Be wary of the smit fraud
New scourge of the Internet cons you into thinking you have a virus on your PC
By MIKE BERMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
2007-02-14 00:00:00
"Attention! Beware! PANIC!!!!! Your computer has been attacked by the worst scourge known to mankind! Just click here and our kind-hearted, sympathetic software engineers will smite them for you."
Apparently messages such as this have been popping up on millions of computers, including mine, since September, making unsuspecting computer users believe their PCs had contracted a viral cornucopia of threats curable only if they purchased software from Antivirus Golden or SpyDawn, which is where they're led after clicking on the message.
In actuality, there is no threat and you have become the victim of "smitfraud", which, according to Grinler, a frequent poster on the BleepingComputer.com forum, is "an infection where fake security alerts appear in your taskbar stating that you are infected. These alerts tend to be accompanied by a rogue anti-spyware program installed on your computer without your consent. Clicking on one of these fake security alerts will either bring you to a home page where you can purchase other fraudulent software or will install automatically, without your permission, one of these software (programs)."
What makes matters worse is that the anti-spyware or antivirus program installed on your computer may not be able to deal with this threat. But don't despair, because Grinler has discovered a cure called SmitFraudFix, a free utility that can be downloaded from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/smitfraudfix.php.
After downloading the file, restart your computer in safe mode, click on the SmitFraudFix icon and follow the prompts. This will send the pesky scam into the depths of computer fraud Hell, where it belongs.
The smitfraud scam has also been known to hijack Web browsers, changing the startup or default page to one that warns of viruses on your computer and will bring you to pages where you can download the fraudulent anti-spyware software.
Logitech NuLOOQ
Have you ever wanted more control over your desktop tools when working with Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator?
The folks at Logitech have developed the NuLOOQ ($79.99), which gives you the ability to design, edit create or navigate through applications. In fact it can be customized to run tons of commands with a simple click, tap or twist, giving your "other hand" something to do while you're busily clicking away with your mouse.
In fact, you can create tons of configurations for the device or download some prescripted configurations from Logitech's Web site.
The only drawback is that it doesn't come with a driver for Windows, which means, if you aren't using a Mac, you have to download the driver from www.logitech.com.
A few key features include:
You can customize the NuLOOQ tooldial for quick access to up to 72 tools by simply dragging and dropping the tools you want to the toodial sitting on your desktop.
You can zoom or pan using the device's navring, which also gives you 360-degree scrolling.
You can program trigger points on top of the device to bring up customized tooldials, or shortcuts.
The touch-sensitive tooltuner can be used to fine tune brush sizes, point sizes, kerning or the flowrate.
It can even be used to change the volume or music tracks in iTunes.
More information can be found at Logitech's Web site at www.logitech.com.
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