Comcast Trials Browser Alerts for Bot-InfectedCustomer PCs

Com cast, the nation's largest residential Internet service provider, this week began rolling out an initiative to contact customers whose PCs appear to be infected with malicious software, by notifying these users via Web browser alerts.

The Philadelphia-based cable Internet company has already been alerting bot-infected customers via phone for the past year, but a pilot program in Denver that began Thursday will inform affected users with a so-called "service notice," a semi-transparent banner that overlays a portion of whatever page is being displayed in the customer's Web browser.

Customers can then either move or close the alert, or click "Go to Anti-Virus Center," for recommended next-steps, which may include downloading and running the McAdam anti-virus tools the company offers for free, or purchasing a cleanup package and allowing a Com cast technician to attempt to remotely diagnose and fix the problem.

Jay Superman, senior director of security and privacy at Com cast, said the company opted to move to Web-based alerts due to an overwhelmingly positive response from customers who were alerted about bot infestations via telephone. To identify problem customers, the company is relying mostly on reputation information gleaned by anti-spam groups like Spammers.org, which track the Internet addresses of systems seen sending spam or participating in prolonged malicious activity online.

"These bots not only send spam, but [most of them] also steal financial and credit card information, and people are put at significant risk when their personal information has been stolen," Superman said.

Customers who receive the alerts but do nothing will be reminded again in seven days if Com cast detects that the user's PC is still infected, Superman said.

Superman declined to say how many alerts the company has issued -- either via phone or through this new system, but said the company will focus on working out any kinks in the system before scaling it up.

"We could be serving a lot more alerts, millions really," Superman said. "In general, the data we get [shows that] anywhere between 10-15 percent of [an average I S P's customers] is with these bots at any one time. Because it's a new system and a new experience for customers, we're going to start up slow and then scale."

Com cast is using the Denver testbed to fine tune their response to customer feedback, but the program is very much on track for completely deploying the service across the company's residential network: Superman said he expects the initiative, which the company has dubbed "Constant Guard," to be rolled out to all of Com cast's 15.3 million residential customers by the first quarter of next year.

Superman said he believes the project is the first of its kind in the industry, and that Comcast studied multiple alternative approaches before settling on this one. Specifically, the company considered placing problem customers in so-called "walled gardens," which attempt to limit the customer to browsing a small number of sites designed to help them clean up a bot infection. Canada's Cogency and Cox Communications both have experimented with the walled garden approach on this topic from back in April 2007).

"We looked at those mechanisms, and they're very disruptive to other services, like VoIP [voice over Internet protocol, or Internet-based telephone calls]," he said. "We felt the service notice was the best way to inform customers and get them to contact us so we can help. without being disruptive."

The primary challenge to this program, aside from actually helping customers rid their PCs of bot infections and keep them clean, may come from the criminals themselves. One of the most persistent threats to Internet users today are rogue anti-virus programs that use fake security alerts to trick consumers into downloading malicious programs or at the very least paying for worthless software.

Supermansaid Com cast is attempting to combat this potential scam by including a link in the banner alert that explains "How do I know this notice is from Com cast?" Among the answers they will list is that Comcast will be sending affected users an e-mail alert at their primary account at the same time as the browser alert is display

Avoid Windows Malware: Bank on a Live CD

An investigative series I've been writing about organized caber crime gangs stealing millions of dollars from small to mid-sized businesses has generated more than a few responses from business owners who were concerned about how best to protect themselves from this type of fraud.

The simplest, most cost-effective answer I know of? Don't use Microsoft Windows when accessing your bank account online.

I do not offer this recommendation lightly (and at the end of this column you'll find a link to another column wherein I explain an easy-to-use alternative). But I have interviewed dozens of victim companies that lost anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000 dollars because of a single mallard infection. I have heard stories worthy of a screenplay about the myriad ways caber crooks are evading nearly every security obstacle the banks put in their way.

