Your ANDROID APPLICATIONS : Mining your profile

1.    It is common for us to hear a company promoting its phone or tablet showcasing that lakhs of android applications are available for free...and the poor(???) customer generally falls for it...so he buys the device and immediately starts exploiting the world of millions of applications on the net and the Google play store...now off course Google just does not upload a application for download once the up loader does his part of the formalities and registration...it checks under its set of QRs if the application is ok from the point of being malicious in nature or not but that does not always works....so many times android applications even in the Google play-store have been found to be suspected...now lets keep suspected apart...does the typical user even checks the terms and conditions of any application before installing?...the blind rule is JUST ACCEPT IT!!!and this goes against the user...this allows invasion to privacy...why should a company ask to access your phone contacts..your location..your system settings...your configuration settings before it allows to install it application on your device...BUT NO ONE THINKS ABOUT THIS!!!!

Back in February of this year, Google announced it was hardening its stance on Android security, unveiling an app-scanner (codenamed Bouncer) to weed out malware uploaded to Android Market (now Google Play) through automatic scanning. Since then, Google has taken more steps to protect Android users: it acquired VirusTotal back in September and in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean introduced an optional app verification feature that enables users to identify dangerous and potentially-dangerous apps on their devices, even if they downloaded them from the Web or got them from an app store other than Google Play.

How have Google’s efforts to combat Android malware been working out? Perhaps not so well. Security researchers were quickly able to analyze how Bouncer operated and find easy ways to circumvent Google Play’s automated scanning — techniques publicly available now to malware authors if they hadn’t managed to think of them on their own. Further, Xuxian Jiang of North Carolina State University has published an assessment of Jelly Bean’s app verification capability. The results? Google’s app verification service identified just over 15 percent of malware samples thrown at it from the Android Malware Genome Project

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/who-can-fight-android-malware-not-google/

2.     Mobile malware is lately becoming a organised crime with complex sophistication in terms of tracking back....and this makes the attack surface for the hacker and the black hats more big and the user more vulnerable at the same time....The most common victim is the one who looks for free applications in various heads of education...technology and not to forget the games section which is a big hit among-st all...the users love the games for which he has to pay nothing and the attacker gets a lot of attack surface to play around...and then the DO IT YOUR SELF TOOLS again add to the attack surface.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO AVOID THIS?

- Keep your android updated: Now in this case most of the devices till 4.2.1 may not support upgrades..but then you have to keep your fingers crossed!!!

- Refrain from android applications other then google play store.STill you have to be careful...wherever possible read the Terms and Conditions before installing

-  Avoid public open wifi connections

-  Limit your greed to free applications.You may google about the application on google before you install it on your device.

Difference between Open Source & Free Software ?

1.   More often then not I find most of us swapping these words between each other in general usage...Opensource and free software's are considered  to be one and the same but there is distinct and certain difference between the two....Software available free of charge is not necessarily free from restriction.In the open source community, "free software's  generally means software considered "open source " and without restrictions,in addition to usually being available at no cost.This is in contrast to various "free ware" applications generally found on windows system available solely in a binary executable format,mostly .exe but at no cost. 

2.  Apart from this another term FOSS is available in this lingo...FOSS is an inclusive term that covers both free software and open source software, which despite describing similar development models, have differing cultures and philosophies.Free software focuses on the fundamental freedoms it gives to users, whereas open source software focuses on the perceived strengths of its peer-to-peer development model.

Source : Digital Forensics with open source tools by Cory Altheide and Harlan Carvey and Image Source : http://fullmetallinux.wordpress.com

New Ubuntu AD takes on WINDOWS 8 :-)

Nothing to EXPLAIN here...one popular ad doing the rounds ti promote opensource UBUNTU..although not at the original Ubuntu Home page!!!!This comes just a week before Windows 8 Release..........

Bulk SMS Ban : Carry on India

1.    The government has recently banned bulk SMS and MMS messages for 15 days in view of the exodus of people from the northeast from cities like Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad, following rumours that they would be attacked.

