According to reports from British PC security experts, over fifteen million computers from countries spanning the globe have been infected by a new computer virus. The virus, which is of the worm variety, goes by a variety of names including Downadup, Kido, and perhaps most commonly, Conficker. It is estimated to have spread to over six million PCs in the last three days alone.

While the virus has infected a large number of computers, including some British hospital PCs, it is unknown at this time if the “Conficker” actually has any effects. Some believe it was created simply to demonstrate the skill of its creator, but others believe it may be capable of stealing personal information such as passwords and online log-in IDs. Its also being considered that the virus may include a “rootkit”, which would give the virus creator remote access to the infected to computers.

Hackers have attacked many PCs with thousands of bugs, spam, and other nefarious tactics. Currently security experts are saying that cellular phones will be the next likely targets.

A report by Georgia Tech has identified the growing popularity of cell phones as a new path for hackers. Of specific concern is that as mobile phones gain more computing power and Internet connectivity, hackers will be able to utilize the security vulnerabilities of phone operating systems and web apps.

Botnets, which are networks of infected PCs are the common approach used for spamming and denial of service attacks. Botnets  have massive computer power and could use a very high number of computing devices to take offline or wipe clean other devices.

If botnets are used in cell phones, new fraud scams could begin. For instance, infected phones could be programmed to call pay-per-minute numbers or purchase ringtones. If the criminals can do so effectively, they will continue.

The facts that cell phones are usually always on and have typically poor security makes them appealing to hackers. Also, an antivirus software can consume a significant amount of battery life.

The hurdle for the hackers is to learn how the cellular networks work and change their attacks accordingly. Mobile network providers are more tightly controlled when compared with home or business Internet providers, which would mean that lines of communication could be closed quickly for infected phones.

For successful hacking, there needs to be a significant number of Internet browsing and downloading taking place on mobile devices, which is just significantly starting now.

Who said American automotive innovation is over?!

For its 100th anniversary, not to mention the lagging sales in the traditional auto markets, General Motors is introducing the first mass produced electric car, the Chevrolet Volt.

Let’s looks at both the drawbacks and the advantages of the Volt over existing cars. First, the drawbacks: The car still requires gasoline for long trips. For the first 40 miles, the trip is solely battery powered, but for greater distances, a small gas engine recharges the batteries. Since the ultimate moving force behind the car is electricity, this is still considered a true electric car, and not a hybrid. The overall distance a Volt can cover is a respectable 300+ miles.

Also, the price for the Volt is not yet known. Another electric car called Tesla, which is actually a limited production sports car, costs $100,000. It is highly unlikely that the Volt would cost this much, but estimates range from $30,000-$50,000, which still wouldn’t make it an overnight success in Chevy dealerships.

It is important to note that if electric cars do become hugely successful at some point, it is logical to assume that this would result in significant demand on the electric grid. With all the talk about global warming, pollution, and energy security, it is conceivable that this would provide additional push for alternative sources of energy to become commonplace.

The benefits: The Volt can reach a top speed of 100 MPH, which is respectable, considering most drivers never reach anywhere near that speed in a traditional car. The Volt also seats a family of 4 comfortably, so gone is the idea of a golf cart-type new age vehicle. Additionally, the interior is slick and, being part of a new technology, cutting edge.

Notably, charging the car at home is done via a normal electric cord, thus achieving a zero learning curve for the consumer.

The car is intended for practical drivers that are environmentally conscious and people that are willing to give the American car another chance vs. the successful import hybrids. Once the car becomes available in 2010, let’s see if this innovation indeed returns a lasting spotlight to the American automobile…

Yes, my weekends are exciting.

I was having some files issues with my (Vista) PC over the weekend, and came across a pretty good file removal software (clone remover), so thought I’d give it a little props here.

It can be annoying and time-consuming to find duplicate files, (especially when you have as much data on your PC as we at TechConsumer tend to keep) and Windows isn’t really set-up to locate them easily. It was nice to find a software that provides a little help in this regard.

No, I’m not trying to sell you anything – you can go to the Moleskinsoft duplicate files remover page and download the file finding software for free. It will allow you to search for duplicate files by content, properties, mp3 title, for similar images, or files with a zero size.

For my specific purposes, what I needed to do is use the similar images function (maybe I need to get better at naming and organizing my images in the first place – but the moleskin software sort of came to my rescue), which basically finds similar images in such formats as (.jpg, .bmp, .png, .psd and others) that differ in resolution, or have a difference such as a caption. This proved to be a timesaver, and probably prevented a big headache on this author’s end.

The latest news from United Kingdom’s major retail bankers says that if your online bank account has been compromised and you didn’t use any Internet computer security software such as antivirus and antispyware (e.g. Norton 360), you solely bear the responsibility for the loss, and they won’t compensate you a dime. A clause has been added to the newly updated Banking Code to make this very clear.

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Every once in a while, I receive an email from a friend which doesn’t have a personal message but a link with inspiring thoughts and beautiful pictures intent on uplifting my day. Even though my friend does not share a word in the email, I still appreciate the fact that they thought of me.

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Bite me, Blockbuster Online. Oh, and you too, Facebook.

About three years ago, I signed up for Netflix, Walmart DVD Online, and Blockbuster Online. I wanted to see which interface was better, and who was quicker about sending me DVDs in the mail. Netflix won, hands down.

Blockbuster has recently come out with an interesting idea, however, where you can rent online, as well as in the store. They have been pestering me to “come back” for years, and yesterday they sent me a free month. So I thought, what the heck. I’ll sign up, rent a few, and then cancel after 29 days.

I canceled after one. Here’s why:

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We took a lot of flack over a post back in January that questioned the security of Apple’s Mac OS X. TechConsumers left various comments ranging from “For some reason unknown to me, no one can ever show me a situation where a user opens a e-mail and their Mac turns into a robot sending out hundreds of e-mails” to “Mac OS X *is* inherently safer. You have to be a major league Windows zombie not to know and accept that.”

Well, CanSecWest’s PWN 2 OWN contest has just shown that Mac OS X isn’t “inherently safer” and that clearly it is possible for a user to open an e-mail on a Mac and have it join a spam botnet.

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So I joined MySpace about a week ago and was already annoyed at the way they sent me my password over email. But then, just a few days later, I got an email with my first MySpace message / friend request from someone named Riley whose profile picture is a girl in a swimsuit. Originally, her (or his?) profile showed the same city and state that I live in, though now it’s been changed to Greenville, Ohio. Here’s the text of the message:

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I picked on search engine Mahalo as an example of a company emailing its customers passwords. I mentioned how having your password floating around openly on mail servers can defeat the purpose of having a password in the first place. Mahalo’s founder and CEO, Jason Calacanis, joined the discussion and some good thoughts were shared from both sides of the issue.

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