by Jeff Carlson

I used Yahoo to search for something and was sent immediately to the following [redacted] site. I believe my Mac was invaded and don’t know what to do!

First, relax. Your Mac wasn’t invaded, infected, compromised, co-opted, or conquered. If you’d clicked through a few of those dire pop-up warnings you might have been as amused as I was to see a phony Windows Security Alert appear on a Macintosh. What you’ve encountered is termed “scareware”—a scam that attempts to frighten those confronted with these pages into downloading a hunk of software that will allegedly deal with the problem.

The chain of events goes like this: A perfectly legitimate URL is hijacked by the scammers and you’re redirected to the scareware page. That page is designed in such a way that several dialog boxes pop-up, warning you that your computer is infected. Click Cancel and you’ll just get more warnings and an interface that makes it appear like your computer is being scanned. If you fall for the trick and click the buttons necessary to download the offered antivirus software, you’ll pay for a product that is likely a hunk of malware (and I hate to think what happens to your credit card information). This malware is bad for Windows PCs but has no effect on Macs.

Typical scareware warning:

Regrettably, these pages are sometimes difficult to dismiss because the constant pop-up warnings prevent you from leaving. Clicking OK may get rid of the pop-ups so that you can close the window or tab (and no, doing so won’t automatically download the software to your Mac), but I faced a situation with my wife’s Mac (who was just concerned as you were) where I had to force-quit Safari to get away from the scareware page.

You can take some comfort in knowing that the search engine folks do their best to weed out this junk and that those who promote it have been—and will continue to be—prosecuted for engaging in such malicious and scammy activities.

Even hiding the Dock doesn’t seem to help, at least not all the time—when a Dock icon bounces with my Dock hidden at the bottom of the screen, it pops up just enough to be visible (and annoying). While some programs, such as iChat, nicely give you control over the dock bouncing, others provide no control at all.

If you dislike those bouncing icons, I have a fix. Unfortunately, it’s an all-or-nothing proposition; you can’t control bouncing on a per-application basis. But if you really dislike those bouncing icons, here’s how to ground them forever. Open Terminal, in Applications -> Utilities, and enter these two commands (don’t type the $; that’s just the command prompt):

$ defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
$ killall Dock

(If at some point you decide you’d rather have your bounce-happy Dock back, repeat the above commands, but change TRUE to FALSE at the end of the first command.)

The first command sets a hidden preference to stop all Dock icon bouncing, and the second command kills the Dock, which then restarts automatically. After it restarts, you’ll never again be bothered by a bouncing application icon. This does mean, however, that it’s now up to you to keep an eye on your running programs so that you know when one of them wants your attention.

The worst part is when there’s a computer between the cup and the table. That’s when an oops becomes a crisis.

What’s the best thing to do when there’s a spill on your laptop? Keep calm and carry on:

1. Don’t panic.

First, know that your data is safe. Hard drives — while not hermetically sealed — are tightly put together. If you act quickly, you can prevent the liquid from getting to your hard disk, and damaging your valuable data. (I’ll save the bad news for later.)

2. Turn off the computer.

Even before you run to get a towel, turn the computer off. If you can’t shut it down normally (the keyboard won’t respond for example), try pressing the power button for several seconds to force the computer to shut down. Unplug the laptop, and disconnect any cables and USB devices.

3. With the lid open, turn the computer upside down.

This prevents the liquid from getting too far into the computer. While the computer is upside down, remove the battery and set it aside.

4. Wipe up the liquid.

All joking aside: use toilet paper. Ounce for ounce, it’s the most absorbent material you’re likely to have handy. It’s also thin, so it can reach down into crevices in and around your keyboard to soak up the liquid. This is especially important for sugary drinks like colas and juice: Sugars are sticky, and if they dry, you’ll have a bigger problem.

Next: If you’re prepared, you can take your computer apart to clean up any liquid inside.

5. Disassemble and clean the computer.

You can find plenty of information online for how to disassemble your Mac. MacRecycling.com offers videos showing how to disassemble plastic 13-inch MacBooks, and iBook G4s. iFixIt has PDF guides for how to take apart almost any MacBook, MacBook Pro, iBook or PowerBook. Make sure you’re electrically grounded, too, before working on your computer. Lightly touch the screw on the outside of a wall switch to ground yourself, or use a grounding strap (if you have one).

You’ll most likely want to remove the top case, the part of the computer that includes the keyboard and trackpad. In many some cases, you’ll have to start at the bottom of the computer and remove many, many screws, ribbons and parts. Using a notebook and an empty ice cube tray to keep track of the many different sizes of screws is a good way to make your life easier when it comes time to putting the computer back together.

With your computer apart, try and find where the liquid has seeped to, and sop it up as best you can. Any liquid you spill is going to have the ability to conduct electricity due to metals, sugars, and salts within. Colas, especially, are very acidic, and can corrode sensitive electronic parts. Even if you drink nothing but food-grade de-ionized water, material on the surface of your computer can be carried by the liquid inside your computer, meaning possible conductivity. Of course, unwanted conductivity is bad for your computer.

If what you spilled was oily or sticky, you can use dilute isopropyl alcohol (IPA, or rubbing alcohol) to try and clean areas with the oil on it. Dip a lint-free cloth in a small amount of alcohol and use the tip of your finger to gently clean areas inside the computer.

