HP, Dell, Toshiba Recall Laptop Batteries
Computerworld is reporting that HP, Dell & Toshiba are recalling approximately 100,000 Sony made laptop batteries.
October 31, 2008 (IDG News Service) Three of the biggest laptop computer makers are recalling certain batteries because of a risk they may overheat and catch fire. Sony Corp. made the batteries. The recall mirrors, yet appears a lot smaller, than a similar one that occurred two years ago.
This time, around 100,000 batteries are affected, a fraction of the 9.6 million recalled in 2006. Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Toshiba Corp. have already issued recalls for the batteries that were used in their products, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said “consumers should stop using recalled products immediately.”
The batteries in question were manufactured between October 2004 and June 2005, and there have been about 40 incidents reportedly worldwide of overheating to date, Sony said today.
Most of the incidents are believed to be the result of manufacturing-line adjustments made during the period that may have affected some batteries, Sony said. In addition, some may have been caused by raw material flaws.
Of the 100,000 batteries affected, around 35,000 were used in laptops shipped in the U.S. By far the greatest number, about 32,000, were shipped with HP laptops. Read the rest…
Detail about the effected batteries and the recall programs can be found at:
- HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program
- Toshiba Sony Battery Pack Recall Programs
- Dell Battery Recall
Update: engadget.com is reporting the recall also includes Li-ion batteries used in some Acer laptops as well as those from HP, Dell and Toshiba.
Computer Crime…
Here an interesting video from Mikko Hyppönen at F-Secure that talks about one of the common misconceptions about computer crime and viruses. A lot of people think that since we haven’t had a major virus outbreak like the Melissa or Sasser worms in quite awhile the situation is getting better… As Mikko points out it’s not, it’s getting worse.
Apple Tops in Tech Support?
I first saw this Computerworld article several days ago and I forgot about while I was dealing with more pressing issues. But it popped up in my inbox again today saw I thought I’d put my two cents in.
Personally, I don’t put much stock in much of what Consumer Reports says but I have to admit I mostly agree with their surveys findings on tech support. I’ve had good and bad experiences with tech support from Adobe, Microsoft, HP and others over the years but Apple has consistently been the easiest to deal with… I won’t say they’re perfect but in my experience Apple’s tech support is significantly better than what passes for average these days.
In other tech news:
Computerworld is reporting that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) may cripple some systems with endless reboots. The problem seems to be confined to systems with AMD processors. More information and suggested workarounds here…
First Impressions: Windows Vista Business SP1
I installed Windows Vista Business SP1 on a couple of test PCs recently and I’ve been putting it and Office 2007 through their paces over the last couple of days. For the most part I’m happy with them… Vista’s Aero interface is such a radical departure from Windows XP that it takes a little getting used and the same can said for the ribbon bars in Office 2007 but once you get used to the changes they’re not bad.
My biggest complaint with Windows Vista is the User Account Controls feature, it annoys the hell out of me. If I’m logged in as an administrator and performing administrative tasks I shouldn’t have to click through a confirmation dialog to confirm that I actually want to perform the task that I just elected to perform.
But aside from the aforementioned annoyances Vista Business SP1 is stable, and does what I need it to do. That doesn’t mean I’m going to be abandoning Windows XP Professional or Office 2003 though. I’m happy with both and they do what I need to do well enough that I don’t see a compelling reason to upgrade.
That said Windows Vista Business SP1 looks pretty solid and with sales of Windows XP scheduled to end on June 30th Vista Business looks like an acceptable replacement.
Missing Laptop Causes Security Concerns
Stories about missing laptops containing confidential information are becoming an everyday occurrence so I wasn’t surprised when I came across this story about about a pilot’s missing laptop causing security concerns at a number of airports.
I’m not going to beat up on the pilot or the TSA they seem to have handled the incident properly. What I am going to do use this as chance to beat the Safe Hex drum.
What bothers isn’t that laptop containing confidential was apparently stolen, that happens more often than anyone would like it to. What bothers me is the apparent lack of encryption. If you’re carrying around a laptop that contains confidential information you should be using some type of encryption to protect that information. No technology is fool proof or 100 percent effective but using products like PGP whole Disk Encryption greatly reduces the chances that the bad guys will be able to exploit the data on a stolen laptop.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s your personal financial information or pass codes for airport security checkpoints you need to take steps to protect it. Making sure your laptop requires a user name and strong password* to log on is a good first step. Adding encrypting, whether it’s whole disk encryption or just file encryption is an important second level of protection that all to often over looked.
*A strong password should be at least 8 characters and include letters, numbers, mixed capitalization and at least one special character. It should also be easy to remember but hard to guess.
Mobile Malware
Here’s a short but informative video on mobile threats from the folks at F-Secure.
Secure Computing Follow-up
I came across a few interesting articles and resources anyone who attended last nights presentation might be interested in. First is an article by David Harely on Macs & Malware. Second the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its annual report on cyber crime. IC3 is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C)… It’s interesting reading, in addition to statistics based actual case work it also provides details on a number of popular scams. You can download a copy here.
Last is Looks Too Good To Be True.com. Looks Too Good To Be True provides a wealth of information various types cyber scams. It’s well worth a look.
One last thing before I forget… You can download a copy of last night’s presentation here.
Products & services mentioned during presentation to DACS
Alternative Web Browsers
Information on Hoaxes and Urban Ledgeneds
Must Have Tools
Anti-Virus Software
- F-Prot Anti-Virus
- F-Secure Anti-Virus or Internet Security
- Kaspersky AntiVirus or Internet Security
- Nod32 Anti-Virus or Smart Security
Anti-Spyware Software
Personal Firewalls
Additional Resources
- alt.comp.virus Anti-Virus pages
- Internet Security Alliance
- Internet Storm Center
- Microsoft Security and Privacy
- United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
Port Scanning Services
- PC Flank
- SecuritySpace.com (Registration required)