Now
clogging your inbox: New virus Netsky-D
The
torrent of new-year viruses continues. A new computer worm dubbed
"Netsky-D" began showing up in email inboxes around the world on
Monday. This worm is difficult to filter out because it uses a variety of
fairly common e-mail subject headers like "re:details" or
"re:here is the document." What makes it easier to tell that the
attachment is not benign is that it’s in .pif (program information file)
format, one often linked to viruses. Sophos PLC does not think the new
virus will be as widespread as MyDoom, which wreaked havoc on millions of
computer users and targeted Microsoft's web site, but no one can say for
sure what
Netsky-D is capable
of just yet. With Netsky-D, the pif replicates itself, slowing down
computers and reducing email bandwidth. According to Sophos, which writes
anti-virus and anti-spam software, Netsky-D is a variant of Netsky-B,
which was rated the third worst computer virus in February after MyDoom-A
and Sober-C.
DMA
endorses controversial email rules
The new Direct Marketing
Association guidelines officially endorse a controversial practice known
as "email appending," or "e-pending," whereby
companies append e-mail addresses to customer records. This allows
businesses to track down customers' email addresses without having to ask
for them explicitly. The addresses are often purchased from third-party
data-collection agencies and matched to other information, like purchase
records. Companies in favor of the controversial practice argue that if
customers have established a relationship with them through purchases,
they have the right to build on that relationship by marketing to them via
e-mail. They claim the practice is ultimately beneficial to businesses and
consumers because it is a more efficient way for companies to keep their
customers informed about current purchases and future deals. Critics,
however, say that it’s more like tracking down a customer's phone number
and address after one single purchase. They prefer the opt-in marketing
method, where businesses would approach consumers with e-mail
correspondence to ask them if they’d like to be included on a mailing
list.
Microsoft
& eBay team for auction tools
Excessive eBay users who want to
manage their finances while bidding for porcelain camels are in luck. On
Monday, Microsoft and eBay began distributing tools that will allow
frequent users to develop applications to manage their auctions using
Excel and FrontPage. The tools let users analyze sales, upload multiple
listings at once, and display information from eBay on web sites created
using FrontPage. The tools were first conceptualized and demonstrated by
Microsoft chairman Bill last year. The new tools can be used to stage
inventory and create automated listings in Excel or help with web design
and maintenance and customizable data views that display multiple item
listings from eBay in FrontPage. Membership in the eBay Developers Program
will be free, and the tool set is now available at eBay.
Arbitron
abandons internet radio ratings
Arbitron is dropping its weekly
and monthly MeasureCast ratings for internet radio. The company says there
isn’t enough of a market to warrant providing the measurement service
for online audio content. Arbitron was an early entrant to the internet
radio ratings game; perhaps a little too early. The costs for providing
the service were greater than the revenues coming in. The monthly and
weekly MeasureCast ratings that helped advertisers make decisions about
the audiences they could reach via internet broadcasts will cease March
28. They may replaced by a revised service. The company will continue to
track the internet broadcasting audience through internet studies and
consumer lifestyle and shopping data from Scarborough Research.
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