Today when I try to visit a website, I get a warning from Firefox Browser, which says that
Reported Attack Site!
This web site at www.ralphwcotton.com has been reported as an attack site and has been blocked based on your security preferences.
Attack sites try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.
Some attack sites intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners.
Why is this site blocked?
Google provides a Safe Browsing advisory:
Diagnostic page for ralphwcotton.com/
What is the current listing status for ralphwcotton.com/?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.
Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 8 time(s) over the past 90 days.
What happened when Google visited this site?
Of the 2 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 1 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 09/11/2008, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 09/07/2008.
Malicious software includes 9 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 3 new processes on the target machine.
Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain(s), including 61.155.8.0.
Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?
Over the past 90 days, ralphwcotton.com/ did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.
Has this site hosted malware?
No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.
How did this happen?
In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.
Security is an urgent and important issue and should be given adequate attention.
Here are some related posts:
Protect Your Security and Privacy with These Softwares
Pesky Telemarketing Calls: How to Stop Unwelcome Telemarketing Calls
Avira Upgrade: a Faster Engine
How to protect your on-line business
Safe Browsing Advisory Provided by Google is Commendable
Backup Outlook Express Email Messages Just In Case
It is important to make regular backups in case of a hardware or software failure. You never know how important your e-mail is until you lose it.
Here is the instruction on how to save and backup Outlook Express email messages for importing, exporting from one PC to another.
Click on the TOOLS Menu and select OPTIONS.
Click the MAINTENANCE Tab and then click on Store Folder.
You now see the location of your Email Folder.
Highlihgt the Folder Location and press CTRL+C to copy the location.
Click Cancel and then Cancel again to close all boxes.
Click the Windows Start button and the click Run. In the open box press CTRL+V to paste the mail location, then click OK.
You now have a window containing you e-mail database *.dbx files.
From the top Menu click EDIT click Select All.
On the top Menu again click COPY. Now close the window.
Open Windows Explorer, click FILE / NEW and then FOLDER.
Type a name for the folder and hit ENTER.
Double click the Folder you just created to open it. From the EDIT Menu select PASTE. Close the window.
You have now completed a backup up of your email messages.
Now is the time to write them to a CD or CDRW for later use.
Random posts:
Money Mule Exposed
Scambaiting Is Waiting for Scammers
Funny Phishing Letter
How to protect your on-line business
Scambaiting Is Waiting for Scammers
(Update: this post has been included in this comprehensive guide: Online Security Alters to Scams . )
Last time I exposed a cheating attempt : My E-mail Has Won a Lottery? No, My Liar Friend and a Funny Phishing Letter.
Today I got an interesting e-mail. Of course, I know this is a cheating attempt too.
Does somebody want to transfer millions of dollars into your account?Does someone want you pay you to cash cheques and send them the money?Has a dying person contacted you wanting your help to give his money to charity?Have you sold an item and are asked to accept a payment larger than the item amount? It’s scam. A good place for these scammers is Scambaiting.
So what is scambaiting? Well, put simply, you enter into a dialogue with scammers, simply to waste their time and resources. Whilst you are doing this, you will be helping to keep the scammers away from real potential victims and screwing around with the minds of deserving thieves. Some well-known Scambaiting sites are 419eater.com， scam-o-gram.com; scambusters;and Fighting Back at Nigerian 419 Advance Fee Fraud Scammers； Nigeria - The 419 Coalition Website .
Below is a typical scam letter.
Dear Friend,
I am Maureen Haughey, widow of former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, Charles J. Haughey and daughter of former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland and heir to de Valera, Sean F. Lemass.
The Press has written a lot about unresolved mysteries and corruption surrounding Charles’s dealings, but I tell you something, my Charlie was a good man. He was human and he did whatever he did. People marvel why I stuck with Charlie and didn’t speak during the mess that came with the exposure of his affairs with Terry Keane (I just hate to think of her). I had to stand by him through the tribunal times…. lt was to do with what I’m doing now. No one knew the details of all Charlie’s financial dealings but me. I remain the only one who knows all who got loans from Charlie and didn’t come back to pay when he was disgraced. I am the only one who knows about these monies and the other Ansbacher accounts.
