New cloud based messaging service called Bobsled

Hi All it's The Mad Hatter again i found this new service from T-mobile called Bobsled T-Mobile has announced that it is adding to its Bobsled Calling service by adding an additional cloud based messaging function called Bobsled Messaging. With the latter, users will be able to send and receive group messages from any Android powered device, or any device connected to the web via a browser.

I Have been using for a few days now and have it working with my facebook as well, it works great as long as you have a WiFi connections you can make free call to any on in your contact list.
The service can be used by phones running on other platforms like iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. The service can even be used on featurephones.

http://bobsled.com/#!/home

I would say it is a bit better than Skype give it a try and tell me what you think.

Vince Bailey The Mad Hatter follow "That Man"

Malware for Mac OS X

Hi All

We at DNS-DIRECT like to keep up informed. As we had the malware attack on the Apple Mac systems i have a few things you can do.

WHAT IS FLASHBACK/FLASHFAKE?
It is a family of malware for Mac OS X. The first versions of this type of threat were detected in September 2011. In March 2012 over 600 000 computers worldwide were infected by Flashback. The infected computers have been combined in a botnet which enables cyber criminals to install additional malicious modules on them at will.

 Goto http://flashbackcheck.com/

This will check to see if you have a virus.

The second thing you can download a little which i use on my Mac called Little Snitch which will let monitor network traffic.

A firewall protects your computer against unwanted guests from the Internet. But who protects your private data from being sent out? Little Snitch does!

Protect your privacy

As soon as you’re connected to the Internet, applications can potentially send whatever information they want to wherever they want.
Sometimes they do this for good reason, on your explicit request. But often they don’t. Little Snitch allows you to intercept these unwanted connection attempts, and lets you decide how to proceed.
Little Snitch informs you whenever a program attempts to establish an outgoing Internet connection. You can then choose to allow or deny this connection, or define a rule how to handle similar, future connection attempts. This reliably prevents private data from being sent out without your knowledge. Little Snitch runs inconspicuously in the background and it can also detect network related activity of viruses, Trojans and other malware.

Goto  http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html

I hope these solutions help.

The Mad Hatter follow "That Man"

March Hare

Come now Alice, you are very late for tea…

Red Alert Half a million Mac computers 'infected with malware'

Hi All It's The Mad Hatter

As you know i have been doing talking about cyber attacks!! well thanks to my friend Paul who gave me an update It has finally happen the hacker have made there move on Apple macs. So if you have a Apple Mac run the update software to get the latest updates

Have a read

More than half a million Apple computers have been infected with the Flashback Trojan, according to a Russian anti-virus firm.

Its report claims that about 600,000 Macs have installed the malware - potentially allowing them to be hijacked and used as a "botnet".
The firm, Dr Web, says that more than half that number are based in the US.
Apple has released a security update, but users who have not installed the patch remain exposed.
Flashback was first detected last September when anti-virus researchers flagged up software masquerading itself as a Flash Player update. Once downloaded it deactivated some of the computer's security software.
Later versions of the malware exploited weaknesses in the Java programming language to allow the code to be installed from bogus sites without the user's permission.

Remote control Dr Web said that once the Trojan was installed it sent a message to the intruder's control server with a unique ID to identify the infected machine.
"By introducing the code criminals are potentially able to control the machine," the firm's chief executive Boris Sharov told the BBC.
"We stress the word potential as we have never seen any malicious activity since we hijacked the botnet to take it out of criminals' hands. However, we know people create viruses to get money.
"The largest amounts of bots - based on the IP addresses we identified - are in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, so it appears to have targeted English-speaking people."
Dr Web also notes that 274 of the infected computers it detected appeared to be located in Cupertino, California - home to Apple's headquarters.
Update wait Java's developer, Oracle, issued a fix to the vulnerability on 14 February, but this did not work on Macintoshes as Apple manages Java updates to its computers.

Apple released its own "security update" on Wednesday - more than eight weeks later. It can be triggered by clicking on the software update icon in the computer's system preferences panel.

The security firm F-Secure has also posted detailed instructions about how to confirm if a machine is infected and how to remove the Trojan.
Although Apple's system software limits the actions its computers can take without requesting their users' permission, some security analysts suggest this latest incident highlights the fact that the machines are not invulnerable.
"People used to say that Apple computers, unlike Windows PCs, can't ever be infected - but it's a myth," said Timur Tsoriev, an analyst at Kaspersky Lab.

Be safe protect yourself This is The Mad Hatter follow "That Man"
Has anyone seen Alice yet?

Who this Alice in Wonderland

Hi all It's the Vince The Mad Hatter coming soon there will be a new character joining us.

