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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cookienator : Option to control cookie menace


1.   Cookienator is a tool that will helps us remain anonymous from search engines such as Google and other web-usage trackers such as Doubleclick or Omniture.This a simple program that will leave most of cookies alone but will remove the ones that put your privacy at risk. The best part about this is the size and ease of installation.....It is lightweight; it's a single executable, when run, it will tell you how many cookies it would like to remove. It is available for free to download and is available in two forms : msi windows executable and a zip file



CONTROL COOKIES TAKING CONTROL FROM UR BROWSERS


1.  In my earlier post here about cookies and types,I had mentioned about types and some relevant details.Now this one mentions about the steers and control available in prominent browsers to disable cookies digging into ur privacy !!!

Google Chrome

Go to 'Tools Menu'
Click on 'Options'
Click on 'Under the Hood'
'Cookie Setting' should be selected. Once done select 'Block all Cookies'
Now all cookies should be blocked on your Google Chrome
To clear existing cookies:

Go to 'Tools Menu'
Click on 'Options'
Click on 'Under the Hood'
Under 'Privacy' section select "Show Cookies'
A new window should open called 'Cookies' In here you can see all the cookies within your Google Chrome Browser.
Click on "Remove All" to remove all traces of cookies
If you wish to only remove a certain cookie, simply highlight and click "Remove"

Firefox

Go to 'Tools' in the menu bar
Click on 'Options'
Click on 'Privacy Tab'
Disable the box that says 'Accept Cookies From sites'
To clear existing cookies:

Go to 'Tools' in the menu bar
Click on 'Options'
Click on 'Privacy Tab'
Click on "Clear Now"
Select "Cookies"
Click on "Clear Private Data Now"

Internet Explorer (IE) 9.0+

Go to 'Tools' in the menu bar which should drop down then click on 'Internet Options'
Click on 'Privacy' Tab on top
Move the slider up to the 'Block all Cookies' button
Important Notice: Blocking all cookies may prevent you from entering alot of sites.
The next two Internet Explorer privacy levels, High and Medium High, may be more suitable.

To delete existing cookies:

Go to 'Tools' in the menu bar which should drop down then click on 'Internet Options'
Click on 'General' tab which should be under 'Browsing History' and click 'Delete'


COOKIES & TYPES ?

1. How often we blame it on cookies for tracking,invading our privacy.......but whats these cookies all about?How many types exist?Are all of them dangerous?What can I do to avoid them? All answers ahead in my posts ahead....

2. A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is used for an origin website to send state information to a user's browser and for the browser to return the state information to the origin site.The state information can be used for authentication, identification of a user session, user's preferences, shopping cart contents,or anything else that can be accomplished through storing text data.Cookies are not software.They cannot be programmed, cannot carry viruses, and cannot install malware on the host computer .

SESSION COOKIE

A session cookie only lasts for the duration of users using the website. A web browser normally deletes session cookies when it quits. A session cookie is created when no Expires directive is provided when the cookie is created.

PERSISTENT COOKIE

A persistent cookie will outlast user sessions. If a persistent cookie has its Max-Age set to 1 year, then, within the year, the initial value set in that cookie would be sent back to the server every time the user visited the server. This could be used to record a vital piece of information such as how the user initially came to this website. For this reason, persistent cookies are also called tracking cookies or in-memory cookies.

SECURE COOKIE

A secure cookie is only used when a browser is visiting a server via HTTPS, ensuring that the cookie is always encrypted when transmitting from client to server. This makes the cookie less likely to be exposed to cookie theft via
eavesdropping.

HTTP ONLY COOKIE

The Http Only session cookie is supported by most modern browsers.On a supported browser, an Http Only session cookie will be used only when transmitting HTTP (or HTTPS) requests, thus restricting access from other, non-HTTP APIs (such as JavaScript). 

FIRST PARTY COOKIES 

A first-party cookie either originates on or is sent to the Web site you are currently viewing. These cookies are commonly used to store information, such as your preferences when visiting that site.

THIRD PARTY COOKIES

Third-party cookies are cookies being set with different domains than the one shown on the address bar.For example: Suppose a user visits www.example1.com, which sets a cookie with the domain ad.foxytracking.com. When the user later visits www.example2.com, another cookie is set with the domain ad.foxytracking.com. Eventually, both of these cookies will be sent to the advertiser when loading their ads or visiting their website. The advertiser can then use these cookies to build up a browsing history of the user across all the websites this advertiser has footprints on.

ZOMBIE COOKIE

A zombie cookie is any cookie that is automatically recreated after a user has deleted it. 

TEMPORARY / SESSION COOKIES

A temporary or session cookie is stored only for your current browsing session, and is deleted from your computer when you close your browser.

