annoyance

Get ready for cell phone spam

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Anthony Melone, Verizon Wireless's chief technology officer, started getting complaints last March from customers about unsolicited text messages that were flooding the network. He and his Verizon tech staff found the messages were coming from someone using email accounts at Microsoft's Internet portal, msn.com--just one recent source of the estimated 1.5 billion unsolicited cell phone text message expected in 2008.

This not only is an issue for CIOs and their IT departments at telecommunications companies, but also for employers who pay the cell phone bills of their workers and may get stuck with unnecessary charges and even bigger problems. Experts say that besides the annoyance and the extra costs, there is a threat of viruses as phones become more like personal computers.

Carriers adjust their spam filters to try and block offending messages, and computer security companies have developed products to help fight mobile phone spam. It might be worth assessing whether this is an issue at your company, and whether it rises to the level where action is needed.

For more on cell phone spam:
- see this New York Times article

Avoiding the annoying (and potentially deadly) pop-up

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Most people think of pop-up windows as a mere annoyance and most companies employ technology to block them. But pop-up windows can sometimes indicate a more serious problem: malicious, invasive spam. Depending on the situation, there are various ways to eliminate pop-ups, and some can cause serious security issues themselves.

Learn how to identify and eliminate malicious pop-ups:
- read the article at TechRepublic

Vista security feature is a turn-off

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:01:35 -0500

The security aspect of Microsoft's Vista has been under scrutiny since long before the OS actually hit the market, and the news of flaws and issues just keeps coming. Symantec claims that the system's highly touted User Account Control (UAC) is so "chatty" that its actually not usable as a security function. Calling it an annoying element, the security vendor says most users will likely shut it down--effectively eliminating the good the tool could provide to users. Symantec is expected to deliver some third-party security solutions to hep tighten up Vista and is talking up a tool that would 'lay over' the UAC function and boost the security factor while diminishing the annoyance aspect.

For more on the latest Vista security issue:
- read the news at DailyTechRag

Going mobile without a laptop

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Given the numerous challenges that business travelers face, the increasing annoyance of security requirements and the perennial issue of theft, having an alternative to using laptops on the road could prove valuable. All it takes is a little creativity, some knowledge of how other mobile devices can provide the needed functionality, and of course, access to a computer at the remote location.

For more on a mobile work strategy sans laptop:
- read this how-to at PC World