SEARS, SPYWARE & ONLINE PRIVACY

Sears has been caught installing spyware that silently tracks all Internet usage – including banking logins, e-mail, and all web sites visited – in the name of a nonexistent online “community,” with virtually no disclosure of the invasive...

HP LAPTOP INSECURITY

There’s another example in the news of bad guys turning away from attacks on Windows and finding vulnerabilities in other programs. In my mind, it’s another striking reason to remove every bit of preinstalled software from new computers and remain very...

WINDOWS LIVE ONECARE 2.0 UPGRADE NOTES

The upgrade to Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is being rolled out this week to many OneCare users. A few of them have reported confusion or problems with the upgrade. Here are some of the situations I’ve run into recently. WHAT TO DO IF THE UPGRADE FAILS A few people...

THE BAD GUYS NEVER STOP

Google has just purged its index of thousands of malware sites that were being displayed in results lists for hundreds of innocuous search phrases. It’s a quick end to a huge attack that could have caused a global uproar. The criminals registered tens of...

COMPUTER SHOPPING 2007

Thinking about a new computer – home, home office, small business? Let me give you some generalizations that will help you get started. (As always, gamers will be looking for faster processors and hard drives, more memory, and – particularly important...

PAYPAL FOR NON-PAYPAL SITES

PayPal has a new service for making payments through its system on websites that don’t take PayPal directly.When you set up a free PayPal account (a login name and password), it’s linked to one of your bank accounts. When you pay through your PayPal...