Keeping with the flow and due to the many question i get asked about computer consoles and games

It's ALICE

Alice: When I get home I shall write a book about this place... If I ever do get home.






 She is Alice in wonderland games and console reviewer. Alice will be reviewing new games and giving you tips and hints.

Also she is planing to have question and answers session, i hope it should be a lot of fun like Alice would say?



Alice: It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change.

Well that counts me out as you know am as "Mad as a Hatter"
So Follow Alice and the Mad Hatter for you tech and gaming news and tips.
So keep an eye out ALICE IS ABOUT TO DROP DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE SOON BRING GAMING AND CONSOLE NEWS.

Alice: Well, after this I should think nothing of falling down stairs. 

So follow "That Man" and "Alice"

Protect your business in 2012

Hey The Mad Hatter is back, we have been talking about protecting our self's how about protecting your company.

Just read this.

The next twelve months will be like a fair ground ride: rotation, uncertainty and

mild discomfort. The world of IT is spinning fast: cloud computing, data explosion,

consumerisation, tablet computers, social media, mobile and flexible working. These

changes challenge traditional views of IT.

Follow that Man Link

Can you help me stop the bandwidth leeches at my pub's free Wi-Fi hot spot?

Happy Friday! A quick announcement to start: We just opened a Windows 8 forum for you to discuss and browse all the happenings around this pre-release OS. It's still in the beta-testing phase, but let's get started early as there is a lot of buzz around it already. Enjoy!

A couple of weeks back, we presented the newsletter topic from Robert F., "E-mail account compromised. How do I stop the spammers?" and he has graciously written a thank you note. Robert, thanks for following up with us!

Now let's get cracking on how we can help Andrew. He owns a pub that offers free Wi-Fi, but is having problems with bandwidth leeches, causing not only a strain on his bandwidth, but also possibly increasing his cost from his ISP due to exceeding usage.

Well, Andrew, many members have come to help. The recommendations varied from setting up software or firewalls and managing people's use (limiting bandwidth or password-protect) to calling on professional services to help set up a service for you. The solution that I personally thought was great is to use software that will password-protect Wi-Fi access. Sure it's a little inconvenient for your customers to enter a password to gain access to your Wi-Fi, but this will allow only your customers to use it, and bandwidth leeches outside the pub won't be able to gain access.

So, check out all the great recommendations in the discussion thread, and Andrew, when you do come to a solution that works for your business, please update us here. Good luck! Thanks to all who shared their wealth of knowledge. Have an awesome Easter weekend!

Which streaming-media device is right for you?

Hi It's the Mad Hatter.

There have been some controversial reports these past couple of days; for instance, did you hear about the woman who broke her nose at an Apple store and is suing Apple for $1 million? Or how about the high school student who was expelled for tweeting a swear word? Did those two things really just happen? Don't worry I'm not here to talk about those news items; instead I'll talk about something you might find more helpful.

For those who are curious or looking into purchasing a streaming-media device and are a bit overwhelmed by all the choices. We offers a great rundown of these streaming devices, including the Roku box, Blu-ray players, and gaming consoles that offer this feature; how much they cost; and the compatible services. But what I liked most was his breakdown of who shouldn't buy a streaming-media device. In addition to his informative blog, your fellow community members have already started to comment on which devices they use and what they don't like or like about them, so it's a great way to get some more opinions on the matter.

If you already own one of these devices, or are thinking of getting one, or just have a strong opinion, don't be shy. Join the conversation and tell us your thoughts on streaming-media devices.

Take a look at the options?

There are more ways than ever to stream Netflix and other online services. But which device is best for you?

Follow the link to see which is best?

It's the Mad Hatter Follow "That Man"

Solid-state drives (SSDs) typically have been used in
situations in which applications required high data
throughput or very high transaction rates between a
server and the storage media. However, they are now
being eyed for broader usage scenarios, because of
their myriad of cost-saving benefits.
This free guide compares hard disk drives (HDDs) and
SSDs, explaining the cost and performance benefits of
the latter in detail, including their superior delivery of
input/output operations per second (IOPS) over HDDs.

Follow that link  Download Why Solid-State Drives Usage Scenarios Are

DDoS Attacks: Top 10 Trends and Truths – Free Guide

Hi It's The Mad Hatter.


The Internet powers almost every aspect of business operations today, from websites, email and ecommerce payments to behind-the-scenes data exchanges. During distributed denial of service attacks, the entire enterprise is at risk.

