Warning!
Bounceback E-mail Technique Used By Spammers

Cornhusker News & Notes
 • How to create a strong password
 • Is It Less Expensive To Backup Online?

Ask The Help Desk
What Is A Keystroke Logger?

Sites Of The Month
Great Sites To Check Out In June

Short Tutorial
Deleting Bookmarked Favorites From Your Browser

Hello Cornhusker Customers

Summer is here — grab some lemonade, kick off your shoes, and enjoy reading this June issue. You'll learn about e-mail bouncebacks from spammers and why they're annoying but not necessarily harmful. You'll also find out about keystroke loggers and keylogging programs used to collect information from specific computer users. In the tutorial, get instructions on how to remove websites you no longer want in your bookmarked favorites. And don't miss the Great Sites section to pick up Web browsing ideas including a new movie about robots, a bird's eye view of the earth, and a preview of the Summer Olympics.

The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. We think you'll find this information interesting. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

To see what's inside this issue, simply scroll down the eNewsletter or click on the links within the index to the left. Thanks for reading!

- The Cornhusker Web Team
 

Have you received an increasing number of e-mail bouncebacks (returned e-mails marked "Non Delivery Receipt") in your inbox? If so, you're not alone. Internet Service Providers worldwide are reporting more complaints from customers who suddenly get dozens or hundreds of e-mails informing them that "the message you have sent has failed." Most of the time, the culprits are spammers that insert gathered or random e-mail addresses into the "Sender" portion of their messages. Spammers like to spoof this information in order to sneak their messages past e-mail filters. When these e-mails are not deliverable, they may be returned to inboxes like yours even though they didn't truly originate there. Referred to as backscatter, such e-mail bouncebacks come from legitimate e-mail servers that have been fooled by the spammers.

While these messages may appear troubling, receiving such e-mails does not necessarily point to a virus or spyware infection on your machine. There is likely nothing for you to worry about as long as you're using virus protection software and updating it routinely. Simply delete the messages and ignore the irritation until this latest technique falls out of favor with spammers. Again, it is very important that you have antivirus protection installed and updated to reduce your computer's vulnerability to attacks.

How To Create A Strong Password

Here’s what to do:

MAKE IT LENGTHY. Each character added to your password increases the protection. It should be at least 8 characters; 14 characters or longer is ideal.

COMBINE LETTERS, NUMBERS, AND SYMBOLS. The greater variety of characters that you have in your password, the harder it is to guess.

USE A SENTENCE AS THE STARTING POINT. Think of a memorable sentence, take the first letter of each word, then mix up lower case and upper case, and replace some letters with numbers and symbols.

AVOID SEQUENCES OR REPEATED CHARACTERS. Passwords such as "12345678" or "222222" do not make secure passwords.

HAVE DIFFERENT PASSWORDS FOR DIFFERENT PLACES. Create strong passwords for any online transaction where your credit is at stake, and one "lightweight" password for online resources like magazines and newspapers.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Is It Less Expensive To Backup Online?

Yes, in many cases it is less expensive to backup online.  For example, for most business the cost of CDs, Tapes and the labor required to backup is typically much higher than online backup services like Xpress Backup.  A couple more advantages of Xpress Backup are that it's much less prone to error and the backups start automatically so they're not forgotten. 

If your computer lost all its data how would it effect your home or business?  Just how sick would you be?

Every computer will eventually fail!  According to an industry survey these are the most common reasons a computer loses its data:

• Equipment failure (44%)

• Human error (32%)

• Software corruption; bugs, virus', etc. (21%)

• Natural disasters; fire, flood, lightening, etc. (3%)

Cornhusker's "XPRESS BACKUP" could save you from a computer disaster.    

Is the data stored on your home computer safe? 

• Would you lose irreplaceable family photos or videos if your computer’s hard drive crashed?   
• Would you lose critical financial records if your computer was stolen or caught fire?  
•  Do you have important letters, spreadsheets, emails, etc., stored on your computer?

If you answered “YES” to any of those questions you should use Xpress Backup, our easy, secure and safe data backup system.

Is your company’s data safe?  