I write to you, an old weary woman, sick and almost tired of living. My end is near but I will not depart until my final mission is accomplished and I also write this with an unshaken belief in the power of aspirations and dreams of a human being. The Irish government thinks it can shave and reduce me to a poor widow but I have the winning ace. A few years ago, when we weren’t sure if my Charlie would be convicted, he kept some money in trust for me in a Security and Finance company. He did not open the account in our names so it will not be traced to us to enable the past remain the past. The name on the account is Cedric de Vregille. I never thought Charlie would leave me so soon and it never occurred to me to ask if this name were fictitious or not or a name of any of his friends. I have tried to find this man but to no avail. The amount he deposited in this name is €30,000,000 (Thirty Million Euros). I want an honest person to come forward and lay claims to this amount, moreover to use the funds as instructed by me. I have all the documents needed, I just need a face for the name.
I have mapped out 10% of the funds for you, as you will help us (you and I) execute this job. As soon as I receive your acceptance for this work I shall give you necessary details of my solicitor who will facilitate the release of the funds in your name.Please reply me via my personal email:(mhaughey78@yahoo.co.uk)
For my security and the sake of letting sleeping dogs lie, I strongly advice that you keep our dealings confidential. You can read more about my Charlie from:
http://www.ireland.com/focus/haughey/ITstories/story11.htmlhttp://www.teachersparadise.com/ency/en/wikipedia/c/ch/charles_haughey.html
Thank You.Mrs. Maureen Haughey
Funny Phishing Letter
I really don’t understand why some Internet con artists are still so naïve as to make up so many stories. If you have read this post My E-mail Has Won a Lottery? No, My Liar Friend and Money Mule Exposed by China Business Watch, you can know their tricks.
Here is a funny phishing letter I recently found in my inbox.
Princess Diana Grant Award Uk
Attention: Grant Beneficiary
This is to bring to your information that your email has been randomlyselected and approved as a charity grant beneficiary of THE DIANA MEMORIALFOUNDATION in commiseration of 10th anniversary of the demise of thePrincess Of Wales .You are awarded a grant sum of £ 550,000.00 (FiveHundred And Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds) and for furtherinstructions on how you are to put claim to your grant, you are to FORWARDa copy of this notice to our International Grants Officer as well as givehim a call via contact details below:
Mr. James McArthur.
INTERNATIONAL GRANTS OFFICER,
GRANT AWARD DEPARTMENT,
THE DIANA MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION BUILDING,
214 GREAT QUEEN STREET,
LONDON, WC2B 5DFUNITED KINGDOM.
Tel: +44 704 573 6050
Fax: +44 871 263 9807
Email: dianafundgrantsawarduk@gmail.com
Congratulations once again from all staff of THE DIANA MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONand it is our hope that you will appreciate our gesture and that you bemore involved in charitable acts
Sincerely,
Miss Helen Jones,
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER,
GRANT AWARD DEPARTMENT,
THE DIANA MEMORIAL FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION BUILDING,214 GREAT QUEEN STREET,LONDON,
WC2B 5DFUNITED KINGDOM.
Email:postmaster@princessdianfoundation.uk
*******************************************************
DISCLAIMER& CONFIDENTIALITY:
The information contained in this communication including any attachmentsis intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it isaddressed and others authorized to receive it. It may contain confidentialor legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipientyou are hereby notified that any disclosure, unauthorized use, copying,distribution or taking any action in reliance on the contents of thisinformation is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
If you have received this communication in error, please notify usimmediately by responding to this email and then delete it from yoursystem. THE DIANA MEMORIAL FOUNDATION is neither liable for the proper andcomplete transmission of the information contained in this communicationnor for any delay in its receipt.
Money Mule Exposed
Last time, China Business Watch talks about one form of cheating: Phishing. You can consult this post to know more about phishing and Nigerian Scam
The Nigerian Scam is also referred to as "Advance Fee Fraud", "419 Fraud" (Four-One-Nine) after a formerly relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, and "The Nigerian Connection" (mostly in Europe). However, it is usually called plain old "419" even by the Nigerians themselves. In brief, 419 is a sub-classification of Advance Fee Fraud crime in which the perpetrators are West Africans, primarily Nigerians, operating globally from Nigeria and elsewhere.
Here we have collected some materials to fight against phishing.
