HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 6

FIND COMMAND

1.   Most of the commands I have discussed so far spew a lot of output on the screen, which could be hard for a human to look through to find a specific item of interest. But, Windows comes to the rescue. Users can search through the output of a command using the built-in find and findstr commands in Windows. The find command looks for simple strings, while findstr supports regular expressions, a more complex way to specify search patterns. Because the regular expressions supported by findstr go beyond the scope of this tip article, let's focus on the find command. By default, find is case sensitive - use the /i option to make it case insensitive.

2.    The find command also has the ability to count. Invoked with the /c command,it'll count the number of lines of its output that include a given string.Users often want to count the number of lines in the output of a command to determine how many processes are running, how many startup items are present  or a variety of other interesting tidbits on a machine. To count the lines of output, users could simply pipe their output through find /c /v "". This command will count (/c) the number of lines that do not have (/v) a blank line ("") in them. By counting the number of non-blank lines, the command is,in effect, counting the number of lines.

3.  Now, with the find command, users can look through the output of each of the commands I've discussed so far to find interesting tidbits. For example , to look at information every second about cmd.exe processes running on a machine, type:

C:\> wmic process list brief /every:1 | find "cmd.exe"

Or, to see which autostart programs are associated with the registry hive H KLM, run:

C:\> wmic startup list brief | find /i "hklm"

To count the number of files open on a machine on which openfiles accounting is activated, type:

C:\> openfiles /query /v | find /c /v ""

Whenever counting items in this way, remember to subtract the number of lines associated with column headers. And, as a final example, to see with one-second accuracy when TCP port 2222 starts being used on a machine, along with the process ID using the port, run:

C:\> netstat -nao 1 | find "2222"

THANKS www.amazingit.blogspot.com

HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 5

NETSTAT COMMAND

1.  The Windows netstat command shows network activity, focusing on TCP and UDP by default. Because malware often communicates across the network, users can look for unusual and unexpected connections in the output of netstat, run as follows:

C:\> netstat –nao

2.  The -n option tells netstat to display numbers in its output, not the names of machines and protocols, and instead shows IP addresses and TCP or UDP port numbers. The -a indicates to display all connections and listening ports. The -o option tells netstat to show the processID number of each program interacting with a TCP or UDP port. If, instead of TCP and UDP, you are in interested in ICMP, netstat can be run as follows:

C:\> netstat -s -p icmp

3.   This indicates that the command will return statistics (-s) of the ICMP protocol. Although not as detailed as the TCP and UDP output, users can see if a machine is sending frequent and unexpected ICMP traffic on the network. Some backdoors and other malware communicate using the payload of ICMP Echo messages, the familiar and innocuous-looking ping packets seen on most networks periodically.

4.  Like WMIC, the netstat command also lets us run it every N seconds. But, instead of using the WMIC syntax of "/every:[N]", users simply follow their netstat invocation with a space and an integer. Thus, to list the TCP and UDP ports in use on a machine every 2 seconds, users can run:

C:\> netstat -na 2

HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 4

OPENFILES COMMAND

1.  Many Windows administrators are unfamiliar with the powerful openfiles command built into Windows. As its name implies, this command shows all files that are opened on the box, indicating the process name interacting with each file. It's built into modern versions of Windows, from XP Pro to Vista. Like the popular ls of command for Linux and Unix, it'll show administrators all open files on the machine, giving the process name and full path for each file. Unlike lsof, however, it doesn't provide many more details, such as process ID number, user number and other information.

2.  Considering the volume of information it gathers, it's no surprise that the openfiles command is a performance hog. Thus, the accounting associated with

openfiles is off by default, meaning users can't pull any data from this command until it is turned on. This function can be activated by running:

C:\> openfiles /local on

3.  Users will need to reboot, and when the system comes back, they will be able to run the openfiles command as follows:

C:\> openfiles /query /v

4.  This command will show verbose output, which includes the user account that each process with an open file is running under. To get an idea of what malware has been installed, or what an attacker may be doing on a machine,users should look for unusual or unexpected files, especially those associated with unexpected local users on the machine.

