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**** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes ****
Burn a DVD in 10 minutes
Leapfrogging the DVD-R format, the DVD+RW Alliance announced a standard that doubles the write speed of DVDs with an 8-speed DVD+R/+RW specification running at 88MegaBytes/sec, allowing a DVD to be written in under 10 minutes. Alliance members, like giant HP, should have suitable DVD hardware in a few months, in the wake of increasing uptake in the +RW format over the older -RW format.
Fake patches that don't
Virus-borne emails are getting sassier - or at least their writers are. Recent mails purporting to supply Windows users with patches that update their security do just the opposite. Victims may realise (probably too late) that Microsoft never sends out updates via email. Although the email wording of the so-called "Swen-A" or "Gibe-F" virus looks technical and convincing enough, tell-tale signs are minor grammar errors, a bogus Microsoft Network (MSN) address and the fact that emails include an executable attachment - a sure way to render your system insecure! Get regular updates from the MS web site at windowsupdate.com. More in Keeping Windows up-to-date. How to tell genuine MS notifications.
Exploding PDAs - only in Europe
Europeans lapped up PDAs and smart phones, like the Sony Ericsson P800 and the Microsoft/Orange SPV, to the tune of 225% more than the second quarter last year. Take out the smart phones element and that's still 42% growth on pure PDAs. Everywhere else in the world, shipments fell around 10%. Source: IDC, Canalys
ISPs - Whose band is broadest?
According to ADSLGuide.org.uk the 10 fastest broadband ISPs in August were: Nildram
Eclipse Internet, Zen Internet, PlusNet,
Demon,
Pipex, BT Openworld, BT Broadband, Freedom 2 Surf and Clara.net.
Results are only for entry-level ADSL products.
Is Linux a viable alternative?
Novell, HP and LinuxUser & Developer magazine come together in presenting a series of free nationwide briefings exploring the latest developments. Online booking available.
Recycle old mobile phones for charity
"Use your phone to generate money". Not scam, but a laudable scheme for recycling for recycling mobile phones and simultaneously raising funds for Trinity Hospice. Mobiles must be four years old or less. www.trinityhospice.org.uk
Pay-as-you-bop
On the heels and in the mould of Apple's iTunes music download service, Microsoft has launched Western Europe's first pay-as-you-go version called MSN Music Club. Windows Media 9 users can link directly to the site from the Services tab, building their personal media collection from a subscription-free library of 200,000 songs, including major stars like Robbie Williams. With downloads starting at 62p a track, clubbers can choose from a temporary download (listen on your PC only, no copying) or a permanent download (burn the track to a CD to keep). Freely available on the site are 30-second preview clips but all songs are available only in Windows Media Audio file (WMA) format.
Mile-high Wi-Fi
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has approved trials of its airborne Internet service and will be fitting out long-distance airliners. Following in the slipstream of Lufthansa, broadband access will be available from February 2004 via Boeing's Connexion system with wireless LAN sockets being provided in aircraft seats to connect laptops for Internet and email access.
Broadband phones
Due early in 2004 is Intel's PXA800EF, a single chip designed for mobile phones and broadband applications. Increasing data transmission 2 to 3 times faster than current existing GSM/GPRS networks (so-called 2.5G), Intel's world-first employs its EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) wireless networks technology, bundling a 312MHz processor and 4MB of Flash memory on board. All for under US$30, but only if you buy 100,000 or so.
**** end of NewsBytes ****
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1. Keeping Windows up-to-date. Mission impossible ?
In the aftermath of numerous viruses like Blaster/Lovsan and SoBig exploiting holes in Windows technology, users are asking whether maintaining a secure system is a utopia, not a practical goal. | |||
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From the media hysteria over recent virus attacks, you'd think that there was no means of plugging the holes that these viruses exploit. In fact, Microsoft provides three tool for discovering and handling security updates to its Windows operating systems so that flaws and holes are patched up as soon as possible before intruders and their malicious programs, Trojans, sneak into your network and abuse those flaws for their own purposes.
Finding outPatches announcements are placed on the Microsoft security bulletin site but by filling in a short form (that doesn't require a Microsoft .NET Passport account), you can be subscribe to their email notification service and receive alerts in your inbox when security updates are released.On 3rd September alone, Microsoft issued 5 security alerts so it's worth keeping in touch.
Patching a PCFor a network of less than 10 workstations, PCs can be updated simply with a personal visit to connect them to Microsoft's windowsupdate.com service. This free updater quite cleverly analyses your machine and determines which critical, feature and service updates are needed. The first ones are the essential ones to fix security holes.A degree of automation can be added here simply by setting up the Scheduled Tasks feature of Windows. In fact, later versions of the Automatic Updates software (found in Control Panel) do this for you. Some industry analysts are questioning whether future versions of the Windows should maybe have the Auto Update activated by default because computer users represent the weakest link in the security chain, and rarely activate the feature for themselves. However, as anyone who has set up this scenario quickly discovers, your Internet connection rapidly begins to take a regular hammering, especially where machines are scheduled or manually activated to collect updates at the same time and that means other the speed of your other services, like browsing and email, are then devastated. Indeed, even if you're happy with Microsoft's track record on getting patches right first time, it's questionable if Microsoft's own service could supply enough bandwidth to update all the Windows PCs in the world if the latter were configured to demand them.