• Would you be able to respond to an IRS request for your computerized financial records from past years? 
• Could you afford the time (and cost) required to reconstruct your customer lists and marketing materials? 
• Are your company’s crucial contracts, letters, emails and other business documents backed up on and off site?

If you answered “NO” to any of those questions your company needs to use Xpress Backup, our off-site backup system.

XPRESS BACKUP is fast, safe and completely secure.  Here are a few Express Backup features:

• Easy -- Xpress Backup is a menu driven system
• Safe -- Your data is backed up offsite, away from your computers. (Only an offsite backup can save your data from a number of disasters.)
• Secure -- Your backups are for your eyes only and are protected with chosen password
• Secure -- Your backed up data is encrypted and can only be read after it's retrieved
• Fast -- Protect up to 5 GB in just minutes
• Scheduled Backups -- Your backup schedule can be whenever you want
• Retrieval -- Retrieving your data is as fast and easy as backing up

Express Backup is very reasonable:

• Backup 5GB for only $4.95 per month
• Backup 10GB for only $7.95 per month
• Backup 20GB for only $11.95 per month
• Backup 25GB-100GB for only 50¢ per GB, per month
• Backup over 100GB per month... Please call for a quote.

Try Xpress Backup FREE for two weeks!  We'd like you to try it free of charge with NO obligation and we mean “NO Obligation."   If after trying it for two weeks you are not completely thrilled…do nothing.  You won't be billed for trying Xpress backup.  You will need to tell us if you want to keep it. 
 
CLICK HERE to try Xpress Backup or to learn more.

Think of your computer passwords as if they were keys to your home and everything you own. Given their importance, it just makes sense to create strong ones.

 

Question: What is a keystroke logger and why would one be used? I often come across the term while reading about computer security.

Answer: A keystroke logger is a hardware device that collects each keystroke a user types on a specific computer's keyboard and saves it as text in its own miniature hard drive. Later, the person who installed the keystroke logger must return and physically remove the device in order to access the information gathered.

By contrast, a keylogger program does not require physical access to the user's computer. Someone who wants to monitor activity on a particular computer can download it on purpose. It can also be downloaded unwittingly as spyware and executed as part of a rootkit (a collection of tools that enable administrator-level access to a computer) or Trojan horse (a program in which malicious code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data). The keylogger program records each keystroke and uploads the information over the Internet periodically to whoever installed the program.

Keylogging has legitimate purposes such as helping parents monitor their children's activities or allowing law enforcement agencies to obtain passwords or encryption keys used in crimes. However, spammers and identity thieves also use this technology to steal personal information.

Recipe for Success
http://Pillsbury.com/BakeOff - There really are cookies that taste like a million bucks, and Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg, MD bakes them. She was this year's $1 million grand prize winner in the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest for her Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies. Get the recipe for them here, as well as the recipes for many other award-winning Bake-Off dishes. You can also sign up for free e-mail newsletters and print moneysaving coupons.

Understanding Natural Disasters
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards - The world news has been filled recently with stories of natural disasters — the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), the earthquake in China, a volcano eruption in Chili, and tornadoes, flooding, and wildfires in the U.S. To learn more about the causes and effects of these hazards, take a look at this site. It features NASA satellite imagery of the events along with explanations of the science involved. You'll also find links to related websites and articles about topics including fires, floods, severe storms, and volcanoes.

Summer Olympic Games
http://en.beijing2008.cn - Get ready for the splendor and excitement of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in August by visiting the official website now. You can familiarize yourself with all the sports and venues, tour the sites of the Beijing area including the Great Wall, and test your Olympic knowledge by taking the daily quiz. You can also take a close look at the unique medals made of gold and jade that the winning athletes will receive.

Sightsee from Home
http://earth.google.com - If you haven't tried Google Earth yet, you're missing a very cool online resource. Google Earth lets you "fly" anywhere on the globe and gain a bird's eye view of satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings. Type in an address, zip code, city, or state and Google Earth instantly takes you there. You can even swoop from outer space to street level and leap from one building top to another. The new Sky feature lets you view images of distant galaxies and nebulae from the Hubble Space Telescope. Just download the free Google Earth 4.3 software to use these features, and enjoy an around-the-world tour without spending a cent.

