This article as posted on this Blog was originally Published: October 1, 2003
By Robert Moir, Security MVP and is featured on this blog for enlightenment purposes and remains the intellectual property of Robert Moir.
Abstract
This document is a compilation of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding "malware," a general term coined for all forms malicious software.
Questions about Malware
Q: What are malware, viruses, spyware, and cookies, and what differentiates them?
A: Let us take the easy one first. "Malware" is short for malicious software and is typically used as a catch-all term to refer to any software designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network, whether it's a virus, spyware, et al.
Q. What exactly is a virus? Is a "worm" also a virus?
Viruses are computer programs or scripts that attempt to spread from one file to another on a single computer and/or from one computer to another, using a variety of methods, without the knowledge and consent of the computer user. A worm is a specific type of virus that propagates itself across many computers, usually by creating copies of itself in each computer’s memory.
Many users define viruses simply as trick programs designed to delete or move hard drive data, which, strictly speaking, is not correct. From a technical viewpoint, what makes a virus a virus is that it spreads itself. The damage it does is often incidental when making a diagnosis.
Obviously, any incidental damage is important, even when authors do not intend to create problems with their viruses; they can still cause harm unintentionally because the author did not anticipate the full effect or unintentional side effects. The most common method used for spreading a virus is through e-mail attachment. Sending a virus, even if designed to be harmless, can cause unforeseen damage.
Q. How can I prevent a virus from infecting my computer?
A virus scanner is the most common tool for prevention. This utility attempts to scan a computer program before it runs, and if it recognizes the signature of a malicious code, it shuts it down. Many scanners also evaluate programs to determine if it contains any virus-related characteristics.
The best way to stop viruses is to use common sense. If an executable computer program is attached to your e-mail and you are unsure of the source, then it should be deleted immediately. Do not download any applications or executable files from unknown sources, and be careful when trading files with other users.
Q. What is a "Trojan Horse"? Isn't this a virus by any other name?
I have heard some arguments that Trojan Horse malware is a virus subset (and vice versa) but there are differences worth mentioning.
A Trojan Horse meets the definition of virus that most people use, in the sense that it attempts to infiltrate a computer without the user’s knowledge or consent. A Trojan Horse, similar to its Greek mythological counterpart, often presents itself as one form while it is actually another. A recent example of malware acting as a Trojan horse is the recent e-mail version of the "Swen" virus, which falsely claimed to be a Microsoft update application.
Trojans typically do one of two things: they either destroy or modify data the moment they launch, such as erase a hard drive, or they attempt to ferret out and steal passwords, credit card numbers, and other such confidential information.
Trojan Horses can be a bigger problem than other types of viruses as they are design to be destructive or disruptive, as opposed to viruses and worms where the coder may not intend to do any harm at all. Essentially this distinction does not matter in the real world. You can lump viruses, Trojans, and worms together as "things I don't want on my computer or my network".
Q. How do I prevent a Trojan Horse attack?
The methods for dealing with Trojans are generally the same as for those for dealing with viruses. Most virus scanners attempt to deal with some of the common Trojans with varying degrees of success. There are also specific "anti-Trojan" scanners available, and your best weapon is common sense yet again. Score another point for safe computing!
Q. What are cookies and spyware? How are they different?
A cookie is just a bit of text in a file on your computer, containing a small amount of information that identifies you to a particular website, and whatever information that site wanted to retain about the user when they are visiting.
Cookies are a legitimate tool used by many websites to track visitor information. As an example, I might go to an online computer store and place an item in the basket, but decide not to buy it right away because I want to compare prices. The store can choose to put the information about what products I put into my basket in a cookie stored on my computer. This is an example of a good use of cookies to help the user experience.
The only websites that are supposed to be able to retrieve the information stored in a cookie are the websites that wrote the information in that particular cookie. This should ensure your privacy by stopping anyone other than the site you are visiting from being able to read any cookies left by that site.
Q. Do some websites use cookies to exploit user information?
A. Unfortunately, yes. Some may deceive users or omit their policies. For example, they may track your Web surfing habits across many different websites without informing you, and then use this data to customize the advertisements you see on websites, etc., typically considered as an invasion of privacy.
It is difficult to identify this and other forms of "cookie abuse," which makes it difficult to decide if, when, and how to block them from ones system. In addition, the acceptable level of shared information varies between users, so it is difficult to create an "anti-cookie" program to meet the needs of everyone.
