Tom Regan
E-mail survey just wants to scam you
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Thursday morning, a very interesting e-mail arrived in my in-box. "Are Guns a Problem," the subject line read. Well, like most Americans interested in the issue of gun control, I opened the e-mail. That's when the con game started.
The e-mail contained a survey -- supposedly about gun control in the United States. The message came from the "American Tabulation and Tracking Co-op." If I was over the age of 18 and wanted to make my voice heard, then I should take their survey and 'fax' it to a 1-900 number. A small charge, the e-mail continued, of $1.99 would appear on my phone bill.
Seems straight forward enough. But, it's a scam. The first tip off to the con is that the senders want you to fax, not e-mail, back your survey. Why would anybody conducting a legitimate survey, via e-mail, not want you to answer via e-mail? Well, that because they want you to fax them on a 1-900 line, which means they make money.
We also checked the domain name "netsalud.sa.cr" (Another tip off -- .cr means Costa Rica. Why would anyone in Costa Rica want to know about Americans' attitudes towards gun crontrol?), and low and behold, it doesn't exist. And an e-mail sent to the company bounced back with a 'permanent fatal errors' message. It means that whoever sent the original message 'spoofed' both the domain name and the e-mail address.
While the exact figure of financial losses due to cyber crime and fraud is not known, most security experts put it in the billions of dollars. Needless to say, if you get this e-mail in your in-box, ignore it, even if you do feel strongly about gun control.
Bluetooth
One of the more interesting new technologies to make a big splash at ComdexFall/99 was Bluetooth. Named for a Danish warrior who united the clans in ancient Denmark, Bluetooth is "the codename for a technology specification for small form factor, low-cost, short range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones and other portable devices." With a broadcast range of between 8-10 feet, Bluetooth will allow users of portable and desktop computers and communication devices to share information without using a lot of cables.
For example, imagine you're reading your e-mail on your new digital cell phone. You find one particularly important message, and using Bluetooth, transfer it to your Palm Pilot. Once you're home, you might want to keep a more permanent record of the e-mail, so you beam it into your desktop. and not a connecting cord in sight.
Bluetooth wants to create a 'world' where all computing and Internet devices merrily chat back and forth. But like all Utopias there is a fly in the ointment. Actually two flies.
One problem is very familiar -- open source vs. Microsoft. Developed originally by Intel, IBM, Nokia, Toshiba and Ericsson, Bluetooth is an open source technology, which means the operating specificiations are open to all. But Microsoft has been wishy-washy about supporting Bluetooth, and considering much of the world runs on Microsoft products, it could seriously hamper the usefulness of any product built to use Bluetooth.
The second problem is more esoteric. The Federal Communications Commission is evalutating a proposal to expand a range of frequency hopping channels. If the FCC expands these channels to much, there is a good chance it would interfere with networks build using Bluetooth technology.
So while Bluetooth looks very promising, it might not be ready for prime time yet. But if the above mentioned problems are solved, count on Bluetooth becoming a household word in a few years.
And the winner is ...
After a knock 'em down struggle about instant messaging services, Microsoft announced yesterday that it is throwing in the towel, and that it won't try to allow users of its new version of MSN Messenger 2.0 to access the AOL Instant Messenger service. A royal brouhaha developed between the two tech giants when Microsoft hacked into the AOL system. AOL responded by blocking MS users access, Microsoft hacked in again, but then AOL responded with a patch that also created a real security problem for MSN users.
"We have now reached a point where an interim solution is no longer possible," Microsoft said in a statement. "With the release of MSN Messenger Service 2.0, Microsoft has decided it is more important to protect the security of MSN Messenger users while remaining focused on driving toward an industry standard."
Naturally, AOL is pleased with the outcome.
AOL has more than 80 miilion users on its AIM and ICQ messenging softwares. MSN and Yahoo, who also offers a messenging service, have around 4 million.