But regardless of the methods used by the bank or the crooks, all of the attacks shared a single, undeniable common denominator: They succeeded because the bad guys were able to plant malicious software that gave them complete control over the victim's Windows computer.

Why is the operating system important? Virtually all of the data-stealing mallard in circulation today is built to attack Windows systems, and will simply fail to run on non-Windows computers. Also, the Windows-based mallard employed in each of these recent online attacks against businesses was so sophisticated that it made it extremely difficult for banks to tell the difference between a transaction initiated by their customers and a transfer set in motion by hackers who had hijacked that customer's PC.

Aftermath baking

In short, the depth and breadth of the accountability weaknesses exposed at IDA are alarming.

Yet, the Bank's management claimed that the accountability flaws the report about IDA flagged are now being addressed on three fronts. First, the recommendations of the Volcker , which reviewed the performance of the Bank's investigative unit in 2007, have been implemented. Second, the Bank's Board approved a whistle blower protection policy in June, 2008. Finally, implementation of the Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy (G A C) began in January 2008 and has been progressively integrated into lending and projects.

None of these claims, however, withstands scrutiny. The Volcker Panel, for example, insisted that corruption be effectively addressed through a "fully coordinated approach across the entire World Bank Group, ending past ambivalence about the importance of combating corruption." Yet the I E G report itself shows that this is precisely what management has not done:

• Basic project and lending documents don't include a requirement to assess the risks of fraud and corruption;
• Safeguards against corruption don't exist for budget support loans, perhaps the most vulnerable of IDA funds;
• Staff members haven't been adequately trained to recognize signs of corruption in projects; performance appraisals include incentives to report corruption;
• Management routinely fails to take timely actions to follow up on audit, investigatory, and evaluation findings of impropriety.

Nor is the whistle blower protection policy effective. Would-be whistle blowers informed IEG that they fear they are risking their careers at the Bank if they report fraud. Further, staff members in the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), the unit specifically responsible for investigating corruption, reported more than the staff of any other unit that: "[S]seeking out [fraud and corruption] issues in projects and reporting on observed improprieties may lead to reprisals from their managers, and managerial signals and behavior are not always consistent with these messages. Overall, mixed messages and ambivalence are still considered prevalent."

Further, a close reading of the whistle blower policy shows that it incorporates coverage loopholes, unrealistic caps on compensation for vindicated whistle blowers, and unjustifiable reporting restrictions. As a result, nearly one year after the Board approved the protection policy, there are virtually no whistle blower cases under investigation at the Bank, despite reports of both widespread corruption and retaliation.

The third World Bank effort mentioned prominently in the I E G report as providing future protection for IDA funds is the Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy (G A C). But the , released in December 2008, revealed that management lacked an institutional commitment to the strategy: "Senior Bank leadership should overcome current problems within the Bank of ad choc responses and ambivalence about the G A C mission…with clear statements about institutional and individual responsibility and accountability." The implementation report concluded that the G A C strategy was not integrated effectively into Bank operations

Introduction to Forex world bank

Forex is a short form of “Foreign Exchange”. Clearly from the word we can imply that we are dealing with various currencies. Its a form of trading, we are doing trading for sure. However we are not dealing with the regular items, we are dealing with money. We are exchanging one country’s money with another country’s money. So after some time the value of money that we have may increase or decrease. If the money’s value appreciate, then we are making some profit. Otherwise we have to born the loss.

For illustration, let say we just bough one lot of G B P/U S D at 1.9600. Due to strong economic environment, G B P is getting stronger and increase to 1.9700. At this level value of currency at hand increase by 0.0100 (we call it 100 pips in Fore x, see pip for detail explanation). So if we want to make some money we can sell the G B P.

Before the world is connected through internet, only the big banks and financial institutions trade forex. If we want to make some investment in Forex, we have to go through the financial institutions. The process is slow and can be expensive. Luckily with the advancement of internet we are capable of conducting Forex trading right at the comfort of our home. There is no more dealing desk. Practically we can trade 24/7. Internet makes it possible for all of us to trade Forex from anywhere.

