April 2006 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

FYI: from Microsoft: Help keep your Windows computer under your control
by billing 26 Apr '06

26 Apr '06

[NOTES: 1) all of this information comes from Microsoft and is aimed at Windows OS users but the information lays out good computing practices which really should be followed regardless of which operating system you use. 2) Step (4) below is "Subscribe to industry standard antivirus software and antispyware software, and keep them current." At the UofM, IST has licenced anti-virus software for all faculty and staff who use the Microsoft Windows OS. The anti-virus software that has been licenced is called Trend OfficeScan. This software, which is provided and updated free to all faculty and staff for office and home machines using Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP, can be found at: http://www.umanitoba.ca/computing/ist/security/index.html Once on this page, just click on the appropriate link for "On-campus location" or "Home install or laptop". Due to the nature of laptop use, they are treated as "Home" machines for anti-virus update purposes. In addition to installing Trend OfficeScan onto your Windows OS partition, you should also, as laid out in step (3) below, make sure your newly installed Windows OS is kept up to date with patches released by Microsoft, usually on "Patch Tuesday", the second Tuesday of the month. (For more "Patch Tuesday" info see http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_Tuesday). I'm assuming you're already doing that for OS X using the built-in "Software Update" feature. ::-= ------------------------------------ ...from: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/ zombies_and_botnets.mspx Zombies and botnets: help keep your computer under your control Published: March 28, 2006 Online criminals can use a virus to take control of large numbers of computers at a time, and turn them into "zombies" that can work together as a powerful "botnet" to perform malicious tasks. Botnets, which can include as many as 100,000 individual "zombie" computers, can distribute spam e-mail, spread viruses, and attack other computers and servers, and commit other kinds of crime and fraud. Botnets are highly valued by online criminals, and have become a serious problem on the Internet. Two major [Windows OS] viruses (netsky and bagel) were created to compete for control of a large botnet, and botnet-controlled zombie computers have even been found in places such as the United States Department of Defense. How to tell if your computer has been infected The virus that is used to make your computer into a zombie might cause your computer to slow down, display mysterious messages, or work in an unexpected manner. These viruses usually do not disable your computer, because zombie computers must be plugged in and connected to the Internet in order for the botnet to work. [Read detailed information about how to tell if a virus has infected your computer at: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/ intro_viruses_signs.mspx] What to do if your computer is infected If your computer shows symptoms of virus infection, first make sure that the software on your computer is up to date. Then, run current antivirus and antispyware software to scan your computer and remove unwanted software. Read detailed information about how to help remove a virus. 5 ways to help keep your computer from becoming a zombie 1. Never open attachments in e-mail, instant messages, or mobile messages unless you know exactly what the attachment is, even if it's from someone that you know. Attachments can contain e-mail viruses. 2. Use an Internet firewall. Note: Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) has a firewall already built-in and active. 3. Stay up to date. Visit Microsoft Update and turn on Automatic Updates. Note: If you've installed Microsoft Office 2003 or Microsoft Office XP, Automatic Updates will also update your Office programs. If you have an earlier version of Office, use Office Update. 4. Subscribe to industry standard antivirus software and antispyware software, and keep them current. 5. Use licensed software products. Botnets are often comprised mostly of computers that run illegally copied versions of operating system and productivity software. Unlicensed software can be more susceptible to viruses, and can even come with viruses already installed without your knowledge.

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INTEREST: one author's view of Apple's "Boot Camp" Windows environment
by billing 26 Apr '06

