McAfee promises "instant, silent, and complete" security for your computer. The complete, at least, is debatable. Depending on your point of view, the $79.99 (direct) McAfee Total Protection 2009 is either the most feature-rich or the most feature-bloated of the current suites. The suite isn't much different from last year's edition--the company's continuous-update policy doesn't seem to foster radical changes. McAfee promises better malware protection with reduced impact on system performance. Its new anti-malware technology does seem to work, but the suite is sluggish and has made little or no progress in the bulk of its many modules.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Computer spying and theft of personal information have risen notably in the past year, costing tens of millions of dollars and threatening U.S. security, the FBI's cyber division head said on Wednesday.

FBI Assistant Director Shawn Henry told reporters that organized-crime groups are drawn by the ease of reaching millions of potential victims.

He said as many as two dozen countries have taken an "aggressive interest" in penetrating the networks of U.S. companies and government agencies.

He declined to specify countries, but U.S. intelligence agencies have voiced concern over Russia and China's abilities to electronically spy on the United States and disrupt U.S. computer networks.

As one possible example of Russia's electronic spyi

A U.S. district court this week ordered the owners of a major spam operation to shut down their operations immediately.

Lance Atkinson, a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, and Jody Smith of Texas, are accused of false advertising and selling non-FDA approved medications.

The duo operated the largest "spam gang" in the world, according to Spamhaus. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has received more than three million complaints related to their activities.

The ruling, handed down in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, comes after the FTC filed a complaint about Atkinson and Smith. The court has ordered a temporary injunction that bans the defendants from spamming and false advertising, and has also frozen their asset

The Flash player's camera and microphone access dialog are the problem, and the workaround involves denying interactive access to them through Flash. There is a workaround to the workaround in which specific sites may be allowed access.

Adobe says that a true fix will be available before the end of October.