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Vol. 15, #38 - Sep 20, 2010 - Issue #797
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When Governments Write Malware
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- Editor's Corner
- When Governments Write Malware
- IE9 Beta: WOW
- Fun Quotes of the Week
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Webinars and Seminars
- Securing your Exchange Server with VIPREŽ Email Security - 9/21
- Sunbelt Exchange Archiver? Product Demonstration - 9/28
- Tech Briefing
- Criminals 'Go Cloud' With Attacks-as-a-Service (AaaS)
- Network Timeout -- A Web Service
- New Backup Services Compete For Cloud Market
- The VMworld 2010 Diaries
- Windows Server News
- Building A Support System For Dynamic Hyper-V Environments
- Virtualization Performance And Server Resource Management Guide
- Selecting The Right Conversion Tool For Your P2V Migration
- Third Party News
- Sunbelt Software Secure DNS Enters Beta
- WServerNews "Fave Links"
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
- Enterprise Log Management ? EventTracker Pulse Free Trial
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Enterprise Log Management ? EventTracker Pulse Free Trial.
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Windows, Linux/Unix, network devices, and applications, and
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disruptions. Utilize the graphical, high-speed index search with
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with fewer than 50 devices in their enterprise IT infrastructure,
EventTracker Pulse is the best choice for log management.
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Editor's Corner |
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When Governments Write Malware
First of all, when the 'best' malware ever is named after you, one gets
interested. But the Stuxnet malware is supposedly created by a government,
and that's where I got -really- interested! LOL. Experts say the Stuxnet
malware is groundbreaking technology that may have been created with the
backing of a nation-state, because of the sophistication and required
resources.
They are being very politically correct about it, and nobody dares to
call it, so I will. Since the malware is specifically focused on Iran,
(yeah, you read that right), this malware was written by Israel, the U.S.
or is a co-production of both. Sixty percent of all infected PCs were
located in that country. Yes, governments have cyberwar capability and
this is the equivalent of artillery.
Stuxnet uses a whopping four (4!) zero-day attack vectors, and is very
very smart about how it does its work. It was first noticed mid-June,
and gained visibility in July when Redmond confirmed that the malware
was actively targeting large-scale industrial-control SCADA systems in
manufacturing and utility firms. SCADA, stands for "supervisory control
and data acquisition." They run power plants, factory machinery, oil
pipelines and... you guessed it: military installations.
If you 'own' these systems, you can shut down a country. And it looks
like Iran is completely 'pwned'. Well, I guess that happens when you
are trying develop a nuclear bomb. The recent Patch Tuesday closed
some of the Stuxnet vulnerabilities, but that's way too late for the
systems already compromised. Those are ripe for a 'wipe & rebuild':
Here is the article:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-stuxnet
IE9 Beta: WOW
IE is now down to 60.4% from 74% worldwide in two years according
to NetApplications, which gives Firefox 22.9%, Safari 5.2% and Chrome
7.5%. Seven years ago Microsoft owned 97% of the market. Redmond
must have decide to kick some butt. Downloaded the beta on my production
workstation. Yup, I admit it, did not test in a testbed and took the
plunge. This beta rocks!
I got the Win7 32-bit version in the office, and up to now it's true
what they say about performance improvements. Dang, this puppy is fast.
The new hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics really shine.
This leapfrogs anything that I have seen out there, and I'm a heavy
IE and Chrome user, with an occasional Firefox excursion and Safari
on my iPad. They said: "We wanted the frame to say 'Look at the site'
not 'Look at the browser'". And it's true, I like the minimalism.
This version has a lot going for it, and it's only in beta. Couple of
technical gotchas though. Don't let end-users play with this just yet.
WinXP lacks support for the Direct2D API, which IE9 uses to accelerate
content rendering, so IE9 will not run on XP.
Seems it can hang up when using Outlook Web Access
Turns on Cleartype which makes some monitors blurry
You need FlashPlayer 10 with this version. Download here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-flashplayer
IE9 comes warmly recommended. Download the beta here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-IE9
Fun Quotes of the Week
"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets
the more interested he is in her." -- Agatha Christie
"Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine."
-- Robert C. Gallagher
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
-- Roald Dahl
UNDO Dept: Due to some serious problems with the servers that send out
WServerNews, the last issue was sent on Tuesday, -after- one of the
webinars had already been held, and some people got it twice.
Our apologies.
Warm regards, and thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber. No trees
were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons
were terribly inconvenienced. Please tell your friends about us.
They can subscribe here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-subscribe
PS: Did you know this newsletter has a sister publication for XP users
called WXPnews? You can subscribe here, and tell your friends:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-wxpsubscribe
PPS: And now we have our new Win7News! You can subscribe here, and tell
your friends:
http://www.win7news.net/Subscribe/
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50% Discount on VIPRE Enterprise. Ends September 30th.
VIPRE Enterprise 50% discount on new licenses, plus, we'll buy-out existing
maintenance contracts for up to 1 year! VIPRE Enterprise provides the
performance and protection you need to achieve total endpoint malware
protection, all managed from a central console.