26 Apr '06

(...from: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today.) ...from: http://www.macworld.com/2006/04/firstlooks/bootcampfl/index.php? lsrc=mwweek-0410 Signing up for Boot Camp Apple software simplifies XP installation By Rob Griffiths One word kept coming to mind Wednesday, as I sat down to install Apple’s Boot Camp public beta on my Mac mini Core Duo—simple. Using the software to install Windows XP on my machine? A very simple process. Choosing which OS to boot? Also simple. Installing the necessary drivers? At the risk of repeating myself, simple, simple, and did I mention simple? [...] From start to finish, while working on the daily hints [column] updates at the same time, the whole process took me maybe 40 minutes. I spent most of that time in the XP installer; the preparation steps took only about 10 minutes. Most important, you don’t need access to a PC in any way to do this; that alone makes installing Windows XP on a Mac much more doable for many people. [...] Native video support The difference in XP’s speed with native video drivers is very noticeable. You can quickly drag windows—their contents display and scroll very quickly, and the overall interface just feels more responsive. But nobody cares about the user interface. What everyone really cares about is gaming, of course! With DirectX and OpenGL support, the whole world of PC gaming is suddenly available for Intel- based Mac users. I installed a few games from my PC collection to see how they’d fare on my 512MB Core Duo—I had to return the 2GB RAM upgrade I had previously installed for replacement, so I was testing a worst case scenario for the Core Duo. This is especially true for games that require a ton of texture memory, as that would have to come from system memory, dragging down the whole system. Here’s a summary of what I found: - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006: This game was basically perfect running at 1280x1024 resolution. The frame rate was more than fast enough to keep up with the animated water, moving trees, and in-flight ball tracking. - Far Cry: This first person shooter was Game of the Year back in 2004, due to its amazing visuals, set amidst lush jungles and islands surrounded by animated, semi-transparent water. It puts quite a load on a machine and was just barely playable at 1,024-by-768 on the mini. I suspect that performance will improve greatly when I get the mini back up to 2GB, as Far Cry’s visuals require a lot of video card RAM. - Combat Flight Simulator 3: In addition to seeing how well this game played, I wanted to make sure Windows XP worked with my Saitek flightstick. Sure enough, I plugged it in, and the Game Controllers Control Panel saw the stick and let me calibrate and test it. Everything worked fine. The frame rate in the game was fine, but I had an odd problem with the graphics sort of “jumping” around. It was sort of like a minor visual earthquake was constantly occurring, displacing things just enough to be annoying. And making it very hard to shoot an enemy plane down. Given enough debugging time, I think I could resolve this issue. - Motocross Madness 2: This highly unrealistic game was one of my faves on the PC. It's older, sure, but it’s still a hoot to play. And on my Core Duo mini at 1,280-by-1,024, it works amazingly well. I connected my gamepad, which also worked as expected, and was very impressed with how smoothly Motocross Madness ran. Frame rates were very high, and the audio was perfect. Overall, I was impressed with how well the mini handled games on the built-in graphics chip. I intend to do more testing, especially once I have the system RAM back up to 2GB. But machines like the MacBook Pro and iMac, which have better graphics cards and faster CPUs, should make even better gaming platforms. [...] Installing XP on an Intel Mac is no harder than installing it on a new PC yourself—you might even say that it’s simpler. Other related articles: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/04/05/bootcamp/index.php? lsrc=mwweek-0410

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INTEREST: U.S. government DARPA funding "rootkit" research...
by billing 26 Apr '06