Distributing patches via your networkFor larger organisations or those with limited IT support, Microsoft provides 2 service mechanisms for keeping up-to-date automatically.Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 provides a means for distributing whole suites of applications (like Office XP) from a central point, but more specifically, Software Update Services (SUS) deploys patches in a similar manner. Although these are tools aimed at people with administrator-level experience, they do take the headache out of applying Windows security updates and patches in a similar manner to anti-virus distribution. How SUS works A specially-configured SUS server gathers downloads from the Windows Update site and stores them locally. An administrator (you perhaps) chooses which software to approve to be made available for updating your in-house Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional workstations and/or other Windows 2000-based servers. It's a bit like having a version of the Windows Update web site for installation inside your firewall.
So you just download the updates once to your SUS server and then roll them out to your networked PCs automatically. A schedule can be implemented to synchronise the updates with Microsoft's releases say at 3am when your own network is unused and PC clients fetch updates over your network during their idle times. What SUS needs You need a SUS server to distribute from that has at least a Pentium III processor and 6GB disc space free. The SUS server operating system must be Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server (all with Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, and the Windows Server 2003 family.
For more information, read the Software Update Services Deployment White Paper: AlternativesApart from the prohibitively crippling strategy of not having any electronic contact outside of your organisation - the ultimate firewall being a physical one - a switch to Linux operating systems has been mooted by many as a suitable alternative with its inherent robustness and, at present, lower susceptibility to external attacks.How to make it happenTalk to us here to determine your best updates strategy.Contacts
-IB-
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2. Wireless at home - from desktop to deckchair
Email was hailed as the "killer application". | ||||
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Having wireless access to the Internet at home is the coolest thing since email. It can transform your life.
You can do stuff like accessing the office database, instant email, surfing the web, anytime, anywhere.
And a broadband connection like ADSL makes a perfect fit with a wire-free environment. The shift happens quite subtly in that you start to use it without thinking about the process of connecting, allowing you concentrate on your ideas and intentions; actions such as ...
Instead flip open your laptop or touch your PDA and browse. Later when you go into the office or study you can just login to the office network, no wires needed. BenefitsWireless encounters of a different kind
How to make it happenIf you do one thing this year - do this !'Couch potato-dom' is just a click away! ContactsLearn more about wireless networking.-IB- Phil Anthony |
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3. Fraudulent use of your email addresses ?
A few cases came to light recently ... but are they genuine ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Barely a day goes by now without clients getting email bounces claiming they had sent messages to non-existent addresses. The original messages are usually of a spam-derived or fraudulent nature (unsolicited commercial email) and this very fact suggests the source was unlikely to originate from a client, especially among the not-for-profit sector. If this sounds like it has happened to your organisation, it's worth knowing the difference between fraudulent use of your organisation's name and/or fraudulent use of your address or domain.
Let's take a recent case study of goat sanctuary, GroatsForGoats.org.
Recently I have been receiving complaints from people saying they've been contacted by someone claiming to represent GroatsForGoats and using the e-mail address GroatsForGoats@netherhurst.com. The first thing to say would be :
Dear Fundraiser, Making it stopKnowing that "The e-mails are in French and claim to originate from West Africa" is a good start.There are two things that "Fundraiser" could do:
Private investigations
In this case, we found that netherhurst.com appeared to be a bone fide trader, especially as it listed real people on its web site with phone numbers we could actually ring them on - another good channel of investigation. The company and domain seemed unlikely to be managed out of West Africa. Thus, there is a high possibility that the email address GroatsForGoats@netherhurst.com is itself being abused by a third (possibly French) party. That is, it may be that someone is using this address to send junk email, etc. A world of impostorsThere are certain legitimate methods for using an alternative email address.A number of webmail clients are provided domain registrars that allow you to alter your "From:" address to anything you like so that you can vary the part in front of the @ symbol - a valid action. However, such ISPs have built-in authentication and will rapidly shut down accounts where people use their addresses and domains for bulk mailing. Again the full mail header will reveal which ISP first authenticated and accepted the email on to the Internet.
