The UK has become one of the worst hit countries in the world when it comes to viruses, not only this but the UK is one of the first countries to be hit by viruses when they first come out. So how has this come about? Primarily it is down to complacency and security. In the UK we tend to be too complacent in our attitude to security and viruses. When a system is installed we expect it to work for it's duration. However if you have ever been hit by a virus you know this rarely works. Systems sadly do require maintenance and updating. Virus definition downloads do fail allowing small viruses to get in and stop the service altogether without your knowledge, only for a more serious virus to come in a cause a nasty headache.

To add to this many companies and home users expect their antivirus to run for the lifetime of their PC. Invariably this is not so as the subscription service to obtain updates lasts from three months to what you buy which could be 3 years. When this period is reached, on office systems it goes un-noticed leading to a vulnerable system. On home users often the warning messages are ignored.

What can you do then? Well you can employ a company which provides the relevant services such as ours, or just check your antivirus once a week and when you hear of a virus alert update update update. For more information call us

The Swen computer worm is turning out to be a bigger problem than expected, having made the most of a head start gained when anti-virus companies and complacent technical staff under-rated its potential to fool ordinary users. Swen uses a cleverly executed e-mail message that masquerades as an important advisory from Microsoft, graphics and all, offering the latest version of a security update "which resolves all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express".

In truth, Microsoft never send e-mails to anybody about anything, unless asked, and unsolicited messages which appear to come from the company should always be deleted immediately.

Microsoft is to shut down its free Internet chat rooms in 28 countries this month, after junk e-mail and sex predators "ruined" the service. "The straightforward truth of the matter is that free unmoderated chat isn't safe," said Microsoft's Geoff Sutton, pointing customers instead towards Instant Messenger, which MSN UK recommend as "a great safe way of communicating" forgetting, perhaps, that it is also an open, unmoderated communication forum where, for example, any of the 110,000 convicted child sex offenders living in this country (source: NSPCC) could view a list of children who have given out their username, age, gender and interests and where explicit language is not unknown.

Meanwhile, unsafe or not, MSN chat services will continue for paying customers in the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil when Microsoft close the free service in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia on October 14th.

AOL has settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that it made it too difficult for US subscribers to cancel their accounts. The company admits no wrongdoing but it is amending its cancellation practices following the FTC's intervention. Here is the nub of the FTC's complaint:

"...most AOL subscribers who want to cancel their Internet service call AOL's customer service department. The complaint alleges that AOL's customer service representatives were responsible for trying to persuade consumers to change their minds about cancelling their AOL service. The FTC charged that AOL failed to implement appropriate measures to ensure that all customer requests for cancellation were properly executed. As a result, in numerous instances, subscribers who requested cancellation continued to be charged monthly service fees. The complaint alleges that this unfairly harmed consumers."

A lawsuit filed against Microsoft in Los Angeles this week is attempting to hold the company responsible for the damage wrought by the systemic failures of security in its sofware, and for its conspicuous failure to fix them adequately. The suit follows hard on the heels of the publication of a paper on Microsoft security which, among other things, suggested that the company should be held legally responsible for such damages.

The Los Angeles case is being brought by one woman who says she was the victim of identity theft, but it is designed to form the basis of a class action. It argues that the vast majority of successful attacks occur because of major vulnerabilities in Microsoft's software and - crucially - claims that the disclaimers in Microsoft's licence agreements constitute an unfair business practice under Californian law, because consumers have little choice but to use Microsoft software.

Repetitive Strain Injury is becoming a common health issue within the working computing environment. RSI is caused by the hand controlling the mouse repeating tasks time and time again, such as mouse clicks. The symptons can vary from mild annoyance to excruciating pain in the arm. The pain manifests itself as a dull ache in the arm that will not disappear even after work has stopped. It can occur all night and even when you wake up. Your arm can cramp up and make you generally feel uncomfortable. Director Damian McLoughlin suffered from RSI for 2 years and whilst some believe that once you have it then you have it for life, he overcame it and now has no re-occurance whatsoever. So how did he do it?

The problem is caused by repeated action of the mouse controlling hand and quite often the way in which the arm rests on the desk whilst controlling the mouse. Once you understand this you can then start to take action. My solution was easy. Every time I click on the mouse I received a dull pain running down from my index finger (the finger I did my clicking with) so I knew I had to stop this. There was only one solution I saw at the time and that was to purchase a Pen which acts as a mouse. These pens are commonly used by graphic design artists, take a short time to get used to and do cost somewhat more then a mouse, but when you get used to them they are better then mice by far. Firstly you are no longer exerting the same kind of repetive action on your hand as tapping is used in preference to clicking (i.e you tap the pen down on a pad when you want to click on something), the arm is held differently as if you were writing a letter, which is more natural for the hand and thirdly you can perform tasks alot quicker with a pen then a mouse.

The Los Angeles case is being brought by one woman who says she was the victim of identity theft, but it is designed to form the basis of a class action. It argues that the vast majority of successful attacks occur because of major vulnerabilities in Microsoft's software and - crucially - claims that the disclaimers in Microsoft's licence agreements constitute an unfair business practice under Californian law, because consumers have little choice but to use Microsoft software.

IT is forever on the move, with advances constantly being made in hardware, software, security to name but a few. With the advancement and improvement in solutions so increases the complexity of these systems. IT has become one of the largest sectors in the world and to that end it is almost impossible to keep up with all the information and new technology about.

We believe that IT is more than just supporting a client. We feel it is our duty to update you on news and information so you to can keep in touch and up-to-date. This section contains items we think and hope will be of some interest to you and will be updated on a regular basis.