Latin America
has in Caracas, Venezuela one of the largest active social groups
of expats (expatriates) in South America. Called the Rincon
Gang or Rinconeers, they publish a regular newsletter, the Rincon
Reminder, which updates their Caracas community web site, www.Expat-Village.com
The Rincon Reminder updates are also issued to ex-Caracas Rinconeers
now living and working in over 25 countries..
The Expat-Village web-site has all the latest Venezuelan news in English.
We publish news stories of interest to expatriates, including world news, sport,
entertainment and business. We have features on travel in Venezuela, Latin
America and the Caribbean, quick food recipes, and Venezuela security alerts.
Caracas social activities are listed in ‘What’s on in Caracas’, and we’ll keep
you amused with the 'Joke of the Day' page.
Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
Phishing: Beware the Internal Revenue Scam
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Scam artists are in hot pursuit of
your identity. And they're cooking up a growing number of so-called
phishing schemes, using e-mails that look like they're from a reputable
source to cull personal data needed to steal your hard-earned money.
One recent phishing expedition involves e-mails promising a US$571.94
income-tax refund. The messages direct recipients to a sham site where
they are asked for details such as their credit-card and Social
Security numbers.
Seems Legit
What made this hoax especially effective was that it used a legitimate
government site, www.GovBenefits.gov, to direct would-be victims to its
own page. The government quickly caught wind of the hoax and on Dec. 1
fixed the loophole that enabled phishers to use its site as a conduit.
"We made it so that you can't use the redirect" the way the phisher had
exploited it, says Curtis Turner, project manager of GovBenefits.gov.
As the online shopping season kicks into full gear, you're probably
spending plenty of time wielding your credit card while on the Net. And
with tax-preparation time just around the corner, refund-related frauds
could reappear.
"Phishers will try to abuse this again in the future," says Graham
Cluley, a senior technology consultant at virus and spam monitoring
firm Sophos, based in Oxford, England. "Both companies and consumers
need to be careful they're not helping" phishers. The recent hoax
serves up some useful reminders on how to protect your personal
details, identity -- and dough.
How does the tax-refund scheme work?
Recipients got an e-mail from tax-refunds@irs.gov that appeared to......
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Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
Sober Virus Largest Ever On Internet, Report Says
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A new briefing released yesterday by Postini, the messaging security company,
based in San Carlos, Calif., indicates that the recently discovered
"Sober" virus is the largest viral attack on the Internet ever
recorded, twice as big as any other virus on record.
"We typically quarantine about 50 million virus-infected e-mails in a
month. This Sober virus generated close to a 1,500 percent increase in
virus-infected e-mail traffic in the past week," Scott Petry, founder
and vice president of products and engineering at Postini, told
TechNewsWorld.
Zip File Problems
This latest Sober worm typically arrives as a ".zip file" e-mail
attachment in either German or English, or in a message that appears to
be from either the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Central
Intelligence Agency, or even the............
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Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
Skype Patches Critical Flaws in Its Software
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IDG News Service alert
Skype users are being urged to upgrade
to the latest version of the popular Internet telephony client, thanks
to a number of critical flaws in the software that were disclosed
Tuesday by Skype's maker, Skype Technologies.
If exploited, two of the flaws could allow attackers to take over a
Skype user's system, the company said in an advisory published Tuesday.
These flaws affect a number of Windows versions of the software ranging
between versions 1.1 and 1.4, the statement said.
The first of these flaws could be exploited by tricking a Skype user to
click on a specially crafted URL, while the second would require a
Skype user to import a malicious....
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story
Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
Virus Alert - Skype Trojan!!!
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A Channel Register
alert by John Leyden at http://theregister.co.uk
Say hello to the Skype Trojan - Malware poses as VoIP software
Virus writers are targeting Skype users with a new Trojan that poses as the
latest version of the popular VoIP software.
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story
Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
Privacy And Your Pagefile
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It is not uncommon for a single computer to be used by more than one person. This may be the case in a home or office environment.
Personally, if I was sharing a computer with another user, I wouldn't want them knowing what I was doing every time I was at the computer. I would consider this to be an invasion of my personal privacy.
There are a number of different ways that privacy can be maintained when computers are shared. One of the things you can do is configure the computer to empty the contents of the pagefile when it's shut down.
You can configure this option by opening the Local Security Policy within the Control Panel.
Highlight Security Options and in the right pane scroll to the bottom and enable the option to Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile.
Rincon Computer Tips
:
Security
What's a firewall, why do you need it?
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What exactly is a firewall, and why do you need it?
In its original iteration, a firewall is literally a 'fireproof wall' that keeps fire from spreading from one room to another. This protective quality of a firewall is what has translated to the computer world.
The main purpose of a firewall in a computer is to limit access from other computers that are connected through a network. Since the Internet is the world's largest computer network, a firewall is an essential component to reduce the possibility of an unauthorized person gaining access to your computer via the Internet.
Click here for more What's a firewall, why do you need it?
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