In a test submitted from the fictional netherhurst.com web site, we entered testfrom@coopsys.net in the From address, but the mailserver responsible for accepting it was the www3.netherhurst.com mailer connected to its Apache-based site and the fact that it did so is clearly specified in the Return Path. What if someone really is (ab)using your domain?This is unfortunately becoming more and more common ...but also ... If you find you yourself receiving returns (bounces) for mail you are extremely unlikely to have sent (eg medical advertising) then the latter is very probably the cause. How to make it happen
Related articlesLearn more about email and spam.Email and blocking lists IB July 2003 Will email become unusable? IB February 2003. Tips on preventing spam "Your privacy on the line" IB November 2002 A simple way to combat spam via secondary Webmail, IB March 2002 Change your diet - prevent spam IB October 2002 Opt-in only E-Privacy directive -IB- Acknowledgements: Philip Anthony, Paul Craig |
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4. RIP - getting in on the Act
Andy Robson takes us through a roundup of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and how it affects our IT systems and responsibilities. | ||
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In 1997, with New Labour in power with an agenda of modernisation, the new medium of the Internet was in full swing. This represented something that the Government could neither understand nor fully control. There was also a growing feeling within the spirit of modernisation that the existing laws on phone tapping and other electronic surveillance were inadequate - in particular the Interception of Communications Act 1985. Also some feared that criminals, terrorists and paedophiles were using the Internet for malicious purposes and believed new powers were needed to deal with these issues.
Enter the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which received its Royal Assent on 28th July 2000. The Act itself has been criticised by a range of groups, including the Internet industry, human rights groups and many foreign commentators. These various groups have declared it too draconian, an infringement of human rights, ineffective for its own purposes and an unnecessary burden upon e-Commerce in the UK. Trade unions opposed the Act because of the inclusion of legal interception to monitor anyone communicating to a 'common purpose'. The problem with the Act is that it is difficult to understand and almost three years after it has come into force it is not yet clear how exactly much of it can be implemented. Consultation for a code of conduct has just been completed, but the results are yet to be fully published. Although there has been a fall in the number of warrants issued, the scope and extent of each warrant has been extended - so it is probable that there is more surveillance rather than less.
However, most worrying is that the Act (under Part 3) introduces two new crimes punishable with:
The implication of the first is that - regardless of the nature of the data - you must disclose all passwords if an order is made. In some cases a plain text version of the data requested could be supplied instead but in practice plain text is only practical if an ISP is being asked for email copies. This applies if your computer is seized and parts of it are encrypted or you happen to hold an encryption key or password for a communication or document sent by a third party. The problem with this is that a terrorist, organised criminal or a paedophile faces longer sentences if they co-operate. This actually prompted some calls for the penalties for non-disclosure to be significantly increased. This has been widely criticised as effectively criminalising the forgetful and the incompetent and shifting the onus of proof from one of presumed innocence to a presumption of guilt. Whilst at the same time having very little impact on its intended targets - the real criminals. The second new offence is potentially even more worrying. Picture this:
A humble IT/network manager has a notice served on them requiring that they reveal company secrets and personal data about friends and colleagues. They cannot tell their boss, spouse or assistant. Doing so means facing up to five years in prison. To date, none has been prosecuted and this is part of the Act. So we don't yet know how a jury may react to being asked to jailing someone for telling his wife he is stressed at work because he is helping the police to spy on his boss or he can't find the Post-It note with the password on. The Act is divided into five parts.
There is also a provision in Part I for the authorities to request communications data - also known as reverse directory look-up. The commissioner/Chief Constable can authorise a request for basic information such as who owns a given web site and their name and address. Access to more detailed information will require a warrant.
However there is an exemption to this - "special circumstance". For instance where the police may not trust an ISP (or other person) or that person or ISP is under investigation.
Tried but not testedIt has yet to be come clear how effective, damaging or workable the RIPA will prove to be.
The first test case in July 2002 of the RIPA saw Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, rule that ISPs may legally intercept any e-mail at the request of the Police once they receive the formal notification. SummaryThe RIPA is a long and complicated law and it may take many years and many test cases to clarify its various parts. By then, of course, new laws will be on the statute books. The Anti-Terrorism and Crime Security (Act 2001) - which has been passed since - may already have impacted on parts of the RIPA. Consultation is still ongoing.Further reading and linksThe RIPA in fullwww.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000023.htm Email and the law, InfoBulletin November 2000 Article on RIPA and Human Rights Act August 2002
All Party Internet Group (politics) -IB- Andy Robson is an Internet consultant working with Eworking Ltd. andy@working.co.uk |
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5. Web Content Management, Part 2 - Templates and automation
In the second part of his series, Lawrence Griffiths delves further into the world of Web Content Management (WCM). | ||
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In Part 1 of this article I made a distinction between WCM tools and Systems. I hope these distinctions will become a little clearer as we look at the building and maintenance of web sites. Building a siteA typical web scenario:You are responsible for overseeing the web site at a small NGO. You have a student working for you during the summer and it's high time the web site was updated. The WCM tool of choice for this task is Macromedia's Dreamweaver.Now Dreamweaver is a very powerful and at times complex professional web site development tool. It enables a web designer or developer (in this scenario, our student) to design pages visually and build static sites with ease. Now if your NGO had a WCM system, the student would probably still use a tool like to Dreamweaver to create new templates. Most WCM systems use them. Templates enable the creation of dynamic pages by combining static page elements with content supplied from the WCM database.
