PC ProSchools – TechTalk

Rogue security software is malware that poses as antivirus software and misleads you into installing it. You think you are protecting your computer when you are actually installing software that infects your computer. Brian Prince at eweek.com shows you how they use social engineering to trick you into installing their software. His slideshow teaches you to recognize this antivirus scam. The best defense against these scams is knowledge and current antivirus software installed on your computer. If you think you or someone else has this software installed, refer to PC World’s article Antivirus 2009: How to Remove Fake AV Software.

Editors Note: Because I am in IT a lot of people ask me which AV software they should use, while I personally use Avast now, I used to use AVG (until It started annoying me with nag screens). I find AV-Comparatives.org to be a fair third party site, that tests all of the major AV players, including the free options (which score very competitively).

Update 10-2-2009:Rogue spyware is apparently coming from Facebook. They use fake profiles to get you to click on a video and trick you into loading fake antivirus software. Roger Thompson, from AVG, shows you how they are using Facebook to trick you too.

Related Articles

• Crank on that firewall, update that virus protection and surf the net!
• Network Access Protection

GPS or Global Positioning System is a really neat technology that is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. I see it in cars, on cell phones and as Jim Cranston has related to us all, it has even invaded the fishing arena. (Like those invasive species the DNR always warns us about cleaning from the hulls of our boats)

I would like to pose a simple question though. What is wrong with just asking for directions from a random stranger? Now I understand that in today’s fast paced society we really don’t want to pull the car over and find a likely subject to put in the hot seat performing for us some comedic act of trying to relate the best way to get from here to there. It takes too much time. There is the possibility of meeting some unsavory type of person bent on murder or mayhem. From early on we have been indoctrinated to think that strangers are not to be trusted. I understand the embarrassment of making it seem as if you know absolutely nothing about the four cardinal points of the compass. (North, South, East and West for those of you too embarrassed to ask)

I for one refuse to conform to this new fad of technological way finding. Not because I find I have more time than the average person or because my sense of embarrassment is any less than most or even because I fear no danger from strangers. It is for one simple reason. My phone, which has GPS capabilities, will unerringly take me past my destination point approximately 100 yards only to have me perform a U-turn and return to the destination point.

Related Article

• Fishing with technology

Steven Brust, one of my favorite authors said it best in one of his books. He wrote,  “The funniest thing about time is when it doesn’t.”  Now I’m no expert in the whole science behind what constitutes “time” and how it can be warped and strange things start to happed near the vicinity of black holes, but I have seen time slow down.  Really. I have!  I bet if you have taken a Microsoft exam you have seen time slow down too.  The eternity that passes between the moment you click on “End Exam” until the time your score shows up can be measured in two ways.  A stopwatch will probably give an average of about 10-15 seconds.  The human brain sees this as an expanse of about 45 minutes.  (Longer if you think you were not too sure you would pass.)

I am always amused by the reactions of students who take a Microsoft exam for the first time.  Some find it difficult, some find it easy, some don’t get too excited at all.  The one thing that is consistent in almost all the stories I have heard is how long it took for the score to show up.

The human brain tends to process “perceptions” as truth.  We “perceive” that it takes a long time for the score report to come up and that’s the truth of it even if the stopwatch says differently. (who trusts technology anyway)  This little human foible can work in your favor.  Make your mind perceive an exam as passable and it will be.

Another of my favorite sayings that I owe to Thomas Jefferson goes like this. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”  Having a proper mental attitude towards test taking can really make the difference in the outcome of your next exam.  Try it out.  If you fail, try it again.  Sooner or later I will be proved right!