New malware called Trojan-PWS-Nslog was discovered by Webroot, an computer security company. This new malware forces Firefox to save user passwords, and then uses the passwords to create a new user account on the infected computer.

Firefox has had security issues in the past, and the recommendation from most security experts is to NOT have Firefox remember passwords. Saved passwords are easily found and extracted by malware.

Trojan-PWS-Nslog has the ability to deactivate parts of Firefox code to get around the user preferences, so that even if a user has chosen not to remember passwords, they are at risk. The user prefs are changed, and no notification is given.

The Trojan alters a small part of the code so that passwords are saved locally without the knowledge or input of the user.

The Trojan creates a new account with a user name “Maestro” on infected computers, and grabs information from Internet Explorer and Firefox and attempts to send the stolen information out once per minute.

An Iranian hacker set up a web domain to receive the stolen data (the domain is shut down now) and curiously enough, the malware code revealed a name and address that led Webroot to a Facebook page. The hacker has been providing free spyware targeting Windows users.

Webroot’s antivirus software works well to identify and remove the malware, according to the company. They recommend downloading the latest Firefox installer and install over the existing copy of Firefox to eliminate the modified application. This won’t affect any bookmarks or plugins.

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The venerable and much-abused .Mac service, considered overpriced by some and an utter necessity by others, is growing up. Oh, and it works with PCs too, so if you have Macs and PCs to sync, it works.

Next month, it will become MobileMe, with features that may make it more palatable to the people who feel .Mac is too little for too much. Or not.

Current .Mac users will have a seamless conversion, and their old @.mac email and iWeb urls will work, but they will also have new @.me addresses and me.com urls. Complete information about the conversion is available on the Apple .Mac to MobileMe transition FAQ, article HT1932

Storage is doubled, in any event, and if you have purchased additional storage it will be doubled as well.

From the Transition page:

How much will my online storage increase with the upgrade?
With MobileMe, you will get twice as much storage as you did with .Mac:

Individual subscription storage doubles from 10GB to 20GB.
Family Packs now get 40GB of storage: 20GB for the main account and 5GB for each of the four sub-accounts.
If you purchased a storage upgrade, it will also be upgraded at no additional charge:

A 10GB storage upgrade is now 20GB. Your new total storage will be 40GB.
A 20GB storage upgrade is now 40GB. Your new total storage will be 60GB.
Note: The storage increase is effective after MobileMe launches, and may take up to 10 days to appear on all accounts.

Apple’s MobileMe site has a lot of information with demos to fully explain the features. I’ll sum them up:

Available from any Internet-connected device, MobileMe will store your email, contacts and calendars on a secure online server, called a “cloud”. It pushes them down to your Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod Touch, without any intervention from the user. It happens instantly and continuously, automatically. No need for a dock, or to push a button.

This means that I can have the same email (if I choose), contacts and calendar info on my desktop Mac, my MacBook Pro (laptop) and my iPhone, all exactly the same or updated as soon as they connect to the Internet, without thinking about it.

Unanswered question? How long does this process take, and does it slow my machine down? Don’t know yet.

The Gallery and iDisk features are not too different… except that you can upload photos from your iPhone directly to your Gallery, as well as from your computer. The interface seems to be a bit improved, but as I don’t use it much, I don’t want to be quoted on that. You can make a new album or change existing ones from pretty much anywhere that is Internet-connected and changes are “instantly reflected in your gallery”.

You can allow print-quality downloads of photos or entire albums, either as full-size JPEGS or images optimized for 16″ x 20″ prints which have a smaller file size, according to the site.

You can also allow other individuals to upload photos from a browser or email.

MobileMe Gallery works with Apple TV on a widescreen television, so a computer is not required.

iDisk is not changed in terms of its function. The under-the-hood workings may be updated, but I just don’t know.

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David Risley, founder of PCMech.com posted his thoughts about Macs and why you may want to choose Macs over Linux or Windows machines.

Read the full article here.

David appreciates the quickness of Apple to develop enhancements, the ability of Macs to run EVERY OS, better software design, conveniences built into Leopard, and better value.

For David, a long-time Windows user, the ability to run Windows was a pre-requisite. He writes about his Windows experiences, and also about popular misconceptions about the Mac… the kind you hear from Windows fanatics.