2.    Now how do u feel about this ban?...do u think it is going to be effective?.....certainly not if it were actually the bulk sms that did the damage.Does'nt the govt know about various sites offering these services of bulk sms for free on a simple registration? or do they not know about various smart phones applications that can still send bulk sms via a different mode.Is it not known to them that this ban is going to be effective for pre paid owners only?....and not for post paid owners.

3.    These orders come like axing the problem instead of putting in efforts to manage it. Read the following paragraph@http://www.hindustantimes.com

"The five-SMS-per-day cap is adversely affecting a group of unsuspecting victims, the hearing impaired.A deaf individual sends up to 250 messages per day on an average as it is their only mode of conversation. "The five SMS cap is a real pain for us. It is the only way I can stay in touch with my family or friends when I go to college. If I want to have a proper conversation with someone, I have to send at least 50 messages. It is easy for people who can call and stay in touch. For us, this is the only mode that boosts our mobility. It is insensitive of the government to discount the deaf community when they take these decisions," said Mahesh P, a hearing impaired Delhi University student."

4.   Everi one knows that it is wrong...it is not effective...but hey come on ...carry on INDIA....it is just another passe...

Anti Keylogger : KeyScrambler

1.   How would u ever know that all your key logs on the PC are not being logged by a key logger working incognito in the background?...if u r not the SMARTEST....m sure u will never know....so what can u do to avoid that when u know u r equally prone like anyone across the web space?...stop typing...or use OSK(on screen keyboard) or use KEY SCRAMBLER....which would encrypt every key stroke that u type on your pc immediately as you type....available in three versions....at this site at http://www.qfxsoftware.com/index.html.The good news is that one version is free that will take care of most of you.....

2.   Something about KeyScrambler.....is an anti-keylogging program that encrypts user keystrokes at the keyboard driver level, deep in the operating system. The scrambled keys are indecipherable while they travel to the destination app so that no keylogger can steal your passwords or other crucial information. Thus it defeats known and unknown keyloggers.The unobtrusive overlay window lets realtime encryption in process so you know how and when KeyScrambler is working. 

Image Courtesy : http://www.qfxsoftware.com/index.html (Click to enlarge)

HOW IT WORKS ?

-   As u type, this simultaneously encrypting your keystrokes at the keyboard driver level. Because KeyScrambler is located in the kernel, deep in the operating system, it is difficult for key loggers to bypass the encryption.

-   While the encrypted keystrokes travel along the crucial path, it doesn't matter if they get logged, or whether the keylogging malware is known or brand new, because your keystrokes remain completely indecipherable the whole time.

-   When the encrypted keystrokes finally arrive at the destination app, the decryption component of KeyScrambler goes to work, and you see exactly the keys you've typed.

3.   Thanks http://www.qfxsoftware.com/

Zoomit : Incredibly Useful Tool from Microsoft

1.     In any of the presentations or on screen visuals on projections system to a live audience we invariably require sometimes to let the audience get focused on something we would like them to see only on the screen......I mean zooming on a portion of screen without getting into the practise of coming out of ppt or ur application and running magnifier or some similar third party application.....here's what zoomit does free for you without any major installation worries!!!

2.   ZoomIt is screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. I wrote ZoomIt to fit my specific needs and use it in all my presentations.ZoomIt works on all versions of Windows and you can use pen input for ZoomIt drawing on tablet PCs.

3.  Download and start using it .....from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx

YOUTUBE to your TV

1.    With the penetration of LCDs and LEDs in our homes....the desire of DIL MAANGE MORE gets into the business...so u have a internet broadband connection at home and you have a USB enabled LCD/LED....but how to play your youtube videos on your LCD/LED.....there is an easy free way to do it.I will introduce you to two veri nice softwares that I have been using for last 3-4 years now...withouyt any problems....no cracks...no pirated downloads required....

