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

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. 

3. Thanks http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com and http://www.computerworld.com

RED PHONE : ENCRYPTED VOICE FOR ANDROID!!!

Here is something every android user would lov to use....AIM IS TO LISTEN AND SPEAK ON YOUR ANDROID HANDSET WITH INBUILT ENCRYPTION OF RED PHONE APPLICATION.......isn't it gr888888!!!

" RedPhone provides end-to-end encryption for your calls, securing your conversations so that nobody can listen in. It's easy to use, and functions just like the normal dialer you're accustomed to. RedPhone uses your normal mobile number for addressing, so there's no need to have yet another identifier or account name; if you know someone's mobile number you know how to call them using RedPhone. And when you receive a RedPhone call your phone will ring just like normal, even if it is asleep. "

Got this info from http://www.anti-forensics.com/blog.More at http://www.whispersys.com/index.html

SOME MORE ON DUQU

Some more good info and FAQs on DUQU.....AT
http://www.secureworks.com/research/threats/duqu/

BACKTRACK 5 : How to use ?

Recently uploaded a step by step with screen shot on how to use and benefit from BACKTRACK 5 on a virtual lab platform.....

Backtrack 5

DUQU : FROM THE GEN STUXNET????

1.  Do u remember the gr8 STUXNET...who hit the cyber theatres about a year back?....i call it gr8 since that was the first piece of trojan which the experts called with words like marvelous,the world's first 'open source weapon'.....the code which shocked the experts...though it was meant to target Siemens industrial software and equipment running Microsoft Windows....but the percentage affected was enough to do the early damage and show the trailor of what  can come ahead....now comes another in the offering which Researchers from Symantec say is likely written by the same authors and based on the same code.This is known as DUQU.....also coming to be known as “Son of Stuxnet” and a “precursor to a future Stuxnet-like attack.”

2. But another analyses by security researchers from Dell suggest Duqu and Stuxnet may not be closely related after all. That’s not to say Duqu isn’t serious, as attacks have been reported in Sudan and Iran. But Duqu may be an entirely new breed, with an ultimate objective that is still unknown.“Both Duqu and Stuxnet are highly complex programs with multiple components,” Dell says. “All of the similarities from a software point of view are in the ‘injection’ component implemented by the kernel driver. The ultimate payloads of Duqu and Stuxnet are significantly different and unrelated. 

3. The security vendor Bitdefender has also cast doubt on the supposed Duqu/Stuxnet link in its Malwarecity blog. “We believe that the team behind the Duqu incident are not related to the ones that released Stuxnet in 2010, for a number of reasons,” BitDefender’s Bogdan Botezatu writes. While a rootkit driver used in Duqu is similar to one identified in Stuxnet, that doesn’t mean it’s based on the Stuxnet source code.

4. Now till date,DUQU was reportedly seen infecting machines in and around IRAN......but now the Symantec version reported is that a server machine in aamchi Mumbai is effected by this new VIRUS!!!!!!!Indian authorities seized computer equipment from a data center in Mumbai as part of an investigation into the Duqu malicious software that some security experts warned could be the next big cyber threat. Two workers at a web-hosting company called Web Werks told Reuters that officials from India's Department of Information Technology last week took several hard drives and other components from a server that security firm Symantec Corp told them was communicating with computers infected with Duqu. 

5. So DUQU is here in INDIA.......and I m sure with the high percentage of pirated software users in India....we r the most vulnerable to such kinds of threat.....be updated...buy genuine....keep taking updates to avoid being EXPLOITED by EXPLOITS..................

6. Thanks http://arstechnica.com 

WIRESHARK Troubleshoot

1. The most common trouble that comes up first time users of Wireshark is that CAPTURE INTERFACE drop down shows the NPF not running and thus the interface list shows NIL.....

2. The small work to be done is that you need to install and then run WinPcap.So after you have installed Wireshark  and u have a shortcut of the application on the desktop...just right click the Wireshark  and run as the administrator.....should solve....

HIBERNATION MODE : HOW SAFE FOR YOU?

1. How often while using your PC u use the hibernation mode?I am sure that after reading the text below u r hardly going to use it owing to the serious compromise of your info of what you do and when you do ?

2. Ok…what do we mean by hibernation mode?......it simply means that via using this mode we are basically creating a snapshot of the contents of the computers RAM which is then saved to the root of the hard drive as “hiberfil.sys”!!!!This would now mean that the then current running applications and other data in RAM will be written to the hard disk.

3. For example, if we went into the hibernation mode with our browser still open…..then textual strings such as the last Google search performed or text from an open web page will be written to hard drive as the computer “hibernates”.

4. The Windows hiberfil.sys also become an issue while using encryption software such as TrueCrypt. If a Windows system is placed into hibernation mode without unmounting encrypted containers or volumes then the encryption keys used to access these containers will likely be left in RAM in plain-text. RAM will then be saved to the hard drive in the hiberfil.sys. This means that we will be leaving the keys (passwords) to all of your private containers and volumes free for the finding.

5. Ok…..if at all we get hold of the hiberfil.sys…is it going to be that easy to read all that hex dec info?...no certainly not…here come sandmen project for assistance….now whats SANDMEN PROJECT….pls google….in short it is a library which assists in parsing data from the hiberfil.sys.

Disable Hibernation mode on Windows XP:

• Right-click empty area on desktop

• Choose “Properties”

• Select the “Screen Saver” tab

• Click “Power…”

• Select the “Hibernate” tab

• Uncheck “Enable hibernation”

Disable Hibernation mode on Windows 7:

• Open “Control Panel”

• Click “Power Options”

• Click “Change plan settings” for you current power plan

• Click “Change advanced power settings”

• Expand “Sleep”

• Expand “Hibernate after”

• Enter “0″ for “Setting:” to set hibernate to “Never”

6.    Thanks http://www.anti-forensics.com

nVidia GeForce GPU cracks six character password in four seconds

1.  An nVidia GeForce GT220 graphics card, which costs about £30, is capable of cracking strong passwords in a matter of hours. Security experts were able to crack a  6 character password in 4 seconds, a 7 character password in less than 5 minutes, and 8 character password in four hours.So guys ...have mentioned it so many times earlier...even a password upto 14 character in length has been shown easy to crack when i discussed at a post here about one year back....so better take care of ur passwords...small case with few caps and special characters with numbers upto a length of 10-15 should do it for the time being....things r getting nasty in the hacking world.....take care....

2.  more about this at...here...here...here....here...