Mashup of this weeks ponderings

Circuit City going bankrupt - and both they and the media still don't get the reason why. Too many articles blaming super-competitive behavior from Best Buy. That's not the reason. In fact BB should be watching closely because they are next to go under if they don't upgrade their act. Part of the problem is the economy, but CC's problems started well before we got into the current mess.

I believe that BB needs to start competing with online sales for computer and AV equipment, software etc. Look to Amazon, NewEgg, TigerDirect, CDW, and many other online retailers that are underselling BB. If BB fails to take online sales competition seriously - and by that I mean price matching and quality assurances - then BB will be out of business in a few years or less.

Windows 7 Beta - it looks like Vista, but feels and works MUCH better. I am a bit peeved about this. I think W7 should be the next service pack for those that purchased Vista. Don't take me for a MS hater - I'm not. Vista SP1 has its strengths, but it still feels unfinished and clunky. I personally think that there should be some consideration from MS for Vista adopters when W7 is released - and I don't mean their standard "Upgrade" discounted editions that won't let you do a clean install onto a system.

Windows 7 may entice most XP users to upgrade - assuming the economy rebounds in time. Vista users will want to upgrade so they can save what's left of their hair. Windows 7 combined with Windows Server 2008 is a powerful partnership for the enterprise.

Virus / worm / potential Botnet attack - still in progress. Downadup, Conflicker, call it what you will - is still spreading rampantly. Trouble is it doesn't seem to be doing anything. This has AV researchers worried, as it's entirely likely that all 12 Million plus infected computers may in fact be waiting for a specific date or deadline to activate and wreak havoc on the Internet. I am personally going out on a limb here, but it's almost beginning to look like a well funded terrorist attack in progress/preparation. This virus is sophisticated, but it's doing nothing ... yet! If whomever owns the botnet decides to use it as a Denial of Service attack machine, and assuming infections continue to increase at current rates, the infrastructure could be in trouble. See my previous post about this topic at http://netdef.livejournal.com/55150.html

I miss my kitty . . . been almost 18 months. Might be time to go find a new kitten.

The World's First IT Guy

I'm still laughing over this one, but it might hurt later . . .

I told you so! Conficker Worm spreading ~ 10 Million computers in a week.

I always wanted a post title like that . . .

The Conficker Worm is making it's rounds and may very well become the most aggressive and fastest spreading malware in history with a truly nasty payload. I'm not going to count the Melissa Virus or the "I Love You" Virus of a few years ago, because as rampant as they were, their payload was relatively benign.

This new worm takes advantage of a multi-pronged attack to infect new victims. It's first intent is to create a new BotNet and "zombify" your computer. It's other mission is to steal passwords, personal info and account information in an attempt at mass identity theft.

It's using a vulnerability in Windows that was patched last month by Microsoft as the primary vector, then it attempts to use AutoRun on USB drives as well as a brute force Administrator account password hack once it gets inside a local area network.

So if you haven't yet, get patched completely to the most up to date versions you can, and turn off AutoRun on your clients and servers, and make sure all accounts on your systems that have Admin rights also have strong passwords. Even if you are using a home computer behind a firewall, make sure your account has a password.

More info here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/157876/protecting_against_the_rampant_conficker_worm.html