5.   When finished with the openfiles command, its accounting functionality can be shut off and the system returned to normal performance by running the following command and rebooting:

C:\> openfiles /local off

HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 3

1.  While WMIC is a relatively new command, let's not lose site of some useful older commands. One of my favourites is the venerable "net" command. Administrators can use this to display all kinds of useful information. For example, the "net user" command shows all user accounts defined locally on the machine. The "net localgroup" command shows groups, "net localgroup administrators" shows membership of the administrators group and the "net start" command shows running services.

2.  Attackers frequently add users to a system or put their own accounts in the administrators groups, so it's always a good idea to check the output of these commands to see if an attacker has manipulated the accounts on a machine. Also, some attackers create their own evil services on a machine, so users should be on the lookout for them.

More here.....

HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 2

1.    WMIC stands for Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line It lets administrative users access all kinds of detailed information about a Windows machine, including detailed attributes of thousands of settings and objects. WMIC is built into Windows XP Professional, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista.

C:\> wmic process

2.    When you run this command, the output may not be an easy to understand format but the same can be formatted in several different ways, but two of the most useful for analysing a system for compromise are the "list full" option, which shows a huge amount of detail for each area of the machine a user is interested in, and the "list brief" output, which provides one line of output per report item in the list of entities, such as running processes, autostart programs and available shares. For example, we can look at a summary of every running process on a machine by running:

C:\> wmic process list brief

3.   That command will show the name, process ID and priority of each running process, as well as other less-interesting attributes.

C:\> wmic process list full

4.   This command shows all kinds of details, including the full path of the executable associated with the process and its command-line invocation. When

investigating a machine for infection, an administrator should look at each process to determine whether it has a legitimate use on the machine, researching unexpected or unknown processes using a search engine.

5.   Beyond the process alias, users could substitute startup to get a list of all auto-start programs on a machine, including programs that start when the system boots up or a user logs on, which could be defined by an auto-start registry key or folder:

C:\> wmic startup list full

6.   A lot of malware automatically runs on a machine by adding an auto-start entry alongside the legitimate ones which may belong to antivirus tools and various system tray programs. Users can look at other settings on a machine with WMIC by replacing "startup" with "QFE" (an abbreviation which stands for Quick Fix Engineering) to see the patch level of a system, with "share" to see a list of Windows file shares made available on the machine and with "useraccount" to see detailed user account settings.

7.   A handy option within WMIC is the ability to run an information-gathering command on a repeated basis by using the syntax "/every:[N]" after the rest of the WMIC command. The [N] here is an integer, indicating that WMIC should run the given command every [N] seconds. That way, users can look for changes in the settings of the system over time, allowing careful scrutiny of the output. Using this function to pull a process summary every 5 seconds, users could run:

C:\> wmic process list brief /every:1

Hitting CTRL+C will stop the cycle.

More good examples here

HOW DO U FIND IF YOUR PC IS HACKED?- PART 1

1.   We all keep ourselves worried over issues pertaining to our PC security including issues like if or not it is a zombie or if the same is already a compromised one etc. But how would you find the answer to these......call an expert and pay from your pocket? NO....the answer is MS it self...yesss!!....Microsoft Windows has a series of commands with the help of which a normal PC user would be able to find out the answers.....

2.   Following are the list of commands which would be used

WMIC Command

            - C:\> wmic process

            - C:\> wmic process list brief

- C:\> wmic process list full

- C:\> wmic startup list full

- C:\> wmic QFE list full

- C:\> wmic process list brief /every:1

The net Command

-         net localgroup

-         net localgroup administrators

Openfiles Command

          - C:\> openfiles /local on

Netstat Command

-         C:\> netstat –nao

-         C:\> netstat -s -p icmp

-         C:\> netstat -na 2

Find Command

For more details on these commands...click here....

Beware of 'Radioactive' Emails

1. Japan has been struck with the worst ever crisis in all aspects of human lives,infrastructure damage,economy slowdown and sadly the list goes on.....now to add to worries this is being exploited by criminals seeking access to your personal online information.

