2 New Worms 'Play Hard To Get' This Valentine's!

PandaLabs, Panda Security's laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, has detected 2 new worms, Nuwar.OL and Valentin.E, which use the topic of St. Valentine's Day to spread.

Nuwar.OL arrives on computers by email with subjects like "I Love You Soo Much", "Inside My Heart" or "You In My Dreams". The text of the email includes a link to a website that downloads the malicious code. The page is very simple and looks like a romantic greeting card, with a large pink heart.

Once it has infected a computer, the worm sends out a large amount of emails to the infected user's contacts, in order to spread. This also creates a heavy load on networks and slows down the computer.

Valentin.E is very similar to this. Like the Nuwar worm, it spreads by email in messages with subjects like "Searching for true Love" or "True Love" and an attached file called "friends4u". If the targeted user opens the file, a copy of the worm gets downloaded on the user's computer.

The malicious code installs on the computer as a file with the .scr extension. If the user runs it, Valentin.E shows a new desktop background to trick them, while it makes several copies of itself on the computer. Then, the worm sends out emails with copies of itself from the infected computer to spread and infect more users.

Providing tips to avoid falling victim to one of these malicious codes, PandaLabs suggests users not to open any emails or run attached files that come from unknown sources. They also advise not to click any links included in email messages, even though they may come from reliable sources. Instead, they recommend type out the link in the address bar.


Well I personally recommend staying on alert for files that claim to be Valentine's greeting cards, romantic videos, etc. and also having an effective security solution installed on your computer, capable of detecting both known and new malware worms.

Arise, it's SIR SACHIN !!!

Sachin Tendulkar: India's little maestro could be in line for the ultimate gong – and just reward for one of cricket's all-time greats. 'The little maestro remains one of the best the game has seen in a nation where cricket is a passion.'

On his visit to India last week, English Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a meeting with the Indian Premier that he would like to propose the name of Sachin Tendulkar for the top British honour, a knighthood.

If acknowledged by the awards panel, Tendulkar would be the first Indian sportsman to be knighted. It's an interesting topic of debate. There are those who say it brings humiliation to a nation once ruled by the British. At a point of time when we have celebrated 60 years of Indian independence it would be odd if we consider such a trivial issue. Indians have in the past accepted honours from Pakistan. Would such an argument hold there, too?

The honour would be a gesture of respect and admiration for Tendulkar's goodwill and contribution to cricket – the little maestro remains one of the best the game has seen in a nation where cricket is a passion. There is nothing wrong in Sachin accepting the honour. He is arguably the best batsman the world has seen. It was only a matter of time before such a reward arrived. Maybe Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar will be candidates in the future.

It's just the sport and the sportsman being honoured for his or her contribution – nothing else,. So let’s move on and let the individual in question decide upon what he feels is the right thing to do if the knighthood is offered.

Should Sachin accept a knighthood if offered?
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First man on Everest, Sir 'Ed', passes away

Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, died on Friday January 11, New Zealand's prime minister announced. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary man.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities," Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a statement. "In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity."

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

Hillary died at Auckland Hospital at 9 am on Friday (01:30 IST), of a heart attack, the Auckland District Health Board said in a statement. He had been ailing for several years.

Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement -- and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit on May 29, 1953.

He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared, "We knocked the bastard off."

The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later.

She knighted the angular, self-deprecating Hillary, who was just 33, as one of her first acts.

But he was more proud of is decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, Norgay's homeland.

He wrote of the pair's final ascent to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.

"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation – these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted.

"But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it."

The pair spent just 15 minutes on the summit, taking photographs as evidence of their achievement, before starting the arduous descent.

Hillary's philosophy of life was simple, "Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself," he said in a 1975 interview.

Close friends described him as having unbounded enthusiasm for both life and adventure.

"We all have dreams -- but Ed has dreams, then he's got this incredible drive, and goes ahead and does it," long-time friend Jim Wilson said in 1993.

Australia loses, Bollywood box office wins

England fast bowling duo Sajid Mahmood and Simon Jones are among several Test cricketers set for on-screen roles in a new Bollywood movie about cricket.

'Victory' is a film which charts the story of a boy fulfiling his dream of playing for India.

Shooting will start this month in Australia, during the ongoing Australia-India series and will feature several current and retired international cricketers from around the world.

"I was quite surprised when approached to be involved, but it's a great opportunity to do something very different," said Lancashire quickee Mahmood.

Mahmood will fly to Sydney on January 9 to film his scenes before returning on January 15. He will then continue to train with Lancashire before flying to India in February to take part in a specialist bowling camp run by England fast bowling coach Kevin Shine.

"I don't have a big role in the movie: I just play myself and bowl - that can't be too difficult."

Australians Brett Lee, Allan Border, Mike Hussey and Jason Gillespie as well as New Zealanders Craig McMillan, Daryl Tuffey, Nathan Astle and Martin Crowe, plus members of the current India team are also set to feature in 'Victory'.

Several top Indian players, including Harbhajan Singh, who was suspended for three matches after allegedly calling Andrew Symonds a monkey, would be filmed, either in Australia or India.

And the controversy would do no harm to the box-office success of the movie, which will arrive in Sydney with sub-titles later this year and is expected to generate worldwide receipts many times its budget of between $7 million and $8 million.

No release date has yet been announced for 'Victory'. This will not be the first time a Bollywood film has had a cricket theme. In 2001 the climax of 'Lagaan', set in the late 19th century, featured a cricket match between Indian villagers and British Army officers. It received an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film.

Oops! now Britney's lost her car

LOS ANGELES - It was just another night on the town Monday, and then another headline in the tabloids on Tuesday, for Britney Spears after the pop star had her car towed away and her visit to a high-end hotel triggered a scuffle between a photographer and a security guard.

The scuffle resulted in police being called to the Four Seasons Hotel near Beverly Hills about 90 minutes after they had a private towing company haul Spears' car away. But Officer Karen Smith said the pop star wasn't to blame for the Four Seasons dust-up.

"She was leaving the hotel when one of the paparazzi and a security guard at the hotel had a scuffle," Smith said.

Police took a battery report but the photographer had left the hotel by the time officers arrived and no one was arrested. The hotel's head of security did not respond to a message for comment.

Police said Spears left her 2008 Mercedes-Benz on busy Sunset Boulevard, near the University of California, Los Angeles campus, about 8 p.m. Monday because of a flat tire.

"She left it unattended and it was blocking traffic, so it was towed," Smith said.

It was unlikely Spears would be ticketed because the car was disabled, but police said she would have to pay a towing and impound fee to get it back. The vehicle was taken to Quicksilver Towing, where an employee who answered the phone Tuesday said he didn't know if it was still there.

"We had several Mercedes towed last night," he said, adding storage charges are $35.20 a day.

According to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, Spears caught a ride home from a member of the horde of paparazzi who follow her everywhere. Then it was off to the Four Seasons.

The car and hotel incidents were only minor bumps in the road for Spears, who is involved in a bitter, public custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline over the couple's sons, 1-year-old Jayden James and 2-year-old Sean Preston.

Spears was hospitalized last week after an hours-long standoff at her home that was triggered by the custody battle. The next day, a court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of the boys to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.