These banking credentials thefts are getting too close to home!

Last Thursday, April 22nd, I read that the outbreak of online bank transfer thefts had hit western Arkansas at the First National Bank of Fort Smith and a local alarm company. I can't help but wonder why these stories are not starting to show up on TV news or local newspapers. It's difficult for business people to take proper actions on their own to protect their financial transactions unless they know about the nature of these crimes.

This morning, I learned from another KrebsonSecurity news story that Aaron Jacobson at  Authentify has posted the list of 43 business victims linked to a Google interactive map. As Krebs points out, these online banking thefts are clustered mostly in the Northeast and Midwest.

My own first thought on viewing the map was for the victims. These business people are trying to pay creditors and make payrolls only to find their bank accounts looted. The thefts are located far enough apart that it's easy for local political news and traffic accidents to push the stories off the front page. These thefts are just quiet, middle-of-the-night online banking transfers. The money moves from a business account to the accounts of several money mules who then forward the cash overseas in return for a small "commission."

There are no smoking guns or violent car chases, so there are no videos on the nightly news, no pictures and no front page stories. I can't help but wonder what the news media would say and what would be the FBI's reaction if the old Dillinger gang or Bonnie and Clyde had hit that many banks across the nation. But under the current banking law, the banks aren't the victims, their newly impoverished individual account holders are the victims!

So honest business people are still losing money with each new incident, bankers bemoan the criminal activity, declare the loss is the business owner's responsibility and the short-handed and short-sighted news media show cute pictures of children playing in the local park. I'll let the bankers, MBA's and lawyers among you sort out the details and the legalities of commercial bank accounts. There ARE ways to prevent this sort of scam and both sides involved in this type of transaction need to use them! See the update at Arkansas is NOT immune to cybercrime!

I'm just sorry that it will take many more local and regional victims before the risks of online banking becomes important enough to reach the front page.

Microsoft builds a Fix it Center application to guide fix common computer problems

You can link to Microsoft Fix it Center Online BETA to download the latest offering from Microsoft that promises to make troubleshooting a computer a little easier for beginners. After downloading the executable file, double-click on the FixitCenter_Run.exe file to start the installation process which only takes two or three minutes.

The installation asks the user to create an online account for additional help and support in the event that the Fix it Center cannot resolve a problem automatically using the software installed on the computer. The online account is free and it normally takes only a few more minutes to set up a new Microsoft Online account, if you don't already have one.

Another part of the setup process gathers information about your computer to preload up to 27 small troubleshooting applets or wizards to guide the process. In my case, with my smaller than normal "travel-sized" installation of Windows Vista, the program installed 11 "troubleshooters." The automated troubleshooters have simple descriptions, and the Fix it Center user interface has a large help button. The directions were easy to understand and include sample screens.

To learn for myself how the process worked, I ran the first item listed, "Common system maintenance tasks" The wizard ran through a short list of common maintenance issues from broken shortcuts and disk errors to setting the clock. If a problem is found the user has the option of allowing the program to fix the problem or not. No problems were found (thank goodness). Other items I could have checked included computer slowdowns, networking and printing.

Administrators have added troubleshooting options available - more than ordinary users. (See the Fix it Center Help - Learning the Fix it Center interface for more details.) One of the help options presents a feedback screen that asks what can be done to improve the application. Overall, everything looks simple and easy to install and use. It's something that might be useful for new and even a few intermediate users. At least it's something to try before calling for tech support or your family technical guru. ...Well, at least it's a start.

Thanks to Lifehacker for the information and links. The site is one of the online places I regularly check.

A copy of this entry is also posted on Fort Smith Seniors blog site.

"The State of the Internet" in 5 minutes, 21 seconds

I found the video (embedded below) while looking up info on new features found in Ubuntu 10.04 on Tech Drive-In. I wanted to see what I might be missing or haven't learned about yet in the new Ubuntu release planned for the end of April.

The video, prepared by Jesse Thomas for a conference presentation in February, highlights how fast the Internet has grown, particularly during the last year. Using multimedia to present a number of facts very quickly, who knows, this video may go viral. By the way, this video has the "full size" button in the lower right corner. Some of the slides are easier to read using the full screen.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

A copy of this entry is also posted on Fort Smith Seniors blog site.

An early start with Ubuntu 10.04

Even experienced computer users can have a "bad day." Two weeks ago I managed to mangle my desktop OS when something hiccupped while downloading several updates to the networking software. Kernel panic. CPU went to 100 percent. System wouldn't shut down. To condense the next several minutes of troubleshooting into a single sentence, it looked like the easiest way to resolve the issue quickly was to spend 15 or 20 minutes and reload the OS.

