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Sunday, December 04, 2011

CONVERT UR BLOOK IN A PDF E-BOOK

1. I recently came across a wonderful wonderful free for use site at http://blogbooker.com/.This site would convert your entire blog into an E-Book....that 2 entirely free....amazing.

2. I was able to convert my present blog here into a complete PDF with amazing features that include :

- comments included
- year wise sorting
- page numbers and indexing included.
- easy to create
- easy to share.
- no irritating water marks.

3.  Sample this :.....gr888888888888

Blogger to E-Book

Thanks  http://blogbooker.com

Saturday, December 03, 2011

"LIKE" Button in Facebook : Tracks u!!!


1.   Internet users tap Facebook Inc.'s "Like" and Twitter Inc.'s "Tweet" buttons to share content with friends. But these tools also let their makers collect data about the websites people are visiting.

2.   These so-called social widgets, which appear atop stories on news sites or alongside products on retail sites, notify Facebook and Twitter that a person visited those sites even when users don't click on the buttons, according to a study done for The Wall Street Journal.Few things about these widgets :

- Prolific widgets

- Already added to millions of web pages in the past year. 

- The widgets, which were created to make it easy to share content with friends and to help websites attract visitors, are a potentially powerful way to track Internet users. 

- They could link users browsing habits to their social-networking profile.

- For example, Facebook or Twitter know when one of their members reads an article about filing for bankruptcy on MSNBC.com or goes to a blog about depression called Fighting the Darkness, even if the user doesn't click the "Like" or "Tweet" buttons on those sites.

- A person only needs to log into Facebook or Twitter once in the past month. The sites will continue to collect browsing data, even if the person closes their browser or turns off their computers, until that person explicitly logs out of their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

- Facebook places a cookie on the computer of anyone who visits the Facebook.com home page, even if the user isn't a member. 

Windows 8 Developer Pre BETA : How to get full screen on a VM?

In continuation with my earlier post here about windows 8 Pre Beta edition,one thing that bugged me for a while was not getting the display across full screen in spite of choosing "view full screen" from drop down.The answer to this goes like this

..SIMPLY CHOOSE A HIGHER RESOLUTION AND U WILL GET IT....

Simple to get till u know!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, December 02, 2011

Snake oil Cryptography

1.     While reading a post about unhackable codes here , I came across a interesting term know as SNAKE OIL CRYPTOGRAPHY......as Alex Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Labs, dismissed ENIGMA-DS "snake-oil cryptography,"....so found out in brief from wiki...where else!!!

In cryptography, snake oil is a term used to describe commercial cryptographic methods and products which are considered bogus or fraudulent. The name derives from snake oil, one type of quack medicine widely available in 19th century United States.Distinguishing secure cryptography from insecure cryptography can be difficult from the viewpoint of a user. 

2.  Thanks WIKI

LogMeIn HAMACHI


1.   The law of market keep seeing fights to be at par with each other ie DEMAND & SUPPLY.Today when security in IT is a burning issue,we have so many utilities floating that there is no way one can be trusted blind foldly.Here come another security utility that actually stands out to work in a direction not taken up by so many prominent software security utillities in market.This is HAMACHI

2.   Hamachi is a nice ,free 2 try,tool that connects two computers via the internet by creating a virtual private network (VPN) and protecting it with proven industry-standard encryption algorithms.This will ensure that all communications between the two PCs at a time are safe from the spying eyes.It easily sets up in 10 minutes, and enables secure remote access to network, anywhere there's an Internet connection.The basic advantage that immidiately stand out are :

-   LAN over the Internet - Arrange multiple computers into their own secure network, just as if they were connected by a physical cable.
-   Files and Network Drives - Access critical files and network drives.
-   Zero-configuration - Works without having to adjust a firewall or router.
-   Security - Industry leading encryption and authentication.
-   Cost Effective - Free for non-commercial use.

3.   It features a simple interface that enables to create personal safe networks in just a couple of steps. Also the connection is conveniently protected by an AES-256 algorithm.The problem lies that it supports only chat....and not yet what we desire most ie "FILE SHARING".A new,nice attempt to take on security but still a long way to go....

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Windows 8 Developer Preview : Pre Beta Version for Developers


I recently downloaded the Windows 8 Preview Developer edition from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516 and then tried running it as a virtual machine.Found the following issues :

- does not run on VMWARE 7
- runs on VMWARE 8
- Donno y...but runs at a pathetic speed on VMWARE 8 inspite of a good resourceful machine with upto 1.5 GB of RAM.
- Even on installation on VMWARE 8...doesnt show the NIC card so it has no access to Internet.So no updates.
- Runs at a horse's pace in VIRTUAL BOX.
- No NIC issues in virtual box.

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. 
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