Hack Alert and Book Report

[RJNorton]

John, this is becoming more and more common. In the past calendar year I have received bogus emails from at least 5 people whose names I recognized as friends. Thus, one thinks it's safe. But it's really from a hacker who has acquired the address book of a friend. The hackers are constantly working on ways to break into computers; sometimes it's through a security hole in a browser and sometimes it's through other security flaws in operating systems, other programs you use, etc.

The most important thing is NOT to click on the links in these bogus emails. It's a great way to give your computer a virus. And always have your computer's firewall set to the "on" position (although that is the default setting on most newer computers, and you shouldn't have to worry about it).

We have one person on our block who did click on a link in a bogus email, and now his computer starts up in SLEEP mode. And it stays locked in sleep mode and does not wake up. Currently it's useless until a fix can be found. I told him to see if it starts OK in safe mode, but I have not yet heard back from him.

One of the very best free programs is here. I have used the free version for years, and it is very effective at cleaning out an infected computer. However, I have seen computers that are so badly infected that programs like this are non-functional and won't even start. So there are no guarantees. Depends how bad the virus is.

John, remember way back when I asked you about the New York crowd and cotton traders? It was Higham's book that gave me the idea to ask you what you thought.