Friday, January 09, 2009

Internet freedom under attack again!

For quite some time now there has been a war going on. No it's not the war on drugs, the war on crime, the war on terror or the usual war on everything. It's been a behind the scenes attack on gaining control of the Internet... a war on free enterprise.

The Internet is the only source of freedom and entrepreneurship that is available to all, for little or no cost. The "Average Joe" can find information, get educated and even make money online, right from the comfort of home. It's amazing! In fact, Internet businesses may be one of the few business models that can survive or even expand in the current economic turmoil.

The State Of Kentucky in the USA is trying to force 141 Internet gaming sites, (none of them based Kentucky, not even in the United States!) to block access to Kentucky users, or... get this.... to relinquish control of their domain names to the Goverment.

OK, I'm not a fan of gaming sites or gambling in general. If you're a fool and like handing over your hard earned cash to individuals preying on your stupidity, then good luck to you. It's your decision. And there's my point.

This is not about gambling but control and censorship.

Fact is governments are broke and getting broker! Governments have no money other than the money they steal from you and I via taxes. They're afraid of competition and will do anything to maintain control of their business, ie; tax collecting. So much for the land of the free!

Check out the article in the Washington Post and the brief news video on YouTube below.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=o8VPQxbD7Xk

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100802870.html

The real question is...will this seizure of assets stop at gaming sites? What's to stop them from shutting down or seizing any other legitimate business that is in competition with the government? Are we talking about China, the old USSR.

No folks. This is happening in America, the land of the free, a country built on freedom and free enterprise but now with one of the world's biggest bureaucracy's, a large debt burden, and a sinking economy.

So, what does this mean for you? Is your business at risk?
What can you do? Well...

  • Register your domain name outside the US or any major country.
  • Have backup servers offshore.
  • Safeguard your intellectual property (IP)
  • Transfer the ownership of your IP to a suitable offshore structure
  • Tell your friends.
  • Contact your representatives and tell them your views.

All the best to you,
Joe Jutrisa

Thursday, October 16, 2008

E-bay Security:

Hi folks!
Every now and again, I receive questions on security issues from my site:
http://www.internethelpsite.com/

Usually these relate to antivirus/security suite packages or ebay security. Since this is so common I've decided to replay a typical scenario regarding ebay security here, so that this important information is freely available.

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Client:

Hi Joe,
I am absolutely confused at the moment. I may be having an identity problem with my ebay account. It is under investigation but the separate help company has recommended zone alarms security. I currently use norton 360 but was told it did not do all it should. I have looked at various reviews and have just got more confused. Can you help me?

My Reply:

Hi Charlie, thanks for your enquiry.

Sorry to hear about all that. I really do understand.

My wife had a similar problem with her ebay account. She had numerous fraudulent transactions using her account and were billed to her credit card. This happened not only once but twice! There were ebay, bank and police investigations, cards cancelled twice and lots of hassles. Luckily the bank covered it all. She's now reticent do use her new (3rd card!) on ebay.

The biggest challenge is finding the source of this rogue activity and I'll say its not easy! We still don't know.

Here we go...

It could be from a spoofed site. See following advice and articles.
It could be spyware, trojan, keylogger, or other malaware installed on your computer
It could be as old fashioned as a dishonest person in a store you've dealt with who is using your details.


The first 2 you can deal with but the last needs detective or police work. Its difficult to trace.
You need to do a thorough scan of your computer using your Norton 360. (On a side note, I don't recommend Norton products because they have had a lot of holes in them. I know they have improved but don't know by how much).

Zonealarm was one of the best firewall providers around and still is but now they've repackaged themselves as security suites and use a 3rd party for their antivirus, so as a package they may not be as good as other providers.

No antivirus package is 100% secure, sorry but true. In fact nothing 100% secure, you need to get educated and have safe usage practices as well. Get my book :)

You can download a copy here:

http://www.internetsecuritysecrets.com/

There's lots of info at the internet help site. Personally I use Trend Micro PC-Cillan top of the line security suites and I have used Panda in the past with great success. Also Kapersky seems to be good.

Use the free scanners here:
http://internethelpsite.com/tools.html

There are others....you can try Trend Micro, Kapersky, Sophos, and more. Use them all and see what you find.

Really, you need to make sure that your PC is clean first and foremost. If not someone's got access to all of your details.


If its clean then go to my site here:
http://internethelpsite.com/educationcentre.html
and scroll down to read all the articles on ebay and paypal.

Next download and install the ebay toolbar. The info is in the links.

Sorry but this is very difficult and drawn out and it wont be fun. If worst comes to worst and you've got an infected PC and can't clean it up, you'll have to reformat your hard drive. There's a step by step guide on how to do this on my home page.

http://www.internethelpsite.com/


I really do wish you well and thanks for your enquiry.

Regards,
Joe Jutrisa

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That's it! Remember to go back to http://www.internethelpsite.com/

and download all the free info and go to the education centre. There's no easy way except to get educated and keep up with safe usage practices.

All the best,

Joe Jutrisa