U.S. government vulnerable to Internet predators
Most Internet users have some awareness of the problem of threats to the entire system from criminals, terrorists and potentially hostile nations, since they encounter it in the form of spyware, viruses and other online nuisances.
However, the most disturbing "cyber" threats are largely invisible to the general public, because they involve attacks on specialized networks used by the armed forces, healthcare professionals, air traffic controllers, financial institutions, public utilities and heavy industry.
Each of these vital components of modern society now relies on Internet Protocol communications to run efficiently, and in most cases the new technology was assimilated without a careful assessment of its vulnerability to attack by outsiders.
Showing posts with label network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label network. Show all posts
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Netstat - Know your network connection
netstat (network statistics) is a command-line tool that displays network connections (both incoming and outgoing), routing tables, and a number of network interface statistics. It is available on Unix, Unix-like, and Windows NT-based operating systems.
If you are worried that some programs on your PC are secretly making connections to websites in the background, here's a quick tip that uses a simple DOS command to detect and prevent such suspicious activity:
1. Open Windows Run Command from the Start Menu
2. Type CMD command in the Run box and press OK.
3. Type "netstat -b 10 > netact.txt" in the command window and press ENTER. After some times say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
4. Type "netact.txt" on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)
The file netact.txt will have a log of all process that made a connection to the Internet in the last two minutes. It will also show which process connected to which website in this time. And not just the web browsers (like iexplore.exe , firefox.exe or opera.exe), the log will also show your IM clients, download managers, email programs or any software that requires a net connection.
Scroll though the netact.txt file and look for any process names or website addresses that you are not aware of. If you track one, go to the task manager (or Process Explorer) to find the location of the executable on your computer and eliminate it.
If you are worried that some programs on your PC are secretly making connections to websites in the background, here's a quick tip that uses a simple DOS command to detect and prevent such suspicious activity:
1. Open Windows Run Command from the Start Menu
2. Type CMD command in the Run box and press OK.
3. Type "netstat -b 10 > netact.txt" in the command window and press ENTER. After some times say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
4. Type "netact.txt" on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)
The file netact.txt will have a log of all process that made a connection to the Internet in the last two minutes. It will also show which process connected to which website in this time. And not just the web browsers (like iexplore.exe , firefox.exe or opera.exe), the log will also show your IM clients, download managers, email programs or any software that requires a net connection.
Scroll though the netact.txt file and look for any process names or website addresses that you are not aware of. If you track one, go to the task manager (or Process Explorer) to find the location of the executable on your computer and eliminate it.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The net is an insecure place - US CERT Reminder
If you use Gmail, eBay, MySpace, or any one of dozens of other web-based services, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team wants you to know you're vulnerable to a simple attack that could give an attacker complete control over your account.
US CERT warned that Google, eBay, MySpace, Yahoo, and Microsoft were vulnerable, but that list is nowhere near exhaustive. It said the world's biggest websites have yet to fix the gaping security bug, which can bite even careful users who only log in using the secure sockets layer protocol, which is denoted by an HTTPS in the beginning of browser address window. Just about any banking website, online social network or other electronic forum that transmits certain types of security cookies is also susceptible.
The vulnerability stems from websites' use of authentication cookies, which work much the way an ink-based hand stamp does at your favorite night club. Like the stamp, the cookie acts as assurance to sensitive web servers that the user has already been vetted by security and is authorized to tread beyond the velvet rope.
The thing is just about every website transmits these digital hand stamps in the clear, which leaves them wide open to snoops monitoring public Wi-Fi traffic or some other type of network. Once attackers have the cookie, they gain complete access to the victim's account, and depending on the way many cookies are crafted, those privileges may continue in perpetuity - even if the victim changes the account password.
Indeed, awareness of this man-in-the-middle vulnerability is by no means new. For more than a decade people have known that authentication cookies could be manipulated, but somehow it took the folks at Errata Security to make a presentation at Black Hat to remind the world that the risks continue.
If you're waiting for a fix, we recommend you pack a very large lunch. And beyond that, where possible you might switch to Google, which has already gone a long way to closing the hole.
As the only web-based email service we know of that offers a start-to-finish SSL session, the service is among the most resilient to cookie hijacking. Unfortunately, Gmail doesn't enable persistent SSL by default, and has done little to educate its users about its benefits.