Q. How does spyware exploit user information?
The spyware problem is similar to the cookie problem from the point of view that both are an invasion of privacy, although spyware is different from cookies, technically speaking. Spyware is a program that runs on your computer and, again, tracks your habits and tailors these patterns for advertisements, etc. Because it is a computer program rather than just a bit of text in a cookie, spyware can also do some nasty things to ensure that the spyware keeps running and keeps influencing what you see.
Q. How do I know if spyware is running on my computer?
You can use detection programs such as Ad Aware and others. Similar to antivirus software, these programs compare a list of known spyware with files on your computer and can remove any that it detects. But again, what some consider unacceptable is perfectly acceptable to others.
Q. How does spyware install itself on computers?
Common tactics for surreptitious installation include rolling up advertising programs into "free" shareware program downloads, and once the spyware is installed it can download advertisements 24 hours a day and overlay them on websites and programs you are using. Anti-spyware programs can combat spyware from being installed, but the best strategy is to discriminate what you choose to download and install.
Q. Can spyware send tracked information to other people?
Some forms of spyware monitor a target’s Web use or even general computer use and sends this information back to the spyware program's authors for use as they see fit. To fight this kind of problem, a spyware removal tool is obviously helpful, as is a firewall that monitors outgoing connections from your computer. Other forms of spyware take over parts of your Web browsing interface, forcing you to use their own search engines, where they can track your browsing habits and send pop-up advertisements to you at will.
The biggest concern regarding spyware is that most of them are poorly written or designed. Many people first realize their computer is running spyware when it noticeably slows down or stops responding, especially when doing certain tasks such as browsing websites or retrieving e-mail. In addition, poorly written spyware can often cause your computer to function incorrectly even after it has been removed.
Q. Do you have a quick summary of how to prevent malware problems?
A: Yes — see below.
Two of the biggest concerns for computer users today are viruses and spyware. In both cases, we have seen that while these can be a problem, you can defend yourself against them easily enough with just a little bit of planning:
• Keep your computer’s software patched and current. Both your operating system and your anti- virus application must be updated on a regular basis.
• Only download updates from reputable sources. For Windows operating systems, always go to http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/ and for other software always use the legitimate websites of the company or person who produces it.
• Always think before you install something, weigh the risks and benefits, and be aware of the fine print. Does the lengthy license agreement that you don’t want to read conceal a warning that you are about to install spyware?
• Install and use a firewall. If you are running Windows XP you can use the built-in software firewall under Control Panel, and there are free versions of firewalls that work on all versions of Windows.
• Prevention is always better than cure.
Chukwuemeka Okongwu
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Working With Affiliate Programs
Everywhere you look you see affiliate program offers forevery product or service that you can think of. Some havefully automated systems that sell high volumes of hardproducts all over the world. In case you don't know, "hard"products are those that you can touch...unlike an ebook ordownloadable web template. Many affiliate programs haveseveral thousand affiliates and one or two of the biggercompanies have over one million affiliates.
What are the advantages of joining an affiliate program?
They provide a ready-made business. This is a very big plusfor those people who want to earn some kind of living offthe Internet but lack the knowledge or inclination to set upa business by themselves.
Commissions and rewards are generally good, and the moreestablished programs offer a real chance of advancement tohigher and better-paid levels.
Other affiliates are usually on hand to offer practicalsupport.
What are the limitations?
You are restricted in your promotional activities due to thefact that you do not actually own the affiliate site theygive you. You won't be able to put such things as banners,images, links, meta tags, etc. onto your page.The URL of your affiliate page is often either too long orcontains such awkward things as question marks, which manySearch Engines will not index.
Any promotional ads or articles have probably already beenused by thousands of other people and consequently may havelost its impact, making it more difficult to achieve salesor referrals.
If the program you have joined has not yet establisheditself (or in some cases even if it has), then you mayencounter problems with payments owed to you not beinghonored. You also run the risk of low quality products orsub-standard statistics that do not accurately record howmany referrals or sales you have made.
You may be required to purchase a minimum quantity of theproduct on a regular basis before you start to qualify forcommissions or even before you can become an affiliate.You may not get the technical or affiliate support you mightexpect from the company. This may be due to inadequatestaffing, or the company's negligence.