UNSATISFACTORY COOKIES

Unsatisfactory cookies are cookies that might allow access to personally identifiable information that could be used for a secondary purpose without your consent.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

THREATS TERMINOLOGY & GLOSSARY : PART 1

1. The term VIRUS is still used in talks amongst the victims of so many threats which are relatively unknown to the normal user.Here I am putting down the commonly known present day threat terminology.I am missing out on the regular ones that include Malware,adware,spyware,spam etc....

BACKDOOR 

2. A remote administration utility which bypasses normal security mechanisms to secretly control a program, computer or network. These utilities may be legitimate, and may be used for legitimate reasons by authorized administrators, but they may also be misused by attackers. A backdoor is usually able to gain control of a system because it exploits vulnerabilities, bugs or undocumented processes in the system's code. 

A Variation: The IRC Backdoor 

3. There also exist IRC backdoors, which are controlled via bots hidden in specific invite-only IRC channels accessible only to the attacker; these bots serve as the client component of the traditional client-server backdoor arrangement. 

BLUE TOOTH WORM 

4.  A platform-specific type of worm that propagates primarily over a Bluetooth network. This type of worm is almost always designed to function on mobile devices, which make more use of Bluetooth connectivity than computers. 

BOT 

5. A malicious program that, on being installed onto a computer system, allows the attacker to enslave the system into a network of similarly affected systems known as a botnet. The individual computers in a botnet may also be referred to as a bot or a zombie. 

BOTNET 

6.  A portmanteau formed from the words robot and network, a 'botnet' is a network of infected computers that can be remotely controlled by an attacker, usually via a command-and-control (C&C) server. Each infected computer may be known as a bot , a zombie computer , or a zombie . 

BROWSER HELPER OBJECT (BHO) 

7.   A type of web browser plug-in specifically designed for use with the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. A Browser Helper Object (BHO) executes automatically every time the browser is launched and provides functionality that is not built-in to the browser. 

CROSS SITE SCRIPTING 

8.   A type of attack in which malicious scripts are injected into a legitimate website in oder to be served to subsequent site visitors. Cross site scripting (XSS) attacks can result in a variety of effects, including hijacked web browsing sessions, stolen session cookies, information theft and more. As more people become increasingly dependent on web-based services, XSS attacks are becoming increasingly common. 

DENIAL OF SERVICE

9.   A type of Internet-based attack that aims to deny legitimate users access to a service (for example, a website or a network) by overloading a relevant computer resource or network device. The most common type of Denial of Service (DoS) attack takes the form of a massive amount of requests being sent from a host machine to the target, for example, a government website server. 

ICMP Flood

10.   The attackers sends out a flood of ICMP_ECHO packets to the target, swamping CPU usage and effectively rendering the target unusable until the flood is ended or the target is reset or restarted. 

Peer to Peer attack

11.   Attacker exploit bugs in peer-to-peer servers and redirect clients from the peer-to-peer server to the target server instead, flooding the target with thousands of connections and overwhelming its resources. 
Application level floods: A DoS attack carried out via particular applications, most commonly Internet chat systems. The most common kind of flood is an IRC flood, which is carried out on the popular IRC chat system. 

DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF SERVICE (DDOS)

12.   A type of attack conducted over the Internet, using the combined resources of many computers to bombard, and frequently crash, a targeted computer system or resource (e.g., a program, website or network). 

GENERIC DETECTION

13.   A new type of sophisticated detection that is being increasingly used by antivirus programs to identify programs with malicious characteristics. Unlike more traditional detections (also known as signature-based or single-file detections) a Generic Detection does not identify a unique or individual malicious program. Instead, a Generic Detection looks for broadly applicable code or behavior characteristics that indicate a file as potentially malicious, so that a single Generic Detection can efficiently identify dozens, or even hundreds of malware. 

POLYMORPHIC VIRUS

14.   A virus that mutates, or modifies, its own code at various intervals. The changes in code typically occur each time the virus replicates, or infects a new machine. Detection and disinfection of a polymorphic virus can be very challenging, as mutating code makes traditional signature-based detection methods ineffective. Nowadays, many antivirus programs instead use heuristic analysis to identify polymorphic viruses.

POLYMORPHISM

15.   The act of a virus 'mutating' parts of its code at various intervals in order to evade detections. By constantly changing its code, a virus ensures that each iteration of its code looks different from the preceding one, making it impossible for traditional signature-based antivirus programs to identify the two iterations as one and the same virus. These so-called 'mutating viruses' can be divided into polymorphic and metamorphic viruses. 

Polymorphic Versus Metamorphic 

16.   A metamorphic virus works performs its mutation routine differently. Rather than using encryption to obfuscate its virus body, a metamorphic virus 'rearranges' entire chunks of actual code between iterations in order to create a seemingly different virus. The changes in code are directed by a metamorphic engine and despite the alterations, do not affect function - that is, the virus is still able to perform the same malicious actions through each iteration. Fortunately, the major code changes performed by a metamorphic virus require a high degree of technical skill from the virus author, and there are very few such viruses in the wild so far.

