Plates55.com » Software http://plates55.com Restart, Reboot, Reinstall Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:10:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 FTC: Lifelock claims misleading customers http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/ http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:12:26 +0000 swood http://plates55.com/?p=1413  Their commercials and ads were everywhere: Lifelock promising that for a fee of $10 a month, it could give you virtually foolproof protection against identity theft.

The problem – Illinois’ attorney general and other law enforcement agencies say their claims were at best, misleading and at worst, downright false.

Now, WBBM’s Regine Schlesinger reports they’re forcing the company to offer refunds to customers in a 12 million dollar settlement with the FTC and 35 states.

You probably remember the ad blitz with Lifelock CEO Todd Davis public proclaiming his Social Security number as proof his business could give you ironclad protection against having your identity stolen.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan says Lifelock preyed on consumer fears of a very real problem. She says they used scare tactics to lure customers, sending even her an advertising letter.

Now, an agreement between Lifelock, the FTC and 35 states, will split 12-million dollars among Lifelock’s more than one million customers as compensation for the company’s deception. FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz says there\’s a lesson in this case for other businesses.

The state will be sending out letters soon, notifying Lifelock customers how they can apply for settlement money

The settlement against LifeLock is one of the largest FTC-state coordinated settlements on record. It requires the company to stop making deceptive claims and take strong measures to safeguard the personal information it collects.

“This agreement effectively prevents LifeLock from misrepresenting that its services offer absolute prevention against identity theft because there is unfortunately no foolproof way to avoid ID theft,” Madigan said in the news release. “Consumers can take definitive steps to minimize the chances of having their personal information stolen, and this settlement will help them make more informed decisions about whether to enroll in ID theft protection services.”

LifeLock has advertised since 2006 that it can prevent identity theft for consumers who sign up for its $10-per-month service.

LifeLock’s advertisements billed it as “the first company to prevent identity theft from occurring,” and said LifeLock prevents identity theft “from ever happening to you. Guaranteed.”

But the FTC says the fraud alerts that LifeLock placed on consumers’ personal information just prevented against some forms of identity theft, such as new account fraud. The company did not protect against the misuse of existing accounts, the FTC said.

LifeLock also did not protect consumers against medical or employment identity theft, which are used by thieves to get medical care or jobs.

Only 17 percent of identity theft cases involve a thief trying to establish a new account in someone else’s name, the FTC said. But LifeLock didn’t even provide absolute protection for new account fraud, the FTC alleged.

Most importantly, consumers were given no protection against the misuse of existing accounts, the FTC said.

“They alert creditors opening new accounts to take reasonable measures to verify that the individual applying for credit actually is who he or she claims to be, but in some instances, identity thieves can thwart even reasonable precautions,” the FTC said in the release.

LifeLock also made claims about its own data security that were not true, the FTC said.

The company would collect sensitive information such as Social Security and credit card numbers from its customers, all the while assuring them that only “authorized employees of LifeLock” would have access to the data, that it was electronically encrypted, and that the company’s “highly secure physical, electronic, and managerial procedures” were sure to protect the sensitive information.

But the data was not encrypted, and the sensitive information was shared within the company on a “need to know” basis, the FTC said. The company’s data system was actually vulnerable enough that it could have been hacked, the FTC said.

The FTC and state settlements forbid the company from misrepresenting the “means, methods, procedures, effects, effectiveness, coverage, or scope of any identity theft protection service,” the FTC said. The company must also establish a security program which will be monitored by a third party for 20 years.

The FTC says it will use the money from the settlement to refund consumers. Current and former customers of LifeLock will be sent letters with instructions to apply. More information is available at (202) 326-3757 or http://www.ftc.gov/lifelock.

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]]> http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/feed/ 0 Toyota’s woes could be software related http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/ http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:56:48 +0000 msutherman http://plates55.com/?p=1031 I never thought I’d be writing about Toyota, a major car manufacturer, here on plates55, while we’ve mentioned cars before, usually it’s in the context of an on-board entertainment system or a goofy experiment.

But it turns out that the accelerator problem that has prompted a massive recall of Toyota vehicles could be related to the onboard software the car manufacturer employs in these cars. Computers have become more and more integral in modern vehicles, and Computerworld reports that some vehicles like the affected Toyota models are fly by wire. Fly-by-wire, if you’re not familiar with the term, refers to the idea that the controls that the user manipulates like the gas and brake pedal are not physically connected to the throttle and brakes on the car, but rather are simply inputs into the car’s computer, which then controls the throttle and brakes digitally.

A problem with the software on board the car’s computer could certainly cause odd behavior, and we all know that software can be buggy. But given the importance of fly by wire software, I have to think that Toyota put it through an incredible level of testing. Though the investigation has turned to looking at the software as the culprit, I’m hoping that it turns out to be a red herring. Though I guess it’s only a matter of time before we hear about some real-world big tragedy caused by a software malfunction

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]]> http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/feed/ 0 The Best 10 P2P File Sharing Software.. http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/ http://plates55.com/software/%datetime%/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:43:46 +0000 admin http://plates55.com/?p=80

The Best 10 P2P File Sharing Software..