2.  Spam emails titled, “Japan Nuclear Radiation Leakage and Vulnerability Analysis,”claiming to have a detailed reports on the nuclear radiation being emitted from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant are being circulated across under the false origin from Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.The alleged nuclear report is included in a Microsoft Excel file attached to the email.

3.   Now anyone actually wanting to know what course of events took place might be allured to open the Excel file, but the file is corrupted. Opening it exposes users to a bug that allows a hacker to remotely exploit an Adobe Flash vulnerability and execute malicious code on the victim’s computer.Rest can be easily then taken control by the back end criminal.....

4.   Now aren't we seeing a number of cases coming up in form of hacker trying to remotely exploit an Adobe Flash vulnerability

.......too many have come up in past 2-3 years.......infact the case of SHADOWS IN THE CLOUD & TRACKING GHOSTNET were largely based on this......so whats the message.....BEWARE...keep yourself updated of such spams.....keep your antivirus updated

Revenge : YouTube Style

1. Now this one is really good....we already know that IT has revolutionized our lives in so many aspects...all aspects like banking,office work,exchanging mails,,,blogging.....making a social networking identity....keeping updates etc etc...but how many thought out the way to take REVENGE in such a effective manner that the culprit bows down...and pleads GUILTY....GUILTY..... 

2. An original lift from http://www.securitynewsdaily.com is putup below for details.....

“A computer thief in Boston learnt the hard way that performing an embarrassing victory dance is not the best way to celebrate your crime.

After his MacBook Air laptop was stolen two months ago, Bentley University freshman Mark Bao took digital revenge, accessing a cloud server on which his computer’s data was stored to identify the culprit who’d taken his computer, Gawker reported.

According to messages posted on Bao’s Twitter account, Bao used the backup server Backblaze to download the thief’s Safari Web browsing history and Facebook profile.

The sweet revenge, however, came when Bao found a video the thief had made of himself dancing to the Travis Porter song “Make it Rain.” Bao uploaded the video to YouTube with the title “Don’t steal computers belonging to people who know how to use computers.”

The video, posted on March 19, quickly became a viral hit, and has been viewed more than 376,000 times. “Come on, if you’re about to record a video of yourself dancing on a stolen laptop, at least be good at dancing!” Bao wrote on Twitter on March 19.

From here, the story of savvy techie versus celebrating crook takes an unexpected turn. Embarrassed that his dancing routine was made public and open to ridicule, the thief returned Bao’s laptop to the police and wrote an email to Bao expressing his regret and asking for the video to be taken down.

In an email the thief wrote to Bao, which Bao then posted on Reddit.com, the crook said, “I know I am in no position for asking you for favors but Can [sic] you please put down the videos that you have put up of me. I know what I did was wrong and if I was a different person fine leave it up but I do have two Professional jobs that iif [sic] something like that gets leak I can get in more [sic] trouble and be more embarrass [sic] as well.”


3. So what does the episode mean…we should all start taking backups in cloud…or do we start using Backblaze or….or….or what?....the best way to keep out from this …is to KEEP A CLOSE TAG OF YOU LAPTOP……    Thanks http://www.securitynewsdaily.com

The weak password problem : Now solved????

1.    We are part of the first phase of IT revolution across the globe where every thing is happening....methods to secure...methods to hack....stronger and powerful servers....patching vulnerabilities....fighting malware....analysing stuxnets genre...and what not....every thing is happening.....now the following text (org from http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1103.6219) opens another dimension to make the passwords secure.....

"Vulnerabilities related to weak passwords are a pressing global economic and security issue. We report a novel, simple, and effective approach to address the weak password problem. Building upon chaotic dynamics, criticality at phase transitions, CAPTCHA recognition, and computational round-off errors we design an algorithm that strengthens security of passwords. The core idea of our method is to split a long and secure password into two components. The first component is memorized by the user. The second component is transformed into a CAPTCHA image and then protected using evolution of a two-dimensional dynamical system close to a phase transition, in such a way that standard brute-force attacks become ineffective. We expect our approach to have wide applications for authentication and encryption technologies."

2.    Thanks http://lanl.arxiv.org