If You're Users Can Leave Comments, You Have the Problem of Comment Spam.

By Ajit Monteiro

“Spam is no longer limited to email. If you run a Website on which you allow users to leave comments, you have undoubtedly faced the problem of comment spam.

The spammers' aim is not to redirect some of your traffic to their site, which is the obvious initial conclusion; it is to increase their (or their clients') ranking in search engines. Most search engines now count in a site's ranking how many other Websites have linked to it. By leaving comments on your site, the spammers' sites can achieve a slightly higher search engine ranking.

The spammers' job is to get around spam-blockers and target the security of individual Websites; though occasionally they do so on a manual basis, by far the most common forms of comment spam are achieved with spam "bots" or scripts. Unfortunately, many site owners don't focus on their Websites as their day job, which can make adapting to spam bots difficult.

Rules of Thumb

When you find that your site is the victim of comment spam, it's easy to react strongly, on a per-case basis, rather than look at the bigger picture. These Rules of Thumb should help you keep things in perspective.

The most important of these rules is: don't take it personally. Spammers don't want to degrade your site. They simply want to get people to their sites and make a larger profit.…”

http://www.sitepoint.com/print/stop-comment-spam

Symantec details flaws in its antivirus software | Tech News on ZDNet

By Matt Hines, CNET News.com

“Symantec has reported glitches in its antivirus software that could allow hackers to launch denial-of-service attacks on computers running the applications. In a notice posted on its Web site this week, Symantec detailed two similar vulnerabilities found in its Norton AntiVirus software, which is sold on its own or bundled in Norton Internet Security and Norton System Works. The flaws, which could lead to computers crashing or slowing severely if attacked, are limited to versions of the software released for 2004 and 2005.

The Information-Technology Promotion Agency of Japan, a government-affiliated tech watchdog group, identified the first instance of the problem in the AutoProtect feature of the Norton AntiVirus consumer product, Symantec said. AutoProtect is used to scan files for viruses, Trojan attacks and worms.”

The Information-Technology Promotion Agency of Japan, a government-affiliated tech watchdog group, identified the first instance of the problem in the AutoProtect feature of Norton AntiVirus. AutoProtect scans files for viruses, Trojans and worms.

Essentially Symantec's software crashes when it is asked to inspect a file specifically designed to exploit the flaw. The file could be submitted remotely from outside a system, or, internally by someone with physical access to a computer.

The second flaw, discovered by the Japan Computer Emergency Response team, can be used to launch denial-of-service attacks by scanning specific file modifications via the SmartScan feature of Norton AntiVirus. Malicious use of that vulnerability would specifically require someone with authorized access to a computer to exploit the issue. SmartScan is designed to scour for viruses hidden in file extensions, as well as in executable and document files.

No attacks related to either problem have been reported so far, according to Symantec.…

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5646871.html?tag=nl.e539

Boys Wreck Ignition Part 2, Beyond Recognition

I don't understand the need to send messages to the other side of the planet to arrange to fix problems that can only be worked on by someone within the one to five thousand feet between your system an what they call a “central office.”

Over the last few years nearly 30,000 jobs at SBC have been lost. Virtually all of the growth jobs in Internet data services, installation of Wi-Fi hotspots, voice over the Internet (VOIP), DSL broadband and other areas, SBC work, amounting to thousands of jobs, is being outsourced, including going offshore to countries such as India and the Philippines.

"SBC continues to refuse to give this work to our members, the frontline workers who have built SBC into the nation's most profitable telecom company," said CWA President Morton Bahr. SBC's profits in 2003 were more than $8 billion.

http://www.cwa-union.org/news/PressReleaseDisplay.asp?ID=427

Google the terms SBC offshoring DSL and “voice recognition,” and my experience is almost mild compared to say Amanda Brenner's , but , strangely parallels her's, right down to the promise to call back that disappeared from the world as we know it.…

…Or nopaper.net :: start/2004-07-31/1 ...SBC's automated apologies. Our DSL is out right now (11am, ... SBC has implemented a voice recognition menu system, so I was asked to speak my…

It's truly amazing how complicated getting service can be.

It's going to get harder with the FCC helping the Big Guys crush their competition.

The FCC voted 3-2 to suspend public utility commission regulations in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana that had forced BellSouth to sell DSL service to other telephone operators, separate from its local phone service. In the past, the two services had been inextricably linked.…

“"This FCC order continues progress on clearing out regulatory underbrush that handicaps rolling out broadband," Jonathan Banks, BellSouth vice president of federal executive and regulatory affairs, said in a statement. "By affirming a single national policy in this area, this FCC action will increase the speed and efficiency of bringing to consumers new and innovative broadband service offerings over wireline networks. This order is an important step in achieving the president's goal of increased broadband deployment."

A BellSouth spokesman couldn't immediately be reached Friday to discuss the fate of 8,000 or so BellSouth DSL customers in the four states. Aside from users of naked DSL services, an FCC decision would also affect "cord-cutters," a group of about 20 million U.S. residents who don't have local phone lines and go solo instead with their cell phones. As a result of the FCC ruling, cord-cutters may have to buy a local phone line to get DSL.

Providers of voice over Internet Protocol software--which lets an Internet connection serve as a telephone line--will also feel some pain, for the same reason as cord-cutters. VoIP calls are meant to replace phone lines sold by the Bells; and while they're possible with a dial-up connection, most VoIP operators require that users have a broadband connection to make full use of their offerings. As a result of the FCC ruling, some VoIPers must get DSL and a local phone line from a Bell, should a cable operator's more expensive broadband be unavailable in their area.…”

Meanwhile, my state representative's DSL line is down again, and I'm getting better at this Boy's Wreck Ignition thing.

http://techrepublic.com.com/2100-10587_11-5637790.html?tag=nl.e048