'Money Mules': The Hidden Side of Phishing at : http://www.scamfraudalert.com/f37/money-mules-hidden-side-phishing-3061/
Mule Farming : This page contains a list of mule recruitment scams first detected during the spring and summer of 2007. All the emails on this page are confirmed scams.
http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/examples/mules_q3_2007.html : The UK banking industry’s initiative to help banking users stay safe online.
http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/
Protect Your Security and Privacy with These Softwares
Last time China Business Watch talks about the threats to one’s business, and ligh on the list of the threasts are seecurity issue and privacy issue. Here are some commonly used and reliable tools , to enhance your privacy and secuirty.
Ad-Aware 2007 FreeFree for personal use : WindowsChecked: version 7.0.2.2
Ad-Aware scans a computer and helps locate likely adware, spyware, data mining, malware, privacy threats and other malicious components. Definition files can be automatically updated to better detect new threats.
AntiVir Free EditionFree for single home user : Windows
AVG Free Edition is a basic virus scanner, which features online automatic updating of virus definition files and email scanning.
Spybot - Search & DestroyFreeware : WindowsChecked: version 1.3
Spybot-S&D scans a computer for spy/ad-bots (adware/spyware) and attempts removal of such components. The software can also remove traces of web browsing and other records that threaten privacy. Advanced tools help patch the registry after malicious program installations.
Windows Privacy Tools (WinPT)Open source (GNU GPL) : WindowsChecked: version 1.0rc2
Windows Privacy Tools (WinPT) is a collection of tools based around GnuPG (the GNU Privacy Guard), OpenPGP compatible. WinPT provides access to encryption and digital signatures. Processing for arbitrary clipboard contents allows global GPG/PGP use, for example in any email application.
You can see the top 10 softwares of China Business Watch
Pesky Telemarketing Calls: How to Stop Unwelcome Telemarketing Calls
Info noise and info abuse are something we face daily, so be careful about the medium of communication you choose.
And sometime pesky telemarketing calls become too much for you to bear. For example, you sit down to dinner and the phone rings. You answer it. The caller is trying to sell you something or tell you that you've won a fabulous prize. Or like the SMS abuse we talked before.
Are You getting pesky telemarketer calls like this that you don’t want? And you wonder how to stop those telemarketing calls
Well, you can use the National Do Not Call Registry service.
The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.
More than 157 million phone numbers are on the National Do Not Call Registry, and many more people begin to strongly support this national government service.
Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008.
To block the unwelcome telemarketing calls, visit the National Do Not Call Registry at https://www.donotcall.gov/
Avira Upgrade: a Faster Engine
The Avira virus protection starts the second quarter of 2008 with a faster engine
14 April 2008 – Avira announces the new release of its AntiVir products with an incredibly fast virus scanner, AntiVir Scan Engine 8.
A highlight of the new versions AntiVir Professional, AntiVir Premium and Premium Security Suite is a new graphical user interface. A vertical menu system enables easier and faster access to the desired feature. One mouse click is all the user has to do to obtain information on the security status of the system. In addition, the new menu navigation allows the starting of updates, search runs and renewals directly in the interface. Its official site says that the new antivirus engine has increased performance of 20%.
Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus is one of the good softwares ( it’s one of top 10 softwares of China Business Watch ). And what I like about AntiVir is its Free Tools:
Avira AntiVir Removal Tool
Avira AntiRootkit Tool
Avira Boot Sector Repair
Avira UnErase Personal
Avira NTFS4DOS Personal
Avira AntiVir Rescue System
My E-mail Has Won a Lottery? No, My Liar Friend
Quote:
How to protect your on-line business
Some readers ask us how to protect their on-line business. Well. this is a good question, yet a bit too broad.
Simply speaking, if You're Doing Business Online, the Law Requires That You Have the Proper Legal Forms on Your Web Site .
The above statement is not empty hype. For example:
The FTC is really ramping up to crack down on Internet Marketers and small eBusiness owners, and actively go after those of us that don't rigidly adhere to all their rules about disclosure and documentation! They filed 45 criminal and civil law enforcement actions against Internet Marketers, on May 15th alone.
A seemingly innocent omission from your Website, such as a privacy policy, opens the door for big legal headaches ... civil or criminal law suites ... maybe both. If you don't believe it, please visit and read the information at the following sites:
Introduction (FTC)
Enforcing Privacy Promises (FTC)
Privacy in Cyberspace
Tips for Bloggers and Spam Appeal Process
Blogs have emerged from a humble beginning to become a highly networked mass of online knowledge and communication. Blogging is about sharing. The act of blogging makes information public through publishing online.
