I’m selling my race boat so I can concentrate on my crusier and get ready for an extended cruise. This isn’t a very good time to try to sell a boat so I put an ad on Craigslist. Two weeks later I had 7 offers to buy the boat, at full price! Wow, too bad they were all scams.

One “buyer” wanted to send me a check with extra money that I would send on the his shipper. We’ve heard about this. I cash the check, draw a check on my account to forward and weeks later the check turns out to be bad and I lose what I sent on to the shipper. I’m not falling for that trap. I have to ask though, “why isn’t the bank responsible?” It is their note … isn’t it?

The next one was “worried about the Craigslist killer” and wanted me to visit a website and fill out a form for identification before we met. I checked whois and the domain was created that morning. Sorry “Babe”, that won’t happen.

Another “buyer” just wanted my name, address and phone number so he could send a check. And, I think, try to steal my idenity.

Then there was the email that said, “ur cl ad”. I can’t wait to see where that goes.

I really liked the one that said they saw my boat for less and provided a link. A link that went to somewhere in Russia and wanted my craigslist login and password.

So if you’re advertising on craigslist I suggest you should be very very careful. There are more bandits on craigslist than real customers … at least for boats.

By the way, wanna buy a boat?  http://usyc.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4

January 21, 2010 – UPDATE!

And then I got this email:

Santana 30/30 GP – $20000 (Annapolis)
“If you work hard on your job, you can make a living… But, if you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune.”
Create you own rescue plan – make $10k in the next 60 days.
See The Vid

Now that one is funny!

(note: I removed all the blank lines)

February 13, 2010 – UDATE!

So far I’ve had 13 replies to my craigslist ad. All of them were SCAMS! And all of the scams are from non-English speaking people. You can tell by the way they butcher the language. Perhaps craigslist should limit access to only US and Canadian IP’s.

We’ll start with your Internet access device. It connects your home network to the cable or DSL(phone). It should have a builtin firewall and unless you have a specific application that requires Microsoft network services you want to turn off everything except TCP Version 4 and TCP Version 6. Allowing printer and file sharing over the Internet is about the same as leaving your front door unlocked. You’re just asking for trouble. Most people only need port 80 for your web browser, port 53 for DNS and 110/143 for email, nothing else. There is one other thing you could do, but you won’t. And that is to disconnect or turn off your Internet connection when you’re not using it. The bad guys can’t break in if you are not connected!

You probably also have wifi, it’s all the rage these days. Please make sure you have WEP enabled. At least that will keep honest people out. Most people set up their wifi to allow any service to any computer on their home network. After all wifi is a matter of convenience, you don’t have to plug in your PC. You can take your laptop out on the patio and surf the Internet or copy files from your desktop PC while enjoying breakfast. Look Ma, no wires! Unfortunately that also means that the bad guys can park out front and break into your system. If you have file sharing and such enabled over a wifi at least have it password protected. This is kind of like leaving your wallet on the front lawn. And with the latest antennas and wifi cards they don’t even have to be close to your house. They can break in from blocks away.

You can think of all of that stuff as the highway bad guys travel to reach their destination … your PC. This is what they are after. They want to install keystroke logging programs to capture your bank account login and password. They want to install botnet software so they can use your computer to attack others. They want to install SPAM software to send email in your name. They are inventing more diabolical schemes every day.

How do you protect yourself? First download and learn how to use these programs; Nessus, Nmap and Wireshark. Whenever you suspect your computer is acting strange, running slow, locking up or changeing the way it works you can run these programs and find out if your gremlin is a thief. Nessus and Nmap scan computers and networks to see what ports are open. If you find ports you don’t need close them. Wireshark monitors network traffic. It will show you what information is being received and sent thru the network. I also run a CRC check on all of the programs and files on my computers. If something is changed I want to know about it.

Finally you should have virus software running, especially if you are using a Microsoft OS. Newer windows versions have Defender built in and you can get McAfee, Norton and others from the Internet. Use it! With a little luck the bad guys will go bother someone else, someone more inviting.