Other people in your downline do nothing to promote theprogram.
At least four of the above limitations can be overcome witha little time and effort. You could, for example, come upwith fresher ads to promote the program (provided this isallowed).
If the company supplies the email addresses of people inyour downline, then you could offer to help the less activemembers. Very often these people are passive not becausethey are lazy or apathetic but merely because they don'tknow HOW to promote effectively! your guidance could meanthe difference between no sales or referrals and healthydownlines and residual incomes.
As regards promoting your actual page, here are a couple oflittle tricks that should overcome a number ofrestrictions:
Cloak your Affiliate URL to stop hijackers Affiliate MaskerWhile this will not help you to get listed on the majorSearch Engines, it will make your web page easier forprospects to remember and type into their browser's addressbar.
Go to your affiliate page. Place your mouse pointer anywhereon the page and right click once. In the drop-down boxchoose "View Source". This will display the HTML for thepage. Save this to your hard drive as a HTML document usingthe "Save As" function. Upload the page to your web site.If you don't have a web site then get some free web spacefrom one of these:
http://www.tripod.com/http://www.fortunecity.com/http://www.hypermart.net/index.gsphttp://www.coolchat.com/http://www.crosswinds.net/http://www.htmlpublishing.com/http://www.freehomepages.com/http://www.pageproducer.com/
Submit your 'new' page to the Search Engines. You are alsonow able to place banner codes, links, images, testimonials,in fact anything you want onto these pages, because you arein control of the HTML. A word of caution, though. Don'tchange the actual HTML of your original affiliate page. Justput the other stuff, like banners etc, around it.
Making this "mirror page" of your affiliate page willdramatically improve your advertising options.
Contact Email Address: publisher@aboutaffiliates.comWord Count: 689Category: Affiliate MarketingCopyright Date: 8/16/04Internet Address: http://aboutaffiliates.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=11 Autoresponder Address: workingaff@aboutaffiliates.com Special Requirements For Reprint:
You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the byline is included and the article is included in it's entirety. I also ask that you activate any html links found in the article and in the byline.
You may not use this article in any publication that is not-optin (spam). A courtesy copy of the publication or link to the website you use my article on would be appreciated.
---------------------------------Working With Affiliate Programsby Jude Wright (c) 2004
-----------------------------------------------------Jude Wright has been an Internet Marketer for threeyears. She has just created a product that will helpother Internet Marketers keep all their marketinginformation in one database. Check it out at:http://i-marketingorganizer.com/organizer.htm
What are the advantages of joining an affiliate program?
They provide a ready-made business. This is a very big plusfor those people who want to earn some kind of living offthe Internet but lack the knowledge or inclination to set upa business by themselves.
Commissions and rewards are generally good, and the moreestablished programs offer a real chance of advancement tohigher and better-paid levels.
Other affiliates are usually on hand to offer practicalsupport.
What are the limitations?
You are restricted in your promotional activities due to thefact that you do not actually own the affiliate site theygive you. You won't be able to put such things as banners,images, links, meta tags, etc. onto your page.The URL of your affiliate page is often either too long orcontains such awkward things as question marks, which manySearch Engines will not index.
Any promotional ads or articles have probably already beenused by thousands of other people and consequently may havelost its impact, making it more difficult to achieve salesor referrals.
If the program you have joined has not yet establisheditself (or in some cases even if it has), then you mayencounter problems with payments owed to you not beinghonored. You also run the risk of low quality products orsub-standard statistics that do not accurately record howmany referrals or sales you have made.
You may be required to purchase a minimum quantity of theproduct on a regular basis before you start to qualify forcommissions or even before you can become an affiliate.You may not get the technical or affiliate support you mightexpect from the company. This may be due to inadequatestaffing, or the company's negligence.
Other people in your downline do nothing to promote theprogram.
At least four of the above limitations can be overcome witha little time and effort. You could, for example, come upwith fresher ads to promote the program (provided this isallowed).
If the company supplies the email addresses of people inyour downline, then you could offer to help the less activemembers. Very often these people are passive not becausethey are lazy or apathetic but merely because they don'tknow HOW to promote effectively! your guidance could meanthe difference between no sales or referrals and healthydownlines and residual incomes.
