protection

ENCRYPTION What is it? Does it work?

encryption

Are your bank accounts and passwords safe? Are your browser settings where they should be? Is your computer slow because it’s busy sending your personal information to Russia?

Don’t become the fly in the ointment by thinking that your Firewall, Antivirus, or ISP is going to protect your data. Use encryption all the way to the file level. Have you altered or lowered your browser setting recently? Set them back where they belong. Your protection is only as good as you allow it to be. Protect yourself.

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PC PITSTOP FIGHTS SCAREWARE – AV2008(9)

scare

This happened just 2 days ago. On Saturday I installed a new copy of Windows XP. It was a brand new copy and I put it on a brand new hard drive for the purpose of software testing. I finished the install and applied the drivers. I was behind a router which acts as a firewall. I opened the IE browser and went to a favorite site. I read the forums and exactly 23 minutes after the install I was receiving AV2009 popups. It’s scare ware. It told me I was infected and needed to download their program to remove the threat. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even have an email client installed, no Instant Messenger.

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Emergency Security Patch Issued By Microsoft

exterminate1

URGENT Install Immediately: PC Pitstop recommends installing this latest (958644) Microsoft security patch now.

On October 22, Microsoft released security patches for all versions of Windows listed below. This “out-of-cycle” patch was released in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 . Its sudden release only serves to emphasize its importance. You can check your add/remove programs sections to see if the patch was automatically installed (be sure to check the “show updates” box).

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VIRUS WARS I

top10

Six months ago, if you had asked me “which is the bigger problem, viruses or spyware”, I would have said spyware. That is the exact time you should have given me a swift kick to my chair shaped rear

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A Video is Worth a Hundred Blogs

I was shocked when Dell announced their first battery recall in August 2006, quickly followed by Apple. Being cynical by nature, the only reason that these companies would proactively do an expensive battery recall was to limit liability on a potentially explosive (pun intended) issue. I talked to numerous industry vets and learned that the potential exists for many more battery explosions and recalls. At PC Pitstop, I made it our mission to inform the public of the danger of battery fires, and practical tips to avoid them.

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Playing with Fire III

Last night, before I went to bed, the battery in my notebook felt a little hot. All these crazy thoughts went through my head. Was this the first sign before it explodes? What would I do if my notebook exploded in the middle of the night? Perhaps, I was being paranoid, but I pulled the battery out of my portable before drifting off to sleep.

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Notebook PC Explodes

We intentionally created conditions in which the Li-ON battery pack would explode inside a generic portable. The results are dramatic. There are numerous conditions where these fires can occur in real life. Faulty battery packs (driving the recalls), faulty protection circuits inside the PC, exposure to excessive heat, and blunt force are some of the major ways that this could happen to you.

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Playing with Fire: Part II

Tony Olson
CEO D2 Worldwide

Rob: Hi, this is Rob Cheng. It’s October 13th, 2006. I’m here with Tony Olson who is an old friend of mine that I worked with at Gateway. He was the Vice President of Engineering. Tony started a brand new company called D2 Worldwide and he has a lot of insight into the portables and what’s going on there. Tony, first tell me a little bit about D2 Worldwide and how you learned so much about the portables.

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Playing with Fire

Last month, Dell announced they would be replacing over 4 million batteries from notebook computers shipped worldwide during the last 2 years. Shortly, after that Apple announced a similar recall on a smaller scale. Doing a recall on this magnitude is an extremely expensive and complex task, and PC Pitstop applauds these companies for leading the way. The reality is that all portables running LiON batteries have some probability of exploding. Apple and Dell owners should be pleased, not dismayed, that their manufacturers chose to be the leaders in alerting their users to the risks of portable computing.

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FREE Protection vs Paid Protection from Spyware

There is no doubt that the lines are being drawn for a galactic cyber battle for control over your PC and your desktop. Spyware and adware companies make barrels of money installing their clandestine applications on your PC without your knowledge. Even for an advanced user, typically the most expedient solution is to install an anti spyware product. This article will take an in depth look at the various anti spyware solutions we have seen at PC Pitstop. During this discussion, the reader should refer to our anti spyware graph from our research section.

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