SMART TVs : OUTSMARTED & HACKED

1.   In the land of Hacking,no one can be spared.We all keep hearing about how websites have been hacked,how smartphones are getting out smarted by various exploits in recent times.Now comes something new ,that makes smart TV owners prone .Yess!!all the proud owners of Smart TVs(SAMSUNG LEDs specifically)...can start checking if they are the lucky ones to get bitten here..this one is all about SMART TVs getting HACKED...So now on all the data that is available in their respective HDDs connected vide the USB is vulnerable to be accessed by undesired third party.So now it is not just that you watch the TV....its time for the TV to watch you.Few valuable briefs given out here :

- The Vulnerability exposed in all Samsung's Smart LED TV Software.

- This Vulnerability allows remote attackers to swipe data.

- ReVuln,a Malta-based security firm claims to have discovered this vulnerability.

- Remains a zero-day vulnerability as on date.

- A demo video by ReVuln shows how a "vulnerability for such devices can be used to retrieve sensitive information, monitor and root the device.Click on the video below to have a glimpse of how the vulnerability is exploitable.

2.   I am sure whatever efforts are made by the typical user as on date,he remains vulnerable round the clock in all the fields.How can a normal user who is not so tech savvy be aware of securing his PC,his Laptop,his smartphone,his TV,his external HDD with his personal data without encryption,his pendrives and the list is actually endless.He simply remains one of the choices by any hacker..if he is chosen he is gone...or he can remain lucky ..but how long can anyone remain lucky? The hackers community is growing at a pace which is pretty fast owing to the lure of what else but DOLLARs and more DOLLARs.With "Crimeware as a Service" readily available as a service at the click, NO ONE IS SECURE.It will actually take years to stabilize the current security environment from perspective of a typical user as he understands that giving an equal importance to his IT assets security is more important then locking his house as he leaves for work.

Ubuntu 12.10 @ SPYING

1.   What happens when someone you trust eyes closed,some you promote amongst ur friends is labeled a SPYWARE...or a Spying agent... that's what was felt by millions of UBUNTU followers and fans.I read about this two days back at ZDNET. The news doing the rounds goes like this :

Richard M. Stallman,creator of the Gnu General Public License (GPL) and the Free Software Foundation has announced that as far as he's concerned, Ubuntu contains spyware and that Linux supporters should shun Ubuntu for spying.

Specifically, Richard M. Stallman hates that Ubuntu 12.10 incorporated Amazon search into its default search function. So, if you searched for say "CISSP." you'd get results from both your PC and Amazon. When it was introduced, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, defended this change by saying Ubuntu wasn't going to incorporate ads into the operating system, which Microsoft has done with Windows 8, and that no personalized data would be sent to Amazon.

2.   You need to re-read this yellow highlighted text above to exactly understand what goes on behind the scenes when you actually search for some string in your PC operating on UBUNTU connected to Internet.After the millions of immediate disapproves by the user community,it was announced by UBUNTU that now on Users of the upcoming Ubuntu 12.10 will be able to turn off a controversial 'shopping lens' feature that displays Amazon-stocked products when the user performs a unified local and online search....so the spying becomes optional....:-)

3.   What can be the need of a responsible OS community like UBUNTU to get into all this....if its my view it is not intentional for the purpose of spying.....but it could have been designed in the name of giving the user better results and experience!!!!!Jono Bacon, Canonical's community manager flatly states, "This is FUD" ie "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD)...now yess!!so it seems to be....

4.   All said and done..UBUNTU is doing a wonderful job and provisioning one of the best OS free editions for users like us who wish not to pay to WINDOWS and believe in FREE SOFTWAREs :-)

CYBER SECURITY COURSES IN INDIA

1. Most of the guys interested in cyber security keep looking and searching for Cyber Security Courses on the web and that included me too till some time back.So though I started like any body would do ie google and Bing around the web....so I found out so many courses being offered by so many unknown unheard institutions....but the best of what are accredited to some university and of some good valuable repute here in India are discussed in brief down along with the links.You can click on the course and u will be taken to the respective site for full details :


CDAC : Offers the following courses vide elearn :

C-DAC's Course On Cyber Security [CCCS] at http://elearn.cdac.in/eSikshak/help/English/eSikshak/cccs.htm

C-DAC Certified Cyber Security Professional ( CCCSP ) at http://elearn.cdac.in/eSikshak/help/English/eSikshak/CCCSP.html

Being from CDAC,these courses are valid in all govt organisations and public sectors.