As regards promoting your actual page, here are a couple oflittle tricks that should overcome a number ofrestrictions:
Cloak your Affiliate URL to stop hijackers Affiliate MaskerWhile this will not help you to get listed on the majorSearch Engines, it will make your web page easier forprospects to remember and type into their browser's addressbar.
Go to your affiliate page. Place your mouse pointer anywhereon the page and right click once. In the drop-down boxchoose "View Source". This will display the HTML for thepage. Save this to your hard drive as a HTML document usingthe "Save As" function. Upload the page to your web site.If you don't have a web site then get some free web spacefrom one of these:
http://www.tripod.com/http://www.fortunecity.com/http://www.hypermart.net/index.gsphttp://www.coolchat.com/http://www.crosswinds.net/http://www.htmlpublishing.com/http://www.freehomepages.com/http://www.pageproducer.com/
Submit your 'new' page to the Search Engines. You are alsonow able to place banner codes, links, images, testimonials,in fact anything you want onto these pages, because you arein control of the HTML. A word of caution, though. Don'tchange the actual HTML of your original affiliate page. Justput the other stuff, like banners etc, around it.
Making this "mirror page" of your affiliate page willdramatically improve your advertising options.
Contact Email Address: publisher@aboutaffiliates.comWord Count: 689Category: Affiliate MarketingCopyright Date: 8/16/04Internet Address: http://aboutaffiliates.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=11 Autoresponder Address: workingaff@aboutaffiliates.com Special Requirements For Reprint:
You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the byline is included and the article is included in it's entirety. I also ask that you activate any html links found in the article and in the byline.
You may not use this article in any publication that is not-optin (spam). A courtesy copy of the publication or link to the website you use my article on would be appreciated.
---------------------------------Working With Affiliate Programsby Jude Wright (c) 2004
-----------------------------------------------------Jude Wright has been an Internet Marketer for threeyears. She has just created a product that will helpother Internet Marketers keep all their marketinginformation in one database. Check it out at:http://i-marketingorganizer.com/organizer.htm
Monday, February 11, 2008
Things You Should Never Say to the CEO
If a "nice guy" runs your company, you might be able to say whatever's on your mind in the boardroom and get away with it. But most successful CEOs aren't nice guys -- they're very serious people, often edgy to the point of mania. At General Electric, where this writer spent 20 years as the speechwriter for hyperkinetic CEO Jack Welch, he had watched dozens of executives torpedo their own careers by saying the wrong thing to the boss -- not "politically incorrect" jaw-droppers, just maladroit or foolish remarks.
Even if you work at a small company with 1 percent of GE's revenue, there are certain verbal blunders you should avoid at all cost:
1. "I'll have to get back to you on that."
In other words, you don't know and didn't do your homework. Welch fired one vice president who gave that answer several times during a presentation. To avoid that fate, before an important pitch to the boss, conduct a "war game" or "murder board" with colleagues -- and pick the most cynical, intelligent people you know. Ask them to sit through your presentation and then hit you with their best shots, asking the most off-the-wall, unfair questions they can think of. When you finally enter the bear's den, your ammunition should be data. Make sure you're loaded with it, so you can answer any question in mind-numbing detail. You might come across as brash, but Welch always admired people who didn't fold when challenged and "had a good story and the data to back it up."
2. Making fun of a corporate program.
Yes, there are lots of vapid initiatives trotted out by marketing or PR or HR people: "Year of the Customer," or "Zero Mistakes," or "Zero Inventory," or "Zero Drinking at Lunch." And sadly enough, bad CEOs often buy in and pay these goofy ideas half-hearted lip service. Feel free to make fun of this stupid stuff--as long as you're willing to leave the company the next day.
Once at GE, the chief financial officer poked gentle, martini-fueled fun at a Welch initiative, from the podium at a company dinner. Welch fired him shortly thereafter.
I ran with most of what Welch promulgated, because it made sense to me. As a communicator, my job was to take it to another level -- often to the point that Welch had to rein me in, calling me crazier than he was. This might sound like butt-kissing, but not to me. I believe in "signing on or signing out." If you don't believe in the corporate mission, either keep your mouth shut or leave.
3. Something you find funny.
Skip the jokes, especially at the beginning of a presentation. I saw a young fast-riser start to come unglued during a presentation, after beginning with some humorous references to his subject. Welch made a dismissive hand gesture and then delivered the ultimate rebuff--he started doing his mail, opening envelopes and writing replies while the painful presentation continued. Afterward, Welch told me the presenter wasn't just awful, "he was flippant."