Ripoff Report Verified Safe

Fee's on money your bank keep's
Thu, 25 Dec 2008
Written by a Male, Over 55 from United States of America

If you thought we had free trade forget it ! Your own bank will charge you a fee ( 2% to what ever they feel like ) for what is called " International Service Assessment Fee ) ,note it goes under different names , but basicly is the same thing , a USA dollar "tax" YOUR bank KEEP's . This is how it works , you order a thing, part or item. The company will tell you the price in USA dollars if the company is selling it in the USA . Because the company wants it money in "say" their currency , you pay the FEE. The funny thing is the bank keeps this money it does not go to the company you bought it FROM. It stay's right here in YOUR bank and you are charged it,up and beyond what you paid for in USA dollars even thou ,you didn't get the item from out side the USA and the place you bought it from did not get money either.

So did that calling card you just bought saved you money on calls?think again. Add the charge for the card,plus your BANKs fee and do the math . To me this is a nice profit for the bank , because they get to act as a tax agent if you don't make sure your moneies are going in a USA bank . There is no law against this OR is there ,that depends on who :ie your congressman,your senator, the company you did busniess with, the Comtroler of Banking in Washington,D.C., your own bank,in the USA , etc . Both the two major credit card companies were in court about the same fee's in March 2008 . They had to pay out 300,000,000 to customers in which they charged the fee's .(In re Foreign Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation (MDL. 1409 ) Now the banks charge the same FEE and keeps the money for themselfs under a extra fee ! As if a 350 billion dollars bailout from tax payers is not enough .

They collect what really amounts to a fee " tax" on USA dollars under this disguse . Since they keep the fee money , Where is the currency exchange, I mean it did not go to a different Country. It stayed in your bank as a fee,more like a profit . I wonder if they pay tax on this ?

I understand the dollar devaluelation,but some currency is below our dollar value, and they :ie Side Note :" Almost all the things you need the replacement parts for in your house including, Car, truck, TV , range , toys ie,are made outside the USA and have been for years ". That is why this country is unemployed,because parts suppliers have moved outside the USA . So if you order something,say a part for your refrigrator and the company say's its in stock, that may mean there having it shipped over from another country and BANG , you just got your fee from your bank . Brings new meaning to buy American, But, this is what my bank told me to do ,"I was suppose to ASK where the company is going to do their banking with," HA" like their ( the company your going to buy from ) is going to tell you personal banking info ,even if the person can anwser that question, let alone know where the money goes .

Both the companies and the bank (National City Bank Corp)claim UNDER FEDERAL LAW we can do this ? The company's at which I did busniess with said " Federal Law say's the bank can't do this ?

I spent a day calling people on these Fee's ( Intr Transaction Fee ),no one could give me a straight anwser ?

Even Visa / Mastercard would not talk to me about these fee's, wonder why ?
MY bet is the large Corporation don't pay this ,just the poor consumer .So I pay a State of Michigan tax, then pay this bank a 2% or more tax on the American dollar .

By the way this is the 1st time I've seen charges like this and I always check my accounts NO wonder people don't trust banks and I'm sure that they will come up with more fee's in some other way.

Banking in Singapore

will find it more convenient to open a local bank account. This should not be too difficult with the proper paperwork.

Before opening a bank account it is advisable to first determine what your needs are. There are a variety of banks in Singapore that offer different services, so be sure to choose one that can fulfill your needs. Different accounts require different paperwork, although for every account you will need your passport and proof of mailing address.

There are several international banks within Singapore including H.S.B.C, Citibank, May bank, B.N.P Parish, ABM AMRO, and Standard Chartered. Aside from these there are foreign restricted banks that operate within Singapore, but in many cases they can’t offer all services. All banks offer debit cards, with most of the international banks operating using a shared ATM, meaning you would not need to pay a fee for taking money out of another bank's ATM machine. In some cases it may even be possible to open a bank account in Singapore without being present at the bank. The time it takes to open an account ranges from one day to one week, depending on if you are present and other factors.