Follow the link Download 2011_DDoS_Attacks_Trends__Truths_022111-AMENDED.o

Only 735 Days Until Windows XP Support Ends – Windows 7 Migration Guide

It's the Mad Hatter again Windows XP is dead long live Windows XP.



With the expiration of Windows XP support looming, many organisations are now starting to formulate their strategy for migrating to Windows 7. It is an onerous task, raising many tough questions - where do they start? What costs are associated?

This paper examines a fundamental step that all enterprises should undertake to ensure the migration process is built upon the right foundation; determining what applications are being used BEFORE the application compatibility process even starts.


Follow the link http://dns-direct.typepad.com/files/centrixsoftware_appcomm_wp_final.o.pdf

Protect yourself the hackers are comming.

Hi It's The Mad Hatter.
Well It's not funny any more am lost for words check this out. I was one of the users that got hit with Playstation network problem. Not funny at all.....

So keep you security tight and the door locked at all times, otherwise these hackers will empty your pockets and damage your street cred
I have some Tips to help you as well so check it out so just follow "That Man" The Mad Hatter

Big thank to the Beeb http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17596394

A data breach that may have exposed as many as 1.5 million credit card accounts has been "absolutely contained", according to the firm behind the leak.

Global Payments processes payments for firms such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

It admitted that thieves had accessed card account numbers, expiration data and security codes.

This prompted Visa to drop the US firm from its list of approved vendors.

The firm's share price also fell.

Website help
Over the weekend, Global Payments said the thieves had exported the stolen information but stressed that they did not have customer names, addresses or Social Security numbers.

The company said it would work with regulators, industry third parties and law enforcement agencies to help minimise any impact to credit cardholders.

It has set up a website to help cardholders although it has not provided the names of stores or banks that were affected by the breach. The company's share price fell more than 3% on Monday, following a 9% drop on Friday.

Besides processing cards in the US, Global Payments provides its services to government agencies, businesses and others in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Global Payments Chief Executive Paul Garcia has pledged to spend more on security.

However, he told the Wall Street Journal that he was not surprised that Visa had struck his firm off its list of approved payment processors.

"It wouldn't be unexpected for Mastercard to take similar action," he added.

Spear phishing
Security firms warned that hackers could use the information they took to mine more personal data.

This is used in so-called spear phishing attacks, in which highly targeted fake emails are sent to people mimicking a message from their real bank and asking them to hand over personal information.

A number of security breaches have taken place in the last couple of years.

Last June, hackers stole information for 360,000 credit card accounts at Citigroup. In the past year, there have been high-profile data attacks against the International Monetary Fund, Google and Sony's PlayStation Network.

TIPS

Cardholders

Unauthorized credit card activity and other criminal acts of fraud are an unfortunate reality today. Despite the numerous
technology safeguards, rigorous monitoring and advanced tracking systems, credit card holders need to be vigilant. There are
helpful measures cardholders can take and resources available to help individuals protect themselves and minimize the effects
of fraud.
What should I do if I think my card numbers have been compromised?
Significantly, our investigation to date has revealed that no names, addresses or social security numbers were taken in this
incident. Nevertheless, if you believe your credit card information is at risk, immediately contact your card issuing institution or
bank and all other relevant financial institutions. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to assist those
who believe they are at risk. This number can be found on the back of your credit/debit card. By law, once you report the loss
or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges.

In addition, you can place a Fraud Alert on your credit report. In order to do this, you’ll need to contact all three credit bureaus
individually:

TransUnion: (www.transunion.com)
Equifax:  (www.equifax.com)
Experian: (www.experian.com)

Best practices for keeping your card safe
Monitor your accounts regularly, checking for unauthorized transactions.
Be conscious of all information you share online. Even non-financial information can be enough to allow thieves to steal
your identity.

If certain bills do not arrive on time, this may be a sign your information is at risk. Go paperless whenever possible.
Keep an eye out for credit cards you didn’t apply for, denials of credit for no apparent reason, or calls/letters from debt
collectors or businesses for goods or services you did not receive.
Never provide sensitive information to unsolicited requests. Most financial institutions will not proactively solicit any
personal information or card information.

Get a credit report - You are entitled to a free credit report once every 12 months.
Periodically contact your bank to inquire about possible fraudulent activity to be aware of.
Consider using identity theft protection, including services that include fraud alerts and credit freezes.

It's not funny Hackers 'steal more than criminals'

Hi It's "That Man" again The Mad Hatter.
Well It's not funny We must protect our selfs more and i know that it is hard to but we can start by buying quality routers like Draytek products and get them configured correctly and also getting good firewall software but just have a read and tell the Mad Hatter what you think.....

