Friday Quickies - April 13, 2007

I couldn't let a Friday the 13th go by without at least a little tribute to Freddy Kruger and the rest of the bad guys out there. Here's a quick summary of stuff I found in my news scan this morning:

1. Microsoft DNS 0day - I first saw this from Dave Maynor (here), but there are lots of other folks covering it now. Here is Microsoft's official entry on it (here), I'm sure there will be lots of other news as more details come to light.
   
   
2. E-filing ruses - Being the last weekend before Tax Day here in the US, you know what I'll be doing this weekend. Since this is probably the 4th or 5th year in a row I've done my taxes on the last weekend, I've just come to grips with that fact. I use TurboTax, but the desktop version. I like my data on my computer, behind my protections. The idea of using a service is pretty uninteresting to me. Given the recent issues of TurboTax online, it seems my concerns are justified.
   
   But given the sensitivity of tax filings, this is easy pickings for the bad guys. Check Point published a list of 10 tips to protect your tax data (here). It's common sense, but it's a good reminder to not do anything stupid. And as a last resort maybe, just maybe print out your return and actually mail it. Oh, the horror!!!!
   
   
3. Are you ready for the new Storm? - It's going to storm here in ATL tomorrow. That will be fun. I guess we'll need to take the kids to the pool or something to get them out of the house. But the Storm WORM is also back, generating lots of spam and portraying to know all about World War III. Here is the InformationWeek coverage (here) and also some more details from the fine folks at Arbor (here).
   
   The net-net? The payload tends to be an encrypted zip file (though sometimes an .exe or a .gif). The answer? Block those attachments at the gateway. Duh! You should not accepted encrypted zip files via email anyway. If you do, you may as well just accept .vbs and .exe as well. And yes, that would be stupid.

And I had a proud Daddy moment last night when Leah did her dance routine at the talent show. She was just so happy up there performing in front of all those people. She executed her routine well (the boss was right in front coaching her through the moves) and she got the biggest ovation of any of the performers. Clearly she loves to perform. Wonder where she got that?

Enjoy the weekend, be safe and we'll see you on Monday.