That's not as drastic as it sounds. First off, I had a fresh backup of the home directory from the day before. Even better, since the home directory and all the current files were on a separate partition, so I could reformat and reload just the partition with the OS without harming the other working files. I might not even need the backups. Once the decision to reload was behind us, the next question was what version of the OS should I install?

The desktop was originally running Ubuntu 9.04 when the confusion started, which was about a year old. I could have reloaded with Ubuntu 9.10, released in October 2009, which is running very smoothly on my laptop. I had already been hearing good reports about the next release of Ubuntu, 10.04, nicknamed Lucid Lynx. Ubuntu 10.04 is still only available as a Beta version for testing, and not recommended for a production computer in daily use. Having had good experiences with earlier Ubuntu Beta's, I decided to move forward - not backwards.

Downloading the 10.04 Beta, I burned a copy of the OS to a CD and within 30 minutes was looking at the test version of Ubuntu's "latest and greatest" operating system. It booted right up and seems to have given my aging desktop a vitamin shot. The new version 10.04 boots noticeably faster, shuts down even quicker. The new OS still has a couple of wrinkles and I've filed a few minor bug reports. The best news is that the normal series of OS update over the past two weeks have shown visible progress. Ubuntu 10.04 already seems very stable and I'm looking forward to the final release on April 29th. Lucid Lynx is one of Ubuntu's long-term-support (LTS) releases and security and other updates will be provided for an extended length of time.

A few applications from the Ubuntu repositories that aren't automatically loaded with the new OS were checked off my checklist of installed software, and as usual, I tweaked a few configuration files. In summary, I saved time in the long run by jumping ahead to the new version a little early. So far everything seems to have worked out very well. My personal seven-year migration to a free Linux OS certainly paid back the investment with interest these past two weeks.

The ease of the upgrade has pushed me to reconsider some of my recommendations for intermediate and advanced computer users. I'm still reluctant to recommend Ubuntu or any Linux OS system to outright beginners. I want people to have access to a modern, secure operating system that anyone can use and anyone can have free for the asking. I want people to enjoy their computer without constantly worrying about the next virus or other malware attacks.

I also want new Linux users to have a successful experience transitioning to their new OS. If someone doesn't already know where to find and download a free copy of the OS software, or doesn't know how to burn a CD with the operating system to load on their computer, they probably wouldn't know how to use the appropriate Linux forums to get help nor how to resolve questions about their version of the OS. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

If this sounds harsh, it's really meant to be realistic. Time -- not money -- is the most important resource any computer user has to invest. If you enjoy learning new things and are willing to spend some of your own time to learn, exploring Linux and particularly Ubuntu, can be a very rewarding experience. If you're willing to invest in yourself, then the learning process can be as much fun as the feeling of accomplishment as you master any new skill or any new OS.

From my recent experience, this new version of Ubuntu, 10.04 - Lucid Lynx - may be the Ubuntu version that makes me change my mind about the minimum skill level needed for most people to use Linux. The Ubuntu system of regular improvements, delivered on schedule, has provided great advances in usability. This LTS version was built for stability.  Throughout the process, the Lucid Lynx version of Ubuntu has been easy to use and shows great potential for wider acceptance by hardware manufacturers and by consumers.

I may be a little behind on updating the three websites that I help maintain, but I've got a new, stable computing platform that I can use to catch up.

SteadyState software not available for Windows 7

If your library, school or Internet caf‎é uses SteadyState, Microsoft's free application to help keep public access computers safe, the wizards of Redmond apparently decided not to update the free software for use with Windows 7. WindowsSecrets.com has the full write-up in the current edition of its newsletter. Some SteadyState users plan to stay with Windows XP or Vista so they can continue using SteadyState rather than spend money that's not in their budget for commercial 3rd party applications. The article mentions that one individual on the Microsoft SteadyState forum was "able to install SteadyState on Windows 7 systems by using the new operating system's Vista or XP compatibility mode. But at this time, it's not known whether all features — particularly Windows Disk Protection — will work."

The article also includes several common sense guidelines for people who occasionally use public PCs and Wi-Fi networks.

I remember that during Hurricane Katrina, a number of the emergency computer stations were established in refugee facilities for evacuees to contact relatives or search for other family members. The temporary computer stations booted from a Live CD without access to the local hard drives. Users accessed the Internet for email, browsing and any applications added to the Live CD. Even if a Live CD "wandered off," it was cheap enough to make a few spare copies that were easily replaced. That seemed fairly bulletproof at the time. Linux systems, like Windows, can be set up to run in "guest" mode with password required administrative access and limited access to local storage or other changes. With some 77 million Americans using a library computer or a public Wi-Fi access to reach the Internet last year, as reported in the article, it may be time to look for other, less expensive, options for schools, libraries and government facilities.