The annual analysis of data breaches by Verizon uncovered a huge rise in politically motivated attacks.

Verizon found that 58% of all the data stolen during breaches in 2011 was purloined by these groups.

Hacktivists were hard to defend against, it said, as their attack strategies were much harder to predict.

The Verizon report catalogued 855 incidents around the world in which 174 million records were stolen.
Data defences

"Hacktivism has been around for a some time but it's mainly been website defacements," said Wade Baker, director of research and intelligence at Verizon. "In 2011 it was more about going to steal a bunch of information from a company."

The hacktivist attacks were spearheaded by the Anonymous hacker group and its tech-savvy offshoots Antisec and Lulzsec. These activists scored a significant number of successes by knocking out websites and stealing large amounts of data from private companies and government agencies.

"Data theft became a mechanism for political protest," said Mr Baker. He added that it was hard to develop specific defences against these attacks because they used tactics and techniques crafted for each occasion.

He said the attacks by hacktivists were not very common but often netted huge amounts of data when they did penetrate defences.

In contrast to that stolen by hacktivists, about 35% of data pilfered from large companies was taken by organised criminal groups which wanted to sell it or use it to commit another crime.

Mr Baker said cybercriminals continued to be a huge threat to large companies, and constantly battered their internet defences looking for weaknesses. These attacks, he said, tended to be opportunistic and capitalised on any loopholes and vulnerabilities they found.

While few firms were going out of business or suffering lasting damage because of a data breach, he said, companies still had work to do to ensure they knew they were safe.

What are Sony playing at!!!!!! Playstation

Hi All, It's Vince  the Mad Hatter bring you more tech news.

Well talk about my eyes popping out of my head !!!!!!!!! with Disbelief and shock when i read this article an i thought i would share it with you all.

I am a fan of the Playstation i think it is good value for
money for the features that you get. But stopping you from using used games!!!!!

The Games are already very expensive and being able to buy used games is a must. And what do you do when you have finished a game?
I sell mine on so that a can buy the latest game.

Tell me your thoughts on this after read this and do
the poll what are Sony playing at!!!!!!

Vince (The Mad Hatter) Follow "That Man"

What if I told you that the next DVD/Blu-ray player you buy will only play newly bought discs?

And if you were to buy used, borrow your friends' discs, or rent games, your machine would not play them? Well, it has been reported that the new Sony PlayStation 4 console (or Orbis as it's said to be called) will not play PlayStation 3 games, and the console will also have anti-used-game measures built in.

That means no more playing rental games or borrowing games from your buddy, and of course you can't play pre-owned games! What has been reported is that if you do use secondhand games, you'll have to pay an extra fee. Why all this madness?!

It looks like game developers feel like used game sales are choking the industry.

To be fair, it was reported earlier this year that Microsoft is considering blocking used games on the next version of the Xbox.

I don't know about you, but to me that's just crazy! My son and I buy used games quite a bit, and it would be a huge setback for both of us if they were to go through with this. I will probably just say no to a newer console, at least until the game prices are lowered, or I'll just refuse to buy a new console and go back to PC gaming until something changes.

So what do you all think about this? Are you willing to buy a console that locks out secondhand games?

What do you think will happen to all those game outlets that sell pre-owned games or game rental services. Is their business model doomed? If companies like Sony and Microsoft go through with this, do you think it will have a negative effect on the game industry, or will it have no impact at all, because people will continue to buy new?

Surveillance Data Protection can our leaders make there mind up!!!!!!!

Hey All the cyber crime and now data protection is causing a real problem now.

Yep its the Mad Hatter again, well what can i say every one is running running scared with hacking more Surveillance what do the UK gov want to do.

First they gov want to know what the public are doing and the EU is trying to protect the public whats going off.

Have a read of this News Article and tell me what you think? Vince (The Mad Hatter)

An average of 59% of senior UK IT managers in large enterprises believe the proposed new EU data protection framework will cost their business more money, a survey has revealed.

Only 11% said costs would go down, while 23% expected it to stay the same and 7% were unsure, according to the SecureData EU General Data Protection Regulation UK Enterprise Inquiry.

Retail, distribution and transport sectors were the most concerned, with 72% saying it would cost them more, followed by financial services (56%), and manufacturing (44%).

Security and compliance officers need to begin assessing the risk presented to their organisations, said Etienne Greeff, managing director of SecureData.

The draft proposals require organisations to notify data protection authorities and affected data subjects within 24 hours. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said this would help improve business and security processes, and 58% said it would improve data protection.

But 40% expressed concern that it would advertise security weaknesses before an appropriate security review could be completed, 36% feared "false alarms" from pressures to notify of data breaches quickly, and 14% said it could reduce the possibility of catching data thieves.