6. Let everything dry.

You can use a desk lamp and incandescent bulb to gently warm and dry the disassembled computer. Remember, make sure to clean up anything that will become sticky before you dry the computer. You’ll want to make sure everything is completely dry before trying to turn on your computer. No matter how great the compulsion, you should wait at least a day before trying to boot your laptop again.

7. Reassemble the computer and try to boot it.

Have you considered prayer? Prayer sometimes works, too.

8. Test it out.

The keyboard and trackpad will probably be most affected by a spill. Try all the keys and all the functions of the trackpad (like scrolling and tapping). If something isn’t working right, there are two possibilities: Either it’s not completely dry, or its permanently damaged. Give it another day to dry out, and if it isn’t working, chances are it needs to be replaced.

If nothing works, you can still take the hard disk out of the computer, put it in an enclosure and connect it to another Mac. That way, you’ll have access to your critical files if you need them.

9. Get Service.

Remember the bad news I mentioned in step 1? Well, here it is: Many warranties (including AppleCare) don’t cover liquid damage. In fact, newer Apple laptops include moisture sensors to tell repair technicians if something has leaked inside the case. These sensors — small dots adhered in specific places inside the laptop case — are white when dry, but turn red when exposed to liquids. If liquid damage isn’t covered, then you have to pay the cost to repair any damaged components. Sorry.

10. Share your story.

With that hard lesson under your belt, I’m sure you’ll make sure to keep drinks away from your computer from now. Even so, there are times when even the most careful among us fall prey to liquid damage: The laptop pictured at the top of the article had an unfortunate encounter with a (what was thought to be tightly capped) bottle of cranberry juice inside a backpack.

The free VIP Access for Mobile application relies on a unique credential created for your iPhone based on its phone number, and confirmed with an SMS message sent to that number. Once the credential is confirmed with this looped-back process, the program generates a unique 6-digit token every 30 seconds using an algorithm that’s uniquely derived from the credential. (VIP stands for VeriSign Identity Protection.)

iPod touch devices can’t use VIP Access because of the lack of an out-of-band method of confirming a unique identity, at least in the current system design. VeriSign has released this application previously only for mobile phones, including the BlackBerry and other platforms.

When using this system you’re much less likely to experience account theft, even if there’s a breach of login data at a Web site or if you’re scammed out of your login credentials. Because VeriSign separately controls and authenticates its own tokens, a cracker can’t get in, even if he has your user name and password. A site would have to suffer an internal security flaw that allowed token entry to be disabled or bypassed. (Passwords are always encrypted and protected at any well-designed site, but a data breach could allow crackers to pair account information with commonly guessed passwords or passwords assembled from other sources that are then matched up by email or other data.)

At sites that support VeriSign’s system, you log in the first time with your current user name and password, and then enter the credential from VIP Access to activate two-factor authentication (one factor is your regular login; the other, the token). From then on, you must have the phone and the current token to supplement your regular login to use that site.

The convenience of having this second factor on your phone can’t be overstated: we iPhone users generally have our phones with us most of the time, and when we’re using a computer, it’s likely on our person or nearby. And it’s a single device that many Web sites can support. I currently have key fobs from eBay/PayPal and Etrade. I use those sites regularly but not frequently, and I’m always rooting around to find the key fob.

The security of a second factor is that a thief needs two parts to abuse your information, and it’s hard to obtain both parts at once. If someone obtains your credential number, the current token can’t be reverse engineered from it. If someone glances at your current token or obtains it in some other fashion, it’s no good after less than 30 seconds. Note that I include a token in the screen capture above from my iPhone, which was good for only 30 seconds from when I took it.

Even if a thief steals your phone, as long as you haven’t stored your account names and passwords for sites you’re using with VIP Mobile, having the token generator won’t do the thief any good.

A phishing attack is still possible. Imagine that you are convinced you are visiting a secure site that uses a VIP token, and enter your login name, password, and the current token. If the site is malicious and enters the same credentials at the real site within a few seconds, a phisher could gain access.

This makes it extra important that you note tell-tale signs that the secure site you think you are at is actually the correct site: check the domain name, look for https in the URL (location field), and make sure a lock icon appears in the browser – Safari in the upper right, and Firefox in the lower right.

Participating sites pay what the New York Times reported is $3 to $10 per year per customer to gain this login with extra confirmation of a user’s identity; customers pay nothing.

This is a great deal on both sides. Customers get the assurance that their accounts are safe at the price of a little inconvenience – although most of us are always carrying our phones with us. And site operators get the additional security of not having to deal with the cost and complexity of having accounts hacked.

The average computer owner/user has never suffered a hard drive failure and often doesn’t realize it’s even possible. Sadly, disaster strikes when you least often expect it and often offers little to no warning for preparation.

So what should you do when you lose your data and recovery services just aren’t in the budget? First of all, DON’T MAKE REPEATED EFFORTS of booting or access attempts on your own or under the direction of a non-specialized recovery company. Each and every time the attempt is made the situation can be made worse or irreversible.

The best advice is to remove the hard drive from the system (if you’re unsure of how to do this have a professional do it). Place the hard drive in an antistatic bag. Label it with a date of the crash and a description of the contents you had stored on the drive that may be most important. If you have a safe or safety deposit box you may store it there. Otherwise, a shelf in your home office or similar out-of-the-way type place is fine. Bottom line is that a hard drive can survive years without further deterioration as long as it is in an even-temperature environment. No high-level humidity or extreme cool temperature conditions. Your hard drive can outlast this economic recession, whether it’s 5 years or 50 years. (shutter)