John Rhodes’ Juggernaut SEO

by Administrator on August 20, 2010

Sorry. This isn’t the original post. I moved the original post to my Business Action Steps blog because it doesn’t belong here, on a security blog. Go ahead and click on the link if you really want to read what I wrote, but it really has nothing to do with security. OK, maybe it does… my future financial security. I hope.

I posted it on the wrong site (but didn’t want to leave a big, gaping, angry gap in my blog, RSS feed, and the fabric of the universe). And of course I didn’t notice it until after I hit the “Publish” button. Geesh!

The original post was about Search Engine Optimization, something I do on the side… At least for now… It’s kind of like all those superheroes putting on a costume at night after they get done flipping hamburgers all day and keeping the world safe for democracy or Whatever. Except I’m in it for the money. And to help people.

Oh, well, so much for a blog dedicated to security and paying attention to little details, eh? Oops…

P.S. — I’m pretty sure that John Rhodes would say that security is a good thing, just like I say that John Rhodes and SEO is a good thing…!

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I just got done reading an article about 3,000 online banking customers whose credentials were stolen and money siphoned off their accounts. In total, over $1,000,000 was stolen.

How did this happen? Criminals compromised web sites, which in turn were visited by banking customers who hadn’t, for whatever reason, bothered to download and install security patches for their computers. In the end, the Zeus trojan ended up on their computer, which stole the banking credentials.

You can read more about this story here.

This past Tuesday (August 10, 2010), Microsoft released 14 security bulletins that announced 34 vulnerabilities. It only takes one vulnerability to compromise your computer. My colleague Bill Hely has written an excellent blog post that spells out the details of what you need to do to ensure that Windows gets its security updates.

Another reminder: If you are still running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed, you MUST upgrade to Service Pack 3 to continue to receive support. There’s a good chance that at least one of those 34 vulnerabilities affects XP with Service Pack 2, but since it’s no longer supported, you’ll most likely never know. And while there are articles floating about that tell you how to hack your system’s registry to trick XP into thinking that it’s running Service Pack 3 (so that it will install patches), I strongly recommend that you NOT do it. Why? Because those patches weren’t tested on Service Pack 2, there’s a good chance that a patch will turn your computer into a doorstop, etc.

How many known vulnerabilities exist on your computer RIGHT NOW? Even one also puts your business at risk. Take the time NOW to ensure that your system — and business — is protected.

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GoodSync – Backup And Synchronize Files And Drives

March 14, 2010

As a security professional, I know the importance of having good backups. I also know that people want solutions that are easy, fast, and reasonably priced. I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to find a backup solution that meets these requirements. GoodSync, by Siber Systems, is doing a great job of backing up [...]

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Alan Reece’s Software Gold Club Products Now Available

March 7, 2010

I’m happy to announce a new resource for you on LicensedReseller.com. This is my site where I’m making many licensed products available, such as resell rights software, scripts, ebooks, and more (I’m still adding stuff to the site, so check it often — and of course I’ll announce it here). In addition to Big Mike’s [...]

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No Website Backup? This Might Help

March 2, 2010

If you ever needed a website backup but didn’t have one available, I’ve discovered a tool that MIGHT help you get some of your files back. No promises, but even a partial recovery is better than no recovery. Before I talk about the tool, though, web site backups are pretty easy if you use cPanel: [...]

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Watch Who You Follow On Google Buzz

February 12, 2010

The security team over at Websense has released an alert dealing with spam on Google Buzz (and “thanks” to Websense for pointing this out). Basically, this spammer has followed a couple hundred people and has used Google Buzz to send them to a page about smoking. While this one may or may not be harmful, [...]

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TrueTwit — Do I Look Like One?

February 5, 2010

I’ve been noticing that some of my Twitter follow requests have received direct messages asking me to validate my profile via a service called TrueTwit. Some quick research showed me that I won’t be doing so any time soon. Just a quick check on the domain name shows that it is registered via “Direct Privacy [...]

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Another Spammer Deflection Tactic: HR 1910

February 5, 2010

I just received another spam email, this one with the following disclaimer: REMOVAL OPTION: ————————————————————————————- Under Bill HR 1910 passed by the 106th US Congress on May 24, 1999, This message cannot be considered Spam as long as we include the way to be remove.Reply to youremoval@gmail.com and type “Unsubscribe”. All removal requests are handled [...]

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New Data Protection Regulations And Affiliates – Are You Ready?

February 1, 2010

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is about to begin enforcing some rather comprehensive data protection regulations on March 1, 2010. If you have customers in Massachusetts, then there are some things you will need to do. The full document is available at http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/idtheft/201CMR1700reg.pdf. I am most definitely not licensed to provide specific legal counsel to you, [...]

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“You Want What Would You Be Good?”

January 28, 2010

As is my habit, I was cruising through my Gmail “spam” folder today when I came across this message: Hello my dear. Hey, want to marry a Russian beauty? I want you, my good man. Come to my profile – you’ll get a surprise! You want what would you be good? Come to me. (The [...]

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