Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M., Brook Stockberger Column

By Brook Stockberger, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Jun. 6–Most of us know we have to be careful while we surf the Web. So here is some more information that might help you avoid trouble on the Internet.

McAfee, Inc., which calls itself “the world’s largest, dedicated security technology company,” recently released the results of a report it conducted that shows which Internet domains are the most dangerous for users and which are the safest.

According to McAfee, the domain “.hk” out of Hong Kong has jumped 28 places on the dangerous list to take the top spot. The report states that, “19.2 percent of all Web sites ending in the .hk domain pose a security threat to Web users.”

Coming in second place is the domain “.cn” out of China.

The safest domains from countries include “.fi” from Finland and “.jp” from Japan.

As for generic domains, the most dangerous were those site addresses that end with “.info.” The report shows that government Web sites, those that end in “.gov,” are the safest generic domains.

What about good old “.com?” The report shows that the Web’s most popular domain is the ninth riskiest overall.

So, what makes a domain dangerous or safe? The rush to sign up a lot of Web sites could cause some domain providers to cut corners on security.

AP technology writer Jordan Robertson studied the report and wrote that, “More spammers, malicious code writers and other cybercriminals can establish an online presence when domain name registry businesses cut requirements for registering a site in order to boost their profit and profile.”

More information about McAfee Inc. can be found at www.mcafee.com.

WHERE DO WE STAND ON THE ECONOMY? This past week the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods posted, as The Associated Press put it, “a surprisingly strong increase in April as demand rose in a number of areas, including heavy machinery, iron and steel.”

That was coupled with news from the Labor Department that productivity rose in the first quarter of the year faster than the government thought it would, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s remarks to graduating students at Harvard University that he does not believe the United States will experience the out-of-control prices and inflation as it did in the 1970s. We also learned in the past week that the nation’s retailers experienced better-than-expected sales in May.

Still, I do not think anyone will be dancing in the streets anytime soon. We’ll take the good news, but most folks will continue to be cautious.

“It was a great month for discount retailers, but the rest of retail is struggling to capture a share of the consumer’s wallet,” Patricia Edwards, a portfolio manager and retail analyst at Wentworth, Hauser & Violich in Seattle, told The Associated Press.

The dollar is still weak versus the Euro, corn prices continue to rise — if you check the labels the next time you buy groceries, you’ll notice that corn syrup is in a lot of products — and a Mortgage Bankers Association report showed that nearly 1 percent of mortgages fell into foreclosure between January and March.

As I wrote last week, I would like to hear from some of you about how the effects of the economy has altered your life. Send me an e-mail at bstockberger@lcsun-news.com and, in a couple of sentences, tell me if you have changed your shopping or driving habits. Or have you changed at all? I will report in future columns some of the feedback I receive. Please include your name. I have already received a few e-mails and, when I have some more, I will report back in this column some of the measures people are taking.

Brook Stockberger can be reached at bstockberger@lcsun-news.com

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