So your student creates a site with a new look and feel and updates some of the content pages. Maintaining a siteIt is late October and your heroic student has left for academic climes. The director has asked you to remove some specific out of date content and add a new page for the Christmas appeal.Let's look at some scenarios for achieving this.
Automation, not automatonUpdating a site is as regular task for some organisations as is adding and removing content. But adding and removing content is not as straightforward as updating content.And here's why. If the page you want to add or remove is listed in a menu of links, and that menu appears in on say 30 or 100 other pages you could end up modifying all of them - an onerous task to do manually! If you build your static site in the right way, Dreamweaver can make global updates, but you need to know what you are doing - in other words, the task is a specialised one. The aim of Web Content Management is to simplify the content production process. It's in processes like adding and removing content that WCM systems come into their own. With a WCM system you can usually specify a 'retirement date' for a page. Once that date has passed the system will automatically remove the content link from the site menu and the page from the site. The converse is true when adding new pages or content; a typical example might be a press release embargoed until a certain date. For both tasks the user doesn't need to worry about updating every page link as the WCM system has done it automatically. In summaryHopefully by now you've seen that professional WCM tools development tools like Dreamweaver can be used to build and maintain static sites as well as being used to build templates for WCM systems sites.I've shown that content authors have different needs and that WCM systems can automate some of the management grind of a web site. In Part three In the next part of this article I will be exploring some of the advanced features of WCM systems. -IB- Lawrence Griffiths, is a freelance consultant specialising in Web content management, e-services and business process management. You can contact him at: lawrence@avek.co.uk |
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6. Donated PCs
Gift horse or gaff rig ? | |||
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onated PCs might seem like an offer too good to miss. Often such machines are even supplied with software pre-installed - or more likely 'left over' from the previous owners. Aside from the (il)legal implications of ownership of such software and operating systems, there is no guarantee as to the integrity of the software and hence the stability of its operation. So a gift can turn quickly into a support nightmare and you end up spending many times the value of the original machine in support time or money.
The only sure way to revamp donated machines is to check out the hardware, wipe the existing hard drives and start with a virgin copy of your chosen operating system - or a suitable clone image if available. BenefitsYou save money and retain peace of mind.How to make it happenTalk to us here about a setting computers you have been given.Related articles
-IB- Acknowledgements: Phil Anthony |
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7. Backups at risk - tapes are toast
"The major catastrophes happen when things we take for granted every day stop working for a minute." - Josiah Bartlet, President, West Wing | |||
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A recent visit to a client was punctuated at regular intervals by the sound of the fire alarm going off. It soon became apparent that routine smoke detection tests were being carried out as a man with what looked like an ice-cream-cone-on-a-broom-handle came and did the rounds. The test effectively force-feeds the ceiling detectors a double pack of cigarettes' worth in a short blast. Watching the "Smoking Man" broom-handle wielder arriving at the detector nearest to the server and all its associated finery - battery-backup, switches, cabling, routers, etc - it became dramatically obvious that, in the event of some actual fire damage, all of this sophisticated equipment would either be incinerated or flooded by overhead sprinklers. But, that's all part of the deal. It's rescuable.
Handy? Yes. 
Your backup strategy at its simplest is both crude and effective ...It's called "Copy the data somewhere else". Except that if "somewhere else" is only on a nearby shelf, that's as likely to be swept up in smoke, flames or water as anything else. In a single myopic stroke the client had utterly compromised this simple strategy.
No smokePhysical damage isn't the only risk to your valuable tape backups.
While you'll have made sure that your building is reasonably secure, any IT equipment theft is going to suffer from a clearing the decks approach too; thieves aren't interested in your data by any accessories that are nearby can be scooped up if it's convenient. If you're not persuaded to the case of acquiring secure storage for those small but crucial physical items on which your organisation's IT is founded, look at some alternatives scenarios too. But whatever you do, don't just shelve it! Related articlesBackup to basics- InfoBulletin March 2003Rebuilding your organisation - what happens if you loose it all? - InfoBulletin January 2001 Learn more about tape backups -IB- Paul Craig |
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A simple fire safe is the best solution and can pay back within a few months or a year. A slightly larger version than one that will just accommodate your tapes could also hold ...
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8. Clicks of the Trade
--- Quick tips for happier clicks! --- | |||
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-IB-
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you need first to shut down all applications and as many items from the system tray (bottom right-hand corner) as you can by right-clicking them. Don't worry - these will restart again on power up.
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