Antivirus Software

Cybercriminals have been busy this week running scams that target Facebook users, college basketball fans, and celebrity gossip watchers. Security experts are warning about recent attacks with nasty payloads.

One widespread attack was a common ploy security researchers call the Facebook Password Reset Scam. The cybercriminals send an e-mail addressed to "user of Facebook" that reads, "Because of the measures taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed. You can find your new password in the attached document."

Q My netbook battery doesn't last very long -- are there any ways to get more than a few hours of power between charges?

A Netbook battery life can range anywhere from less than two hours to almost seven, depending on the model and what the computer is doing. For example, watching videos with the screen brightness turned all the way up will usually drain the battery much more quickly than typing a report in a word-processing program.

Conventional wisdom calls for IT managers to wait for the first service pack before installing a new Windows operating system. But since Windows 7 builds on all the security improvements Vista made over Windows XP, there may be a temptation to ignore the rule.

That could be a problem because Windows 7 is far from secure, security firm Sophos says. In a company blog, Chester Wisniewski wrote that Windows 7 is highly vulnerable to the latest viruses.

Shares of Symantec Corp. soared Thursday after the antivirus software maker reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded investors' expectations amid signs that stabilization in its business has begun to take hold.

Shares of Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif., rose $1.46, or 9.3 percent, to $17.19 in morning trading.

Analysts latched onto the theme of improving business trends, with several increasing their profit and revenue estimates for the third quarter, 2010 and 2011.

Windows 7 is out, and that means a massive search for "Windows 7 compatible" software is on. While Microsoft's new operating system has received widespread praise for its efforts to remain compatible with the majority of existing applications, incompatibilities do exist, especially in the areas of system security and system maintenance. Will the tools you've relied upon for years for your Windows XP or Vista systems have trouble under Windows 7? Read on for some answers.

Firefox users should carefully review any security warnings they receive from their browsers. That's because such warnings are not always indicators of a real threat, says Germany-based antivirus firm Gdata.

The impetus behind the fake messages is profit, not security. Hackers are currently attempting to use so-called Trojans to trigger fake security warnings in Firefox, Gdata says. The software then redirects the user to a different Web site where they are encouraged to buy "counterfeit" antivirus software that pretends to find an infection on the computer.

Thousands of Hotmail usernames and passwords were posted on pastebin.com, Microsoft has confirmed. The post by an anonymous user has since been taken down.

Microsoft said its internal data for Windows Live Hotmail was not breached and the user credentials were likely obtained through a phishing scheme. According to Neowin.net, the list of usernames and passwords appeared to be mostly based in Europe and included hotmail.com, msn.com and live.com accounts.

Microsoft on Tuesday released software that allows Windows 7 users to run applications in XP mode. Windows XP Mode Release Candidate (RC) is now available for download.

The goal of offering Windows XP RC is to make it remove a barrier to upgrading by making it easier for consumers using applications designed for older versions of Windows to continue using them with Windows 7. The software now works with the RC and RTM versions of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.

Last Mile Compatibility

Malicious code is still on the rise -- and e-mail is one of the most common attack vehicles. You've got to contend with viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, spam, data-storage challenges, phishing, disruption and downtime risks, and a host of other potential threats via one of your company's most vital communications channels.

Antivirus software cuts two ways. It's great at blocking known viruses, but it can sometimes misfire, mistakenly flagging clean files as malicious. That sends a computer into a tailspin trying to clean up stuff that's supposed to be on there.

The problem can crash a computer, and fixing it can be a bear.

An example emerged this week when users of antivirus software made by Islandia, N.Y.-based CA Inc. watched as their machines warned of an infection and started quarantining files that turned out to be legitimate.