If u r Google Service User : Don't EXPECT any Privacy@MISINTERPRETED!!!!!

1.    For about last 4-5 years ,we have come across many debates about how so many companies are minting our private data and associating that with third parties to create a profile based marketing environment in and around the naive user....and except for the few white papers about the technicalities involved in doing this ...max of the companies had denied mincing with privacy..but actually they were just mincing with words to have their way inside the privacy den of each user!!!!and now the big revelation from Google comes as part of small news...and that says 

"Google Tells Court You Cannot Expect Privacy When Sending Messages to Gmail -- People Who Care About Privacy Should Not Use Service"

But it seems that the meaning has been mis interpreted....

The complete extract available here at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/googlemotion061313.pdf

2.      Isn't it a big news otherwise!!!!but the news has been put across the web as just a small snippet news....

"Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient’s assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email today cannot be surprised if their communications are processed by the recipient’s ECS provider in the course of delivery. Indeed, “a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties.” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 743-44 (1979). In particular, the Court noted that persons communicating through a service provided by an intermediary (in the Smith case, a telephone call routed through a telephone company) must necessarily expect that the communication will be subject to the intermediary’s systems. For example, the Court explained that in using the telephone, a person “voluntarily convey[s] numerical information to the telephone company and ‘expose[s]’ that information to its equipment in the ordinary course of business.” 

 3.      Now this declaration by Google has two connotations : one from point of view of a user who is only concerned about his private life,his social exchanges with friends,relative and office staff...and then the other point of view has a deeper meaning to it.The line highlighted above has been widely misinterpreted to make it seem like Google is saying Gmail users have no expectation of privacy when they use Gmail. To clarify and paint a better picture,Google's argument is about non-Gmail users who haven't signed Google's terms of service. It's right there in black and white — the heading for the section literally starts with the words "The Non-Gmail Plaintiffs."

 4.     But that does not mean the gmail users can take a back seat and relax about being safe again...the issue is too complex to have a clear cut YES...OR NO....the surfing goes on.....

Treat your E-Mail address classified : ADVISORY

1.    Do you know that simply your E-MAIL disclosure to a person with malicious intent can be a key to disclosing your E-mail content and other personal attributes of life?...I mean it can invade your privacy...and just for info this is an active organised crime in the cyber world.

2.   What is the most important first thing that a hacker desires to know?....and the answer is the IP Address of the victim..and all it takes to know the IP address is to send a dummy mail at the victims id.. that's it....strange it may sound but there are so many websites offering you free solutions on how to get not only the IP address but also the browser and OS system details of the victim.One of the leading sites offering a free solution is SPYPIG...this site facilitates to let you know when your email has been read by the recipient! ...this happens in form of a intimation by SPYPIG as and when the e-mail is read by the recipient.

3.   Now some thing about SpyPig ....is a simple email tracking system that sends you a notification by email when the recipient opens your message.It works with virtually all modern email programs: Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo Email, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL Email and many others.In addition to the notification it actually sends you additional but undesired details also which can be exploited by malicious intent person.Thde details that can be used and exploited are shown here in the screen shot below in one test mail....

Red Encircled are the Critical Info

4.     But sadly,the recipient will never know of the fact that he is being tracked and so much of critical info has already swapped hands with unknown guys...I mean the OS,the browser with their respective versions etc....so in the state today the following preventions can be taken to avoid such a hijack :

-           Avoid opening E-mails from unknown sources

-      Disable Image display by default in E-Mail settings.This is important because this works on the funda of a hidden script in the image sent along with the mail.So if you disable the images display by default,it is unlikely that this will be executed.

-           Avoid sharing and disclosing your E-Mail addresses openly.

5.     To know about spypig visit : http://www.spypig.com

Malicious Shortened URLs : Rising Threat

1.     Internet today is all but a minefield of boogies,traps and malware.....every day so many threats are born....though most of them die but still a huge percent of them survive the security walls and become stronger by time as they are able to remain live and acvtive.In recent times shortened URLs have become popular amongst users (including me...:-) to conserve the typing space like in microblogging sites viz twitter etc.So typically a naive(???),prone user who submits his long URL to a site to get a shortened URL receives a second,specially coded shortened URL that redirects to the original URL.So here lies the weak hole that is most of the times exploitable by the attacker...because the actual destination URL is hidden in it....so going by the looks...there is nothing to worry...but it is the redirection that is a cause of worry...it may be right or may be redirecting to a malicious link....!!!!so when some one uses a free URL shortener ,he does not have control over that shortened link. And, should something happen to the provider of that URL shortener, then he risks redirecting ALL of shortened links elsewhere!!!

2.  We all know that clicking links is pretty tempting....so it is just a matter of one redirected malicious link click that makes the difference....so whats the solution????...actually companies like Facebook,Gmail, SBI, Paypal ,twitter etc are offering users the option of persistent SSL encryption and authentication across all the pages of their services including the login and all accessible pages.....but this does not stand good for all...for these sites also..it is optional to vide the settings for accessing....

UNDO A SENT EMAIL :YES,IT IS POSSIBLE!!

1.   Ever thought like u shouldn't have sent that mail....or u sent it too early....like all things u can do UNDO in your PC and various applications...can u do it in EMAIL?......the answer is YES.....

2.   The feature is currently available in Gmail and Blumail only.How?...it goes like this

- Log into your GMail account

- Go To mail settings tab.

- Click on Labs

- Scroll down u will find UNDO SEND

- Enable it.

3.  That's it.Actually the feature sends the mail about 5 seconds late so just in case u immediately realize that u send it too early or should have sent it later.....u still have control over it.So when u click send a small link appears that says "UNDO"...click on it and that action will not conclude...ur email remains safe with you.... 

Is ur Account Hacked ?- Common ways u get compromised.

1.    There is no doubt on the fact that Google users are growing phenomenally.....and with this growing rise also comes the phenomenal rise and ways to get compromised or become a botnet.Thus a Google Account is also valuable for spammers and other unknown citizenry looking to impair you with ur personal info and data on ur pc and account inbox. It’s not so much about your account, but rather the fact that your circle of relatives and friends see your Google Account and mails from it as reliable.

2.   Nothing new about this but the most common ways hackers can login to your Google password are:

• Password re-use: You sign up for an account on a third-party site with your Google username and password. If that site is hacked and your sign-in information is discovered, the hijacker has easy access to your Google Account.

• Malware: You use a computer with infected software that is designed to steal your passwords as you type (“keylogging”) or grab them from your browser’s cache data.

• Phishing: You respond to a website, email, or phone call that claims to come from a legitimate organization and asks for your username and password.

• Brute force: You use a password that’s easy to guess, like your first or last name plus your birth date (“ujjwal3008”), or you provide an answer to a secret question that’s common and therefore easy to guess, like “dosa” for “What is your favorite food?”

3.   Another common error that we all unknowingly is that we keep the password same for multiple accounts on yahoo,gmail,blumail and so on.......put on ur thinking caps......if one account linked to other user name is compromised ....then in a way all are....