Elly Williams’ Weblog

A security firm has proved that todays cars cannot catch computer viruses.

After exhaustive testing Finnish security firm F-Secure has failed to make a virus leap from a mobile phone handset to a car’s onboard communications system.

F-Secure did the tests in response to rumours that some Lexus cars had been infected by a virus.

But the phone system on the vehicle did not respond to any of the attacks tried out by F-Secure researchers.

Well, that’s a relief!

BBC NEWS | Technology | Cars safe from computer viruses

WARNING LINK DUMP AHEAD

After a slow period on BBC Tech News , there’s now a whole load of stuff.

• EU to launch its own web domain - “.eu will be up and running by the end of 2005.”
• Search ads fire up Google profits
• Papal hotmail address goes on sale - and other emails and domain too!
• ‘Simple games’ rule mobile charts - Tetris tops the charts - couldn’t have seen that coming!
• The Cult of Mac - The BBC voicing what the rest of us knew ages ago
• Review: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - “not as bad as I had feared. Then again, it is not as good as I had hoped.” - I’m fearing the worst I’m afraid….
• Helpful users face virus danger - Another Sober variant

I keep getting phishing emails pretending to be from banks I don’t have accounts with…. am I meant to be fooled or am I eventually going to get one which would apply to me if it was real?

Isn’t it nice when we all sing vaguely the same tune.

There is a good chance that your home computer has been hijacked by spammers if you have a broadband net link, but are not using a firewall or anti-virus software to protect your PC.

Even if you use anti-virus software but do not keep it up to date, there is every possibility that you are helping to keep spam alive and spreading.

You could also be helping if you are one of those people that open up attachments on e-mail messages that turn out to contain viruses, rather than the pictures you were promised in a subject line.

Spammers are actively seeking out and hijacking home PCs to act as remotely controlled relays, or zombies, that pass on their unwanted messages.

Home PCs hijacked to spread spam - BBC Online News

Bill Thompson talks a lot of sense. I’ve read a number of the things he’s written on his personal site and in the columns he writes for the BBC Technology section - some of which are the same and I was particularly impressed by this piece on Computer Viruses and Herd Immunity.

I completely share his disgust at the attitudes of people who refuse to make any attempt to protect their PCs against viri and worms - either through stupidity, tightfistedness or lazyness. It’s just not acceptable.

Having provided tech support for large numbers of my year at uni recently, including dissinfecting and protecting more than half of them when Sasser went rampant, this is partly me being selfish of my own time.

But, as I’ve said before, too many people are only willing to take any action after the worst has already happened - and when it comes to these things spreading, that is always too late.

I was quite interested, although not entirely suprised, by this article this morning. “Clueless office workers help spread computer viruses” claims a newly released survey.

Like I said, this doesn’t particularly suprise me.

• The people quizzed admit they are not aware of even the most basic virus prevention measures
• The workers quizzed believe that have no part to play in preventing the spread of viruses, preferring to leave responsibility to “their IT department, Microsoft or the government”
• The people surveyed said they are “too busy to download anti-virus updates”

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