COMPLETE - All-in-one protection from today?s malware
FAST - High-performance and low impact on system resources
EASY - Manage everything from one central command center
RELIABLE - Configurable, real-time monitoring technology
AFFORDABLE - 50% discount pricing to save you money
Offer ends September 30th. Test drive VIPRE Today! Call us for a quote at:
1-800-688-8404, or fill out this form:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-50offvipre
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Webinars and Seminars |
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Securing your Exchange Server with VIPREŽ Email Security - 9/21
Securing your Exchange Server is key to protecting your enterprise environment
from spam, viruses, phishing, and other messaging threats. In this webinar,
learn how the new version of VIPRE Email Security for Exchange (formerly Ninja
Email Security) can help protect your network and cut your Exchange admin
time in half with this powerful, policy-based email security product.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 2:00pm ? 3:00pm EDT. Register here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-exchangeserverwebinar
Sunbelt Exchange Archiver? Product Demonstration - 9/28
Exchange performance is suffering. Your users complain about email storage
and don't want any quotas. Your CEO requires legal compliance. Want a
high-end, feature-rich, admin-friendly product that solves all these issues
at a very affordable price? Then don?t miss this Sunbelt Exchange Archiver
demonstration.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 2:00pm ? 2:30pm EDT. Register here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-exchangearchiverwebinar
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Tech Briefing |
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Criminals 'Go Cloud' With Attacks-as-a-Service (AaaS)
InfoWorld really made me laugh with this article. "Malicious hackers may
find themselves out of work, as one bot operator offers cloud-based
denial-of-service attacks on demand.
"Just like legitimate businesses, criminals are turning to the cloud as a
way to generate new services and simplify their infrastructure. While some
sites offer botnets for lease or sale, and other sites offer aid with
cheating on games, the latest crop of criminal enterprises is serving up
attacks as a service. More at:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-gocloud
Network Timeout -- A Web Service
Network Timeout is a free web service and community for IT enthusiasts and
professionals. If you?ve wasted time sifting through packet captures or
wished for better visibility into production applications, then this site
is for you. They could have come up with a better name, but the technology
is pretty cool. Hat Tip to Andrew Baker from the NTSYSADMIN listserv:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-networktimeout
New Backup Services Compete For Cloud Market
Several new backup services have recently entered the cloud market. Find
out how these services compare in price, and what unique features each
one has to offer in this exclusive news article:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-backupservoces
The VMworld 2010 Diaries
VMworld 2010 has come and gone, with a record-breaking attendance of over
17,000 people. Gain insight into what made this year?s conference the best
one so far with this featured article:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-diaries
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Windows Server News |
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Building A Support System For Dynamic Hyper-V Environments
Moving toward virtualization means your approach to support also changes.
Ensure you are building a sufficient support system for your Hyper-V
environment with this expert tip:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-servernews
Virtualization Performance And Server Resource Management Guide
After a virtual infrastructure rollout, it?s important to protect your
investment by monitoring virtualization performance. Check out this
compilation of expert tips and articles for essential advice on how to
effectively maintain your virtual infrastructure?s resource pool:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-resourcemanagement
Selecting The Right Conversion Tool For Your P2V Migration
After you decide that you want to virtualize your environment and select
the products to use, the next step is usually a conversion process. This
popular tip offers a detailed table of tools that can help in this
physical-to-virtual migration:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-p2vmigration
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Third Party News |
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Sunbelt Software Secure DNS Enters Beta
Neil Rubenking at PC Magazine interviewed CEO Alex Eckelberry about this
new service. Here is an excerpt from the article, where the question gets
answered: How is it different from OpenDNS?
"I asked Alex just what distinguishes the ClearCloud service from OpenDNS,
Comodo's secure DNS, or Google's Public DNS. He responded "OpenDNS is a
Cadillac Escalade, ClearCloud DNS is a Porsche." He then clarified,
"OpenDNS is a very sophisticated system that includes content filtering.
ClearCloud is just focused on malware sites," and noted that the free
edition of OpenDNS doesn't block malware sites.
According to Eckelberry, ClearCloud is quite a bit faster. "OpenDNS does
a lot of incredible things, but these come at a performance cost," he
said. Configuring ClearCloud is simpler, too, requiring one minor network
configuration change. Sunbelt even offers a utility to manage that change
for Windows users. "Unlike OpenDNS, we don't care where your IP originated
from ? so we don't have to worry about updating dynamic DNS, etc."
The full article is here:
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-beta
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WServerNews - Product of the Week |
|
Enterprise Log Management ? EventTracker Pulse Free Trial
Automate the collection, archival, and alerting on any logs from
Windows, Linux/Unix, network devices, and applications, and
proactively diagnose issues before they turn into costly service
disruptions. Utilize the graphical, high-speed index search with
export to Excel. Designed to meet the needs of organizations
with fewer than 50 devices in their enterprise IT infrastructure,
EventTracker Pulse is the best choice for log management.
Download FREE TRIAL today!
http://www.wservernews.com/100920-pulsefreetrial2
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