If you're lucky enough to get on the CEO's calendar, get advice ahead of time about what he's really interested in. Open his eyes to something he'll want to tell others about. As Welch once said: "You know what some kid told me today at the company meeting? We may be going in the wrong direction. Can't get it outta my mind. Gotta talk to her tomorrow ? or maybe tonight."
4. "That can't be done."
No CEO wants to hear that something he deems important is impossible. One year Welch wanted to make major, last-minute changes to the "CEO letter" that ran in the annual report. Two million copies of the book were already being printed, and I told him it was too late to make changes. The resulting explosion blew me out of his office. After recovering, I picked up the phone and stopped the presses, and we got his changes made the next day. GE's stock went up, but my career flat-lined for a while.
What should you do if the boss wants something that's really off the wall? I like to recall this scene from The Godfather: Part II: The boss wants somebody killed. His lawyer says, "Michael, you can't do this. It's impossible."
Michael turns to Torpedo, his right-hand man. "Well?"
"Difficult," Torpedo answers. "Not impossible.
Never say something is impossible.
Even if you work at a small company with 1 percent of GE's revenue, there are certain verbal blunders you should avoid at all cost:
1. "I'll have to get back to you on that."
In other words, you don't know and didn't do your homework. Welch fired one vice president who gave that answer several times during a presentation. To avoid that fate, before an important pitch to the boss, conduct a "war game" or "murder board" with colleagues -- and pick the most cynical, intelligent people you know. Ask them to sit through your presentation and then hit you with their best shots, asking the most off-the-wall, unfair questions they can think of. When you finally enter the bear's den, your ammunition should be data. Make sure you're loaded with it, so you can answer any question in mind-numbing detail. You might come across as brash, but Welch always admired people who didn't fold when challenged and "had a good story and the data to back it up."
2. Making fun of a corporate program.
Yes, there are lots of vapid initiatives trotted out by marketing or PR or HR people: "Year of the Customer," or "Zero Mistakes," or "Zero Inventory," or "Zero Drinking at Lunch." And sadly enough, bad CEOs often buy in and pay these goofy ideas half-hearted lip service. Feel free to make fun of this stupid stuff--as long as you're willing to leave the company the next day.
Once at GE, the chief financial officer poked gentle, martini-fueled fun at a Welch initiative, from the podium at a company dinner. Welch fired him shortly thereafter.
I ran with most of what Welch promulgated, because it made sense to me. As a communicator, my job was to take it to another level -- often to the point that Welch had to rein me in, calling me crazier than he was. This might sound like butt-kissing, but not to me. I believe in "signing on or signing out." If you don't believe in the corporate mission, either keep your mouth shut or leave.
3. Something you find funny.
Skip the jokes, especially at the beginning of a presentation. I saw a young fast-riser start to come unglued during a presentation, after beginning with some humorous references to his subject. Welch made a dismissive hand gesture and then delivered the ultimate rebuff--he started doing his mail, opening envelopes and writing replies while the painful presentation continued. Afterward, Welch told me the presenter wasn't just awful, "he was flippant."
If you're lucky enough to get on the CEO's calendar, get advice ahead of time about what he's really interested in. Open his eyes to something he'll want to tell others about. As Welch once said: "You know what some kid told me today at the company meeting? We may be going in the wrong direction. Can't get it outta my mind. Gotta talk to her tomorrow ? or maybe tonight."
4. "That can't be done."
No CEO wants to hear that something he deems important is impossible. One year Welch wanted to make major, last-minute changes to the "CEO letter" that ran in the annual report. Two million copies of the book were already being printed, and I told him it was too late to make changes. The resulting explosion blew me out of his office. After recovering, I picked up the phone and stopped the presses, and we got his changes made the next day. GE's stock went up, but my career flat-lined for a while.
What should you do if the boss wants something that's really off the wall? I like to recall this scene from The Godfather: Part II: The boss wants somebody killed. His lawyer says, "Michael, you can't do this. It's impossible."
Michael turns to Torpedo, his right-hand man. "Well?"
"Difficult," Torpedo answers. "Not impossible.
Never say something is impossible.
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