Patch those family 'puters

The latest critical security patch from Microsoft was all about the Explorer Web browser, and this is an important patch for the computers of avid Web users at your house. "That doesn't mean that Firefox and Chrome are exempt from other vulnerabilities, writes my ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid in Yahoo's "Connected Parent," but if your family uses Explorer, here's the scoop on that: "The latest threat is a flaw in all versions of Internet Explorer that makes it possible for an attacker to take remote control of your PC, capture user names and passwords and log keystrokes," Larry reports. A week after the flaw became known, Microsoft released a fix, InformationWeek reported. It probably updated your PC automatically if you have automated updates turned on. "To be sure, you can manually scan your computer to see if its security fixes are up-to-date by visiting WindowsUpdate.microsoft.com," Larry writes. "For this particular site, you must use Internet Explorer (other browsers such as Google's Chrome and Mozilla Firefox works with the vast majority of sites but not this one)."

New Net Nanny

Net Nanny, parental-control software for family computers, has released its latest version (not long after issuing Net Nanny for Macs), and PC Magazine gave the product 4.5 stars and its Editor's Choice Award. "Net Nanny does everything a parental-control utility should do. It also offers unique features like secure Web-traffic filtering and ESRB-based game control. Balancing privacy and security, it can record IM conversations only if they seem dangerous." The product, Net Nanny 6.0, sends email alerts to parents at work and allows them to configure or change preferences from work. SafeEyes 5.0, CyberPatrol Parent Controls 7.7, and Net Nanny 5.6 were next on PC Magazine's list, each having been awarded four stars. NetNanny and CyberPatrol run about $40, SafeEyes about $50.

Tech & the ties that bind: Study

American families are into their digital communications, and this is "enabling new forms of family connectedness," a new nationwide survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found. The study found that "89% of married-with-children households own multiple cellphones" (47% three or more), and 57% of the 7-to-17-year-olds in those households have their own cellphones; 58% of those households have two-or more computers (63% of them connected via home network); and in 76% of those households, both spouses use the Net, in 84% of them youth 7-17 use the Net, and in 65% of those households just about everybody's online. Two-thirds of the US's 2-parent households with children have broadband Internet access. It's interesting to see what the respondents themselves say about the impact this has on family ties. When the parents were asked if this use of cellphones and the Net has brought their family closer than when they were growing up, 60% there wasn't much difference (maybe the increase in digital communications compensates for a proportionate increase in everybody's busyness?), 25% said closer, 11% not as close, and 4% didn't know or didn't want to answer. In its coverage, the Washington Post cites researchers as saying "the heaviest technology users are also people with the heaviest work schedules." USATODAY tells of a family in New York that uses Twitter to keep in high-frequency touch. Here too are Information Week and about 5 dozen other reports on the study.

Heads up: New worms in MySpace, Facebook

Any social networkers at your house should be aware of the "Koobface" worms, which can turn household computers into remotely controlled "zombies." Computer security firm Kaspersky Lab reports that the worms work this way: A MySpace or Facebook user gets a message or comment from a friend whose computer has already been infected. The messages contain text such as "Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The Street"; "Examiners Caught Downloading Grades From The Internet"; "Hello"; "You must see it!!! LOL. My friend catched you on hidden cam"; and "Is it really celebrity? Funny Moments and many others." Inside the messages or comments is a link YouTube (with a ".pl" extension), supposedly to a video clip. "If the user tries to watch it, a message appears saying the user needs the latest version of Flash Player in order to watch the clip. However, instead of the latest version of Flash Player, a file called codesetup.exe is downloaded to the victim’s machine; this file is also a network worm" that probably not only sends the same message to everyone on your child's friends list but is capable of turning that computer into a "bot" that becomes part of a "botnet" that malicious hackers use to commit crimes such as denial-of-service attacks.

Malicious widgets

You've heard of malicious Web sites - sites people go to by mistake which upload malicious software to their computers. Well, now social networkers need to be aware of malicious widgets. [Widgets are those mini applications people use to add fun and functionality to their profiles - e.g., a slide show, a music playlist, a map of where they've been, reviews of favorite books, a personal avatar, code that lets people call your cellphone from your profile, a blood alcohol content calculator (citing Andonomics data, Forbes reports that, "on Facebook alone, users have installed nearly 13,000 widgets approximately 765 million times").] "Secret Crush" is an example of a malicious widget - a rather mild one that's an indicator of what's to come, experts say. "Disguised as a legitimate 'Secret Crush' request" that tells a Facebook user that another user finds him or her attractive, PCWorld reports, what it really does is "secretly install an adware program made by Zango after it has been successfully downloaded." PCWorld says some 3% of Facebook's nearly 60 million users have downloaded it and, of course like all widgets, it's viral. "The Secret Crush program also tries to lure people who download the file to pass it along to other Facebook members they know." This is called "social engineering," coming up with just the right words, whether scary ("your account has been compromised") or compelling ("check out this cool party video"), to trick people to click or download. Malicious widgets are especially insidious, because "once people have been pushed into installing an application, it's easier to ask for more information to get them to finish the install," PCWorld points out. Phishers and malicious hackers too are increasingly relying on social engineering to steal money and identities. Which means it's increasingly imperative to help our kids develop their mental filters so they get better and better at detecting and blocking malicious social engineers.

Another example on the social Web is a worm on Google's Orkut social site (very popular in Brazil) apparently designed by a non-malicious hacker to show users how social networking can be "dangerous" even if they don't click on something. What it does is send some Orkut users "an email telling them they had been sent a new scrapbook entry - a type of Orkut message - on their profile from another Orkut user. They only had to view their profile to become infected by the worm, which added them to an Orkut group" called "Infected by the Orkut Virus," PCWorld reported in another article. There there's the latest security story: "Using a hacked MySpace profile, online criminals are trying to trick victims into downloading a malicious Trojan Horse program by disguising it as a Microsoft update, PCWorld also reports. Finally, here's the UK's VNUNET's look-ahead on "cyber-gangs."

Family PC purchase decisions

There's help from the Wall Street Journal, where tech writer Walt Mossberg says people who prefer Windows XP can still get it on some new PCs (e.g., Dells), and there's reason to do so. He offers a host of tips on what to look for in purchasing any PC or laptop, from OS to hard drive to memory to the benefits of buying home vs. business computers.