26 Apr '06

1) what is a "rootkit"? ...from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit A rootkit is a set of software tools frequently used by a third party (usually an intruder) after gaining access to a computer system. These tools are intended to conceal running processes, files or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system without the user's knowledge. Rootkits are known to exist for a variety of operating systems such as Linux, Solaris and versions of Microsoft Windows. A computer with a rootkit on it is called a rooted computer. The word "rootkit" came to public awareness in the 2005 Sony CD copy protection controversy, in which Sony BMG music CDs placed a rootkit on Microsoft Windows PCs. 2) why should I know about rootkits? while the incidents of exploits by viruses, trojan horses, malware, and rootkits is low in the OS X world, with the advent of Apple's BootCamp (http://www.apple.com/ macosx/bootcamp/) in addition to such "virtualization" software as Parallels (http://www.parallels.com), more Macintosh users will also be running Windows operating systems - the target of most exploits these days. Without the proper due diligence (keeping updates current, great caution with email attachments, etc.) any operating system can be exploited. [NOTE: simply put, "virtualization" in the computer world refers to "the ability to run more than one operating system at a time". For example, you could be simultaneously running OS X and it's available applications, Windows XP and it's available applications, as well as LINUX and it's available applications. For more information on "virtuallization" please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Virtualization.] ------------------- Now, having given some background, forward to the DARPA related article.... ...from: http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,1952802,00.asp Symantec's LiveState product combines with CoPilot and Gamma to restore the system to its original state. Government-Funded Startup Blasts Rootkits By Ryan Naraine A startup funded by the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is ready to emerge from stealth mode with hardware- and software-based technologies to fight the rapid spread of malicious rootkits. Komoku, of College Park, Md., plans to ship a beta of Gamma, a new rootkit detection tool that builds on a prototype used by several sensitive U.S. government departments to find operating system abnormalities that may be linked to malicious rootkit activity. A rootkit modifies the flow of the kernel to hide the presence of an attack or compromise on a machine. It gives a hacker remote user access to a compromised system while avoiding detection from anti- virus scanners. The company's prototype, called CoPilot, is a high-assurance PCI card capable of monitoring the host's memory and file system at the hardware level. It is specifically geared towards high-security servers and computers. Gamma, meanwhile, is a separate, software-only clone of CoPilot that will target businesses interested in a low-assurance tool for protecting laptops and personal computers. Komoku launched quietly in 2004 with about $2.5 million in funding and rootkit detection contracts from DARPA, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Navy. The company has its roots at the University of Maryland, where computer scientist William Arbaugh worked on what he calls a "unique approach" to finding rootkits. Microsoft says it is becoming impossible to recover from sophisticated forms of malware. Click here to read more. "Security technologies depend on the correctness of the system they're actually checking," said Arbaugh, who now serves as president of the five-employee outfit. "If something changes the system at the operating system level, it can't be reliably detected via the OS itself or through applications running on the system," he said in an interview with eWEEK. "We have this notion of what the operating system is supposed to look like and we look for deviations [from] that. We aren't initially looking for the rootkit; we look at the side effects of the infection." Komoku has partnered with security vendor Symantec to handle disinfection and restoration after rootkits and other sophisticated forms of malware are detected. Jamie Butler, a renowned rootkit researcher who works as Komoku's chief technical officer, said Gamma will have limited clean-up capabilities because it is software-based and susceptible to direct attack, much like any application running on the operating system. "Clean-up is a very difficult goal while maintaining a running system. When you find a rootkit, you essentially have several choices. The easiest choice is to halt the system. But, that means that you'll lose any evidence that might be in memory. It also means that the services provided by that system are made unavailable," Butler explained. Another choice might be to eliminate the effects of the rootkit, but this could be very difficult because of the complicated nature of an operating system. A third choice would be to allow the rootkit to remain active while you attempt to discern its motives, Butler added, noting that both Gamma and CoPilot will allow all three of these choices. The plan is to have both the hardware and software versions collect forensic data when a compromise is detected. Butler said products are able to capture hidden malware in memory and send it back to a central management station where the products are running in enterprise mode. -------------------------- ...for more information on rootkits and efforts being undertaking for their detection, please see: http://www.phrack.org/phrack/63/ p63-0x08_Raising_The_Bar_For_Windows_Rootkit_Detection.txt

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Official Support for booting MS-Windows XP
by Doug Hamilton 05 Apr '06

05 Apr '06

Today Apple announced a pubic-beta of a software package "Boot Camp" which can facilitate the booting of MS-Windows XP on Apple's Intel based computers. See this link for details: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp Its a good thing they didn't release this software on their 30th Anniversary (April 1st), nobody would have believed them. Regards, Doug ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, APP Senior Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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FYI: treating your ATA hard drive S.M.A.R.T.ly (pardon my grammar)
by billing 03 Apr '06

