❚TECHNOLOGY/Google warns Surrey’s web master about malicious software
‘ATTACK’ SHUTS DOWN CITY WEBSITE Ted COLLEY Staff Reporter
The City of Surrey’s website was shut down on the weekend after Google flagged it as a “Reported Attack Page!” The problem began Saturday when automated software operated by the search engine giant notified the city’s web master of suspicious activity on surrey.ca. According to a Google report, seven of 46 pages tested on the site in the past 90 days resulted in “malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent.” The offending software reported was hosted on http://thailand-resort.net, a website promoting various tourist resorts in the Southeast Asian country. Google notes that hackers often use security holes caused by outof-date server software to attack other computers with viruses, spyware and other nasty bits of code. These can be used to steal personal information from a user’s computer or to commandeer it for attacks on other machines connected to the Web. Google runs automated software that scans websites looking for such problems and once any is found, alerts the public and the website’s operators. The warning stays up until the vulnerabilities are fixed. Vivienne Wilke is Surrey’s general manager of finance, technology and human resources. “On Saturday we got a warning from Google and so we took our site down so we could check it,” Wilke said Monday. “I guess there was some potential there and that’s why Google put the warning out. We checked it all over and then Google checked and said it was OK. We put the site back up later on Saturday.” The warning was still popping up on www. surrey.ca on Sunday, but Google notes it can sometimes take “a day or so” to properly check a site and ensure that any potential for a malware attack is eradicated. Google strongly recommends users take note of such warnings and leave the offending site immediately.
TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2010
John Martens shows the dent that he says was made by a rogue golf ball coming from Guildford Golf and Country Club. Guildford says the dent could have been caused by a rock. ❚PHOTO/Sharon Doucette
❚DINGED/Driver miffed; golf course denies responsibility
Was it a magic golf ball or a rock? Nobody yelled, Ted COLLEY “Fore!” and that’s Staff Reporter got John Martens calling, “Foul!” The Guildford resident was driving his 2003 Ford F250 Crew Cab south in the 7900-block of 152nd Street next to the Guildford Golf & Country Club on the morning of May 5 when he heard a loud bang. A golf ball had hit his truck. “There was a big dent in the passenger side from a golf ball. I went back to the Guildford golf course and talked to the general manager and another man there and they basically told me to take a hike.” Martens said general manager Brian Mossop sent a staff member out to talk to a trio of golfers on that part of the course next to the street. They denied responsibility and, according to Martens, Mossop said the ball could have come from the Eaglequest course on the other side of 152nd Street. As far as Martens is concerned,
that would make it one magic golf ball since Eaglequest was on his driver’s side as he drove along the street that day. “I was southbound on 152nd and the ball hit on my passenger side, the side the Guildford course is on. They said maybe it came from Eaglequest, on the other side. Well, how would that happen?”
BRIAN MOSSOP/ “We did our due diligence and he really can’t say it came from us.” It will cost more than $1,100 to fix the damage and Martens is on the hook for the $300 deductible. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but I think they should do something,” he said. Mossop told the Now he’s satisfied the ball that hit Martens’ truck
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did not come from his establishment. In fact, he questioned whether it was a golf ball at all. “Maybe it was a rock. If it was a golf ball, it didn’t come from us,” Mossop said. A ball hit from the other course across the street, he added, could have sailed over the road, hit a pole and then struck Martens’ truck. Mossop said there were only three golfers on that part of the course that day and they denied hitting anywhere near the road. On top of all that, Mossop said, the fairway in question runs parallel to 152nd Street. A ball would have to be hit sideways, he said, to get out onto the road. There’s a fence between the fairway and the road, but it’s only five or six feet high along the stretch where Martens’ truck was hit. Nevertheless, Mossop is confident Guildford Golf is in the clear. “We did our due diligence and he really can’t say it came from us.”
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❚HOLLAND PARK
Fusion fest set to return July 17-18 More than 40 acts will perform on three stages at this year’s Fusion Festival, including Arrested Development, a reunited Grapes of Wrath, South Asian superstar Lehmber Hussainpuri and Lee Harvey Osmond, the latest project fronted by Tom Wilson. The festival returns for a third year to Surrey’s Holland Park on July 1718, organizers announced Monday. Music, food, dance and other cultural offerings are part of the free outdoor festival, staged by the City of Surrey in collaboration with Coast Capital Savings. It’s billed as B.C.’s largest multicultural celebration. This year, a colourful part of the festival will be the Kla-how-eya Powwow, featuring ceremonial dancing and singing. Look for event updates at www. fusionfestival.surrey.ca. —Tom Zillich
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