Raise awareness of security responsibilities

SecureData recommends setting up security forums to grow awareness of IT security, the proposed EU data protection laws and associated risks; developing an incident response plan that includes notifying the relevant authorities; and building a digital forensic capability to catch data thieves and help build stronger defences.

Identify the most important processes to improve and balance this cost against the proposed fines for data breaches to build a business case

Etienne Greeff, managing director, SecureData

"Organisations should [identify] the most important processes to improve and balance this cost against the proposed fines for data breaches to build a business case," said Greeff. 

The draft proposals enable data protection authorities to fine companies that violate the EU data protection rules up to €1m or 2% of their global annual turnover.

"This should make it easier to justify investments in information security, but it should also encourage businesses to make information security a standard element of all business processes," he said.

Outsourcing security roles

The draft proposals require all businesses with more than 250 employees to appoint a data protection officer, but more than a quarter of respondents said they envisage their enterprise outsourcing this role. However, Greeff said this figure will come down as EU requirements become clearer.

The survey also found that firewall and network managers are the most likely security roles to be outsourced (35%), but only 8% in financial services would consider an outsourced chief information security officer (CISO) compared with 28% in the manufacturing sector.

SecureData said organisations should regularly evaluate what makes sense to keep in-house and what services are better outsourced to an expert third party, and consider outsourcing the CISO function to save costs.

Compliance is a growing challenge

One of the controversial proposed requirements promises internet users the "right to be forgotten", that would allow people to ask for data about them to be deleted. Organisations will have to comply unless there are "legitimate" grounds to retain the information.

Carl Shallow, head of compliance at SecureData, said the new internet economy is vital to Europe’s economic recovery and the need for increased data protection must be finely balanced with freedoms for technological and business model innovation.

Enterprises must identify exactly what is sensitive data and where it resides, because there is frequently an abundance of "lost" unstructured data siloed across IT estates, he said.

Enterprises must identify exactly what is sensitive data and where it resides, because there is frequently an abundance of "lost" unstructured data siloed across IT estates

Carl Shallow, head of compliance, SecureData

The proposed new EU data protection framework, said Shallow, is an ideal opportunity for businesses to review data governance procedures and management solutions.

Compliance with the proposed new EU data protection laws and a growing list of other regulations is becoming increasingly important for a more and more people within UK enterprises, said Greeff.

The survey revealed that 31% of respondents frequently have some responsibility for IT compliance, 41% regularly have to work on IT compliance issues, while 6% said it was the main focus of their job.

"This is a much higher proportion than just a year ago, when only around 20% said they had "regular" responsibility for IT compliance," said Greeff.

The survey highlighted that dealing with compliance issues is not the preserve of a few individuals, and that senior IT managers across organisations have to understand and deal with compliance requirements, he said.

Tell me what you think or am i going mad!!!!!! or am i going Mad 
The Mad Hatter follow "That Man"

Can you block access to porn sites from my PC?

Hi All

It's the Mad Hatter here i have had lots of people ask me this question.

As a parent of two kids, and 3 grand kids, I know I may be soon faced with a situation similar to Marti's concerns over his great grandson's computer usage, and how he can protect him from accessing adult sites. One of the things that you can do is invest in a good router like a Draytek which can give you good protection. With the use of other tech like iPhone iPads, and a stack of other gadgets we need to be on our guard.

Back when I was a kid, the Internet was non-existent in most households. The only thing my parents had to worry about when we were home was not answering the door to strangers and talking to strangers on the phone. Today, it's a whole different landscape for parents because of the Internet. Like it or not, our children are growing up in a cyberworld and the threats to them are quite frightening. In addition to access to adult sites, there are many other online threats like cyber bulling, predators, and privacy. I think it's worthwhile to mention them, too.

We even got a few people suggesting how they approach the situation with their kids. I personally enjoyed reading through the solutions and opinions, and I think you will too. Just remember, kids nowadays are pretty computer savvy and no matter what you do, nothing is 100 percent guaranteed to block access to those sites. And if they can't access those sites at home, more than likely they'll be accessing them somewhere else. Good luck to you, Marti, and all the parents who are faced with this and other online concerns. So protect your self and your tech or someone will take if off you cyber crime is not a joke it's real. The Internet is a great bit of kit but it is also very dangerous if not used correctly.

If you have something else to recommend, please feel free to share it with us in the discussion. Thank you all for participating. Have a safe and happy Easter weekend!

This Vince Bailey (The Mad Hatter) so follow "That Man" with your comments