GUJRAT FORENSIC SCIENCES UNIVERSITY AT http://www.gfsu.edu.in/institute_of_forensic_science.php offers following courses online :

GFSU CERTIFIED CYBER CRIME INVESTIGATOR
GFSU CERTIFIED CELLPHONE FORENSIC PROFESSIONAL
GFSU CERTIFIED COMPUTER FORENSIC EXPERT
GFSU CERTIFIED CYBER SECURITY EXPERT
PG CERTIFICATE DIPLOMA IN CYBER LAW
PG CERTIFICATE DIPLOMA IN IPR

Details about the courses offered at http://www.gfsu.edu.in/pdf/online_certificate_course.pdf

ASCL(ASIAN SCHOOL OF CYBER LAWS) : The Website is at http://www.asianlaws.org/ .The following courses are offered in cyber domain including security :

Advanced Executive Program in Cyber Security AT http://www.asianlaws.org/cyber_security.php#.UMC5Zn_SFI0

Advanced Executive Program in Cyber Security, Audit & Compliance AT http://www.asianlaws.org/csac.php#.UMC5mX_SFI0

DIPLOMA IN CYBER LAW AT http://www.asianlaws.org/glc.php#.UMC353_SFI0

DIPLOMA IN CYBER LAW(INTERNATIONAL) AT http://www.asianlaws.org/dcl.php#.UMC4Cn_SFI0

PG IN CYBER LAW AT http://www.asianlaws.org/pgpcl.php#.UMC4LX_SFI0

CYBER LAW FOR POLICE OFFICERS AT http://www.asianlaws.org/police.php#.UMC4TX_SFI0

PG Program in Cyber Crime Prosecution & Defence AT http://www.asianlaws.org/ccpd.php#.UMC4fH_SFI0

Advanced Program in International Cyber Laws AT http://www.asianlaws.org/icl.php#.UMC4p3_SFI0

ASCL Certified Cyber Crime Investigator AT http://www.asianlaws.org/cci.php#.UMC4xn_SFI0

ASCL Certified Digital Evidence Analyst AT http://www.asianlaws.org/dea.php#.UMC46n_SFI0

ASCL Certified Digital Forensic Investigator AT http://www.asianlaws.org/dfi.php#.UMC5JH_SFI2

Advanced Executive Program in IT Act Audit & Compliance AT http://www.asianlaws.org/audit.php#.UMC5RH_SFI0

DATA64 website at http://www.data64.in/index.php#.UMC54X_SFI0 offers a range of courses similar to ASCL as mentioned above.

IMT,GHAZIABAD.Details at http://www.imtcdl.ac.in/. The following courses are offered in cyber domain including security :

ONE YEAR PG DIPLOMA IN CYBER SECURITY at http://www.imtcdl.ac.in/opgdcs_about.htm

TWO YEAR MS IN CYBER LAW & SECURITY at http://www.imtcdl.ac.in/mscs_about.htm

IGNOU OFFERS Post Graduate Diploma in Information Security (PGDIS) at http://www.ignou.ac.in/ignou/aboutignou/school/sovet/programmes/detail/428/2

ANKIT FADIA Certified Ethical Hacker (AFCEH) AT http://www.ankitfadia.in/afceh.html

1 Gigabit Per Second : The dream comes to Kochi,INDIA

1.    Are you happy surfing Internet speeds at 2 Mbps and around....and have you read about speeds of 1Gbps in future.....if yesss....its time to realize that this future that we keep reading and dreaming about has reached us...ie our desktops!!!....

2.  Astonishing as any one may find that when I read about the 1 Gigabit per second connectivity made available to the people of Kansas City in the US of A, I never imagined that the same day around it will be some where offered in India too...and where else but KOCHI..........

3.  Startup Village at Kochi joined the 1 Gig speed club by becoming the second place in the world to experience lightning fast 1Gbps internet connection. Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy formally introduced the facility on November 17.Guys in the state of Kerala can now make the most of upload speeds that are 1000 times that of Broadband and download speeds 100 times as fast.This is a wow moment for the Kochi residents....upload and download tons in minutes and seconds :-)

4.    Congrats Kochi guys!!!!!

How to find if Python is installed in Linux ?

I was recently playing with Matriux Krypton tool chaosmap....but was unable to use this tool for some error that kept popping up...so I though if at all the PYTHON is installed or not?......the way to check this is to go to the terminal and write :

python -V

and u should see like  : Python 2.6.6

                                         (click on the image to enlarge)