Smart Phishing Threat, Nifty DVD Player
A supercompact DVD player, a sneaky phishing expedition, and what happens when spyware takes over a computer.
My wife, Judy, and I occasionally stay at a friend's house in Cambria--on the California coast, right on the ocean. They don't have a DVD player (hard to believe, I know) and one of our pleasures is to take a handful of Netflix DVDs with us when we travel.
I was taking my notebook anyway and debating whether to try to feed the video from the built-in DVD drive to the TV.
"A hassle," my buddy David Jung said. "Spend $100 and buy a portable 7-inch DVD player, and don't waste your time and energy on the notebook."
I checked
Hey, There's No Screen
As I looked at the specs on portable DVD players, I realized I didn't want to schlep around yet another five-pound device. Plus, I didn't need a screen because I planned on feeding the image to a TV, and the gadgets wouldn't be much use on a plane because they have limited battery life.
Then I remembered seeing just the DVD player I wanted at the last Consumer Electronics Show. It's perfect: no screen or battery, but it does have a remote. It's the YDP-700 Yahoo Micro DVD Player, made by Diamond Electronics, which licenses the Yahoo name. FirstStreet sells it for $100, but I've seen it at Target, by way of Amazon.com, for $50. It's only about 8 by 5 by 2 inches in size and it weighs a little over a pound. There is a downside: It's got an absurdly large AC adapter.
Strangely enough, the company rep insisted it wasn't portable: "The unit has no battery, must be plugged into the wall, and has no screen. It is only a very uniquely designed ultra compact DVD Player for your home or office. It does fit nicely into a suitcase, but is not portable."
"No battery?" I fired back. "Of course not, and that's the point of a DVD player without a screen. It doesn't need a battery and it's amazingly small--the footprint is less than an 8 by 11 sheet of paper, It's definitely portable and I can use it in any room in the house, take it along to a hotel or a guest house, or anywhere where there's a TV."
Sneaky Phishing Expedition
I've seen these surveys before, and even participated in them: Answer some questions and get a reward for your trouble. I did one for DHL the other day and received a $15 OfficeMax gift card.
Not long ago l I received an e-mail from IndyMac Bank. "Heck," I said to myself, "I'll do the silly survey for $15"--even though I don't bank there.
Typical of me, I didn't read the e-mail carefully. The message said the bank would apply the money directly into my account. Duh, I don't have an account with IndyMac. And that's how phishers operate: Hope the dope doesn't pay attention.
Once I saw the "Take the survey!" hyperlink, I knew it was a scam. But I just had to see what the survey looked like--and how the phishers were going to get my nonexistent IndyMac info. Here are the screen shots I took:
- I didn't read carefully enough.
- La-di-da--a
- Hey, don't you ?
Nasty Spyware Attack
I hope you've never experienced a full-fledged spyware attack. If you practice safe computing and use an anti-spyware program like Counterspy or Webroot SpySweeper, an antivirus program (Grisoft's free AVG is the one I use), and a zero-day security tool (like Novatix's free Cyberhawk, you've covered all the bases. (For more on Cyberhawk and how it works, read "New, Free Behavior-Based Security Product.")
Being that you've never been assaulted by spyware, here's your chance to see a nasty attack: It's a video from McAfee titled "Spyware Rubbernecking." I know you'll watch it more than once--I did. [Thanks, Alex!]
Steve Bass
