The HRS Technology Committee Page

There is an arms war in keeping your computer secure. As researchers find ways to keep your computer protected, hackers are continually finding new exploits to get malware into your computer.

Much has been said about how Google’s GMail servers were infiltrated by malware purportedly coming from Chinese servers. One of the attack vectors have come from PDF (Portable Document Format) files. In fact, a Slashdot.org article claims that 80% of the exploits towards the end of 2009 came from hacked PDF files!

Based on the current threats, here are some things you can do to protect your computers:

• Make sure you have the latest operating system patches. Select Windows Update from the Start menu, or on the Mac, select Software Update.
• PDFs. Currently, this seem to be the favorite among hackers. Fortunately, the method of infection still requires you to open the PDF file. Be sure that you have the latest patched versions of Adobe Reader or Acrobat. Download it from Adobe’s servers here or go to adobe.com and search for Reader downloads.
• In Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat, turn off Javascript functionality. You will miss some of the bells and whistles but I consider it a small price to pay. To turn off Javascript, go to Preferences, select Javascript on the left hand column and uncheck “Enable Acrobat Javascript”.
  

  Uncheck "Enable Acrobat Javascript"

• Flash. That ubiquitous browser plugin that allows you to view most of the web movies (and tasteless ads to boot!). Here’s the link to download the latest version.
• When in doubt, run a .exe or any other file through VirusTotal. VirusTotal is a site that analyzes files you’ve downloaded from the Internet.

As the malware wars continue to escalate, it becomes increasingly important to always be on your toes. Malware and exploits will increasingly become a fact of life. You can make a conscious choice not to have it in your computing device!

Sometime in December, the Holy Rosary School webserver served its millionth page!

If you’re getting this error message after trying to publish or save a draft in Wordpress (current version is 2.8.4 and 2.8.5), look for the post in Drafts. This is an odd bug in Wordpress. Sometimes, the post is left intact but more often than not, the body of the post is gone. Re-enter any missing portions and click on “Publish” or “Save Draft”. That should do the trick.

If the condition persists, a workaround is to type the body of the post first, then click on “Save Draft” or “Publish”. When Wordpress takes you back to Edit Post, enter the title and Save or Publish.

A more comprehensive solution is to scrub your Wordpress installation clean. Delete everything except for the wp-config.php file and the user-uploaded portions of your wp-contents folder. Then, upload a fresh copy of Wordpress as well as fresh copies of your plugins and your themes.