Rosemarie Grabowski
PC Security & Identity
Theft Protection
308 687 6085
topsecretfreereport.com/makeadifference-x

Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now

Follow these instructions regularly and you'll breathe new life into your PC.

Breathe New Life In Your Computer Follow these instructions regularly and you'll breathe new life into your PC.

So, you've increased your system's memory threefold, bumped up performance by installing a bigger, faster hard drive, and performed a CPU transplant to pump up your PC's processing cycles. Now what? This is the fifth of six methods that will result in much better computer performance. Well, hardware upgrades can certainly reinvigorate a feeble computer, but did you know what Windows comes equipped with many software-oriented tools to boost your PC's performance?

Windows Vista introduces a new Control Panel Applet that not only looks pretty but also houses some very useful programs that one can use to tweak and optimize their system. To access the Control Panel Applet, navigate to the start menu, Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Performance Information and Tools; the tools you'll need are located on the left side. The Advanced tools link also contains some very useful options that you'll want to experiment with.

It's certainly a shame that most of these performance-boosting tools remain buried deep within Windows, leaving most average PC users clueless as to their existence. Vista's predecessors offered many of these same tools, but, again, were hard to find. Vista makes these tools more accessible, but are still not as obvious as one would hope they would be. Let's take a look at some of these optimizing utilities that can shift your OS into a higher gear, shall we?

Clandestine Optimization Tools

There are a number of settings that you can adjust and configure that can improve your Windows Vista/XP/2000 PC's performance. You can access these settings by right clicking on the Start menu button and selecting "properties"; next, select on the enabled "Customize" button. Under the Advanced tab, make sure that you've enabled the "Display on the All Programs menu" under the System Administrative Tools options.

RAM: Random Access Memory

Your PC uses its RAM as a sort of holding tank for data that it's currently processing or needs to access quickly. If you're experiencing sluggish performance, this could be due to a problem with your computer's memory. This isn't really an issue if you're running Vista, as Vista will usually automatically detect any memory problems, and if it finds any, it will automatically run the Memory Diagnostic tool. For peace of mind, you can run this utility any time you want, as it's located in the Administrative Tools menu.

When you fire up the Memory Diagnostic tool, your PC will reboot itself into an all text screen, a far cry from the fancy windowed GUIs we've all become accustomed to. For an expanded list of options, press the F1 key. When faced with the textual interface, you'll need to select from the Basic, Standard, and Extended tests. Opting for the Basic test, along with the default settings for the Cache and Pass Count, is usually good enough to detect most problems. Hit the F10 key to begin the test.

The duration of the memory test should be around a few minutes. When the test concludes, Vista will reboot itself. If no problems or errors were detected, Vista will display this fact in the system tray. If problems with your RAM were found, replacing your defunct memory modules will usually solve the problem.

Pruning the Service List

Have you ever noticed that when you boot up your PC for the first time Windows boots up at a snappy pace? But after enough time and a few dozen application installs, the time it takes Windows to boot up into a fully usable state seems to take ages. Why is this? Well, the problem is probably the startup services that Windows loads whenever you reboot your PC. The more services Windows needs to load, the longer it'll take Windows to get into a usable state. A lot of these services aren't really essential and can be disabled at your whim. The less services you have running around in memory, the faster your computer will be.

There's one caveat to heed, though: be sure to set a System Restore point and to back up your registry before altering or disabling any of your service settings. You don't want to inadvertently disable an essential system service, realizing that you've effectively rendered your computer useless. You should not disable a service you don't fully understand, and it's a good idea to only disable one service at a time, determining whether your system will remain stable after said service is turned off.

Once again, navigate to the Administrative Tools menu and select the Services item. You should see a dialog box that displays all the services--either running or disabled--on your system. A short description should be visible to the right of each service. Remember do not randomly disable any service you don't understand the purpose of!

Startup Speedups

When using XP or 2000, go to the start menu and choose run; type in "msconfig" without the quotes and hit enter. You'll be presented with the System Configuration dialog window. In Vista, these same settings can be altered in the System Configuration menu.

Inside XP's System Configuration Utility, navigate to the Startup tab; peruse the list, disabling any program that isn't necessary. A lot of the startup items listed here aren't important and should be disabled if you don't need them, effectively expelling them your PC's precious memory. The leaner you can make this Startup list, the better and more efficient your computer will run.

Aside from adding faster and more powerful hardware to your box to improve overall system performance, these are several software tacks that you can take to give your PC a little more pep.

Don't want to waste time with your PC problems? I can save you money from high cost PC repairs. Give me a call for more information on hassle-free computing and making being on the computer fun again. You'll be able to relax with true peace of mind.


Sincerely,
Rosemarie Grabowski
308 687 6085