Give this article a read, especially if you are considering moving from Windows to the Mac, or adding a Mac to your office.

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Apple offers a number of free, on-demand online seminars. One I highly recommend for new Mac users and business users curious about the Mac is New to the Mac and Compatibility with Windows.

Part One: New to the Mac is intended for small business users new to the Mac, or who are thinking about moving to the Mac. It includes “useful tips for starting out on and customizing the Mac, including shortcuts and quick keystroke/mouse commands”.

Part Two: Compatibility with Windows includes info on connecting your Mac to existing workgroups and other office computers, sharing files and printers, and instant message with video between Macs and other computers. It is intended for “small business users with a typical office workgroup scenario, who are interested in sharing/interfacing with other users with different computers and peripherals”.

Register here…

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Popular Mechanics just published an article online, to appear in the May 20089 issue, called Mac vs. PC: The Ultimate Lab Test for New Desktops & Laptops.

This article by Glenn Derene tested 2 all-in-one desktops and 2 laptops (one each Mac and PC) and matched them as closely as possible. The Gateway One PC was slower (400MHZ) than the iMac it ran up against, but had 2 more GB of RAM (memory). The Asus M51 laptop was 200MHz slower than the MacBook, but had a larger screen, improved graphics card and an extra GB of RAM.

The test was a usability test… somewhat subjective, of course. They used standard benchmarking tools – Geekbench and Cenebench – to get more objective results. They ran the tests before the testers “got their dirty little hands on the equipment to ensure that no confounding software could poison the results.”

Read the full article… it is a very interesting test with unexpected results. Hint – Vista is a dog, but a pretty dog. A pretty slow dog…

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Apple has a little web tutorial that new users may find helpful in understanding some basic Mac concepts. Check it out here.

Another page, Mac 101 is a great source of info for new users.

If you are moving from Window to the Mac, Switch 101 will be very helpful.

I suggest that everyone new to the Mac at least have a look at these pages… the more you know, the more you can do.

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Robin Harris wrote a good blog today at zdnet.com, noting that Microsoft announced “Extended Availability of Windows XP Home for ULCPCs”. Vista is turning out to be a bit of a calamity for Microsoft.

Robin puts it perfectly:

Microsoft’s Vista is a slow-motion disaster. Bloated and inflexible, expensive and late, Vista is a continuing drag on Microsoft’s business flexibility.

Microsoft’s monopoly seems to have created attitudes not only about the software and distribution methods, but about cost as well. As Robin notes, hardware prices are far below what they were 25-30 years ago, but Microsoft’s OEM pricing ($50) won’t work on an inexpensive machine. PCs like the Eee are $400 or less, with display and a 4GB flash drive. $200 machines are coming. You may not use them, I may not, but for schools, 3rd world countries, they will sell like crazy. Does it make sense to sell the OS for $50 on a $200 machine? I don’t think so.

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A Computerworld.com story dated 22 March focuses on an announcement from Microsoft warning of vulnerabilities of Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003 SP1. This comes weeks after a security company first reported an exploit and a day after a 2nd company confirmed ongoing attacks.

I use Windows XP to test websites… Microsoft still doesn’t have standards-compliant browsers, and IE 5 and 6 wrote their own rules on interpreting HTML code… Anyway, that’s all I use it for. Some of my Mac clients, particularly users switching away from the Windows platform still need to run Windows regularly. Realtors, for example, need Windows to run their Multiple Listing software.

Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion and Bootcamp make this not only possible, but easy. Being Mac users, tho, we tend to forget that the Microsoft end of things is still very vulnerable. After a bit of research, I bought BitDefender, a virus/spyware defense program that seems to work well with my installation. I don’t make any claims about that program in particular, but want to urge Windows-on-Mac users to have some kind of security app on their Win system.

Yes, your Mac won’t be affected by the crud out there. But, if you use Windows on your Mac, do you want that capability to degrade or be ruined? Reinstallaton is not terribly difficult, but is time-consuming, and do you want your data ruined? Do you want someone taking over your Win installation to send out spam? How about private data being stolen?

Don’t lock the barn door after the cow kicks over the lantern…

OR, let’s encourage the companies who produce Windows-only software, websites, etc. to wake up, smell the applesauce, and write for the Mac!

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