The company also offers SSL for its calendar, search history, documents and reader services, and a Google spokesman said security engineers "are actively working to expand capacity to enable HTTPS encryption for all users."
In the meantime, a Firefox extension called CustomizeGoogle provides a simple way to ensure that all sessions with the above-mentioned Google services are automatically protected by SSL.
US CERT warned that Google, eBay, MySpace, Yahoo, and Microsoft were vulnerable, but that list is nowhere near exhaustive. It said the world's biggest websites have yet to fix the gaping security bug, which can bite even careful users who only log in using the secure sockets layer protocol, which is denoted by an HTTPS in the beginning of browser address window. Just about any banking website, online social network or other electronic forum that transmits certain types of security cookies is also susceptible.
The vulnerability stems from websites' use of authentication cookies, which work much the way an ink-based hand stamp does at your favorite night club. Like the stamp, the cookie acts as assurance to sensitive web servers that the user has already been vetted by security and is authorized to tread beyond the velvet rope.
The thing is just about every website transmits these digital hand stamps in the clear, which leaves them wide open to snoops monitoring public Wi-Fi traffic or some other type of network. Once attackers have the cookie, they gain complete access to the victim's account, and depending on the way many cookies are crafted, those privileges may continue in perpetuity - even if the victim changes the account password.
Indeed, awareness of this man-in-the-middle vulnerability is by no means new. For more than a decade people have known that authentication cookies could be manipulated, but somehow it took the folks at Errata Security to make a presentation at Black Hat to remind the world that the risks continue.
If you're waiting for a fix, we recommend you pack a very large lunch. And beyond that, where possible you might switch to Google, which has already gone a long way to closing the hole.
As the only web-based email service we know of that offers a start-to-finish SSL session, the service is among the most resilient to cookie hijacking. Unfortunately, Gmail doesn't enable persistent SSL by default, and has done little to educate its users about its benefits.
The company also offers SSL for its calendar, search history, documents and reader services, and a Google spokesman said security engineers "are actively working to expand capacity to enable HTTPS encryption for all users."
In the meantime, a Firefox extension called CustomizeGoogle provides a simple way to ensure that all sessions with the above-mentioned Google services are automatically protected by SSL.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Share and send links directly from your browser with Shareaholic
Shareaholic make it extremely easy for you to share web pages on the popular social websites. Submit the web page you are currently viewing to digg, del.icio.us, facebook, google bookmarks, magnolia, reddit, stumbleupon, twitter. If you prefer, e-mail the web page directly to a friend instead.
If you frequently submit web pages to social bookmarking websites, you'll love the Shareaholic add-on available only for Firefox browser. It has also the feature of Real-time statistics from digg and del.icio.us. Check whether the web page you're on has been dugg, and how many times it has been saved on del.icio.us. Stats displayed in your browser, at your request.
You can download the Shareaholic Firefox add-ons from Mozilla. To download click here.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Hacking of CM's Website - Kerala Police sought INTERPOL help
The Kerala Police have sought the assistance of the International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) to track those who behind the hacking of the official Website of Kerala Chief Minister www.keralacm.gov.in.
Hackers had inserted links to objectionable contents in the CM’s Website. New topics were created in the Discussion Forum and links to certain websites with objectionable contents are inserted.
The Website was hacked by unidentified persons four times recently. The Hi-Tech Crime Enquiry Cell of Kerala Police with the help of C-DAC Cyber Forensic Division Experts traced the IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses. These addresses are located in the US, Russia and China. Meanwhile, the official Website run by C-DIT has been pulled out from the World Wide Web for an overhaul.
Source: Newindpress
Hackers had inserted links to objectionable contents in the CM’s Website. New topics were created in the Discussion Forum and links to certain websites with objectionable contents are inserted.
The Website was hacked by unidentified persons four times recently. The Hi-Tech Crime Enquiry Cell of Kerala Police with the help of C-DAC Cyber Forensic Division Experts traced the IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses. These addresses are located in the US, Russia and China. Meanwhile, the official Website run by C-DIT has been pulled out from the World Wide Web for an overhaul.
Source: Newindpress
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