03 Apr '06

What is S.M.A.R.T.? =============== ...from: http://pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1879485,00.asp By Bruno Sonnino 10.31.05 S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a technology, developed by major hard disk manufacturers, included in most modern hard disks. This technology monitors and logs many events while the disk is running. Analyzing the data allows us to know the drive's reliability and predict its [possible] failure. [...] When we talk about failures, we must differentiate between two types: predictable and non-predictable. Predictable failures are those that don't happen suddenly, they can be caused by failure in the disk mechanics or damaged disk surface. The problem gets worse, until the disk crashes. Non-predictable are those failures caused by sudden events, like a sudden power surge or an electronic failure. S.M.A.R.T. can only help to detect predictable failures. How does this help me? ================= There are two ways of checking your ATA drive's S.M.A.R.T. status (Note: S.M.A.R.T. is not currently available on fireware, USB, or SCSI connections. For more information, see the SMARTReporter documentation listed below.): use Apple's Disk Utility or use a freeware utility called SMARTReporter. If you launch Apple's Disk Utility it will automatically check the S.M.A.R.T. information and report on it. SMARTReporter is a freeware utility that will launch on log in and periodically (every 60 minues by default) check your ATA drive's S.M.A.R.T. information. SMARTReporter puts in icon into the menu bar: green drive, OK; grey drive, S.M.A.R.T. info is non-deterministic of drive status; red drive, S.M.A.R.T. status shows drive may fail shortly - back up information and report problem to drive manufacturer. SMARTReporter can also be configured to send an email message to an address you specify indicating a problem may be about to occur. Regardless of which utility you use, if the S.M.A.R.T. information indicates a possible failure, the drive's manufacturer should replace any on warranty drives. Apple's Disk Utility can be found on any OS X installation in the Macintosh HD:Applications:Utility folder. The latest version of SMARTReporter along with documentation and a FAQ list can be downloaded from: http://homepage.mac.com/julianmayer/

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FYI: your iPod and your ears...
by billing 03 Apr '06

03 Apr '06

...from: http://www.apple.com/sound/ http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/mar/29ipod.html Apple Provides Volume Limit Setting for iPod Sound travels in waves, produced when an object — such as a stereo speaker — pushes on the air around it, causing small changes in air pressure. To describe sound waves, acoustic experts refer to concepts such as frequency and amplitude. [...] Sound and Your Ears You can hear because your ears convert the vibrations of a sound wave in the air into signals that your brain interprets as sound. When the vibrations of a sound wave enter your ear, your eardrum and a set of tiny bones in your ear (the well-known hammer, anvil, and stirrup) amplify those vibrations. In your inner ear, these amplified vibrations move tiny hair cells that then convert the vibrations into nerve impulses sent to your brain. Your brain then interprets these nerve impulses as sound. If you expose your ears to excessive sound pressure, you can harm those small hair cells in your ears. And if harmed, those hair cells can lose the ability to transmit sound to your brain. As a result, you could experience noise-induced hearing loss. Symptoms can include distorted or muffled sound or difficulty understanding speech. While you can experience noise-induced hearing loss as a result of a one-time exposure to an extremely loud sound — like a gunshot — noise- induced hearing loss can also occur as a result of repeated exposure to loud sounds over time. CUPERTINO, California—March 29, 2006—Apple® today announced a software update for the iPod® nano and fifth generation iPod, allowing customers to easily set their own personal maximum volume limit. The software update also gives parents the ability to set a maximum volume limit on their child’s iPod and lock it with a combination code. “As the leading provider of digital music players, Apple continuously brings iPod customers innovative and easy to use solutions,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “With the increased attention in this area, we want to offer customers an easy to use option to set their own personal volume limit.” The new software update 1.1.1 is available immediately as a free download for the iPod nano and the fifth generation iPod from www.apple.com/ipod/download. The new Volume Limit feature works with any headphone or accessory plugged into the iPod headphone jack as well as the iPod Radio Remote. For further information on safe listening with iPod, please visit www.apple.com/sound. [...] Press Contacts: Tom Neumayr Apple (408) 974-1972 tneumayr(a)apple.com Natalie Kerris Apple (408) 974-6877 nat(a)apple.com

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