 

So as the title concluded I am not listing the P2P programs in the top ten order, bcoz I know each one of us have varied opinions on the P2P programs we use. So I will it to you to choose the best one for your needs, saying that let’s start my this week blog on yet another interesting technology P2P:

Millions of people make use of free P2P file sharing programs everyday – software to exchange music, video and other files over the Internet. P2P file sharing tools are so popular among the young today like us . But all p2p tools are not well for all the countries according to performance. I made a list of 10 popular p2p software which are well known and popular for their performance world wide.

1) Bittorrent:

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This is one of best, fastest, safe and widely used p2p program. Performance of BitTorrent is way better then any other available P2P programs. BitTorrent is a free P2P software application. As I see BitTorrent is a good default option as a mainline peer-to-peer client and performs admirably, but it’s puzzling why BitTorrent incorporated the uTorrent code without actually combining the two clients together. Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, Mac

2) LimeWire

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Once king of p2p file sharing, still in great demand today. LimeWire is a fast, easy-to-use file sharing program that contains no spyware, adware or other bundled software. Compatible with all major platforms and running over the Gnutella network, LimeWire’s open source code, is freely available to the public and developed in part by a devoted programmer community. LimeWire is offered in dozens of languages and is available in LimeWire BASIC, a free version. Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, Mac, OSX

3) Vuze

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One of the fastest growing P2P software as of today, so don’t want to miss this. Vuze overcomes the usual obscure torrent client interface and makes it more of a complete visual media experience; an expansive network makes it easy to find HD video content. Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, Mac

4) µTorrent

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µTorrent by no doubt is another efficient P2P client, designed for Windows. It needs as little CPU, memory and space as possible and offers good functionality that advanced clients expect. It has most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients. uTorrent is still the top choice for file sharing on peer-to-peer networks, with a tiny memory footprint and plenty of controls for managing bandwidth and more importantly free again. Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux

5) Ares Galaxy

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Ares is a free open source p2p file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file. Some features that set it apart from other p2p softwares is its powerful library organizer, chat rooms, built-in audio and video player. Ares network not as great as others but compensates through other features. Supported Operating system: Windows XP, Vista

6) Shareaza

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This was one of early p2p program when p2p was still new concept. It supports wide variety of networks like Gnutella, Gnutella2, EDonkey Network, BitTorrent, FTP and HTTP network protocols and which can handle magnet links, ed2k links, Piolet links, and the now deprecated Gnutella links. Shareza has billions of users and uncountable numbers of files shared across shareaza network. Supported Operating System: Windows XP, Vista.

7) Bearshare

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Bearshare lets you share files and download from everyone on the global Gnutella peer-to-peer information network, just like limewire. You can download the latest mp3 music, movies and much more. What sets Bearshare apart from other P2P networks is its Instant Messaging system. You can have your own profile picture and interact with other people. Supported Operating System: Windows XP, Vista.

Kazaa

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Like Shareaza, Kaaza was one of best and most popular p2p during early days of p2p evolution. but in past few year due to many issues like virus infected files, lawsuite, spywares, Kazaa has lost its
popularity. However kazaa has been continually trying to make Kazaa network virus and spyware free with many new features like built in virus scanner, infected file blocking made available in latest Kazaa Client to protect users. Kazaa Lite is one of best client of Kazaa P2P network for file sharing. Supported Operating System: Windows XP, Vista.

9) Soulseek

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Soluseek central server type of P2P file sharing application. Soluseek is good old
p2p file sharing program best of sharing music files. ad-free, spyware-free, just plain free file sharing application. It is good p2p software for finding non-mainstream music. It was created by a former Napster programmer, Nir Arbel. It’s virtual rooms allow you to meet people with the same interests, share information, and chat, so it is a great way to make new friends. Supported Operating System: Windows.

10) eMule

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eMule is one of the biggest p2p file sharing clients around the world. It is based on the eDonkey2000 network but offers more features than the standard client. eMule is easy to configure, but also, with many options and controls, good for the advanced user. Thanks to its open source policy many developers are able to contribute to the project, making the network more efficient with each release.
The chief limitation of eMule’s P2P file sharing program is its speed: eMule typically performs downloading much slower than other P2P clients. ient to protect users. Kazaa Lite is one of best client of Kazaa P2P network for file sharing. Supported Operating System: Windows XP, Vista.

Also there are many other good P2P which I may have not listed above like:
eDonkey / Overnet,
WinMX,
Morpheus,
iMesh,
KCeasy,
StrongDC++,
Frostwire,
BitComet,
BitLord,
Azureus, etc..

All of this one way or the other as it’s own unique functionality and feature which really makes them ready to use, so you shouldn’t be un-happy if you currently used P2P is not on this list

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