Wordpress and Blogger are two of the most popular blog service providers (BSP). See my review of Blogger.com or Wordpress? Why I Like Blogger
There is some advice for all the newcomers of blogspot.com bloggers.
1.Don’t delete your blog, even if you do want to work on it. Keep it there.
2.Don’t change your url or domain after blogging for some time.
The reason? Just read my recap of this:
I start my blog at http://myformer url。blogspot.com/ more than 6 months ago, and I write about 149 Posts, all of which are original content. And I’ve never been involved in any spamming activities. Since my focus is on China Business Watch, so about 10 days ago, I changed the url of http://myformer url，blogspot.com/ to http://chinabusinesswatch.blogspot.com/ . I don’t want to lose the posts, so instead of deleting http://myformer url，blogspot.com/ , I change the url to http://chinabusinesswatch.blogspot.com/ in my dashboard. There are internal links in the posts, so I manually changed the http://myformer url. to chinabusinesswatch in the internal links of the posts, to avoid broken links for my readers.
About five days ago, my blog of http://chinabusinesswatch.blogspot.com/ was locked as possible spam. I immediately Request Unlock Review, yet five days passed, I didn’t receive any feedback.
What’s more depressing is to find that my former blog url http://myformer url。blogspot.com/ has been hijacked. The blog of http://myformer url，blogspot.com/, over which I have no control now, has been taken over by OEDEMERA and flooded with spam. My readers are still going to my old blog and getting all this objectionable material instead - in my name. This kind of behavior is very bad, and damaging my reputation. All I really want is if the URL could be given back to me so that I can have control over my own content again. If that cannot be done, I would want the blog http://myformer url。blogspot.com/ to be deleted once and for all, to stop further damage to my reputation.
I think I’m not the only victim of such bad behavior aiming at blogspot.com bloggers. I search OEDEMERA, and find some other blogspot.com bloggers suffer the same way. This happens, when blogspot.com bloggers delete blogs or change their urls. Here are some similar cases of OEDEMERA hijacking, http://groups.google.net.in/group/blogger-help-troubleshoot/browse_thread/thread/4b59bee373861f4b/0eec40e6177fe449?lnk=raot and http://groups.google.pl/group/blogger-help-troubleshoot/browse_thread/thread/7d1dd72da9acdb2b It’s not easy to write posts of original content, and I have a deep feeling toward my blog. I enjoy the blogspot.com platform, and the immoral hijacking, from which some blogspot.com bloggers suffer, is not to be tolerated.
I’m grateful to Blogger.com and hope it can have a mechanism to stop such bad behavior directly aiming at blogspot.com bloggers. Finally I hope Blogger.com can understand what I mean, investigate the case to unlock my blog. I don’t want to give up blogging, and wish Blogger.com and all the blogspot.com bloggers well.
Thanks.
（first appeared at http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-publishing/browse_thread/thread/9b0f123f9229d90b/8deca56a7ff71f8d?lnk=gst&q=Chinabusinesswatch#8deca56a7ff71f8d )
This is what I wrote to Blogger Help. The Blogger Help is very helpful and co-operative, but don’t go through this unlocking appeal process just because of ignorance.
Should I have contact information on my blog?
A reader's question:
What are your thoughts about putting an email/contact address on a blog? I don’t want the email to be harvested but I think I need a way for people to get hold of me aside from the comments. What’s your recommendation?
China Business Watch's Answer:
This is an interesting question because there are so many possible ways you can address this.
One solution is to have a separate HTML form that lets people enter comments for you independent of the blog comment form. That's what I do for the contact page and plenty of people contact me through that form too: Ask Us A Question.
Probably the most common solution is to publish your email address. That's a good idea if indeed that's the kind of contact you seek. If you choose that route I would strongly suggest that you set up a new address just for blog-based communication, even if it's an alias that routes directly to your mailbox. This way if it does end up attracting too much spam, you can easily shut it off without affecting any of your existing correspondents.
And, a smart strategy is to use a graphics editor to create a GIF or JPEG image that is your email address, then give it a generic name and include it as an img src tag only. Your users will have to type in your address rather than having a one-click feature. There is a free web app for E-Mail Icon Generator, http://services.nexodyne.com/email/index.php .
