If your kids got an Xbox 360 this holiday season, you might want to know how to use the Family Settings to help manage the types of games they can play, the types of DVDs they can watch, and the kind of interactions they can have with others online.

You can configure Family Settings in the system blade.

Here's another scam you might want to know about.

If you accidentally type the wrong Internet address into your Web browser, you could end up on a site where you might be tricked into entering personal information that could be used to steal your identity or commit other kinds of fraud.

This is because scammers sometimes register Internet addresses (also called "domain names" or "URLs") that are similar to the Internet addresses of popular Web sites or are common misspellings of popular Web sites.

For example, instead of www.microsoft.com, the scammer might create a Web page with the address:

www.micrsoft.com

www.micosoft.com
www.mircosoft.com

This is called "typo-squatting" or "cybersquatting." Scammers register these domain names in order to compete with the popular site or to earn money through advertisements. If you enter the wrong URL you might be taken to a site where you'll see an ad for the site you really wanted. If you click on that ad, you might get to where you want to go with an extra click and the scammer earns some money at the same time.

Typo-squatters and cybersquatters can also be the purveyors of more insidious scams, such as downloading malicious software applications and spyware onto unprotected computers that visit their sites.

The United States and other countries have passed legislation to help challenge cybersquatting registrations, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has made efforts to remedy the situation, but cybersquatters are still out there.

 How to help avoid being typo scammed:

·          Add Web sites you use often and any financial Web sites you use to your Favorites list and only access them through your Favorites menu.

·          Use a Web browser that contains phishing protection, like Internet Explorer 7 with Phishing Filter. To enable the Microsoft Phishing Filter, go to Tools and click Phishing Filter.

·          Check for an Extended Validation SSL Certificates.  Internet Explorer 7 visually displays the validation of this certificate with a green address bar.

The third volume of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report is now available.

Download the report.

Want to know more? Join Microsoft executives Bret Arsenault, General Manager of the National Security Team, and Vinny Gullotto, General Manager of Microsoft Research and Response, as they discuss the findings.

Securing Microsoft: A Long Road is a 3-part report by CNET News.com that looks deeply into the 10-year history of our Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). It chronicles our progress and challenges as we evolved in securing our software and helping customers with computer and online safety.

"We've put a lot of our best people in these areas," Bill Gates tells CNET News.com. "Still tons to be done, but you know, we've definitely made five years of progress in the last five years."

The MSRC was created in 1997, in response to vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. Following massive worms like Code Red and Nimda, Microsoft entered an era of greater transparency that continues to evolve today.

Read the article.

Planning to donate money online to a candidate during the 2008 United States presidential election? Before you click the "donate" button, make sure the site you visit is not a fake.

Online presidential campaign Web sites could be the next breeding ground for phishing scams and other fraud, according to Craig Spiezle, director of Security & Safety Product Management at Microsoft.

Spiezle and others presented information about the possibility of widespread political phishing at the Anti-Phishing Working Group's general meeting and eCrime Researchers Summit. Spiezle provided examples of spoofed and forged e-mail messages purporting to come from leading presidential candidates campaigns and U.S. government agencies, including the IRS. The e-mail messages attempt to drive people to phishing sites that are designed to steal credit card data and load malicious software onto unprotected computers.

In a panel discussion at the summit, Christopher Soghoian and Markus Jakobsson warned that "Campaigns encourage risky behavior by teaching users that it is okay to click the 'donate' button on an unsolicited e-mail that arrives from a candidate." For more information, see their white paper The Threat of Political Phishing.

To help prevent phishing scams, you should use caution when you click links in e-mail messages. Check the "from" address of any e-mail message you receive that directs you to a fundraising site. If you know the URL of the Web site where you want to donate and you're sure that it's the official site of the candidate, type the URL directly into your Web browser. It also helps to use a Web browser such as Internet Explorer 7, which comes with phishing protection.

For more tips, visit Recognize phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails.