News and
Events
US-CERT Advises Switching Browsers
In light of a recent announcement about
an "extremely critical" security
vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE),
the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team
(US-CERT) has issued a warning advising
computer users to stop using Microsoft's
browser. US-CERT is a nonprofit formed
in September 2003 by the Department of
Homeland Security and the public and private
sectors to improve computer security preparedness
and response.
 According to the US CERT notice, there
are "significant vulnerabilities in
technologies relating to the IE domain/zone
security model, the DHTML object model,
MIME-type determination, and ActiveX." The
IE bug allows hackers to install spyware
on users' computers without any action
on the part of the user. The notice goes
on to say that, particularly for browsing
untrusted sites, use of another browser
is an effective way to avoid the security
risks mentioned. -- Internet
News, 29 June 2004
We've been using
and recommending Mozilla browsers including Firefox,
to our clients for several years. Built-in
pop-up blockers, tabbed browsing, no active-X
features, and they are open source. www.mozilla.org.
Thunderbird
email client is also an excellent, safe, open
source option.
Link Farm Scam
Just when most of us were breathing a
sigh of relief that the link-farm
scams had died down, we get hit
with two new ones. This started last year
and has seriously escalated. The premise
is simple: you receive an email (click
here for the exact message), from some
company telling you how wonderful your
Web site is and that they've linked to
you - would you provide a reciprecal link?
The
wording on the email is always the same,
other then the actual "topic".
Check them out first! The
sites all have three columns: the left
has 100's of variations
on the site name all with links to hundreds
of other sites. The middle column has screen
shots with links; the right column, more
links! Each site is identical down to the
so-called logo - the only difference is
the name.
You'd be linking to links, to more redundant
links, and so on forever. Completely
useless! Since January of
2005 alone, I've received at least 89 requests
to provide reciprocal links to one version
or another of their many sites.
Today I received a variation from the
same people, so I decided it was time to
spread a word of warning. These people
are hurting each and everyone one of our
businesses! Some even have 'no-follow'
tags on the links - which completely negate
any benefit for that company.
Don't get conned and
risk your Web sites good standing
by being drawn into a useless link-farm
situation that only benefits the link-farm.
To report these con-artists to Google use
this
link.
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CAN-SPAM
ACT
To be in
compliance with the CAN-SPAM
ACT in sending emails to a
subscriber list, the following requirements
must be adhered to.
• Header
Information must
be correct and accurate. The originating
email address, domain name, and
IP address must be legitimate.
• The subject line must
be accurate.
• The return email address must
be functional so recipients can opt-out
of the mailing. The return address
must function for no less than 30
days after the transmission of the
original message.
• Recipients who opt-out must
be off the list within 10 business
days.
• Advertisement or solicitation
email must contain
a conspicuous identifier.
• The postal address of
the sender must be included in commercial
email.
-- Federal Trade Commission
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