2.   So the first one is Free Studio's DVDVideo Soft at http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/ .Free Studio consists of 47 programs, grouped into eight sections: YouTube, MP3 & Audio, CD-DVD-BD, DVD & Video, Photo & Images, Mobiles, Apple Devices, 3D. The largest group, the Mobiles section contains 12 different applications. DVD & Video section is the second largest group with 10 programs. However, the YouTube section, particularly YouTube downloading programs, has gained more popularity among users.DVDVideoSoft assures that each free program offered is free of spyware and adware. The programs have been tested and endorsed by such reputable sites as Chip Online, Tucows, SnapFiles, Brothersoft and Softonic and have won awards from these sites.[Source Wiki]

3.   So after you have downloaded the video via this DVDSoft software,now u need is a suitable convertor.Although DVDSoft itself offers the conversion...u can also check another free bee at http://www.pazera-software.com/download.php?id=0015&f=Pazera_Free_MOV_to_AVI_Converter.exe

4.   So now u can get ready to watch your you tube videos on ur LED/LCD....

ALL izz WELL!!!!!inside this- Check out FREE STUDIO

My routine surfing on net invariably includes few video downloads,uploading videos to you tube and other sites sometimes,convert various available audi video formats to compatible formats with the help of so many convertors available accross,fiddling with audio formats,burning CDs & DVDs with videos and data files....in a typical scenario all this would be done on arange of softwares of different companies.....came across this absoutely free software ie FREE STUDIO...one single window solution to evri task as mentioned above and much more....and yes it is absolutely free...try it must...

Augment your regular desktop with a FACE RECOGNITION feature

1. Face recognition technology although has been compromised earlier on various times and occasions which have been mentioned at this blog here,here and here.But again things are improving with more complex algorithms being used for processing and allowing a person to Log In.Now suppose an online exam is being conducted which requires students to login with their accounts; anybody could login with anybody’s account as long as they knew their username and password.So for regular window OS users,Luxand Blink allows an alternative to traditional Windows login and a solution to problems. It provides its users with a different way to login to Windows: through Facial Recognition.

2. Luxand Blink is a free application comptable with 32 bit version of Windows Vista and Windows 7. The download size of the application is 8MB and installs in a standard way. A webcam is required to be installed in the computer...(did I need to tell that?)

3. So just look into a webcam for a moment, and you’ll be logged into your account before you notice. Blink! employs advanced face recognition technologies to provide automatic, quick and reliable login to one or many computer users. It uses its advance image recognition algorithms to recognize our face. Such is the competence of this application, that whether the lighting is different or our hair are different, Luxand Blink will still recognize our face and log us in.So a regular old desktop becomes ready with the FACE RECOGNITION feature.

4. Thanks http://www.luxand.com/blink/

THE LINK : BJP & OPEN SOURCE!!

1. Rajnitee and IT ?Do they share a relation in our country? Do they meet anywhere in Indian scenario?Have you ever heard a technical IT buzz word shooting from any of the mantri’s mouth.I am sure in most cases the answer would be NO. 

2. Recently I read this article at the http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4272163.cms wherein it adverted that Mr L.K.Advani has said that if his party comes to power, it will actively promote opensource software and internet telephony. Now irrespective of  whether Mr Advani knows what open source software is or not,or whether he just recited what he was told to by IT savvy speech writer,the good good news is that IT is buzzing now in politics.

 3. The power of open source software is still lying completely unexploited in our country for most of us don’t know what opensource has in store for us.All paid softwares ex any Software developer viz Microsoft,Corel etc to name a few has an equivalent in opensource costing free which unfortunately now one is aware.Did you still not understand ? Read on for what is open source? 

4. Open source software (OSS) is defined as computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified forms. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. The term open source software originated as part of a marketing campaign for free software. A report  states that adoption of open source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.(…thanks wiki) 

5. So Mr L K Advani’s party seems to be the first to realize the power hidden in this.Good!Isn’t it…….Now why open source doesn’t seem to be a success in India?One line answer….may I attempt?........”because Microsoft’s Cracked Windows Xp and Vista are available for free in any gali,mohalla of the Hindustan.So the next motto for a political party would be to crack those crackers!!!!!!!!!!For now its INDIA SHINING!