NOTE: This article contains no genealogy information. However, it contains information that every Windows user should know.
A new Trojan horse appeared last week. Technically, a Trojan horse is not the same as a virus but the result is the same: something bad could happen to anyone whose computer becomes infected. Every Windows user should read about the JS.Scob.Trojan problem. You can search Google at http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=JS.Scob.Trojan&btnG=Search to find hundreds of articles about JS.Scob.Trojan.. If you use Windows, you need to read several of those articles!
In short, the JS.Scob.Trojan program is a major security risk. It installs spyware programs in your Windows PC and can capture any keystrokes you enter, including your passwords, bank account numbers and your credit card numbers.
JS.Scob.Trojan is running rampant and the anti-virus companies have not yet found a cure for it. (I suspect that will change any minute now.) Even worse, JS.Scob.Trojan explores a weakness in Microsoft's IIS Web server and is appearing in Web servers all around the world. Even Web sites that you use every day and trust can become infected with this virus. Once you visit an infected Web site, your Windows computer will be infected.
NOTE: The Web site you are looking at right now on www.eogn.com operates on Linux, not Windows. Therefore the eogn.com Web site will never be infected by JS.Scob.Trojan nor will any other Web server that runs on Linux, UNIX or Apple. The only Web servers that are vulnerable are those running Microsoft Windows. You will only become infected if you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser on a Windows computer and you visit an infected Web site that uses Microsoft's IIS Web server.eogn.com will never run on a Microsoft Web server!
Luckily, there is an easy fix for this: If you use Microsoft Windows, don't use Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Period. Use Opera or Netscape or Mozilla instead.
Even better, don't use Windows. Use a Macintosh or Linux or some other operating system.
I have written in a recent Plus Edition article about Opera, a new Web browser for Windows and other operating systems that is much better than Internet Explorer, runs faster and does a better job of displaying Web pages. If you use Opera, you will not become infected by this recent Trojan horse. If you use Mozilla or Netscape, you also will not be infected. If you are using a Macintosh or Linux system you will not be infected. The high risk occurs only if you using Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Microsoft Windows system.
I am about to delete Microsoft Internet Explorer from my systems. Time and again the Microsoft products have proven to have security holes that are not shared with other Web browsers. I cannot afford the risk.
In fact, I am running a Linux system on my desk alongside my Windows system. The more I use Linux, the better I like it. I am thinking of scrapping my Windows system soon and using only Linux. It is faster, much more secure and almost impervious to viruses and Trojan horse problems.
Some people will argue that Microsoft has all these security problems simply because the company's products are so popular. They will claim that the miscreants who create viruses and Trojan horse programs attack Windows only because of its popularity. They will claim that Linux or Macintosh would have the same problems if those operating systems were more popular.
You know what? I don't care!
As a computer user, I know that using a Microsoft solution exposes me to personal risk. My credit card numbers, my bank account information and more are at risk, regardless of the reasons. I also know that using a Macintosh or a Linux system reduces that risk about 99.9%. Even if I stay with Windows, switching from Internet Explorer to Opera or Netscape or Mozilla reduces the risk perhaps 95%.
I will probably switch operating systems. However, if you are not prepared to do that, I strongly urge you to stop using Internet Explorer. Instead, use Netscape or Mozilla or Opera.
Think about it…
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