I find it interesting that the number one internet crime is called “identity theft” when it’s really just plain theft. They’re really after your money.

It wouldn’t be hard to stop identity theft. All we have to do is outlaw the credit card industry, electronic bank transfers and shutdown the internet. Unfortunately the banks are not prepared to return to the pre-credit-card era. That’s OK, neither am I.

Banks now offer “protection” from such schemes but you should understand that YOU are paying for it with higher interest rates and creative bank fees.

VISA, Master Card, et al have issued a self regulatory policy called PCI. This specifies certain requirements that everyone handling credit cards must implement. More an attempt to stave off government regulation than concern for their customers welfare it, never the less, offers you some protection, again at a price that YOU must pay. PCI offers protection from events beyond your control. The things that happen to your information after you hand over your credit card information. It helps protect you from hackers trying to break into banks and retailers to steal your information.

How prevalent is this? I don’t know. I suspect the published numbers are very under estimated. Why? I’m nothing – nobody to these crooks yet my server gets humdreds of attacks daily. I don’t even have credit card or customer information on my server. Imagine if I was a bank or retail store. There would be thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of attacks daily. Then multiply that by all the banks, retail stores, e-commerce websites … anyone and everyone transfering money electronically.

True, most attacks do not succeed. IT professionals constantly watch their attempts and adjust their policies and procedures accordingly. Still every failure is one more step closer to success.

AND YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT!

Next week we’ll look at your home network.

MicroSoft perceives Linux as a threat to their world domination and Linux thinks windows is the “great dragon” that needs slaying. Mac (which is actually Unix under the covers) thinks both windows and Linux are inferior. So what’s the best OS to buy? That depends!

Windows has had the best and best known applications of all OS’s and that, and only that is why you are likely to have a windows PC at home and in the office. There’s MicroSoft Office, Project and MSQL to run your business. There are lots and lots of games to play. There’s Media Center and Media Player to entertain you. Windows Mail, AIM and other chat software help you stay in touch. Really! You name it, windows has it. The problem with windows is that it is insecure and poorly engineered. Bill Gates is hands down, no contest, the best salesman in the history of the world, but he is not in any way a programmer or an engineer or even a good manager. Every windows system ever released has had and will have many know bugs (things that don’t work) because the rush to market is more important than product quality. And why not? All windows software comes with a EULA (End User License Agreement). You don’t have to sign anything, just open the envelope or turn on your computer and you have automatically agreed to the License. It says that MicroSoft is not responsible for anything. If the program doesn’t do what you want, too bad! It’s not their problem. MicroSoft hasn’t been very worried about your not accepting their EULA, you didn’t have any choice, there wasn’t any alternative … until now.

Linux is changing the rules. This OS is based on the concepts and principles of Unix. The Linux community will, no doubt, quickly point out that there is no Unix code in Linux. That’s true! However, Linux is to Unix as Buick is to Mercury. You have to get rather technical before you notice any difference. Unix administrators and Linux administrators can easily move from one OS to the other. Linux has, in the past, been much more stable than windows, at least until Vista. Because of it’s stability (and low price) Linux became a serious competitor in the internet server market and other business applications. Anywhere a custom application was needed Linux came to the rescue, everywhere except the desktop. Until now! New applications, serious competition to the windows solution are flooding the market. Things like Gimp, a Photoshop replacement, Open Office competing with MicroSoft Office, and your choice of Postgresql or MySql databases are, along with low cost, making Linux more and more attractive on the desktop.

Now here’s the point. The Linux comunity seems to think they have MicroSoft running scared. I doubt that! Any pressure MicroSoft may feel from Linux simply results in a better, more competitive,  windows product. And should Linux ever become the dominate player I promise you MicroSoft will become “THE” Linux company of choice.

And then there’s Mac. Apple built a fiercely loyal following in the Graphic Arts community.  Now it’s looking at the desktop market. I’ll be watching Apple to see just how they pull their market together. Products like the iPod and Apple TV provide leverage marketing Mac. Applications like Open Office provide the tools people want on their desktop and under the covers Mac is Unix, stable and reliable.