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| ABN 23 114 975 772 | newsletter@quarkgroup.com.au | www.quarkgroup.com.au | issue 16 | january 2006 |
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Update Zone |
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The Latest Crimeware Information |
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What's that under your Christmas trojan? Just in case you thought that email was the only way that viruses, worms, trojans and other crimeware was commonly delivered these days, along comes a "nice" gift in the form of an Instant Messenger worm. Whilst the new IM.GiftCom.All trojan may be all the rage with the kiddies this Christmas, it is not a new toy at all. The SdBot family of trojans (of which the current IM.GiftCom.All is the latest member) have been used to drop remote control software on a vast number of machines and get delivered through email, instant messenger applications and also irc (another form of Internet chat program). The first member of this family was discovered way back in April, 2002. The latest IM.GiftCom.All trojan is being delivered through AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger and probably every other messenger service in use today. It appears as a link to a Santa Claus file, but when the file is clicked on, along with an image of Santa a rootkit is downloaded to your machine, the attacker then uses your IM client to send this worm to all of your contacts, and your computer can be remote controlled by the attacker and his criminal mates. If you remember back to our Sony Rootkit article, you will know how we feel about this sort of thing on our client's computers. Rootkits are collections of hacker tools that an attacker can use to gain remote access to a computer at administrator level and these nefarious tools are hidden from the Operating System in such a way that even legitimate tools designed to perform low-level interrogation of the Operating System will fail to find the rootkit files and processes. |
According to the IMLogic Threat Center, a consortium of instant messenger-related companies, the year-to-date increase in IM-related threats over last year (2004) is 2083 percent. That's quite a significant number in anyone's books. By ensuring your network security measures are kept current, you can reduce your exposure to these threats. As we've mentioned before, you cannot be 100% secure - that is something that exists only in our dreams and Mills & Boon books. AntiVirus is only part of the big picture. It works hand-in-hand with other security procedures including AntiSpyware, firewalls, patch management, strong passphrase (password) policy, a good and enforceable company security policy and - most important of all - user education. If you have any friends or colleagues that may have been infected by this latest SdBot trojan or who are unsure if their network and its data is as secure as it needs to be, please contact Quark IT and we will gladly evaluate their network and data protection needs. |
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Licensing: Full Packaged Products |
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FPP: The expensive option Almost without exception, buying a full packaged product in a pretty box is the most expensive way to purchase software. OEM, Version Upgrades and Volume Licensing are normally the better options, and depending on the number of licenses involved, Volume Licensing is generally the best of all options. Why bother? Sometimes you will find that a manufacturer or reseller has a special price on FPP software and this makes it very cost effective to buy. This is one of the two times that we'd recommend purchasing FPP software. Of course, the only other time is the one-off product purchase that you are making for an existing machine if that License cannot be obtained under a Volume Licensing programme. Licensing conditions One advantage of buying a FPP version is that there will often be less restrictions placed on your purchase - you can use it on one machine, then remove it and install it on another machine if you need to at a later time. |
Deciding factors Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with Full Packaged Products as long as you know why and when to buy them compared to any other options you may have. In general, most businesses will have a number of OEM licensed packages (such as the operating system and maybe Microsoft Office Small Business Edition), some Version Upgrade licenses (such as a Windows XP Pro Upgrade (from Windows 98SE) or an Office 2003 Professional Upgrade) and maybe a Full Packaged Product license or two for something such as MYOB Accounting, Microsoft Project or Medical Director. EULA, license and receipts A great majority of the time, the license for a Full Packaged Product is only valid if you keep the original distribution media (normally a CD-ROM), the original EULA (End User Licensing Agreement), the receipt for the FPP and any product activation codes in the original box. Without all of these, the FPP that you purchased may not be validly licensed. If you have any concerns about the number or type of Software Licenses that you have purchased, please contact Quark IT and we can assist you to determine if you are correctly and adequately licensed. |
Next Month |
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Software Licensing We continue this series of articles with a look at the conditions that apply to Education and Student Version Licenses. These are often great for students and home users, but the conditions often mean that any business use of these licenses is strictly prohibited. |
The Mobile Office There are a lot more options than just lugging around a laptop available to you if you need to work on the road, from home, or even if you wish to take a holiday and still keep in touch. Again, if there is anything you'd like to see covered in future Newsletters, please email us with any suggestions or comments. |
Signing off |
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That about wraps up our January, 2006 Quark Group Newsletter. Important news for users of Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server - as of 31 December, 2005 these products have reached the end of their mainstream support phase, which means that security fixes are the only patches now being made available by Microsoft. If you know anyone still running Exchange Server 5.5 or Exchange 2000 Server, please have them contact us to discuss their options. Speaking of product support, now's probably a good time to note that both Windows 2000 Server (with Service Pack 4) and Windows 2000 Pro (SP4) are also in the "extended" phase of their support lifecycle, meaning that only security-related patches will be made available by Microsoft. Quark Automation can provide not only control systems for your home automation needs, we can also provide intercom, telecommunication services, television distribution, Internet connectivity, home networking, audiovisual and also security and alarm systems. If you know anyone else who would like to receive this Newsletter, please feel free to forward this edition to them and also ask them to email us asking to subscribe. Please contact us if you would like Quark Group to assist you in ensuring that your home as well as your office computing environment is as functional as it can be. | |