ZERO DAY

17.   A type of attack that exploits a recently publicized vulnerability or security loophole, before program vendors or the security community are able to develop a patch for the vulnerability. The period between the public announcement of a vulnerability and the first release of a patch fixing the vulnerability is also sometimes referred to as "zero hour" – even if the actual timespan is longer than an hour. Dealing With Zero-Day attacks A zero-day attack can be very destructive, as vulnerable systems generally have few defenses against it. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

DISCONNECT.ME in Incognito mode


I asked the site owner at disconnect.me of how to use this plugin while surfing in privacy/incognito mode since I use incognito all the time...its default....i got this reply


Hey Anupam, you have to explicitly enable extension to run in 
incognito mode in Chrome. Right- or Ctrl-click the "d" button, pick 
"Manage extensions...", click the arrow next to Disconnect, and check
the "Allow in incognito" box.

Thanks disconnect.me

DISCONNECT URSELF

1.  The issue of privacy browsing is a growing worry for  internet users including me.Various attempts in form of third party utilities,browsers offering incognito/privacy mode have been made and are being made in the current webosphere.In the search for handling these issues I recently came across this plugin...DISCONNECT.ME at http://disconnect.me/

2.   Next is straight lift extract from the site :

If you’re a typical web user, you’re unintentionally sending your browsing and search history with your name and other personal information to third parties and search engines whenever you’re online.


Take control of the data you share with Disconnect!.


From the developer of the top-10-rated Facebook Disconnect extension, Disconnect lets you:


• Disable tracking by third parties like Digg, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo, without requiring any setup or significantly degrading the usability of the web.


• Truly depersonalize searches on search engines like Google and Yahoo (by blocking identifying cookies not just changing the appearance of results pages), while staying logged into other services — e.g., so you can search anonymously on Google and access iGoogle at once.


• See how many resource and cookie requests are blocked, in real time.


• Easily unblock services, by clicking the toolbar button then services (and reloading current pages) — e.g., so you can play games on Facebook.


To learn more about online privacy and protecting yourself and find out when additional browsers are supported, subscribe to the Disconnect Newsletter at http://disconnectere.com/.


Disconnect is open-source software — you can get the code at http://j.mp/dsource.


Known Issues:


• The scary installation warning is explained at http://j.mp/dinstall (the text refers to Facebook Disconnect but also applies to Disconnect).


• Click the “d” button then the “Depersonalize searches” checkbox to turn search depersonalization on (or back off in case you have trouble getting to Google or Yahoo services).


• Search depersonalization isn’t yet implemented for international Google domains — google.fr, google.co.jp, et cetera.


• Yahoo has to be unblocked while you’re logging into Flickr or Delicious but can be blocked again afterwards.


• Unblocking Facebook isn’t possible while Facebook Disconnect is running — that extension will be autoupdated to be compatible with Disconnect in the next few days.


• You should unblock Google and Yahoo before disabling or uninstalling Disconnect — doing so will restore your cookies to their original state.


3. I have started using it without issues till now....download this at http://disconnect.me/

4.  Thanks disconnect.me

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Our Browsing History Is Leaking into the Cloud!!!!

1. You do it on INCOGNITO mode or the PRIVACY mode or keep removing cookies to ensure that you are not being tracked or u think like your browsing history does not exist....this is going to shock you.....watch this video "DEFCON 19: Tracking the Trackers: How Our Browsing History Is Leaking into the Cloud"....click down to see....


2.  The summary goes like this....

 - 350 services get at least 1 % of your browsing activity
 - 33 services get at least 5% of your browsing activity
 - 16 services get at least 10% of your browsing activity

3.  Any solutions for avoiding......yes...the video itself gives you the solution ....and as on date millions have already adopted it...now that includes me tooo.....download the plugin for your respective browser from http://www.disconnect.me/

DUQU's MICROSOFT LINK!!!

1.   While as on date the security and anti virus teams and experts across the globe are racing to find and unlock the details on DUQU,some useful information on the subject bug has been released by Microsoft,which says that hackers exploited a previously unknown bug in its Windows operating system to infect computers with the Duqu virus."We are working diligently to address this issue and will release a security update for customers," Microsoft said.But on the other hand the odds are that Microsoft won't patch the Windows kernel bug next week that the Duqu remote-access Trojan exploits to plant itself on targeted PCs.

2.   Meanwhile,Symantec researchers said they consider hackers sent the virus to targeted victims via emails with infected Microsoft Word documents attached. If a recipient opened the Word document and infected the PC, the attacker could take control of the machine and reach into an organization's network to propagate itself and hunt for data, Symantec researcher Kevin Haley told Reuters. 



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