Backdoor.Win32.Clampi.a

A new backdoor trojan virus has been discovered and is known as Backdoor.Win32.Clampi.a. It is a trojan spy program designed to steal confidential data and remotely manage the victim machine. It is a Windows PE EXE file that is 470 bytes in size. It is designed to harvest information from the victim machine by connecting to servers to download and run malicious code. It is looking to steal user name, login data, program passwords, and local and network passwords. It can be configured to steal login and password data for internet banking systems by substituting spoofed pages for the genuine banking system pages. This is a very dangerous identity theft tool that can leave its victims with a terrible economic mess. If you suspect your machine has been infected with this trojan virus you can do the following to delete it from your machine:

Use Task Manager to terminate the malicious process.

Delete the original backdoor file.

Delete the file created by the backdoor:
%AppData%\.exe

Delete the following system registry key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"" = %AppData%\.exe

Update your antivirus databases and perform a full scan of you computer.

When doing any kind of online banking or using sites that require a login password, use the sites security features such as identifiable security pictures and security questions to make sure you are actually on a legitimate site. Spoof sites will try to reproduce an official looking site but lack the security measures that more and more sites are now using to protect you and your identity.

"Viruslist.com". Kaspersky Lab. 11/22/2009 <http://www.viruslist.com/en/viruses/encyclopedia?virusid=21782964>.

President Obama's Stand On Technology

As a senator in the United States government, Obama put forth technological ideas such as giving the public access to the day to day governmental business that takes place in Washington, D.C. through the Internet. He proposed that government data would be opened up to the public in universally accessible formats. The executive decision making process would also be opened up to the public to solicit opinions as well as tap into the expertise of the public at large on certain subjects. He believes government departments and agencies should have a transparency and that the public should be able to follow the activities and accountability of these offices through direct reporting on the Internet. The public should receive more reports on the progress of these agencies, and public participation and comments should be encouraged. Obama also proposed that Americans would be invited to comment on legislation on the President's desk for up to five days before the President signs it, allowing the citizens themselves to lobby the President directly.
Senator Obama also stated on his campaign website that he supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some websites and Internet applications over others. His name has appeared as a sponsor on several bills that call for the enforcement of net neutrality policies for the nation's ISP's. Obama also proposed that there should be a cabinet level chief technology officer that would be tasked with ensuring all branches are using technology in an effective manner. This person would also be responsible for the "transparency" that Obama has proposed for government.
These were lofty goals proposed by a senator seeking election. Now that Barack Obama has been elected President, he has appointed the first ever Chief Technology Officer, or Technology Czar, in an effort to improve and encourage technology innovation for the purpose of promoting government transparency and data access. This person is Aneesh Chopra and he will be in charge of developing new technology policies that will ultimately change the way we operate socially and economically. President Obama has proposed sweeping health care reform and part of this reform will be bringing Health IT into the fold to provide accuracy and cut costs for health providers. The thought behind this plan is that it will cut back on the abuse of insurance fraud and rising malpractice insurance premiums by reporting costs and procedures electronically in a standardized format. Health records would be electronically standardized as well to provide better healthcare overall. Chopra will be tasked with developing the policy and structure for this Health IT as well as providing schools with access to leading edge technology systems. Chopra has lead a technological revolution of sorts on a smaller scale in his home state of Virginia and President Obama believes he is the man to lead the United States into the future of technology like we have never seen before.
I am looking forward to what lies ahead in our technological future and hope the outcomes of these ambitious goals turn out positive for all.

"10 Things You Should Know About The Nation's New Technology Czar". Computer Colleges. 11/17/2009 <http://www.computer-colleges.com/blog/2009/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-nations-new-technology-czar/>.

Oswald, Ed. "Where does Barack Obama stand on technology issues?". Betanews. 11/17/2009 <http://www.betanews.com/article/Where-does-Barack-Obama-stand-on-technology-issues/1219956705>.

Blog 12 Windows ME

Windows ME (Millennium Edition) was released December 31, 2000 as a newer version of Windows 9x to replace Windows 98. From the very beginning, it was plagued will multiple problems. A new feature of Windows ME was called System Restore which was meant to be a logging and reversion tool to allow troubleshooting and problem solving. It was intended to work as a rollback and recovery feature. System Restore suffered from a bug in the date-stamp functionality. System Restore would incorrectly date-stamp the snapshots taken after September 8, 2001 that would prevent the tool from locating these snapshots and would cause System Restore to fail. System Restore would also sometimes restore malware that the user had deleted. System restore would have to be shut down to delete the malware but then the restore points would be lost.
Windows ME restricted access to real mode MS-DOS in order to speed up booting time. This saved seconds in the booting time but applications that needed real time DOS to run such as older disk utilities, did not run under Windows ME. Windows ME had a short shelf life of just over a year and security updates and hotfixes were terminated on July 11, 2006 along with Windows 98 and Windows 98SE because Microsoft considered these products obsolete and a security risk to users running these programs.
Windows ME was criticized by users for it instability and unreliability due to frequent freezes and crashes. A PC World article dubbed Windows ME the "Mistake Edition" and placed it 4th in their "Worst Tech Products of All Time" feature. The article stated that users reported problems installing it, getting it to run, getting it to work with other hardware or software, and getting it to stop running.
I did not have the misfortune of working with Windows ME and from the many problems this OS suffered, consider myself lucky to have dodged a bullet.

Tyanan, Dan. "Windows ME". November 8, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Me>.

Landesman, Mary. "Window ME". November 8, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Me>.

Blog 11 What is Linux and who would use it?

Linux is an operating system. It was developed by a university student, Linus Torvalds of Finland in 1991. In 1994, Linux Kernel 1.0 was released and is the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. The source code is freely available to everyone. Many individuals and companies have developed their own operating systems using the Linux Kernel. Some are very specific to the needs of the individual or company and some can be used by many users. Linux distributions are copies of the many developed OS's that are available to the general public to use. Big companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard have devoted a lot of time and money in the development and support of Linux Operating Systems. Linux is primarily a server platform but is finding its way into home and office desktops. It can also be "embedded" directly into microchips to be used in appliances and devices. Linux's functionality and adaptability has made it a main alternative to the proprietary operating systems of Unix and Microsoft.
If you are interested in trying a Linux operating system for yourself, you can request a free download that was developed by a Linux consultant, Klaus Knopper, called Knoppix. You download it to a CD and you run the operating system from your CD drive. There is no reason to load it to your hard drive.
I would try it to see for myself what capabilities the OS has compared to the Microsoft OS that I am use to. I believe the wave of the future will lean towards a public domain of technological creation that will take us to the next level. Bill Gates is a pioneer of our current computing world but I believe a product like Linux that gives the foundation to the whole world is a powerful tool because there are people with really great ideas who need a starting point. Once these OS's are built and improved upon by many, who knows, the sky's the limit.