Out-of-this-world Robots
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e - In theaters this month is the new computer-animated movie about a robot named Wall•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class). The cosmic comedy is from writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and the creative geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (Cars, Ratatouille). Don't miss this fun journey across the universe as Wall•E chases a sleek robot named EVE. In the meantime, check out the site for Build-A-Bot Games as well as the movie's trailers, Super Bowl commercial, and photo gallery.

Over the years, you've undoubtedly accumulated a long list of favorite websites stored under the "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" feature of your browser. As your life changes, however, you may find that some of these sites are no longer of interest to you. It's easy to remove such sites from your list and streamline your Internet searches.

To delete bookmarked favorites you no longer need or want, follow the steps below for your browser.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Internet Explorer 7 Browser and Windows XP SP2 Home Edition (if menu bar is visible)

1. With Internet Explorer 7 open, click your cursor arrow on "Favorites" on the menu bar.
   
   
2. Select "Organize Favorites..." from the drop-down menu. The Organize Favorites window will appear.
   
   
3. Select the favorite site that you want to delete.
   
   
4. Click your cursor arrow on the "Delete" button. The Confirm File Delete dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to send the link to the Recycle bin.
   
   
5. Click "Yes." The site will be permanently deleted.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Internet Explorer 7 Browser and Windows XP SP2 Home Edition (if menu bar is NOT visible)

1. With Internet Explorer 7 open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" located on the right side of your screen.
   
   
2. Select "Toolbars" from the drop-down menu.
   
   
3. Select "Favorites." The Favorites Center will appear on the left side of your screen.
   
   
4. Right click on the favorite site that you want to delete.
   
   
5. Click your cursor arrow on the "Delete" option. The Confirm File Delete dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to send the link to the Recycle bin.
   
   
6. Click "Yes." The site will be permanently deleted.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Internet Explorer 7 Browser and Windows Vista Home Premium (if menu bar is visible)

1. With Internet Explorer 7 open, click your cursor arrow on "Favorites" on the menu bar.
   
   
2. Select "Organize Favorites..." from the drop-down menu. The Organize Favorites window will appear.
   
   
3. Select the favorite site that you want to delete.
   
   
4. Click your cursor arrow on the "Delete" button. The Confirm File Delete dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to permanently delete this file.
   
   
5. Click "Yes." The site will be permanently deleted.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Internet Explorer 7 Browser and Windows Vista Home Premium (if menu bar is NOT visible)

1. With Internet Explorer 7 open, click your cursor arrow on the "Tools" button located on the right side of your screen.
   
   
2. Select "Toolbars" from the drop-down menu.
   
   
3. Select "Favorites." The Favorites Center will appear on the left side of your screen.
   
   
4. Right click on the favorite site that you want to delete.
   
   
5. Click your cursor arrow on the "Delete" option. The Confirm File Delete dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to permanently delete this file.
   
   
6. Click "Yes." The site will be permanently deleted.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Firefox 2.0 Browser and Windows XP SP2 Home Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Macintosh OS X 10.4

1. With Firefox open, click your cursor arrow on "Bookmarks" located on the menu bar.
   
   
2. Select "Organize Bookmarks..." from the drop-down menu. The Bookmarks Manager window will appear.
   
   
3. Select the bookmarked site you want to delete by clicking on it.
   
   
4. Click your cursor arrow on the "Delete" button/icon located at the top right of the window. The site will be permanently deleted.

Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Safari 3.1 Browser and Macintosh OS X 10.4, Windows XP SP2 Home Edition, or Windows Vista Home Premium

1. With Safari open, click your cursor arrow on "Bookmarks" on the menu bar.
   
   
2. Select "Show All Bookmarks" from the drop-down menu.
   
   
3. Select the bookmarked site you want to delete.
   
   
4. Click your cursor arrow on "Edit" on the menu bar.
   
   
5. Select the "Delete" option. The site will be permanently deleted.

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

Monty Gilliam
General Manager



Cornhusker Internet
635 E Iron, Suite C
Salina, KS 67401

866-867-7490